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The Central #1
The Academy
Alex Warner’s life hasn’t been a great success – so maybe its better that he can’t remember any of it, even the fire that killed his family, the one he was blamed for setting. Still, a horrifying attack by werewolves in a city park is a new and violent low, until Mitsuru, a woman with odd red eyes and tremendous powers intervenes, turning Alex’s world upside down.
Waking to find himself in a hospital bed in a very different place – the Academy, a school in a hidden, fog-shrouded city named Central, where teenagers with remarkable abilities train to become Operators like Mitsuru, soldiers who use their amazing and frightening powers to fight Witches, Weir, and each other. And Alex is the Academy’s newest student.
In a class of students who can read minds, turn to stone, and sort through possible futures – and staff who can control emotions, set fires with thought, and level mountain sides on a whim - Alex is quickly in over his head. Worse, he has caught the interest of both the cartels vying for control of Central – the fragmented and aristocratic Hegemony, and the ruthless and dictatorial Black Sun. Alex is forced to make his way through a school populated by telepaths, vampires, and most puzzling of all, a number of girls who seem interested in him: Emily, lovely and almost powerless, with orders to make Alex fall in love with her; Anastasia, a Machiavellian heiress trapped in the body of a adolescent; and Eerie, only half human and not entirely sane, but strangely captivating.
All the while, an elite cadre of Operators drawn from the staff of the Academy, the Auditors, fight brutal battles against the Witches and rebellious cartels, as Alex attempts to navigate the Byzantine politics of Central in the hopes of survival, passing grades, and possibly even a girlfriend.
Waking to find himself in a hospital bed in a very different place – the Academy, a school in a hidden, fog-shrouded city named Central, where teenagers with remarkable abilities train to become Operators like Mitsuru, soldiers who use their amazing and frightening powers to fight Witches, Weir, and each other. And Alex is the Academy’s newest student.
In a class of students who can read minds, turn to stone, and sort through possible futures – and staff who can control emotions, set fires with thought, and level mountain sides on a whim - Alex is quickly in over his head. Worse, he has caught the interest of both the cartels vying for control of Central – the fragmented and aristocratic Hegemony, and the ruthless and dictatorial Black Sun. Alex is forced to make his way through a school populated by telepaths, vampires, and most puzzling of all, a number of girls who seem interested in him: Emily, lovely and almost powerless, with orders to make Alex fall in love with her; Anastasia, a Machiavellian heiress trapped in the body of a adolescent; and Eerie, only half human and not entirely sane, but strangely captivating.
All the while, an elite cadre of Operators drawn from the staff of the Academy, the Auditors, fight brutal battles against the Witches and rebellious cartels, as Alex attempts to navigate the Byzantine politics of Central in the hopes of survival, passing grades, and possibly even a girlfriend.
397 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2011
88 people are currently reading
1289 people want to read
About the author
Zachary Rawlins
10 books151 followersZachary Rawlins lives in Oakland, California, with his amazing wife Chloe and his genius Corgi, Ein. During the day, he works in the Environmental industry. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, comic books, urban exploring, and writing. To date, much of his work has been in two novel series, as well as a variety of other side projects.
The Central Series spans five volumes, concerning the remarkable life of one wholly unremarkable Alexander Warner. The first book, The Academy, as well as the second volume, The Anathema, are both available on the Kindle store, and are filled with telepaths, vampires, schoolgirls fighting werewolves, and the romantic mishaps of poor Alex.
Unknown Kadath Estates is a three-volume series, and perhaps the first American-written light novels. The first book, Paranoid Magical Thinking, is currently available on the Kindle Store. Combining elements of the Cthulhu Mythos, chemically induced psychosis, magical realism, and black humor, the novel features cover and illustrations by artist Xi Lu.
The Central Series spans five volumes, concerning the remarkable life of one wholly unremarkable Alexander Warner. The first book, The Academy, as well as the second volume, The Anathema, are both available on the Kindle store, and are filled with telepaths, vampires, schoolgirls fighting werewolves, and the romantic mishaps of poor Alex.
Unknown Kadath Estates is a three-volume series, and perhaps the first American-written light novels. The first book, Paranoid Magical Thinking, is currently available on the Kindle Store. Combining elements of the Cthulhu Mythos, chemically induced psychosis, magical realism, and black humor, the novel features cover and illustrations by artist Xi Lu.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
September 25, 2011
3.5 stars
I don't like being the first person to review a book at all! But here it is:
For a debut, self-published author, Zachary Rawlins is pretty damn good. In fact, he’s better than a lot of experienced authors with big publishing houses behind their backs. With just a little more work and a good editor, this book could turn into pure gold.
Rawlins’s world is very complicated. Here’s my attempt at explaining some of it:
The secret supernatural community known as the Central is divided into cartels, of which only two are important: the Hegemony and the Black Sun. In theory, students of the Academy aren’t allowed to declare for a cartel until they complete their second year (unless they were born into one - which is rare), but in reality, they often choose their way much sooner.
Most of the students come from normal families. The Central does secret screenings at public schools and singles out everyone with the ability to control the Ether. But the Talent itself isn’t enough, so upon their arrival at the Academy, they need to have nanites introduced into their system. The nanites allow them to use their abilities, but they also make them stronger, faster and very close to immortal. Not all students have the same power: there are empaths, telepaths, pyros, and just about everything else you can think of.
After the Academy, students become Operators in the cartel that chose them, depending on their ability, but the very best usually opt to become Auditors, who are supposed to be neutral and in charge of keeping the cartels in order.
So that's pretty much it. It's not an easy world to explain.
However, worldbuilding isn’t what I loved most about The Academy, the characters are. I’ll mention just a few of them:
• Alex Warner has just arrived at the Academy, but he is by far the most powerful of them all. All the cartels want him, but as soon as he picks one, the others will do their very best to kill him.
