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Children of Na
Existing within dimensional space for a chance to live again, an alien consciousness is reborn into the body of a plantation slave. While trying to escape his Earthly prison, Silas finds himself teleported through time and captured by the Nazis. Only Yakob Alexandrov, a fugitive Russian scientist, stands between the slave and a maniacal SS General bent on using the alien technology to dominate the world.
- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
267 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 9, 2014
2 people are currently reading
2287 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 17, 2014
When I started reading this book, I had low expectations. The previous self-published book that I reviewed wasn’t good and I didn’t enjoy it so I psyched myself to not expect too much from this one. And so I was surprised when I got to the first few chapters. Man, it’s good. Really good.
Children of Na is a combination of fantasy, science and historical fiction, spanning the Civil War era in Georgia and World War II times in Russia and Germany. It was like watching 12 Years a Slave and Enemy at the Gates at the same time. Which is great. I love World War II films. Civil War-themed movies, not so much because it upsets me. But having two of these themes in the book makes it exciting, gripping (really gripping, I tell you), awe-inducing, and well, depressing.
When you combine two very different genres into one book or one movie, it seldom succeeds. Most of the time, it doesn’t blend well. The amazing thing is, this is one of the few times that it does.
Read the rest of the review here.
Children of Na is a combination of fantasy, science and historical fiction, spanning the Civil War era in Georgia and World War II times in Russia and Germany. It was like watching 12 Years a Slave and Enemy at the Gates at the same time. Which is great. I love World War II films. Civil War-themed movies, not so much because it upsets me. But having two of these themes in the book makes it exciting, gripping (really gripping, I tell you), awe-inducing, and well, depressing.
When you combine two very different genres into one book or one movie, it seldom succeeds. Most of the time, it doesn’t blend well. The amazing thing is, this is one of the few times that it does.
Read the rest of the review here.
December 17, 2014
A decently written novel taking you through slavery in various forms and in various time periods. The story has you bouncing around between the mid 1800s and the mid 1900s, but does so effectively, leaving and returning to each on a bit of a cliffhanger to keep his audience captivated.
I felt the imagery was excellent and the characterizations were outstanding, though I'm not sure I was much for the Greek tragedy style of ending. Regardless of that, though, Mr Burgess touches upon some of the worst of human behavior and presents it in a way which is simple enough to understand and believable enough to empathize with the protagonists.
So, if you like a good story--a sort of sci-fi-cum-historical fiction--and don't mind feeling really bad at the end, then this is definitely one for you.
Then again, I didn't like how Hamlet ended either....
I felt the imagery was excellent and the characterizations were outstanding, though I'm not sure I was much for the Greek tragedy style of ending. Regardless of that, though, Mr Burgess touches upon some of the worst of human behavior and presents it in a way which is simple enough to understand and believable enough to empathize with the protagonists.
So, if you like a good story--a sort of sci-fi-cum-historical fiction--and don't mind feeling really bad at the end, then this is definitely one for you.
Then again, I didn't like how Hamlet ended either....
August 10, 2016
In "Children of Na", A. L. Burgess, Jr blends science fiction with history in a very creative way and consequently, creates a story that is both captivating and unique. Although I'm not the biggest fan of science fiction, I would be being disingenuous if I didn't admit that I thought that this book was one of the coolest books I've come across in a long time.
May 11, 2014
Originally posted on LauraofLurking
Strong language: Some
Drugs: None
Violence: Graphic
Sexual content: Negligible
I received a free copy of this novel in return for an unbiased review.
The novel begins with a description of a horrible looking creature, giving the impression it is evil. The it smoothly switches tracks and spends the next few pages explaining how it was genetically engineered by the people of the planet for particular labour, making you feel affection for it as it tries to escape the dying planet and slavery.
The next few chapters confused me a bit as to why they were there. They alternated between World War II Russia and an early 19th century slave plantation in America with nothing seeming amiss in either location, or in any way connected. The locations and characters were superb, it was almost like reading two good historical novels at the same time. The reason for this though didn't begin to materialise until around 20% for me, and not become clear until around 40% which I felt was too slow and partly down to the writing.
On the "artefact" found: one thing I will say is this is what confused me and threw me off the plot I think. It seemed to be very different sizes in the two time zones. I thought it was about man-height, a bit like your local baker who lives off the leftover pastries! It is however, considerably bigger, I would estimate the size of 4 or 5 people stood back to back in a circle.
Later on the story moves into one time zone, but this is where I felt it fell apart a bit. There was far too much focus of battles, especially on the mechanics, leaving emotions to the side (This had been an issue to a certain extent in the early chapters, but was far less noticeable, and therefore stood out less). It became hectic and, instead of being led by the wonderfully filled out characters, it felt more like superficial adventure with some characters seeming to have a personality transplant.
I was disappointed in the author's choice of direction after having had such a unique beginning. It felt like your regular lads action book by the end with disappointing finishes for many of the characters, including a lack of explanation of one main cast member.
There were so many other directions the story could have gone in. Usually I loathe the info-dumps found in novels where the history of a planet, or some other complex system is explained, but the ones in here, despite being several pages each really kept my attention and left me wanting more, wanting to see it. These showed the diamonds the author could produce when they wanted.
