Alex James's Blog: AlexJamesNovels Blog - Posts Tagged "urban"
The Felix Chronicles - RT Lowe - 3/5 Stars
Freshmen is the first book in new urban fantasy series The Felix Chronicles, which combines magic and mystery with American teen culture and modern devices such as phones and tablets. Evil “sourcerers” called Drestianites typically hunt and “test” teenagers for magical ability. If they pass then the teenagers will join them, and if they don’t they’ll be brutally killed. However, there is hope for mankind in the form of the Belus, the one whose special purpose resembles unity and a defence against the cynical ideology of the Drestianites. RT Lowe provides an invaluable background to his magical world early and told in a letter within Freshmen, which reminded me a bit about how the Knights Templar were defeated and hunted down and also because this conflict is linked to the present through family name.
RT Lowe has an exceptional professional writing ability to craft characters, backgrounds, and environments, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the author has been writing for a long time. He delivers captivating dialogue between Felix and his peers, which made for exciting chapters. Reading it was a guilty pleasure because I wouldn’t usually be interested in the subject matter of teenagers and their social lives. Freshmen is well-presented with a good book cover and blurb, flawless interior formatting, editing, and proofreading. RT Lowe and Freshmen certainly leave a great impression on prospective readers. Freshmen improves from CH.45/P346 (70%), at a point where I became much more immersed in the plot and the action and the final fifty pages (10%) did make for an enthralling conclusion.
Criticism: My main criticism was the often uncomfortable similarities between Freshmen and the Harry Potter series. When the main characters were introduced, each had likenesses. Felix was like Harry in that he lost his parents, is innocent, and tries to lock his grief away. Felix’s distorted nightmares, which he believed were real to some extent, and his subsequent actions seemed to make him secretly crave attention-seeking and some form of celebrity attention. From p168 (34%) Felix develops a set of experiences that are unique to him. Allison strongly reminded me of Hermione Granger. The Groundskeeper, whose demeanour reminded me of Filch, uses knowledge of Felix’s parents as an excuse to invite him into a magical world fought between Sourcerers and Drestianties; the latter who wish to enslave non-Sourcerers (muggles?). Secret rooms acted like doorways into more mysterious truths or dimensions.
Sometimes the description was a bit lengthy, taking up two whole pages at a time. New characters, scenes and situations kept arising but the existing ones developed at a tedious speed, and distracted from the progression of the novel with what I saw as pointless antics. From Ch.45/p346 (70%) the Felix/Faceman plot overlaps and becomes the main plot at a late but vital stage. Most of the Faceman chapters are put into context at this stage and the broken sub-plots resemble something coherent and “whole”. There wasn’t much build up regarding the threat posed by the Drestianites besides the Faceman, and this seemed an inadequate explanation for the action-filled encounters in the last fifty pages (10%).
Overall, Freshmen was a great read with exceptional writing, captivating dialogue, and quality presentation. It was easy to get lost into the magical world, and I would strongly recommend it to teenagers, young adults, and fans of the urban fantasy genre because I think they will be impressed.
Awaken by HJ Daly – 5/5 Stars
(The Sword of Idis – Book 2)
‘After all this time, all she wanted was revenge’. Awaken is an epic fantasy adventure, with a traditional fantasy magical realm and urban human realm, set in a post-apocalyptic world after the Pulse, a weapon used in a past war which caused catastrophe and revealed the magical realm. Awaken mainly focuses on the point-of-view of half-breed Esa as she comes to terms with how she feels about Thomas when he left her to her fate after the Battle of the Realms, which was when the Council (of Elves?) took Esa and then let her go. The reader is deliberately kept in the dark about what exactly happened, and discovering the truth was one of the intriguing mysteries for the characters around Esa.
Esa has to contend with her risen status as somebody of consequence, but still struggles to receive the respect she by no means expects. The elves are superior, arrogant, and disdainful of “inferior” races. They think they can act in the best interests of all, and are happy to use any means to achieve their goals. However, for Esa, fighting off Thomas and the strong feelings she has for him is as much of a challenge as her relations with elves. It’s easy to see how Esa has matured in the second book. She’s strong enough to cast Thomas aside to protect her feelings. All she needs is to stop letting her falls get the better of her willpower, and to be careful her growing independence doesn’t alienate her friends.
