Review of The Temple Of Truth And Lies
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tom mcclung
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Review of The Temple Of Truth And Lies
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Temple Of Truth And Lies" by James Duvall.]
James Duvall has written a work for teens entitled The Temple of Truth and Lies. It is an imaginative book that will appeal to young readers, especially those that have an interest in fantasy and magic. This book has characters like magicians and sorcerers, elves and giants, and plenty of frightening villains. The main characters are a cursed monk, a young elf prince, a wise old elf, and a pyramid that contains both treasure and danger. The plot follows the characters as they attempt to solve the secrets of the pyramid. The characters must manage safely through dangers, predicaments and trials from the opening pages to the end. Their ability to use their arsenal of weapons, knowledge and stealth makes the text a good book to read.
The characters have both a strong psyche and character flaws. There are lessons to be learned from both the wisest and the most naïve. Each challenge is faced and conquered. The untrained learn valuable lessons. What I found to be the most interesting part of the book was the value of the lesson to be learned and if the character was able to learn from the experience.
I did find some of the subplots to be disappointing. The author at times would stop following a group of characters without completing the experience. I dislike that writing style. I expect plots or subplots to reach a natural conclusion. This did not always happen. I came away wondering how that group persevered.
The book lacked professional editing throughout the entire book. It did not appear to be proofread at all. There are misspellings, grammar errors, and an overuse of quotes. There are issues of the wrong homophone being used. These errors really distract from the book. I found them throughout the book and as more were discovered, I began to look for them instead of focusing on the story. Some examples are:
Page 14 – the use of the word “scare” instead of the intended word “scar”
Page 8 – the incorrect use of “laying” instead of “lying”
Page 46 – the use of the word “straights” instead of the intended word “straits” Page 54 – the use of the word “vet” instead of the intended word “vest”
Page 271 – the word to be used was “when” but was spelled “whe” and similarly also on page 271, the word to be used was “not” but was spelled “nt”
The author has also misused quotes. They are used to offset proper names, but the use is not consistent. They are used to identify conversation, but not consistently used to close the conversation. (Page 255 - “The Banshees! “Sea Bones....).
I read the book because it held my interest. The unprofessional editing, however, made it a chore. I can only give it 1 star out of 5 because of the errors. If it had been cleanly edited, I likely would have given it 3 stars, reducing it by one star for not completing the plot of a group. Cleaning up the grammar will make this a much more enjoyable book to read.
******
The Temple Of Truth And Lies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
James Duvall has written a work for teens entitled The Temple of Truth and Lies. It is an imaginative book that will appeal to young readers, especially those that have an interest in fantasy and magic. This book has characters like magicians and sorcerers, elves and giants, and plenty of frightening villains. The main characters are a cursed monk, a young elf prince, a wise old elf, and a pyramid that contains both treasure and danger. The plot follows the characters as they attempt to solve the secrets of the pyramid. The characters must manage safely through dangers, predicaments and trials from the opening pages to the end. Their ability to use their arsenal of weapons, knowledge and stealth makes the text a good book to read.
The characters have both a strong psyche and character flaws. There are lessons to be learned from both the wisest and the most naïve. Each challenge is faced and conquered. The untrained learn valuable lessons. What I found to be the most interesting part of the book was the value of the lesson to be learned and if the character was able to learn from the experience.
I did find some of the subplots to be disappointing. The author at times would stop following a group of characters without completing the experience. I dislike that writing style. I expect plots or subplots to reach a natural conclusion. This did not always happen. I came away wondering how that group persevered.
The book lacked professional editing throughout the entire book. It did not appear to be proofread at all. There are misspellings, grammar errors, and an overuse of quotes. There are issues of the wrong homophone being used. These errors really distract from the book. I found them throughout the book and as more were discovered, I began to look for them instead of focusing on the story. Some examples are:
Page 14 – the use of the word “scare” instead of the intended word “scar”
Page 8 – the incorrect use of “laying” instead of “lying”
Page 46 – the use of the word “straights” instead of the intended word “straits” Page 54 – the use of the word “vet” instead of the intended word “vest”
Page 271 – the word to be used was “when” but was spelled “whe” and similarly also on page 271, the word to be used was “not” but was spelled “nt”
The author has also misused quotes. They are used to offset proper names, but the use is not consistent. They are used to identify conversation, but not consistently used to close the conversation. (Page 255 - “The Banshees! “Sea Bones....).
I read the book because it held my interest. The unprofessional editing, however, made it a chore. I can only give it 1 star out of 5 because of the errors. If it had been cleanly edited, I likely would have given it 3 stars, reducing it by one star for not completing the plot of a group. Cleaning up the grammar will make this a much more enjoyable book to read.
******
The Temple Of Truth And Lies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Niching Up by Chris Dreyer