Throughout the first part of the novel I was sure I would be giving a 4 at the very least, but having to include all of the novel I can only give a 3
Strong language: Some
Drugs: None
Violence: Graphic
Sexual content: Negligible
I received a free copy of this novel in return for an unbiased review.
The novel begins with a description of a horrible looking creature, giving the impression it is evil. The it smoothly switches tracks and spends the next few pages explaining how it was genetically engineered by the people of the planet for particular labour, making you feel affection for it as it tries to escape the dying planet and slavery.
The next few chapters confused me a bit as to why they were there. They alternated between World War II Russia and an early 19th century slave plantation in America with nothing seeming amiss in either location, or in any way connected. The locations and characters were superb, it was almost like reading two good historical novels at the same time. The reason for this though didn't begin to materialise until around 20% for me, and not become clear until around 40% which I felt was too slow and partly down to the writing.
On the "artefact" found: one thing I will say is this is what confused me and threw me off the plot I think. It seemed to be very different sizes in the two time zones. I thought it was about man-height, a bit like your local baker who lives off the leftover pastries! It is however, considerably bigger, I would estimate the size of 4 or 5 people stood back to back in a circle.
Later on the story moves into one time zone, but this is where I felt it fell apart a bit. There was far too much focus of battles, especially on the mechanics, leaving emotions to the side (This had been an issue to a certain extent in the early chapters, but was far less noticeable, and therefore stood out less). It became hectic and, instead of being led by the wonderfully filled out characters, it felt more like superficial adventure with some characters seeming to have a personality transplant.
I was disappointed in the author's choice of direction after having had such a unique beginning. It felt like your regular lads action book by the end with disappointing finishes for many of the characters, including a lack of explanation of one main cast member.
There were so many other directions the story could have gone in. Usually I loathe the info-dumps found in novels where the history of a planet, or some other complex system is explained, but the ones in here, despite being several pages each really kept my attention and left me wanting more, wanting to see it. These showed the diamonds the author could produce when they wanted.
Throughout the first part of the novel I was sure I would be giving a 4 at the very least, but having to include all of the novel I can only give a 3
June 16, 2014
I was quite wary of Children Of Na at first. Within the first few pages, we jump from an antechamber of a mysterious planet run by a genetically engineered creature, to WWII Russia. From the maps provided before the prologue, it becomes apparent that the story can only get stranger from here.
As other reviewers have mentioned, this is definitely an interesting mix of genres, hopping from science fiction to WWII adventure to pre-Civil War drama and more. While I enjoyed the interplay of the different genres, I felt that this was also a hindrance at times. I found that the WWII sections with Yakob had the strongest and most refined writing, while the Plantation sections felt the weakest and most raw. On their own, each of these storylines could be expanded to a short story or novella that ties into the same plot, but by being put together, there isn’t as much space to focus on the separate threads as individual stories, resulting in an unpolished feel in some parts. The dialogue is also a bit heavy-handed at times, bordering the line between realistic dialogue and caricature dialogue.
Even with these drawbacks (and don’t get the wrong idea, they are quite minor nitpicks of mine), I still enjoyed the overall plot greatly, if not for the interesting concept, then at least for the gutsy decision to try to pull it off (and be mostly successful). The story definitely starts off a bit slow, and because of the hopping around, the pacing also feels a bit off at times, but it definitely picks up in the last two-thirds of the book. I could see some people not liking the book because of what feels like a lack of focus due to the genre-hopping, but I could also see some people really enjoying it the blend of genres. Of all the genre fans, it would most likely appeal to science fiction fans the most, as the other two genres feel more like a result of the plot instead of being plot drivers. While it’s not for everyone, I’d still be likely to recommend it to fans of science fiction.
As other reviewers have mentioned, this is definitely an interesting mix of genres, hopping from science fiction to WWII adventure to pre-Civil War drama and more. While I enjoyed the interplay of the different genres, I felt that this was also a hindrance at times. I found that the WWII sections with Yakob had the strongest and most refined writing, while the Plantation sections felt the weakest and most raw. On their own, each of these storylines could be expanded to a short story or novella that ties into the same plot, but by being put together, there isn’t as much space to focus on the separate threads as individual stories, resulting in an unpolished feel in some parts. The dialogue is also a bit heavy-handed at times, bordering the line between realistic dialogue and caricature dialogue.
Even with these drawbacks (and don’t get the wrong idea, they are quite minor nitpicks of mine), I still enjoyed the overall plot greatly, if not for the interesting concept, then at least for the gutsy decision to try to pull it off (and be mostly successful). The story definitely starts off a bit slow, and because of the hopping around, the pacing also feels a bit off at times, but it definitely picks up in the last two-thirds of the book. I could see some people not liking the book because of what feels like a lack of focus due to the genre-hopping, but I could also see some people really enjoying it the blend of genres. Of all the genre fans, it would most likely appeal to science fiction fans the most, as the other two genres feel more like a result of the plot instead of being plot drivers. While it’s not for everyone, I’d still be likely to recommend it to fans of science fiction.
