Review of The Time Stone
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Ezinwa Ihedioha
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- Latest Review: The Time Stone by Jeffrey Estrella
Review of The Time Stone
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Time Stone" by Jeffrey Estrella.]
The time stone by Jeffrey Estrella is a 90 chaptered science fiction novel that talks about the hustles, struggles, and circumstances surrounding an ancient relic created by an ancient civilization, which held great power beyond the capabilities of the modern civilization. The story also centered around a group of four people from different life backgrounds who along the line come together to form a team to fulfill an already prophesied destiny - a destiny that involved preventing the time stone from falling into the wrong hands. During their adventures through space, and past, present, and future times, they learn about each other and more about themselves, grow strong bonds and trust in each other, and form an unstoppable world - saving team.
When I saw the title and summary of the book for the first time, the first thing that came into my mind was 'typical time travel books'. However the growth of the storyline proved me wrong. I like the way the plot gradually built up from the beginning instead of delving straight into the main point of the story. Character build up was also in good shape. The characters, most especially the main ones, were round enough - they actaully had life, problems, flaws, strengths, good background stories, and all these affected them in one way or the other, the way it should be. The detailed descriptions of scenes, scenery, actions, and the literary colouration did well to create vivid pictures in my head while I was reading, making it easy for me to be a part of that world.
Though the descriptions were well, some were tittering at the boarder of excessiveness. These descripions were rather 'cumbersome', especially in cases where it was all packed into one long sentence. Many times, I had to go back and re-read that particular sentence or statement so that I could pick up the main points necessary to form the picures in my head. At the initial chapters, sometimes I lost touch in which character was acting or speaking. Sometimes I got confused as to when one scene ended and when the other began. In those places I feel like a separation by a paragraph will be nice.
Conventionally, stories or novels are written in the past tense. This book is basically in present tense, and I found it is okay to be so. However, I found countless points in the book where present tense form of a verb was interchanged for a past tense - the tenses were mixed up and hence no consistency. Again, in the story, there was more of telling than showing, for example, in chapter ten, page thirty - three: 'There is a sudden attraction between Sylvia and Adam'. It is better to be shown that there was a sudden attraction, than being told. We could be shown this by the characters' interaction with each other, their body language, and so on. In addition, I know that due to circumstances, many technical words were used, but keep in mind that many of the readers will not and do not understand up to half of those words you used. I would avise you to mellow down as much as possible the use of such technical words.
I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I will not rate it higher because there were many mistakes that were overlooked, especially in the aspect of tense mix up. I will also not rate it lower because the issues with the book are not so bad as to discourage one from reading it.
One who is a science movie, book, or comic lover will find delight in the book. Those who are not too much into science, but like fiction, fantasy and action genres, or a combination of any or all of them, will also enjoy the book.
******
The Time Stone
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The time stone by Jeffrey Estrella is a 90 chaptered science fiction novel that talks about the hustles, struggles, and circumstances surrounding an ancient relic created by an ancient civilization, which held great power beyond the capabilities of the modern civilization. The story also centered around a group of four people from different life backgrounds who along the line come together to form a team to fulfill an already prophesied destiny - a destiny that involved preventing the time stone from falling into the wrong hands. During their adventures through space, and past, present, and future times, they learn about each other and more about themselves, grow strong bonds and trust in each other, and form an unstoppable world - saving team.
When I saw the title and summary of the book for the first time, the first thing that came into my mind was 'typical time travel books'. However the growth of the storyline proved me wrong. I like the way the plot gradually built up from the beginning instead of delving straight into the main point of the story. Character build up was also in good shape. The characters, most especially the main ones, were round enough - they actaully had life, problems, flaws, strengths, good background stories, and all these affected them in one way or the other, the way it should be. The detailed descriptions of scenes, scenery, actions, and the literary colouration did well to create vivid pictures in my head while I was reading, making it easy for me to be a part of that world.
Though the descriptions were well, some were tittering at the boarder of excessiveness. These descripions were rather 'cumbersome', especially in cases where it was all packed into one long sentence. Many times, I had to go back and re-read that particular sentence or statement so that I could pick up the main points necessary to form the picures in my head. At the initial chapters, sometimes I lost touch in which character was acting or speaking. Sometimes I got confused as to when one scene ended and when the other began. In those places I feel like a separation by a paragraph will be nice.
Conventionally, stories or novels are written in the past tense. This book is basically in present tense, and I found it is okay to be so. However, I found countless points in the book where present tense form of a verb was interchanged for a past tense - the tenses were mixed up and hence no consistency. Again, in the story, there was more of telling than showing, for example, in chapter ten, page thirty - three: 'There is a sudden attraction between Sylvia and Adam'. It is better to be shown that there was a sudden attraction, than being told. We could be shown this by the characters' interaction with each other, their body language, and so on. In addition, I know that due to circumstances, many technical words were used, but keep in mind that many of the readers will not and do not understand up to half of those words you used. I would avise you to mellow down as much as possible the use of such technical words.
I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I will not rate it higher because there were many mistakes that were overlooked, especially in the aspect of tense mix up. I will also not rate it lower because the issues with the book are not so bad as to discourage one from reading it.
One who is a science movie, book, or comic lover will find delight in the book. Those who are not too much into science, but like fiction, fantasy and action genres, or a combination of any or all of them, will also enjoy the book.
******
The Time Stone
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Time Stone by Jeffrey Estrella
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Soraya Bayah
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- Latest Review: The Lockdown Collection by Barry Jacob
Such a detailed and well-written review. Welcome to the review team, Ezinwa! I thoroughly enjoyed the review and found myself engrossed. I dislike tedious sentences and mixed tenses, but I will surely read this book if these issues are solved. Once again, thank you for the review!
Latest Review: The Lockdown Collection by Barry Jacob
