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This is the story of Lance, a childish 21-year-old boy, who stumbles upon a mysterious stone in a mystical shop, not knowing that it would be the beginning of his adventure. When Sceldrant’s Comet passes by, the rock glows bright and transports him and his friend Ashton to an unknown land filled with terror and magic, unseen by any human from Earth. To uncover information on how to get home and where in the world they are at, Lance and Ashton must travel with foreigners to get to Surpreon City, where a hope for knowledge awaits them. Along the way they encounter dangers such as unfriendly beasts known as Scoldrants, blistering deserts, dense forests, and some vicious warriors that do not go easy on the new travellers. However, their journey doesn’t end when they get to Surpreon City and the adventure that awaits them is far greater than the one they thought their journey to Surpreon City was. A journey of unexplored territory, tournaments, rostical (magical) glyphs and much more!
The thing I disliked about this book was the format. Composed primarily with dialogue as well as asterisks that sandwich actions or descriptions of settings and characters, it was hard to invest into the story in the beginning. However, that soon went away when I got accustomed to the author’s writing form and instead focused on the plot at hand. I was more annoyed every time Lance said “whateva”. It was too repetitive and made him seem really immature for a 21 year old. I wasn’t really a big fan of Lance anyways, though. He was too rude, whiny, and the only character that I felt was hard to appreciate. Not exactly the kind of characteristics you want in a main character. It almost made me want to stop reading after awhile, but I neglected it because the other characters redeemed his child-like attitude. He was also dramatic which I do not know if that comes from the influence of manga or if it is just the way the author wanted it. I might not have minded it if his character showed growth, but I felt like his insolence was constant throughout the book with minor improvement towards the end. There were some grammatical errors and misspelled words, which should be fixed, but nothing that at all distracted me from the thrill of the story. What the author lacks in writing skills, though, he makes up for in creativity.
I loved the storyline. It really was like reading a book about a video game. To me it felt almost like a script for an anime show, but maybe not as dramatic. It was unlike anything I have ever read before, so that was a nice change. The excitement was usually constant and the action and suspense rippled throughout the story. I found myself smiling at certain parts and get chills at others. Once you get accommodated to the format, it becomes difficult to stop reading. There were also some twists that I enjoyed and it was more than just another simple story. Besides Lance, the characters were actually really enjoyable and had a crucial balance to Lance’s childish attitude. Overall, I loved it and thought it was worth reading.
I give it a 3 out of 4 stars and would easily recommend it to anyone who loves a good story about magical lands and warriors. I didn’t give it a 4 because I think the author can improve the misspelled words and could easily develop Lance’s character a bit or avoid repetitions like folding his arms and pouting every time someone confronted him about his attitude. However, these may be things that the author expands on in his later books. I didn’t give it a 2 because Michael Rogers is an outstanding visionary for the fictional world he came up with and deserves to have his work read. Also, because of the great cliffhanger, I would definitely be open to reading sequels to this story. I highly recommend it for people who enjoy an original fantasy story or who love video games.
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