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Divine
"This is a story of maiden and warrior,
of magic and demons,
of dragon and gods,
but above all else,
this is a love story." Our Story Begins . . . / First Contact / The Blade in the Night / The Twilight Treasure / Singular Convergence / Bone Peak / Goddess in the Rain / The Sleeping Princess / Nimbus Wind-Steps / The Shaolin Temple / The Firsts / Beijing / Confession / First Sword / The Dragon Scroll / The Green Road / The Still / Mist Island / The Prince of Starlight / Negotiation / Epilogue Publisher's //sbpra.com/EastBridge
of magic and demons,
of dragon and gods,
but above all else,
this is a love story." Our Story Begins . . . / First Contact / The Blade in the Night / The Twilight Treasure / Singular Convergence / Bone Peak / Goddess in the Rain / The Sleeping Princess / Nimbus Wind-Steps / The Shaolin Temple / The Firsts / Beijing / Confession / First Sword / The Dragon Scroll / The Green Road / The Still / Mist Island / The Prince of Starlight / Negotiation / Epilogue Publisher's //sbpra.com/EastBridge
268 pages, Paperback
First published December 10, 2012
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 26, 2016
Boy, was I glad I borrowed this instead of buying it. The premise of this book sounded like the kind of thing I really enjoy - fantasy/historical fiction meet in the middle, in a way. Unfortunately, as is the case with many self-published books I've read, this suffered from a real lack of editorial process. It felt like a second draft, not a final one.
I found a lot of the book just took me out of the story. There were footnotes, which were distracting in a work of fiction, and instead of working historical detail in through description within the story, it was kind of plopped awkwardly in there. And all that historical reference actually worked against it, because the dialogue - amongst other issues - didn't fit the time frame. It was very modern and very jarring.
While I really respected the world building - actually quite well done - I could not stand the two main characters. Drake is a typical antihero, pretty stereotypical and frankly surprisingly immature for a thousand-year-old god. Meanwhile, River, the teenage protagonist, is completely insufferable. She utterly lacks any maturity whatsoever and basically serves as a sugar-coated, one dimensional fantasy girl the entire story. She's so over-the-top childish and saccharine it makes the "love" story between the two beyond ridiculous. How the heck could this guy, who's been alive basically forever, possibly fall for this idiot girl? It makes zero sense.
Meanwhile we spend a ridiculous amount of time pouring over how much they make out - which is not only unnecessarily, but boring and does nothing but distract from whatever else of the story there was. In total, the book feels like some idealized male teenage fantasy about girls with no personality - but are PRETTY! and NICE! - and guys who can be jerks with no real depth or standards and still win in the end. It certainly does a disservice to both.
The book ends on a cliffhanger, but as far as I can tell no sequel has ever been released. Honestly, I think the author should focus on going back to retool this. The bottom line of the story itself is a good idea. But the devil is in the details, and this book gets the essential ones all wrong.
I found a lot of the book just took me out of the story. There were footnotes, which were distracting in a work of fiction, and instead of working historical detail in through description within the story, it was kind of plopped awkwardly in there. And all that historical reference actually worked against it, because the dialogue - amongst other issues - didn't fit the time frame. It was very modern and very jarring.
While I really respected the world building - actually quite well done - I could not stand the two main characters. Drake is a typical antihero, pretty stereotypical and frankly surprisingly immature for a thousand-year-old god. Meanwhile, River, the teenage protagonist, is completely insufferable. She utterly lacks any maturity whatsoever and basically serves as a sugar-coated, one dimensional fantasy girl the entire story. She's so over-the-top childish and saccharine it makes the "love" story between the two beyond ridiculous. How the heck could this guy, who's been alive basically forever, possibly fall for this idiot girl? It makes zero sense.
Meanwhile we spend a ridiculous amount of time pouring over how much they make out - which is not only unnecessarily, but boring and does nothing but distract from whatever else of the story there was. In total, the book feels like some idealized male teenage fantasy about girls with no personality - but are PRETTY! and NICE! - and guys who can be jerks with no real depth or standards and still win in the end. It certainly does a disservice to both.
The book ends on a cliffhanger, but as far as I can tell no sequel has ever been released. Honestly, I think the author should focus on going back to retool this. The bottom line of the story itself is a good idea. But the devil is in the details, and this book gets the essential ones all wrong.
Displaying 1 of 1 review