Bernard Jan's Blog - Posts Tagged "superheroes"

The Shadowverse: A YA Sci-Fi Superhero Thriller by John-Clement Gallo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


2019 is the year of discoveries for me. By accident, or guided by the starlight, I wouldn’t know, I came upon two teenage writers and authors who are still not out of their classrooms but are already “competing” with thousands of more experienced writers on equal footing on Amazon and other book-selling platforms.

In February this year, Michael Evans disarmed me and won my sympathies with his dystopian Control Freakz. A month later, John-Clement Gallo did it with his Sci-Fi adventure novel The Shadowverse.

“This parallel universe, what I call the Shadowverse, is a mere shadow of this one, where energies of all kinds reign. It is connected to this one by a series of wormholes—the creators of which I do not yet know. Sometimes the portals open where they should not.”

If this “definition” of the Shadowverse, in the words of the villain Titan, is not enough for you to grab and time-travel through this book, then I hope the group of six of our superheroes with their incredible powers gathered under the name the Shadowforce will be. Just out of their teenage years, they are warriors of the universe on a mission to save our home planet from the alien force which wants to take it over.

Still being a teenager, Gallo delivers us natural, funny and witty dialogues between his young protagonists and development of a clumsy romantic relationship I enjoyed very much. His personal expertise in martial arts (he is ranked a black belt in taekwondo and hapkido) gives his fighting scenes an extra-realistic touch and excitement.

But it is his love for astronomy, astrophysics and distant worlds that breathes life into this story. John-Clement is a teenager who dreams of stars. His enchantment by a star-spangled night sky and the modern culture of superheroes saving us in various blockbusters and comics is the real juice that sets his imagination in motion by creating a fast paced and action-packed story of tall, likeable and ordinary-young-people-turned-superheroes with an important mission.

If we had doubts about the future of Sci-Fi or dystopian genres, we can be at peace now. Both Gallo and Evans want to save humanity, they both have talent to entertain us and capture our attention, and their determination to write and publish the series of books is nothing but commendable ambition at such a young age.

What more is there to say?

BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Bernard Jan



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The Shadowverse: Vengeance by J.C. Gallo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Young Gallo did it again! After his successful first young adult, sci-fi, superhero, adventure novel, The Shadowverse, J.C. is giving us another treat titled The Shadowerse: Vengeance.

Without further ado, I am going to say I loved it and enjoyed it! And it’s not because I was among the first Earthlings who had the pleasure of reading it (it’s not vanity, it’s called beta reading); I cannot tell for certain how many aliens saw the manuscript before me since J.C. has often his gaze fixed on the night-sky and the outer space. I did it because it is a fun and entertaining read.

Just as it was the case in The Shadowverse, I enjoyed his funny and witty dialogues which made his superheroes and other protagonist soooo real. Although his black belt in Taekwondo and Hapkido helped him to master exciting action scenes, and his vivid imagination created beautiful realms with which we share our existence, Gallo has a knack for writing dialogues and describing situations that will make you giggle and laugh.

So, whose vengeance we are talking about? Is it The Shadowforce with Johnny, Ryan, Sam, Jane, and Rose, or the dark forces of defeated Titan and the new evil entity that called itself The Breath of Death as it wreaks havoc all over the Earth? It’s not on me to reveal you that; this is why this talented teenage author wrote a sequel to The Shadowverse for all of us to enjoy his story while the pleasant images of Star Wars saga and Fantastic Four flash in the back of our mind.

Make no mistake, The Shadowforce has its own value and uniqueness, just as it has each of its superheroes and other heroes who will become your darlings as Kevin became mine!

Thank you, J.C., for Vengeance, thank you for your persistence in recruiting me as your beta and for the exciting four days I spent with your book. I just wish it lasted longer.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

Read my review of The Shadowverse.

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Bernard Jan



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