November 6, 2014
I received a signed copy of this book for free. It seemed like a unique story so I thought I would try it.
I feel that overall, the book was very well written. I didn't particularly relate to any of the characters, but that is not essential to an entertaining story. The book was, for the most part, very engaging and interesting. It started out a little slow for me and got more interesting.
One of the main things that I liked about this book was that it was very unique. I have read a good bit of science fiction and the plot and concepts of this book really stick out. An alien transports his consciousness to an unknown time and location, which ends up being a Plantation on planet earth during the civil war. The plot somehow intertwines with Nazi Germany and a Russian scientist. I could see this book being turned into a movie!
There were some minor things that irritated me slightly.
I have never heard the word "y'all" used to address one individual person. In this book (in the Plantation scenes) it was used to address both one person or many people at once. It was confusing at first - but that was a minor thing, like I said.
There was one chapter which attempted to explain some of the science and theories behind the organic ship which I found very difficult to understand. It almost felt like those scenes in Star Trek where the characters use a lot of fluffy, general, long scientific-sounding words to describe something. I think it could have been put into better layman's terms.
The ending was a little disappointing to me. It was almost as if the author left room for another book (or books) after this one except for the fact that the characters' lives after the book's events were detailed in the last few pages.
Overall, though, the book was well written and memorable.
*I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I feel that overall, the book was very well written. I didn't particularly relate to any of the characters, but that is not essential to an entertaining story. The book was, for the most part, very engaging and interesting. It started out a little slow for me and got more interesting.
One of the main things that I liked about this book was that it was very unique. I have read a good bit of science fiction and the plot and concepts of this book really stick out. An alien transports his consciousness to an unknown time and location, which ends up being a Plantation on planet earth during the civil war. The plot somehow intertwines with Nazi Germany and a Russian scientist. I could see this book being turned into a movie!
There were some minor things that irritated me slightly.
I have never heard the word "y'all" used to address one individual person. In this book (in the Plantation scenes) it was used to address both one person or many people at once. It was confusing at first - but that was a minor thing, like I said.
There was one chapter which attempted to explain some of the science and theories behind the organic ship which I found very difficult to understand. It almost felt like those scenes in Star Trek where the characters use a lot of fluffy, general, long scientific-sounding words to describe something. I think it could have been put into better layman's terms.
The ending was a little disappointing to me. It was almost as if the author left room for another book (or books) after this one except for the fact that the characters' lives after the book's events were detailed in the last few pages.
Overall, though, the book was well written and memorable.
*I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
May 26, 2016
I received this book in the goodreads giveaway.
I'm honestly not sure how I felt about this book. I really liked the beginning of the book but then about halfway through I felt like it just started to kind of drag, took to long to reach the conclusion, and made me start losing interest. It just kind of made me feel like I couldn't wait to get this book over with and not in a good way. I was really disappointed in the ending, it was anti-climatic and went in a direction that I felt didn't really fit the story that well.
Another thing that made this book hard for me to read was the writing style. It was very choppy and non descriptive and I felt like it kept me from really getting into the story and characters. I also felt like this book should have been shorter. A lot of the content felt like it was only there as a filler to make the book longer. It wasn't content that helped progress the plot or characters.
I liked the idea and concept of the story but it could have been done better. So all in all I liked it but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
I'm honestly not sure how I felt about this book. I really liked the beginning of the book but then about halfway through I felt like it just started to kind of drag, took to long to reach the conclusion, and made me start losing interest. It just kind of made me feel like I couldn't wait to get this book over with and not in a good way. I was really disappointed in the ending, it was anti-climatic and went in a direction that I felt didn't really fit the story that well.
Another thing that made this book hard for me to read was the writing style. It was very choppy and non descriptive and I felt like it kept me from really getting into the story and characters. I also felt like this book should have been shorter. A lot of the content felt like it was only there as a filler to make the book longer. It wasn't content that helped progress the plot or characters.
I liked the idea and concept of the story but it could have been done better. So all in all I liked it but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
February 25, 2016
This book was interesting. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was hoping for a bit more Si-Fi than what there was. It ended up being more historical fiction with a touch of alien technology thrown in. I really wanted to know more about the Na and their technology. That's the only reason I'm giving this book 4 stars instead of 5.
Overall, the characters were well developed and unique. I felt they were all good to the story. The world building was very well done. That was one of my favorite parts of this book. And I found it interesting with the changes between slave America and Nazi Germany and how they connected was done well.
I did enjoy this book. It was something different. But like I said, I was hoping for a bit more Si-Fi. I'm not big into historical fiction. That's probably why I didn't get the most out of this book, but it was enjoyable and I would recommend it for someone who wants something a little different to read.
Overall, the characters were well developed and unique. I felt they were all good to the story. The world building was very well done. That was one of my favorite parts of this book. And I found it interesting with the changes between slave America and Nazi Germany and how they connected was done well.
I did enjoy this book. It was something different. But like I said, I was hoping for a bit more Si-Fi. I'm not big into historical fiction. That's probably why I didn't get the most out of this book, but it was enjoyable and I would recommend it for someone who wants something a little different to read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews