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Five Spirits Taken
As the fall term begins in a college town in Colorado, friends Mark and Scot find a house to rent just off campus. Their next door neighbour constantly intrigues them. He seems a loner; incredibly fit, and highly intelligent but strangely arrogant and solitary. When Mark’s childhood friend Lisa develops a crush on the mysterious stranger and insists the boys invite him to one of their beer bashes, the unbelievable happens; in the middle of the party the stranger, named Jasmin, is forcibly abducted by aliens. Those in the vicinity are included in the abduction and several people are killed.
Frightened and confused, they soon realise that Jasmin is also an alien (although born on a different planet than their horrific tormentors, the red-eyed Tierens). A prince, Jasmin has been sent to Earth to further study it. The Earth, in fact, is in the middle of an inter-galactic border dispute; the deadly Tierens want possession of the planet for its natural resources, while Jasmin’s Alliance of planets hopes Earth can prosper and eventually become an interstellar force. They are taken to a holding planet called Bron. There, in captivity, they meet Zarrus, an aged and wise former teacher of Jasmin. The small group starts gearing up for their eventual escape while Jasmin is brutally tortured.
With Jasmin acting as teacher (often through his ability to ‘mind meld’) the group learns about the planet they’re on and how they must escape to the north, through uncharted jungle, to the one city where interstellar crafts are moored. A finely tuned escape plan works, and the band wrangles their way out of the terrifying Tieren prison. After a brief stop in the city to find supplies, which turns unexpectedly wrong, the group escapes into an unknown jungle.
Once there, terrors do not end. The jungle is filled with strange and dangerous animals, Tierens are close on their tail, and the humans sense a strange presence following them. Through Jasmin’s ingenuity and the rest of the group’s efforts, Scot remains the crankiest, weakest link, the band continues north deep into the jungle’s heart. Lisa finally falls in love with Mark after recognising her infatuation with Jasmin and Scot’s negative views on life slowly begin to evolve.
They begin to find alarming evidence that the original inhabitants, the Bronans, are not sub-level species the Tierens made them out to be (therefore validating their virtual enslavement of the green skinned creatures). Soon, they find advanced architectural ruins, and even a Bronan book, proving that a vital intelligence once existed. Once the group meets the renegade Bronan natives, they know it’s true, Bronan society, though different and forced into submission, is active and advanced. The Bronans, through a friendship established with Quill, help save Karen and Jasmin from a deathly poison and the weary group finally make their way into the northern city.
Once there, another complex plan is set into action. Every cog works with Scot becoming a reluctant hero, and with Jasmin exacting revenge on the evil Tieren leader Killakakara. They steal an interstellar shuttle and escape. Once safely back on Jasmin’s planet, Zarrus prepares to right the wrongs done to the Bronans, and the students prepare to return home. There is also an unexpected twist to Zarrus and his true identity.
Strengths
1.The plot has focused on entertaining, personal adventure and character interactions and is well structured. A narrative spine of capture and escape is a tried and true recipe.
2.‘Taken’ flows through and from the kidnapping of 5 university students along with a prince from another society. The reader can immediately identify with these characters and the big picture is slowly revealed through their experiences.
3.The main characters have been well positioned with diverse personalities
Frightened and confused, they soon realise that Jasmin is also an alien (although born on a different planet than their horrific tormentors, the red-eyed Tierens). A prince, Jasmin has been sent to Earth to further study it. The Earth, in fact, is in the middle of an inter-galactic border dispute; the deadly Tierens want possession of the planet for its natural resources, while Jasmin’s Alliance of planets hopes Earth can prosper and eventually become an interstellar force. They are taken to a holding planet called Bron. There, in captivity, they meet Zarrus, an aged and wise former teacher of Jasmin. The small group starts gearing up for their eventual escape while Jasmin is brutally tortured.
With Jasmin acting as teacher (often through his ability to ‘mind meld’) the group learns about the planet they’re on and how they must escape to the north, through uncharted jungle, to the one city where interstellar crafts are moored. A finely tuned escape plan works, and the band wrangles their way out of the terrifying Tieren prison. After a brief stop in the city to find supplies, which turns unexpectedly wrong, the group escapes into an unknown jungle.
Once there, terrors do not end. The jungle is filled with strange and dangerous animals, Tierens are close on their tail, and the humans sense a strange presence following them. Through Jasmin’s ingenuity and the rest of the group’s efforts, Scot remains the crankiest, weakest link, the band continues north deep into the jungle’s heart. Lisa finally falls in love with Mark after recognising her infatuation with Jasmin and Scot’s negative views on life slowly begin to evolve.
They begin to find alarming evidence that the original inhabitants, the Bronans, are not sub-level species the Tierens made them out to be (therefore validating their virtual enslavement of the green skinned creatures). Soon, they find advanced architectural ruins, and even a Bronan book, proving that a vital intelligence once existed. Once the group meets the renegade Bronan natives, they know it’s true, Bronan society, though different and forced into submission, is active and advanced. The Bronans, through a friendship established with Quill, help save Karen and Jasmin from a deathly poison and the weary group finally make their way into the northern city.
Once there, another complex plan is set into action. Every cog works with Scot becoming a reluctant hero, and with Jasmin exacting revenge on the evil Tieren leader Killakakara. They steal an interstellar shuttle and escape. Once safely back on Jasmin’s planet, Zarrus prepares to right the wrongs done to the Bronans, and the students prepare to return home. There is also an unexpected twist to Zarrus and his true identity.
Strengths
1.The plot has focused on entertaining, personal adventure and character interactions and is well structured. A narrative spine of capture and escape is a tried and true recipe.
2.‘Taken’ flows through and from the kidnapping of 5 university students along with a prince from another society. The reader can immediately identify with these characters and the big picture is slowly revealed through their experiences.
3.The main characters have been well positioned with diverse personalities
554 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 16, 2014
About the author
Jeff Barnes
50 books6 followersA freelance writer and fifth-generation Nebraskan, Jeff Barnes is a former newspaper reporter and editor, past chairman of the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission, and former marketing director for the Durham Western Heritage Museum. He traveled more than 13,000 miles in researching and photographing Forts of the Northern Plains, his first book.
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