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The Illuminators
James' mysteriously out of print first novel... Good luck finding it!
343 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 4, 2014
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9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 7, 2014
If I had to describe this book in one word it would be “enthralling.”
The person in the book that I’m sure every reader will love is the elderly sage, Master Ghanu, who is a richly-written character that actually delivers thought-provoking philosophy and pieces of wisdom all throughout this novel, which were a great pleasure to read.
But, I think what was most fascinating to me was the female character, Anna, and the way the writer dealt with her external and internal struggles both in her relationship with the main character, Henry, and with her philosophical transition from what the novel calls “lucretism” to the teachings of Ghanu.
As far as the pacing of the book, I’d say the first 10-13 chapters (all of which are fairly short), -which is when the characters are all being introduced, are just unique enough to hold the readers attention. You realize virtually instantly that this is going to be a book unlike anything you’ve ever read. Somewhere around chapter 13 it starts to pick up steam with a little bit of action, and by the 20th or so chapter (out of over 70) it became a page turner and I couldn’t put it down.
If I had one critique of the novel, I’d say that the person through whose eyes we see almost everything, Sraosha, isn’t given much of a back-story. It doesn’t take away from the overall merit of the novel, really, but I’m interested to see Sraosha’s development as the series continues.
Overall, this book was a real find, and I highly recommend it!
The person in the book that I’m sure every reader will love is the elderly sage, Master Ghanu, who is a richly-written character that actually delivers thought-provoking philosophy and pieces of wisdom all throughout this novel, which were a great pleasure to read.
But, I think what was most fascinating to me was the female character, Anna, and the way the writer dealt with her external and internal struggles both in her relationship with the main character, Henry, and with her philosophical transition from what the novel calls “lucretism” to the teachings of Ghanu.
As far as the pacing of the book, I’d say the first 10-13 chapters (all of which are fairly short), -which is when the characters are all being introduced, are just unique enough to hold the readers attention. You realize virtually instantly that this is going to be a book unlike anything you’ve ever read. Somewhere around chapter 13 it starts to pick up steam with a little bit of action, and by the 20th or so chapter (out of over 70) it became a page turner and I couldn’t put it down.
If I had one critique of the novel, I’d say that the person through whose eyes we see almost everything, Sraosha, isn’t given much of a back-story. It doesn’t take away from the overall merit of the novel, really, but I’m interested to see Sraosha’s development as the series continues.
Overall, this book was a real find, and I highly recommend it!
May 6, 2015
That was really really really cool book. Recomended !
October 13, 2014
It's Excellent, thank you.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews