Review of The Seventh Spark - Knights of the Trinity
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Review of The Seventh Spark - Knights of the Trinity
First, a disclaimer: This is not a review of the entire book - The Seventh Spark – Knights of the Trinity. Rather, it is a review of the first two chapters. J. B. Lion, the book’s author, intended it this way because he aims to “get feedback on the styling, content, and overall appeal” before proceeding with the final edit. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the book (or rather the sample) is riddled with grammatical errors and other mistakes. It is still in its infancy. As such, this review will not be overly critical of the errors. I am only mentioning them as part of the disclaimer. That said, I genuinely believe that authors could better their books by employing Lion’s method: getting real audience feedback before finalizing and publishing their books.
Most religions share this idea: That human beings are God’s favorite creation and have been endowed with free will to make decisions for their lives. This gift (free will) can, therefore, be used either for good or evil. Indeed, Satan and his demons try to manipulate its use for the destruction of mankind. On the other hand, God and his angels try to guide its use to ensure that humanity thrives and survives. Therefore, there is an eternal war (both literally and figuratively) between angels and demons, good and evil. Coincidentally, this is the premise behind The Seventh Spark – Knights of the Trinity. Twelve warriors are chosen from the multitude of angels to protect mankind, each protecting one of the twelve planets. They constitute the Knights of the Everlasting Order. Mankind’s greatest danger is a powerful, secret, evil alliance headed by Drogthal. Acting through Legion (a demon), the alliance kills Artemus (Thorton’s guardian and protector). The Knights must, therefore, convene, honor Artemus, and then face off against Drogthal and his minions. Can they do it? Only time (and J. B. Lion) will tell.
One of the most distinct features of this book is its format. It combines elements from novels, comic books, magazines, and newspapers. Some pages are written in prose; others as comics. Furthermore, copying magazines and newspapers, Lion highlights the punchiest lines from the characters’ dialogues and enlarges them to form extracts within the page or on the next. For example, two of my favorite lines from the book (used as excerpts) are, “The realms of men are about to fall…”, and “Darkness can never triumph over light unless it is allowed to…” While, according to Lion, this makes the book the ‘most immersive reading experience on the planet,’ it makes reading it a little disorienting. For example, I was often confused and disoriented when I got to the comic book parts. Tying those parts to the rest of the book (and even mentally switching to them) was rather difficult. They often felt dissociated from the rest of the book.
Having read the introduction, I am convinced that the book has a powerful, intuitive, and captivating premise. However, the book does not live up to its potential. For one, the prologue is too expository. The author takes too much time, and space, explaining what angels are and how some are chosen for the Knights of the Everlasting Order. Frankly, it feels like an introduction from a history coursebook rather than the prologue from a fantasy novel. Furthermore, the first two chapters spend too much time on the meetings (between the angels and demons) rather than on any interesting action or character introduction and development. Third, in the prologue, we are introduced to Phoebe, who then disappears immediately after stating their name despite being introduced as the narrator. There simply is too much confusion and mark timing in the book.
The reality is that there is, indeed, a story to be told here. However, based on the first two chapters, it is not well-told. However, I would love to read the final version of the book (once it is completely edited) just for the possibility (and pleasure) that I might be proven wrong. At the moment though, I have to rate it 2 out of 5 stars. It might, however, be of interest to fans of graphic novels and fantasy stories.
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The Seventh Spark - Knights of the Trinity
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