• Mitsuru is a hundred years old, but she looks no more than nineteen – that is, until you notice her red eyes. She is a Black Protocol user and her mind had been reengineered as a logic processing engine, allowing her to become a field strategist, but making her more machine than human in the process. She has no emotional attachments. Probability fields and bloodbaths are all she cares about.
• Alice Gallow is an Auditor and a Black Protocol user who forgets things every time she uses her powers. She is close to invincible, but she spends all her free time writing and reading hundreds and hundreds of diaries. She is also a bloodthirsty psychopath.
• Anastasia Martynova is the scion of the Black Sun cartel. Introducing nanites into her organism stopped her growth completely. She looks no more than thirteen, wears a lot of black lace and never leaves her room without a parasol, which usually makes people underestimate her, but she is a power player, perhaps the most deadly one around.
I’ll be the first to admit that you need a certain amount of patience to read The Academy. For one, it is far too long: if printed, I'm sure it would have more than 500 pages, which means that there are quite a few unnecessary chapters you need to go through to get to the good ones, but since the good ones really are jaw-dropping, I think it’s well worth it.
My other problem was with parts that reminded me to much of a well known movie trilogy. I’ll just give you a short example and let you draw your own conclusions:
The rifle was firing at full auto, but the acceleration of Mitsuru’s protocol was such that she heard each individual shot, and she saw the flare of hot gas that punctuated each shell’s ignition. She fell forward, under the arc of bullets that plodded toward her, and then rolled, her perception so agonizingly acute she could see the wake of distorted air the bullets left behind.
In my opinion, The Academy is not a YA novel. The fact that most of it happens in a school can be quite misleading. It is very violent, far too complicated and it doesn’t follow any of the usual patterns.
You can buy The Academy ebook for $0.99 or $2.99 on Amazon, depending on your location. If you like violent, unpredictable, action-packed stories, you’ll probably enjoy it.
The second book, The Anathema, will be available January, 2012. I can't wait to read it. In fact, I want it right now!!! Do you hear me, mysterious Zachary Rawlins? Write faster!
I don't like being the first person to review a book at all! But here it is:
For a debut, self-published author, Zachary Rawlins is pretty damn good. In fact, he’s better than a lot of experienced authors with big publishing houses behind their backs. With just a little more work and a good editor, this book could turn into pure gold.
Rawlins’s world is very complicated. Here’s my attempt at explaining some of it:
The secret supernatural community known as the Central is divided into cartels, of which only two are important: the Hegemony and the Black Sun. In theory, students of the Academy aren’t allowed to declare for a cartel until they complete their second year (unless they were born into one - which is rare), but in reality, they often choose their way much sooner.
Most of the students come from normal families. The Central does secret screenings at public schools and singles out everyone with the ability to control the Ether. But the Talent itself isn’t enough, so upon their arrival at the Academy, they need to have nanites introduced into their system. The nanites allow them to use their abilities, but they also make them stronger, faster and very close to immortal. Not all students have the same power: there are empaths, telepaths, pyros, and just about everything else you can think of.
After the Academy, students become Operators in the cartel that chose them, depending on their ability, but the very best usually opt to become Auditors, who are supposed to be neutral and in charge of keeping the cartels in order.
So that's pretty much it. It's not an easy world to explain.
However, worldbuilding isn’t what I loved most about The Academy, the characters are. I’ll mention just a few of them:
• Alex Warner has just arrived at the Academy, but he is by far the most powerful of them all. All the cartels want him, but as soon as he picks one, the others will do their very best to kill him.
• Mitsuru is a hundred years old, but she looks no more than nineteen – that is, until you notice her red eyes. She is a Black Protocol user and her mind had been reengineered as a logic processing engine, allowing her to become a field strategist, but making her more machine than human in the process. She has no emotional attachments. Probability fields and bloodbaths are all she cares about.
• Alice Gallow is an Auditor and a Black Protocol user who forgets things every time she uses her powers. She is close to invincible, but she spends all her free time writing and reading hundreds and hundreds of diaries. She is also a bloodthirsty psychopath.
• Anastasia Martynova is the scion of the Black Sun cartel. Introducing nanites into her organism stopped her growth completely. She looks no more than thirteen, wears a lot of black lace and never leaves her room without a parasol, which usually makes people underestimate her, but she is a power player, perhaps the most deadly one around.
I’ll be the first to admit that you need a certain amount of patience to read The Academy. For one, it is far too long: if printed, I'm sure it would have more than 500 pages, which means that there are quite a few unnecessary chapters you need to go through to get to the good ones, but since the good ones really are jaw-dropping, I think it’s well worth it.
My other problem was with parts that reminded me to much of a well known movie trilogy. I’ll just give you a short example and let you draw your own conclusions:
The rifle was firing at full auto, but the acceleration of Mitsuru’s protocol was such that she heard each individual shot, and she saw the flare of hot gas that punctuated each shell’s ignition. She fell forward, under the arc of bullets that plodded toward her, and then rolled, her perception so agonizingly acute she could see the wake of distorted air the bullets left behind.
In my opinion, The Academy is not a YA novel. The fact that most of it happens in a school can be quite misleading. It is very violent, far too complicated and it doesn’t follow any of the usual patterns.
You can buy The Academy ebook for $0.99 or $2.99 on Amazon, depending on your location. If you like violent, unpredictable, action-packed stories, you’ll probably enjoy it.
The second book, The Anathema, will be available January, 2012. I can't wait to read it. In fact, I want it right now!!! Do you hear me, mysterious Zachary Rawlins? Write faster!
July 8, 2014
Ok, I picked up this book because of an internet review comparing it to the Zero Sight series by B. Justin Shier. Which is one of my favorite series of all time. Holy crap I was disappointed. There are very few books that I start and do not finish and this was one of them. I tried my hardest to invest in the characters as they were presented to me but I found the protagonist to be one of the most weasel like boys I've ever read about. I know that a character is supposed to be inexperienced and then grow but he was whiny, slow, bipolar and just genuinely boring character. The first few chapters designed to suck you in made me wish that a massive disaster would come in and kill all the characters. VERY disappointing.
