The Sage Challenger

by Chad Rasmussen

For fans of the Hunger Games and Divergent Series comes a story packed with futuristic extreme sports and edge of your seat action… THE TOUGHEST CHALLENGES BRING THE GREATEST REWARDS. The day Arian Coles stepped into the CUBUS his life would be changed forever. His scores were high enough to thrust him into the world's greatest and most dangerous competition. But this is no game, the winner will become one of ten world leaders—a Sage. According to Sage Law there must always be Ten Sages, but the eldest, Kanja, is dying. He must be replaced. Unable to find a suitable replacement among their own people, the Sages turn to the working class populace and institute the Challenger Competition. Through their love of intelligence, athleticism, technology, and extreme sports they have created The Challenges—ten Challenges in the most dangerous locations on earth. Making friends and foes along the way, Arian must be on his guard at all times. He must decipher his feelings between Maria and Ciana and decide if one is his ally or enemy. At the brink of death, Arian will have to prove if he has the fortitude to make it through unimaginable adversity and be crowned a Sage. But is this the end goal for Arian? He must decide what his true purpose is.

368 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2017

Reviews

[Leanne Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a promising write up I love a good dystopian read, for me, the challenges were inventive in parts, a bit long winded almost saga like in others to downright silly. The main character is sadly missing something maybe the lack of backstory & lack of personality didn't have me cheering him on the other reason was the dialogue it is horrid!!! Like listening to chavs at the back of the bus all this 'epic' 'Bro' 'coolish' even the very high up Sages talk like them (which made NO sense to me since they were all Oro's & supposedly 'posh') it really grated on me big time, so while I tried to get into any character it was thwarted by the common & very repetitive conversations had throughout the book which is a shame because if the author had help from another author familiar with this genre maybe this could have been a much better book with feeling, thought & some heart. At it's best the challenges were good not bog standard like others I've read but very let down by lack of characterization & backstory it did, however, roll at an easy quick pace I finished in 3 days. Won't read more if this becomes a series the chav chat is too much for me. :) Author did run out of ideas for the challenges I mean really football on water???!?!?!?! He could have easily cut down on the number & pacing of challenges rather than go from one directly to another what is our main character a terminator??! Don't push the imagination to believe the human body can recover in ANY time setting as quickly as this one did after a medical IV & a nap not believable at all.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done

This is a story is a combination about challenging the status quo and self discovery. Arian, the hero of the story, challenges the ruling class. This is something that is allowed, by law, but has never successfully been accomplished. During this trial, Arian makes some very good friends and discovers much about himself in the process.

I found this book to be well written. The story was engaging and I had troubles putting it down. I look forward to whatever the future holds for Arian and friends.

[Robbie Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

How’d you like this book, bro?

It was bloody awful. I think I should quit, I really need to quit, I’m gonna quit, here it comes.
What? I shouldn’t quit? Okay, everything is fine now. But wait I don’t want my friends to get hurt if I don’t quit. I’m gonna quit. But wait, I can’t quit, I am their only hope. I’m gonna quit. Here I go, I’m gonna say it. Nevermind, I can make it.

If this annoys you, don’t read this book!

[Shelfish Twitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this had a good premise.... overall, it was good. The dialogue stuff got to me as there wasn't much difference between the characters. And some of it felt forced or over-explained.
Also, the characters needed more.... more depth, characterisation, and back story.
However, despite these things - I really did enjoy it. I think if this book had a different editor on it who could catch those anomalies - it could be even stronger.

[Lois Low · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I'm not one to write book reviews, but WOW this was a great read. This story hooked me right from the start. An engaging story with well-developed characters, action, survival, romance; which kept me interested to the very last page. I loved the author's writing style and anxiously look forward to a sequel. This book was totally worth my money.

[Brenda C. Crook · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Challenger

What a wonderful story! There is non-stop action throughout which kept me engrossed until the end. I expect that there will be a follow -up to continue the story. Great job!

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok for me. The story was interesting, but the challenges got tedious. Too many, too similar. The dialogue was hard to swallow.

[Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a bad plot

But not really great. Read like a book that needed 10 more rounds of edits. Sorry, I’m usually not so harsh but this was pretty bad.

[Cora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly fast paced, Dystopian society feel like The Giver, challenges like The Hunger Games. Would probably read again