A powerful young telepath defies an entire society to save the one he loves.Within the Kingdom, individual paranormal power is a fact of life. Yet only the royal family can openly display their wondrous talents. Any commoners revealing unusual abilities face arrest and execution, often at the hands of the King's own empowered secret police.Ever since birth, Anson's mother has drilled him in how to keep his power secret. Living in a distant village, he's managed to keep his head low and abilities to himself, even while other children foolishly reveal themselves to the wrong people.However, when Anson is called to the capital city for his compulsory military service, he's forced to elude the King's powerful agents on their own turf. He also meets a curious young princess, who's both powerful and sensitive enough in her own right to discover Anson's secret.Managing to remain one step ahead of the King's empowered operatives, Anson and Lydia make plans to escape the Kingdom entirely. But once the monarch announces Lydia is to marry another royal telepath against her will, the two young rebels must immediately battle for their own future, reshaping their entire society in the process.
Do you like fantasy? Do you like adventure? Do you like a book you could easily see made into a movie? Then you have to read Phil Stern's Rogue Powers.
This is the story of a land where special powers are not uncommon but definitely not treated fairly. Royalty may possess these powers, but anyone considered a commoner is removed from society. Secrecy becomes important for survival. But what happens when royalty falls in love with a commoner? You have an age old story told in a new way.
Mr. Stern writes in an engaging manner that has you wanting to read to the last page. He does an excellent job of taking this familiar storyline and giving it a few extra twists and adventures to where the reader is far from bored. This is not just a fantasy. It is a romance in a fantasy world that takes the reader on a multitude of adventures.
The author pulls story lines together in a smooth way that is easy to read and not hard for the reader to follow. If you don't like 'magic' or references to dark powers, this might not be a book for you to read this summer. Otherwise, you have to pick this book up. It will help you get through these hot days or the cold nights. Afterwards, you'll want more of Mr. Stern.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of The Virtual Book Tour Cafe' and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by The Virtual Book Tour Cafe', no payment was received by me in exchange for this review nor was there an obligation to write a positive one. All opinions expressed here are entirely of my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, the book's publisher and publicist or the readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides
Rogue Powers is a gripping tale set in a world where paranormal powers are both a blessing and a curse. The story follows Anson, a young telepath hiding his abilities to avoid execution in a kingdom where only the royal family can openly wield their powers. When he's forced to the capital for military service, Anson meets Lydia, a powerful princess who uncovers his secret. Together, they plan their escape but must first defy the oppressive regime that controls their society. The novel expertly blends action, romance, and deep themes of power and resistance, making it a must-read for fans of fantasy and dystopian fiction.
Rogue Powers was an absolutely interesting read. A great storyline, coupled with exoticism and charm, the book is definitely a must read. Basically, the whole concept of Rogue Powers is so different compared to so many other popular Science Fiction and Fantasy books. It somehow reminded me of movies. The experience of reading the book was like watching a movie. The length of the book was just about right; not too long, not too short. The story of Anson of Hylen and Princess Lydia, Rogue Powers is based on the notion of psychic communication or telepathy. The Anson- Lydia romance was also really nice and added a sort of an emotional touch to the story. The whole set- up or the environment portrayed was very much like a historical romance, it somehow took me back to the Victorian age. What I really like about the book was the fact that it was very enchanting. Once you start, it is hard to stop. The beginning of the story was so pure and innocent and later, when facts are exposed and secrets revealed, it becomes so gripping and hard to put down. Somehow, everything just works right. All you have to do is just see through it. With this whole olden day romance mixed with thought transference and fights between the elites and commoners and those between the betrothed and true love, I had made up an ending in my head, which actually seems pretty easy for anyone to predict. However, the ending- which was completely enthralling- was very much contrary to what I had initially anticipated. It was by far, one of the most interesting finish line. Overall, a very interesting read and a great book and again, Phil Stern proves that something different and out of the way always works!
The story is set up in a time when royalty ruled over common men and ‘special powers’ was connected to royal blood only. If a commoner was found to possess some special power, they were arrested and promptly executed. In such a situation, the only thing that a commoner with power could do was to avoid discovery. Anson was such a commoner. When he was drafted to join the kingdom’s army, his mother is naturally scared for her son’s life. Once there, Anson’s power is immediately discovered by Lydia. The defiant princess finds herself drawn towards Anson even she is betrothed to another. And soon enough there’s love in the air. Since Lydia has no intention of marrying Prince Tenen, she and Anson plan to make their escape and leaving the kingdom behind. But the royal family will not let that happen so easily. So what happens? Do they get their happily ever after? Read the book to find out!
Phil Stern has done a real good job with this book. The book is a good mix of fantasy, romance and action. I liked his style of writing which is really inviting. He has set a rich setting with a lot of background history so that as a reader, I felt that I knew the characters and their lives. Another thing that I really liked was the strong characterization – the author has taken care to ‘develop’ not only the protagonists, but also the other characters. The protagonists were easy to like.
However, I found the plot to be a little weak as I could practically predict what was going to happen and thus lacked the surprise factor for me. It would make a good movie though.
Rogue Powers was an interesting read. It was not quite what I expected, yet it was an intriguing read. I was fascinated with the idea of only some people having the abilities. I think this would lead to a situation of “power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely” kind of idea. Indeed this does seem to be the case, except that the main characters are of strong moral fiber.
This is a science fiction, fantasy, romance novel. Phil Stern found a way to make the world he writes about come alive in my mind. I was able to see the people and places he talks about. I enjoyed this book, not as much as Witches, but still enjoyed it. It reminded me somewhat of the Eragon book series in setting and tone. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the Eragon series. I give this book 4 out of 5 clouds.
Good plotting, though there are some strange gaps here and there. The vocabulary is good, but with odd misspellings. "Lightening" is a process, usually done with bleach. "Lightning" is a natural electrical phenomenon, which causes bright flashes and loud booms. If the word is used as often as it is in this book, it should be right.
Really enjoyable book, the ending was a bit cut off, and while there was nothing that wasn't covered in the ending, it doens't feel that way, and I wish it was longer, and maybe find out who is Anson's dad, which could've deepened the plot, this was a great book, really enjoyed it!