November 11, 2011
The Academy had a lot of set pieces which, while being mildly interesting in themselves, lacked any sort of momentum or coherence to make it a satisfying read. Most of the characters seemed exciting on introduction but author's refusal to elaborate on their background and motivation, made it harder to relate with them. There was scarcely any character or plot development.
This book started with a lot of promise but unfortunately it missed the mark.
This book started with a lot of promise but unfortunately it missed the mark.
October 4, 2016
mysteries for the the sake of mysteries
vagueness for the sake of vagueness
weird magic system for the sake of horribly gone wrong uniqueness
vagueness for the sake of vagueness
weird magic system for the sake of horribly gone wrong uniqueness
November 14, 2012
This was a reasonably quick read, but I can't say I really liked the characters that much. For a series set in an Academy the instructors seemed very slow in actually training the talent that drew the main character Alex to them in the first place. They seem much more interested in teaching him to "defend himself" by getting him bashed. I'm not sure I'll be picking up book two in the series. For a similar sort of book I thought Zero Sightdid a better job with more likeable characters.
December 7, 2011
This is an amazing indie book...at least in terms of world building (but really, really superb world building).
The characterization is flat, for the first half of the book. The main character, Alex (insofar as there is a main character), and one of the other mains, Mitzi, are both flat, broken characters by design. I'm not entirely sure what to make of that. They don't have much of a past, they don't have much in the way of goals and agency, and they aren't fully fledged enough to have much in the way of human interactions. This makes them quite hard for the reader to relate to or care about. Though they act as windows into other characters that are much more sympathetic and relatable.
Further, while the writing is pretty good, the editing and proof reading is truly horrible. The number of sentences per chapter that simply had a missing subject, object, or verb (not in the sense that the sentence was poorly written, but in the sense that it's quite obvious a word was accidentally left out) is truly stupendous. Usually it's possible to tell what the author intended, at least to some extent, but it's quite jarring. Mr. Rawlins should hire an editors for the second book. Or at least a proof reader.
That said, the world building is truly stupendous. The world that's created a mix of the horrible unknown (in an almost Lovecraftian sense), urban street magic (along the lines of Jim Butcher), and futuristic combat and tech (along the lines of Neal Asher).
The pacing is pretty good, keeping the reader interested in trying to figure out how the world works and what's going on with it, without ever revealing too much at a time.
In short (spoilers), there is a world were magic is possible. Or at least, manipulations of energy and matter with the aid of advanced nanotech that is for all intents and purposes: magic. But human society isn't any more advanced than modern society in the real world. The nanotech was discovered in a small pocket universe that certain people with particularly powerful native talents were able to access.
This pocket universe hangs in the aether, which may be (the characters in the book are uncertain) a superfluid that acts a buffer between parallel universes in the multivierse. People with sufficient potential (which may be most of humanity) are able to tap into this aether and channel it to bend physical laws and reality in this universe, allowing for teleportation, telepathy, and all variety of violent or destructive magics.
This pocket universe, called Central, contained a fully built but completely empty city when it was discovered. It looks like it was built by/for humanoid creatures, albeit with slightly different dimensions than human beings. Humans have now colonized, though most humans don't know this.
Humanity as a whole is unaware of the aether, Central, or those with magical abilities. Many humans can be "activated," gaining the ability to tap the aether, through the use of the nanotech that was discovered. However, the nanotech also kills about 1/3 of those exposed to it (turning a small percentage of those killed into 'vampires' which are somewhat different than vampires of common myth).
A small number of humans, originating with those with strong innate talents that may not have required activation to use initially, are aware and are involved in all sorts of plotting and wheeling and dealing, taking advantage of (and often violently disagreeing with) each other and normal humans alike. They are divided up into a number of cartels. The cartels became so violent that they eventually created, through a treaty, Central and the Academy.
All powerful magic users must be allowed to attend the Academy, and must be permitted free choice to join a cartel (or Central) afterwards. Though recruitment by cartels is a very powerful and ongoing force at the Academy.
Both Central and the Academy are located in Central, the pocket universe. Central is essentially a peace-keeping operation to enforce the treaty, and to maintain sole access to the nanotech. The cartels are allowed to go after each other, and mess with humanity, but there are limits to the risks they are allowed to take and the exposure they are permitted to risk. When they go over those limits (especially by involving non-human monsters such as witches, faeries, horrors, and werewolves), Central can and does 'audit' them. Auditors are well trained, very powerful, and heavily armed. Audits are almost always fatal.
Against this complex, interesting backdrop (where the reader is still uncertain how this whole cycle got started, how the monsters came about, where Central truly is, who built it, etc.) we have the spector of control and lack of free will. Plenty of magical talents involve mind control or one sort or another, and the cartels employ massive numbers of precognitives in an attempt to figure out what they need to do to close off all future avenues except those in which the cartel succeeds in its goals.
Further, Central is a very strange place. Many of the occupants fall asleep at odds times, for odd reasons, and wake thinking that someone was just there, or that they have just forgotten something. The reader is aware of some humans who are engaging in mind control and memory manipulation in Central, but it is strongly hinted that others, perhaps even the race that built Central, is involved as well and may be trying to manipulate all of humanity (though to what end is uncertain).
This, then, is the backdrop. The main character, Alex, finds himself attacked by werewolves and saved by a Central operative, who realizes he has potential and takes him back to the Academy. Once there, the cartels begin to court him, Central begins to manipulate him, faeries and vampires take an interest, and it rapidly becomes clear that his entire past is fictional, created by someone or something and then embedded in his mind.
The world building sets up an amazing amount of potential. The second book (hopefully also for 99 cents) comes out in January 2012. It will either be amazing, or the complex world will start to collapse under its own rhetorical weight. I'll certainly give it a try.
The characterization is flat, for the first half of the book. The main character, Alex (insofar as there is a main character), and one of the other mains, Mitzi, are both flat, broken characters by design. I'm not entirely sure what to make of that. They don't have much of a past, they don't have much in the way of goals and agency, and they aren't fully fledged enough to have much in the way of human interactions. This makes them quite hard for the reader to relate to or care about. Though they act as windows into other characters that are much more sympathetic and relatable.
Further, while the writing is pretty good, the editing and proof reading is truly horrible. The number of sentences per chapter that simply had a missing subject, object, or verb (not in the sense that the sentence was poorly written, but in the sense that it's quite obvious a word was accidentally left out) is truly stupendous. Usually it's possible to tell what the author intended, at least to some extent, but it's quite jarring. Mr. Rawlins should hire an editors for the second book. Or at least a proof reader.
That said, the world building is truly stupendous. The world that's created a mix of the horrible unknown (in an almost Lovecraftian sense), urban street magic (along the lines of Jim Butcher), and futuristic combat and tech (along the lines of Neal Asher).
The pacing is pretty good, keeping the reader interested in trying to figure out how the world works and what's going on with it, without ever revealing too much at a time.
In short (spoilers), there is a world were magic is possible. Or at least, manipulations of energy and matter with the aid of advanced nanotech that is for all intents and purposes: magic. But human society isn't any more advanced than modern society in the real world. The nanotech was discovered in a small pocket universe that certain people with particularly powerful native talents were able to access.
This pocket universe hangs in the aether, which may be (the characters in the book are uncertain) a superfluid that acts a buffer between parallel universes in the multivierse. People with sufficient potential (which may be most of humanity) are able to tap into this aether and channel it to bend physical laws and reality in this universe, allowing for teleportation, telepathy, and all variety of violent or destructive magics.
This pocket universe, called Central, contained a fully built but completely empty city when it was discovered. It looks like it was built by/for humanoid creatures, albeit with slightly different dimensions than human beings. Humans have now colonized, though most humans don't know this.
Humanity as a whole is unaware of the aether, Central, or those with magical abilities. Many humans can be "activated," gaining the ability to tap the aether, through the use of the nanotech that was discovered. However, the nanotech also kills about 1/3 of those exposed to it (turning a small percentage of those killed into 'vampires' which are somewhat different than vampires of common myth).
A small number of humans, originating with those with strong innate talents that may not have required activation to use initially, are aware and are involved in all sorts of plotting and wheeling and dealing, taking advantage of (and often violently disagreeing with) each other and normal humans alike. They are divided up into a number of cartels. The cartels became so violent that they eventually created, through a treaty, Central and the Academy.
All powerful magic users must be allowed to attend the Academy, and must be permitted free choice to join a cartel (or Central) afterwards. Though recruitment by cartels is a very powerful and ongoing force at the Academy.
Both Central and the Academy are located in Central, the pocket universe. Central is essentially a peace-keeping operation to enforce the treaty, and to maintain sole access to the nanotech. The cartels are allowed to go after each other, and mess with humanity, but there are limits to the risks they are allowed to take and the exposure they are permitted to risk. When they go over those limits (especially by involving non-human monsters such as witches, faeries, horrors, and werewolves), Central can and does 'audit' them. Auditors are well trained, very powerful, and heavily armed. Audits are almost always fatal.
Against this complex, interesting backdrop (where the reader is still uncertain how this whole cycle got started, how the monsters came about, where Central truly is, who built it, etc.) we have the spector of control and lack of free will. Plenty of magical talents involve mind control or one sort or another, and the cartels employ massive numbers of precognitives in an attempt to figure out what they need to do to close off all future avenues except those in which the cartel succeeds in its goals.
Further, Central is a very strange place. Many of the occupants fall asleep at odds times, for odd reasons, and wake thinking that someone was just there, or that they have just forgotten something. The reader is aware of some humans who are engaging in mind control and memory manipulation in Central, but it is strongly hinted that others, perhaps even the race that built Central, is involved as well and may be trying to manipulate all of humanity (though to what end is uncertain).
This, then, is the backdrop. The main character, Alex, finds himself attacked by werewolves and saved by a Central operative, who realizes he has potential and takes him back to the Academy. Once there, the cartels begin to court him, Central begins to manipulate him, faeries and vampires take an interest, and it rapidly becomes clear that his entire past is fictional, created by someone or something and then embedded in his mind.
The world building sets up an amazing amount of potential. The second book (hopefully also for 99 cents) comes out in January 2012. It will either be amazing, or the complex world will start to collapse under its own rhetorical weight. I'll certainly give it a try.
April 3, 2014
It's more of 2.5 because I'm not yet entirely sure if I like it enough. Coming in, I really wanted to like this book. So I have mixed feelings after I read this. There were times that it was really difficult to just keep on reading but the story would eventually redeem itself and I could move on. I am usually not meticulous about the hows and whys so long that it still fit with the story's basic premise or logic. Also this was the author's first so I wanted to just enjoy it.
The reason I only gave it 2.5 stars is mainly because the changing of scenes are so abrupt it kind of leaves you winded. It could be for building the suspense or intrigue but the transitions are far from smooth and it happens too many times that it almost feels exhausting. A lot of the the dialogues and situations left me mostly confused. I kept reading on with the hopes of finding an explanation but was left disappointed that there was usually none or when there was one, it left me even more confused.
The lead character I couldn't really care for but I did love the others. Alex has really entertaining thoughts at times but mostly he's just irritating. Alex seems like one of those heroes found in Japanese harem manga or novels. Usually that would have been fine (I love reading Japanese manga and novels). The suspension of disbelief for manga is acceptable because generally the stories and characters are written to be over the top and you can normally expect that from manga. The Academy felt like it was urban fiction really trying hard to be a manga but failing miserably at the attempt.
To be fair and as mentioned, I loved some of the other characters and genuinely looked forward to seeing more of them through out the story. I loved the fact that the teachers/mentors were weird and crass. Although I did feel that the teachers' characters were better developed than that of the students except for Anastasia, she's awesome. I also loved the incorporation of technology to the whole magic system. It adds another layer to the each individual's development in terms of their character and their abilities.
It's hard not to make a comparison with Zero Sight because of the same premise; trials and tribulations of a boy thrust into a magical school unwittingly, trying to survive the dangers it entails and, of course puberty. IMHO, Zero Sum was more successful in portraying the urban fiction of magical student life. The Academy was interesting enough that I was able to finish it despite its faults. Story wise, it is novel and interesting and I really liked the magic system. The writing is really rough and could be improved a lot more. Personal feelings aside, for an indie release it's clear that the series has potential.
The reason I only gave it 2.5 stars is mainly because the changing of scenes are so abrupt it kind of leaves you winded. It could be for building the suspense or intrigue but the transitions are far from smooth and it happens too many times that it almost feels exhausting. A lot of the the dialogues and situations left me mostly confused. I kept reading on with the hopes of finding an explanation but was left disappointed that there was usually none or when there was one, it left me even more confused.
The lead character I couldn't really care for but I did love the others. Alex has really entertaining thoughts at times but mostly he's just irritating. Alex seems like one of those heroes found in Japanese harem manga or novels. Usually that would have been fine (I love reading Japanese manga and novels). The suspension of disbelief for manga is acceptable because generally the stories and characters are written to be over the top and you can normally expect that from manga. The Academy felt like it was urban fiction really trying hard to be a manga but failing miserably at the attempt.
To be fair and as mentioned, I loved some of the other characters and genuinely looked forward to seeing more of them through out the story. I loved the fact that the teachers/mentors were weird and crass. Although I did feel that the teachers' characters were better developed than that of the students except for Anastasia, she's awesome. I also loved the incorporation of technology to the whole magic system. It adds another layer to the each individual's development in terms of their character and their abilities.
It's hard not to make a comparison with Zero Sight because of the same premise; trials and tribulations of a boy thrust into a magical school unwittingly, trying to survive the dangers it entails and, of course puberty. IMHO, Zero Sum was more successful in portraying the urban fiction of magical student life. The Academy was interesting enough that I was able to finish it despite its faults. Story wise, it is novel and interesting and I really liked the magic system. The writing is really rough and could be improved a lot more. Personal feelings aside, for an indie release it's clear that the series has potential.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2016
it was the most jumbled up plot i have ever read. setting-wise the book had a lot of potential. but everything is ruined because of poor editing and lame main lead. instead of a fantasy book, it felt like an typical harem anime plot. boring male lead with no character development, no impactful female lead, no background information on characters, very poor plot sequencing, no description of surrounding. actually i will try to explain my review. first is the lead. a fantasy book of this type is very common, a normal teen with a hidden ultimate power.
July 30, 2016
It is hard to write a negative review on a book, Most of the time i don't even bother.. Click the one star button and move along. This book though had me shaking my head at more then one point. The story itself is great.. That is if you can wade through all the jumping around and complete lack of follow through. For instance.. Boy does something big and dangerous, suddenly the chapter ends and poof we are headed along an entire different part of the story. No follow through on what happened not even a hint about it until a few chapters later like ..The story line is disjointed. Just one example of what i did not like about this book.
I do not know if this book was self published or not..But if i was the author i would fire the editor.
Tried reading the second book in this series and quickly found myself skimming through it chapters at a time.. Sadly in its current form i can not recommend this book. Other then as a example on how not to write a story. This story has way too many instances where it is disjointed and leaves the reader confused about what is going on.
I do not know if this book was self published or not..But if i was the author i would fire the editor.
Tried reading the second book in this series and quickly found myself skimming through it chapters at a time.. Sadly in its current form i can not recommend this book. Other then as a example on how not to write a story. This story has way too many instances where it is disjointed and leaves the reader confused about what is going on.
October 22, 2011
Loved this book! And the best part is it actually had original ideas. Take one part Cyberpunk, one part Urban Fantasy, and one part the crime/cartel version of Hogwarts. Self-published and sold for 99 cents as a Kindle e-Book this was really, really fun.
You can tell that the author has read extensively, but he also manages to convey plot devices and especially characters that are completely unconventional. Wonderful, original, and trippy like a late night acid dream I can't wait for the next book in the series. Hopefully this wonderful world created by Rawlins is expanded to the full extent of it's possibilities.
You can tell that the author has read extensively, but he also manages to convey plot devices and especially characters that are completely unconventional. Wonderful, original, and trippy like a late night acid dream I can't wait for the next book in the series. Hopefully this wonderful world created by Rawlins is expanded to the full extent of it's possibilities.
June 30, 2015
Lots of potential, very little delivery. Let's just start off by saying that I quite liked the premise of this book even if it wasnt that terribly original. Boy finds out he has powers, gets thrown into new magical world and has to adjust to life there. All of that is pretty standard thoroughfare for these kind of books but that's not something to be held against it, the author does make very interesting characters and there's quite an exciting worldbuilding going on so as I said before there is definitely the potential for a great series here.
Sadly though the execution isnt very good. I just finished reading the book and even at the end I still had the idea the story hadn't quite started yet. The events, while loosely connected, just seem to isolated. There's no character development and there's just no momentum at all really that makes you feel like the story is going anywhere. Even in what was probably supposed to be a very suspenseful scene I never really felt like I was engaged with the story and the main character doesnt make it very easy to like him. Still it was a quick read, that somehow makes me want to read more if only to find out if anything will actually happen. Given that this was a debutnovel perhaps future installments of this story will benefit greatly from newfound experience
Sadly though the execution isnt very good. I just finished reading the book and even at the end I still had the idea the story hadn't quite started yet. The events, while loosely connected, just seem to isolated. There's no character development and there's just no momentum at all really that makes you feel like the story is going anywhere. Even in what was probably supposed to be a very suspenseful scene I never really felt like I was engaged with the story and the main character doesnt make it very easy to like him. Still it was a quick read, that somehow makes me want to read more if only to find out if anything will actually happen. Given that this was a debutnovel perhaps future installments of this story will benefit greatly from newfound experience
April 29, 2013
While the setting is very interesting: psychic abilities and nanotechnology vs evil witches and werewolfs, the way the story is told is very frustrating. It feels as if the author is hopping from one character to another, from one unrelated event to another. Oftentimes it's hard to tell wether any time passed between the two events or if they have occured simultaneously. There are multiple perspectives here, although the story is told from a 3rd person POV, and the constant switching of these perspectives leaves one not knowing what the hell is going on in the story until about the very end. Not much is explained about the setting either, in fact I often had a feeling I need to look up things in wikipedia only to realize that the setting is entirely fictional and no explanation of the terms used in it can be found in an encyclopedia.
April 21, 2014
Young Alexander Warner was found in front of his parent's burning house with a gasoline tank and a box of matches, with his parents in the house. Since then he has been jumped from institution to institution all around northern California, talking to all sorts of psychiatrists and psychologists and dealing with the worst kinds of kids. From then to now at 17 years old he has developed a sociopath like manner with no friends or family after his grandmother he vaguely remembers, left him. Then he is attacked by werewolves and saved by a Japanese woman with red eyes. This book is very intense and has profanity along with drugs and lots of violence. I recommend this book to older readers not younger readers.
May 28, 2012
A decent read. There are some rarely dark elements seemingly randomly interspersed in the plot, and the Alex, the lead, comes off as decidedly 2-dimensional. I'll be following this one to see here the story goes but It's my hope that the author can improve in a few things in his next go-round, particularly Alex's complexity as a lead character, the forced society-wide amorality prevalent throughout the story, and the "dark for the sake of dark" simplicity of some of the scenes throughout the story. Fix those and I'd gladly recommend this to anyone.
April 23, 2018
This book was a fun ride through a unique world with alternative definitions for "Vampire", "Fairie" and "magic". In this book "ether" is a substance that is real like air or water and it can be manipulated by "protocols" to all sorts of fun effects. To make use of these protocols one must have nanites (yes the tiny robots) injected. "The Central" is the only place that can give you nanites (or is it?). It is a delight to watch science and magic stirred together. There is a good balance of action, romance and human drama. I agree with what other reviews say about the main protagonist, but I believe that his weakness is due to mental manipulation. Perhaps I will find out as I cruise through the next books in... The Central.
October 28, 2019
I got lost on this one. Well written and potentially great world here to explore. However, it is a powerful kid goes to powerful kid school story. I got 1/3 of the way through and just got really tired. I'm completely burnt out on this premise so it could just be that. The characters were the least interesting parts of the story which was also a problem for me.
So that just leaves the powers. The powers are not enough to hold this up. The first scene started out really promising - a werewolf ambush on a kid. A protector jumps into the frey to try and save him, knowing she will likely die in the process. Then another guy shows up and kills all the werewolves with a whip. Great.
So that just leaves the powers. The powers are not enough to hold this up. The first scene started out really promising - a werewolf ambush on a kid. A protector jumps into the frey to try and save him, knowing she will likely die in the process. Then another guy shows up and kills all the werewolves with a whip. Great.
January 30, 2020
So hard to enjoy.
Urban Fantasy is always challenging to write. The major storylines have mostly been told over and over. So, it’s all about the characters if the story is going to work. The supporting cast of the Academy are interesting, but with only a couple of exceptions very flat. The main character is just a disaster. I just wanted to scream Be Consistent...either your a naive swooning easily manipulated 10 year old or you are a hardened skeptical bitter stubborn teenager who has led a messed up life. The author ruins a decent story because he can’t make up his mind and it sucks.
Urban Fantasy is always challenging to write. The major storylines have mostly been told over and over. So, it’s all about the characters if the story is going to work. The supporting cast of the Academy are interesting, but with only a couple of exceptions very flat. The main character is just a disaster. I just wanted to scream Be Consistent...either your a naive swooning easily manipulated 10 year old or you are a hardened skeptical bitter stubborn teenager who has led a messed up life. The author ruins a decent story because he can’t make up his mind and it sucks.
August 16, 2018
It is Politics in computer language.
the plot is good.
Though I needed to reread mkre than a few lines to understand. Not because there are lots of technical terms but because maybe of how the words are played. And I kept losing my tracks to the end. Not for me maybe. But its a good one. It has potential and i guess it is a heavy one. deeper books
the plot is good.
Though I needed to reread mkre than a few lines to understand. Not because there are lots of technical terms but because maybe of how the words are played. And I kept losing my tracks to the end. Not for me maybe. But its a good one. It has potential and i guess it is a heavy one. deeper books
January 28, 2021
What a jumbled up mess. too many characters and not enough background on them and no real female lead and the male lead was just boring. This story could be improved with more background and exciting things throughout the book.
June 2, 2017
Great book for a new author!!!!
I liked the book a lot. There was a great plot. Although the characters didn't have a strong foundation. This book was really good.
I liked the book a lot. There was a great plot. Although the characters didn't have a strong foundation. This book was really good.
July 25, 2017
I DNF this one. It did that thing where books try to be vague and mysterious but came off annoying. The whole thing was convoluted for no purpose.
June 25, 2020
Excellent start
Great start with interesting world building. Varied consequences and many unexplained avenues of plot. Can’t wait to see where the sequel goes to.
Great start with interesting world building. Varied consequences and many unexplained avenues of plot. Can’t wait to see where the sequel goes to.
April 6, 2021
One of my favorite first series!
March 23, 2017
it was alright, but clustered in parts to the point where you had to ask what's going on? Why should i care? And, didn't the person one character is begging for help kill or capture the person he's asking help to save?
