Author: Jason D. Marrow
Series: The Marenon Chronicles (book 1)
Release Date: 11 November 2011
ASIN: B0065WDQ2G
Synopsis
Prophecies are not always clear. That is what seventeen-year-old Silas Ainsley learns when he finds himself in a realm called Marenon.
The people of Marenon are nearing the brink of war and many of them claim that Silas is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. Each group wants to use him for their own purposes, and he doesn't know who is trustworthy. With the help of a lawless band of mercenaries, Silas must journey to uncover the meaning of the prophecy before Marenon falls to ruin.
The only way to get to Marenon is to die, and Silas has just arrived.
My Review
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this book sounded like something I would love, magic, prophecy, quests, that sort of thing so I was eager to accept when offered a chance to read it. I recieved an e-copy of it and so for a start it sat on my computer for a while, I am really slow reading e-books as I have to do it on my laptop, which doesn't leave me much time and also I find it gives me headaches. So firstly I will apologise to the author for taking so ridiculously long to read it.
I'm going to make a note here, this obviously wouldn't be the case if you bought the book so I'll try not to let it affect the overall rating, but for me it is a big factor as to why I struggled with reading this one- On Goodreads, it states that the book is over 300 pages, however my copy was only 141 pages and that's because all the page margins had been erased and each page was bursting with writing. It literally went right up to the top and bottom of each page, no gap and I found it very hard on my eyes. As I say, proper bought versions of this book wouldn't look like that so I can't really count it against it, but for me, it really did my head in. Am I just being picky here? I don't know.
The book leaps straight into the action, an intense car chase, monsters and a mystery. I was instantly pulled into the story, although did have to re-read bits as I wasn't quite sure what was happening. Silas and his Grandad are being chased and they are trying to save something,then everything goes wrong. Silas ends up in Marenon, but the only way to get there is to die. Confused with thoughts of death, pain, loss and wondering where he now is, Silas must accept some pretty strange events.
I didn't actually realise that Silas was 17, as it had been a while since I read the synopsis I was shocked when I looked at it again just now, he acts more like a 14/15 year old. It doesn't make that much difference, it's just what I pictured. He is quite strong and independant though and knows what he wants which I like in a character, he also has a good sense of right and wrong.
To be honest this book has me on the fence, as I said it is the sort of thing that I should love but I struggled to get into it and found I didn't really care about the characters that much. However everytime I left the book/turned my computer off I found my mind straying back to the story wondering what would happen. So it obviously did make an impression on me but I still don't feel like I was hooked, just intrigued.
There were quite a few sub-plots going on and a large mix of characters, I can't remember all of them and I was occassionally confused as to who was who, then there were others who featured quite a bit near the beginning that I expected to pop back up later but they never appeared again which left me wondering what had happened to them. Maybe they will reappear in the next book. There is also a lot of back-stabbing/betrayal and I quite enjoyed trying to figure out who was on which side. My guessed were usually right, but I'm still torn with a couple of them.
I know this is a jumbled review, but I would say the book is worth a read, it's just something didn't click with me, it might be the spacing issue I mentioned that threw me, but I just felt like I was gliding over the pages instead of diving into them. The book doesn't come to a proper closure, it's obviously been left open for the next book and I would like to know what Jullian, Kaden and Silas will do next, but I will have to wait to see if it comes out in paper version I think.
So overall, I'm not really sure what to say about it, a good plot idea and storyline, the basics were all there for a really good book, but something didn't click with me. But give it a go, you never know, you might love it.
My Rating
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