Saturday, September 13, 2014

Book Review: Aegis Rising by S.S. Segran


BLURB

Over a remote northern forest, a small plane carrying five teenage friends flies into a freak storm. Struck by lightning, the aircraft crashes and the passengers find themselves cast into a life-changing adventure.
In a hidden valley, a mysterious people gaze at the stormy sky as a glowing object with fiery wings disappears behind a mountain ridge. The astonishing sight reignites an ancient prophecy foretelling the arrival of five chosen ones destined to become bearers of light against a dark storm gathering on humanity's horizon.
In a distant city, a secretive organization led by a shadowy figure initiates a sequence of cataclysmic events designed to wreak havoc across the planet, beginning with a remote mining site in northern Canada.
As the three worlds collide, unlikely heroes arise. Armed with powers entrusted to them by the ancient prophecy and the resilience of their life-long bond, the five teens take a stand against a malevolent foe.


2 STARS

MY REVIEW

Aegis Rising gets off to a good start with an engaging and interesting prologue, unfortunately the subsequent chapters don't measure up. The story drags a little  in the beginning and the characters seem flat and uninteresting. Try as I might, I never could connect to any of them.

I was halfway through the book and whishing for the end when things finally started to pick up a little. One of the villains (whom I won't name so as to avoid a spoiler) was at least an interesting character although a horrid person. His plotting helped to liven the story up some. I enjoyed the story much more when told from the point of view of the various villains, as they were more engaging and less dull than the heroes.

The highlight of this book are the fight scenes, which are nicely detailed and flow very well. The villagers of Demi Ki are endowed with certain abilities which make them faster, more agile, and more able to complete incredible feats than most people.

When the five outsiders began their training, I was looking forward to seeing how their physical and mental abilities progressed. Sadly, very little time was spent on actually showing the training. Mostly the information was conveyed through the teenagers and the elders talking about it afterward.

The best part of the entire book was the climatic battle scene which seemed to strive to make up for the dullness of most of the rest of the story by being awesome. This battle tempted me to push this to a three star rating, but after considering the book as a whole I couldn't do it.

Though this story did have some good elements, and there may be plenty of people who will enjoy it more than I did, I have no interest in picking up the sequel.

Amazon

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