September 5, 2014
I'm torn on the rating for The Academy. You see it has, what appears to be, an interesting magic system, a well designed world, and an interesting cast but it also has inconsistent writing and plot development. The second to last chapter of the book seemed almost non sequitur as all of the allusions to that plot point were underplayed when mentioned and no mentioned with any semblance frequency. The main plot didn't have any real conclusion and the point on the timeline it ended seemed arbitrary. Looking back at the last three chapters it seems like Rawlins almost decided to make a secondary plot point much more important and use that as the tension but didn't really have any decided conclusion in mind.
You see there are a lot of politics surrounding the Academy, Central who controls the Academy, the organizations that send their children there, and orphans who have no affiliation. For a good majority of the book this seemed like the central plot and it was a good one. But for the last quarter of the book this tossed aside and we are asked to care about a plot that, while mentioned, didn't seem important.
To me this should have been two books or one much larger book. What it seems like is that Rawlins had two stories in mind and decided to shoehorn them in to one average length book and it didn't work that well. I think I could have rated this much higher if there had been more depth to the rifts between the factions, the agreement between Central and the factions, and how the magic system works.
With all that said, I did enjoy The Academy. The magic system is interesting but needed more development. I expected this development because the story is centered around Alex, who didn't know he anything about magic or the supernatural, and his admission the The Academy, a school located in the ether, for those who have powers. This ought to have been the complete plot, at least in my opinion. It could have easily been the complete plot without bringing in what seemed to be a supporting character at the end and making her story seem more important than it had during the entire rest of the story.
My three star rating is because Rawlins can craft a an enjoyable story. Alex is a sympathetic character and easy to like. Eerie and Margot, while more character development was needed, really piqued my interest. I think this could be a really good series if he stops shoehorning too many plotlines in to a single book or writes longer books. The talent is there but needs more development and I hope that manifests over the course of the series. I will be continuing the series because I really want to know more about the magic system and the politics because Rawlins has created a lot of depth there and I really hope that he explores it. I don't care about Alices's story yet because of the issues I mentioned earlier but if he dedicated a book to her back story and brought us to current I have feeling I could. I sincerely hope that the next book in the series isn't as disjointed as this one as that could completely ruin what has the potential to be a really fun series.
You see there are a lot of politics surrounding the Academy, Central who controls the Academy, the organizations that send their children there, and orphans who have no affiliation. For a good majority of the book this seemed like the central plot and it was a good one. But for the last quarter of the book this tossed aside and we are asked to care about a plot that, while mentioned, didn't seem important.
To me this should have been two books or one much larger book. What it seems like is that Rawlins had two stories in mind and decided to shoehorn them in to one average length book and it didn't work that well. I think I could have rated this much higher if there had been more depth to the rifts between the factions, the agreement between Central and the factions, and how the magic system works.
With all that said, I did enjoy The Academy. The magic system is interesting but needed more development. I expected this development because the story is centered around Alex, who didn't know he anything about magic or the supernatural, and his admission the The Academy, a school located in the ether, for those who have powers. This ought to have been the complete plot, at least in my opinion. It could have easily been the complete plot without bringing in what seemed to be a supporting character at the end and making her story seem more important than it had during the entire rest of the story.
My three star rating is because Rawlins can craft a an enjoyable story. Alex is a sympathetic character and easy to like. Eerie and Margot, while more character development was needed, really piqued my interest. I think this could be a really good series if he stops shoehorning too many plotlines in to a single book or writes longer books. The talent is there but needs more development and I hope that manifests over the course of the series. I will be continuing the series because I really want to know more about the magic system and the politics because Rawlins has created a lot of depth there and I really hope that he explores it. I don't care about Alices's story yet because of the issues I mentioned earlier but if he dedicated a book to her back story and brought us to current I have feeling I could. I sincerely hope that the next book in the series isn't as disjointed as this one as that could completely ruin what has the potential to be a really fun series.
January 18, 2012
This is a very interesting concept for a book. The easiest way to explain the plot would be this; The Justice League (or any superhero group) is run like the Mob. I know that doesn't tell you much, but neither does the book.
Alex is a confusing character for more than one reason but mainly for the fact that his decisions and actions have no basis. And by basis I mean that the Author gives us no sense of his morals. Yeah he doesn't want to shoot the class bully in the head, but why doesn't he? Yeah he is nervous about touching a girl, but is it nerves because he is new at it, or does it run deeper. Alex just jumps right into a completely new world and doesn't really bat an eye. He just accepts it and runs with it.
The Good:
This is a great story that uses all our favorite monsters, (werewolves, vampires, elves, witches, etc.) and incorporates "super" people all working together and against each other.
The Bad:
This book explains almost nothing. The author introduces you to an entire new world that has its own set of rules and regulations but doesn't explain those rules and regulations at all. Each person uses different protocols but you are never really explained what they are until way after you have probably deduced an answer for yourself. There are a number of different things that I could point out that are just left unexplained in the book. Now I am sure the author will explain the unexplained in the next book, but it makes for a confusing and frustrating read. Out of the three people I know that started read the book, I was the only one that finished it.
Final Thoughts:
Expect to be lost on a lot of what is going on in the book. If you don't understand what is going on, then just keep reading until it starts making sense again. This is a very interesting book, and I am excited to read the next book, but I am just worried it will leave a lot of unanswered questions. The book is worth the read.
My book blog
Alex is a confusing character for more than one reason but mainly for the fact that his decisions and actions have no basis. And by basis I mean that the Author gives us no sense of his morals. Yeah he doesn't want to shoot the class bully in the head, but why doesn't he? Yeah he is nervous about touching a girl, but is it nerves because he is new at it, or does it run deeper. Alex just jumps right into a completely new world and doesn't really bat an eye. He just accepts it and runs with it.
The Good:
This is a great story that uses all our favorite monsters, (werewolves, vampires, elves, witches, etc.) and incorporates "super" people all working together and against each other.