At only 10% through, I could see terrific flowing writing and interesting character dynamics, such as when Rootu wished to find juicy bugs and show them at inappropriate times like at dinner, which made me laugh out loud a few times. Indeed, Rootu’s inappropriate behaviour was his one discernible flaw, though I found it funny most of the time. Rootu was the most captivating character for me, being the adorable insect-catching Spinner. Apart from the dark humour he brought, as a companion he is Esa’s most pleasant constant, willing to sacrifice himself for her happiness even though he is sad and lonely himself.
The first fight scene at 20% through was brief, well described visually, and exciting. I soon came to the conclusion that Awaken had quality writing. HJ Daly has a focus and control over her characters, more so than in the first book Pulse. The reader is brought clearly and progressively into the world at the right pace that made it easy to comprehend. When situations were repeated, like when all the characters looked at Esa, they were perceived differently: ‘pity parted starting again’, which made the same things appear new and interesting. I became completely invested in the characters’ lives, so much so that I found myself cross when they weren’t able to find happiness. Impossibly, the writing turned up a notch in the last 10%, and the scenes flowed visually and cinematically at very exciting pace and I read much more than I intended to. It was a reminder that the author can spin an immersive fight when she wants to, and at this point I found myself needing to know how Awaken would end.
Criticism: Sometimes the point-of-view switches felt too sudden and produced a jarring effect, and the scene breaks marking the passage of time or events might have been clearer. Also, I got confused who exactly Marcus was; a character from the first book?
Awaken was a vast improvement, well put-together, and with emotionally driven characters that brought out humour, sadness, conflict, and pain. I was brought into the story through the characters’ differences, and their adventures never bored me. Yes, prepared to be stunned with this sequel.
‘After all this time, all she wanted was revenge’. Awaken is an epic fantasy adventure, with a traditional fantasy magical realm and urban human realm, set in a post-apocalyptic world after the Pulse, a weapon used in a past war which caused catastrophe and revealed the magical realm. Awaken mainly focuses on the point-of-view of half-breed Esa as she comes to terms with how she feels about Thomas when he left her to her fate after the Battle of the Realms, which was when the Council (of Elves?) took Esa and then let her go. The reader is deliberately kept in the dark about what exactly happened, and discovering the truth was one of the intriguing mysteries for the characters around Esa.
Esa has to contend with her risen status as somebody of consequence, but still struggles to receive the respect she by no means expects. The elves are superior, arrogant, and disdainful of “inferior” races. They think they can act in the best interests of all, and are happy to use any means to achieve their goals. However, for Esa, fighting off Thomas and the strong feelings she has for him is as much of a challenge as her relations with elves. It’s easy to see how Esa has matured in the second book. She’s strong enough to cast Thomas aside to protect her feelings. All she needs is to stop letting her falls get the better of her willpower, and to be careful her growing independence doesn’t alienate her friends.
At only 10% through, I could see terrific flowing writing and interesting character dynamics, such as when Rootu wished to find juicy bugs and show them at inappropriate times like at dinner, which made me laugh out loud a few times. Indeed, Rootu’s inappropriate behaviour was his one discernible flaw, though I found it funny most of the time. Rootu was the most captivating character for me, being the adorable insect-catching Spinner. Apart from the dark humour he brought, as a companion he is Esa’s most pleasant constant, willing to sacrifice himself for her happiness even though he is sad and lonely himself.
The first fight scene at 20% through was brief, well described visually, and exciting. I soon came to the conclusion that Awaken had quality writing. HJ Daly has a focus and control over her characters, more so than in the first book Pulse. The reader is brought clearly and progressively into the world at the right pace that made it easy to comprehend. When situations were repeated, like when all the characters looked at Esa, they were perceived differently: ‘pity parted starting again’, which made the same things appear new and interesting. I became completely invested in the characters’ lives, so much so that I found myself cross when they weren’t able to find happiness. Impossibly, the writing turned up a notch in the last 10%, and the scenes flowed visually and cinematically at very exciting pace and I read much more than I intended to. It was a reminder that the author can spin an immersive fight when she wants to, and at this point I found myself needing to know how Awaken would end.
Criticism: Sometimes the point-of-view switches felt too sudden and produced a jarring effect, and the scene breaks marking the passage of time or events might have been clearer. Also, I got confused who exactly Marcus was; a character from the first book?
Awaken was a vast improvement, well put-together, and with emotionally driven characters that brought out humour, sadness, conflict, and pain. I was brought into the story through the characters’ differences, and their adventures never bored me. Yes, prepared to be stunned with this sequel.
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