The Bad:
This book explains almost nothing. The author introduces you to an entire new world that has its own set of rules and regulations but doesn't explain those rules and regulations at all. Each person uses different protocols but you are never really explained what they are until way after you have probably deduced an answer for yourself. There are a number of different things that I could point out that are just left unexplained in the book. Now I am sure the author will explain the unexplained in the next book, but it makes for a confusing and frustrating read. Out of the three people I know that started read the book, I was the only one that finished it.
Final Thoughts:
Expect to be lost on a lot of what is going on in the book. If you don't understand what is going on, then just keep reading until it starts making sense again. This is a very interesting book, and I am excited to read the next book, but I am just worried it will leave a lot of unanswered questions. The book is worth the read.
My book blog
December 23, 2011
The author cites the X-Men comic as a primary influence on his work. He liked the idea, he said, but he wanted to know more about what they did when not saving the world. In particular, when your friend has mind control powers, can you -- can you ever be sure that he's not using them to make you like him?
The main viewpoint character, Alex, falls a bit flat. He's clearly got some serious mental issues; most of his memories seem to be fabricated, and he's disappointingly passive for someone with the political position he's in. (He also has a bit of a subthread going where his bizarre psionic powers attract girls to fight over him. It's easy to mistake this for a bad-harem-anime subplot but that doesn't seem to be what it is.)
The other characters are well done, though. We get scenes with the Operators defending the city; my favorite was Alice, who is cheerfully, destructively insane. We get scenes with the teachers, doing their best to work out how to handle Alex. We get scenes with Alex's classmates, also doing their best to work out to handle him. I liked Anastasia's scene where she made the case for Alex joining her cartel.
The main viewpoint character, Alex, falls a bit flat. He's clearly got some serious mental issues; most of his memories seem to be fabricated, and he's disappointingly passive for someone with the political position he's in. (He also has a bit of a subthread going where his bizarre psionic powers attract girls to fight over him. It's easy to mistake this for a bad-harem-anime subplot but that doesn't seem to be what it is.)
The other characters are well done, though. We get scenes with the Operators defending the city; my favorite was Alice, who is cheerfully, destructively insane. We get scenes with the teachers, doing their best to work out how to handle Alex. We get scenes with Alex's classmates, also doing their best to work out to handle him. I liked Anastasia's scene where she made the case for Alex joining her cartel.
May 10, 2012
Alex Warner is an orphan that is being targeted for death while walking down the street. Luckily Mitsuru arrives to protect him until backup can arrive. He wakes up to find himself drawn into a nearly magical world with Faery, vampires and nano machines. He has two years of school before he can decide which (of the vary vary many) factions he wants to join because he turns out to be a catalyst. He can help power someone else and he will have nearly unending (but not unlimited) power when he can control his power.
I can't decide what I think of this book. I liked it but there was too much politics and not enough action. I had a hard time identifying the main character, because he had no real character. It is obvious that this is intentional to show how damaged a person he is and to allude to future events but it made it really hard to be interested in him. He lives purely in the moment and is almost incapable of difficult thought.
The book shows some potential and I just hope Alex becomes more relatable soon.
I can't decide what I think of this book. I liked it but there was too much politics and not enough action. I had a hard time identifying the main character, because he had no real character. It is obvious that this is intentional to show how damaged a person he is and to allude to future events but it made it really hard to be interested in him. He lives purely in the moment and is almost incapable of difficult thought.
The book shows some potential and I just hope Alex becomes more relatable soon.
January 14, 2015
Someone said this book and Zero Sight books were similar, and as I liked the Zero Sight books I thought I would give this a try.
Honestly I don't really agree that they are very similar, they have some rough similarities but... I don't know.
This book is kinda messy, the cast of characters are too big for the amount of actual backstory they get amongst other things.
The biggest problem of the entire book in my opinion is the main character, he's way too willing to be led around by his nose for it to be any fun to read about. And unless something changes drastically when it comes to his powers, he's kinda useless.
Would I recommend this book? Maybe? If you've already read most of the books in similar styles then yes I guess, but if you're looking for a replacement to Zero Sight? No then I'd say you should stay away.
I may continue to the next book but I'm not sure.
Honestly I don't really agree that they are very similar, they have some rough similarities but... I don't know.
This book is kinda messy, the cast of characters are too big for the amount of actual backstory they get amongst other things.
The biggest problem of the entire book in my opinion is the main character, he's way too willing to be led around by his nose for it to be any fun to read about. And unless something changes drastically when it comes to his powers, he's kinda useless.
Would I recommend this book? Maybe? If you've already read most of the books in similar styles then yes I guess, but if you're looking for a replacement to Zero Sight? No then I'd say you should stay away.
I may continue to the next book but I'm not sure.
July 18, 2013
When I read, I want to get lost in the story, lost in the characters. This book spins a nice tale of a complex world where magic and violence go hand in hand. The characters are fairly complex, the pace is steady and the editing sucks.
Alex Warner is a lost soul in the middle of vast conspiracy. He is clueless, helpless and is being pursued by every person of power in Central. His history is murky and even he doesn't understand his past.
Forget the editing, and focus on the story and the world that the story has been built within. Mindless entertainment demands that belief is suspended and time is invested with no return other than the enjoyment of being able to spend it on something that will enrich you imagination more than it will your wallet.
Some read to learn, some read to earn, I read to enjoy. This book was an enjoyment.
Alex Warner is a lost soul in the middle of vast conspiracy. He is clueless, helpless and is being pursued by every person of power in Central. His history is murky and even he doesn't understand his past.
Forget the editing, and focus on the story and the world that the story has been built within. Mindless entertainment demands that belief is suspended and time is invested with no return other than the enjoyment of being able to spend it on something that will enrich you imagination more than it will your wallet.
Some read to learn, some read to earn, I read to enjoy. This book was an enjoyment.
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