2 out of 4 stars
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In the midst of a paleontology dig in Bolivia, South America, the crew discovers something remarkable. Something that could potentially answer the ultimate question – were humans alive when dinosaurs were?
Just as quickly, the reader is transported back in time and gets to know young Rogaan, who is excited for his first Hunt. He wants nothing more than to prove he can be part of the Kiuri-Ner, a protector of the outer walls and road ways. In this Hunt, he might be able to do so. However, when battling enormous creatures and learning about a government take over, Rogaan realizes that life as he once knew has been completely turned upside down. Come follow Rogaan as he tries to grasp what his world is really like in B.A. Vonsik’s Primeval Origins.
Let’s start with the description of the book, which was somewhat misleading. Perhaps the author intends to further explain the origin story of mankind, but this is not the sense I got from this read. The society in which most of the book takes place seems like a fairly developed one that has been around for years. There are leaders, laws, and ways to train the younger generation. Yes, there is mention of big, wild creatures that the reader can assume are dinosaurs, but it was just a few scenes while the majority of the book is Rogaan and others running from place to place.
Written in the third-person narrative, the reader is given an inside look into Rogaan’s mind. He is a likable and relatable character, who shows some growth by the end of the book; this I really appreciated. Unfortunately, most of the secondary characters didn’t stand out. I could easily remember certain characters for the roles they played throughout the novel, but some simply blended with one another. It did not help that the author choose a large number of complex names. For example, Tusaa’Ner, Anubda’Ner, Anubda’Za, Zagdu-i-Kuzu, and more were used. To add to the confusion, uncommonly-named animals, such as, niisku, tanniyn, featherwings, leapers, and others were also included. Most times, the author did give a short description for these people and animals, but there were so many, it was quite challenging to keep up.
I found the scenes where Rogaan and others were confronting the enormous, dangerous creatures the most entertaining. Within these scenes, the author gives his audience a taste of what it could have been like if humans and dinosaurs coexisted. These scenes, though, were few and far between.
The writing style and plot flow could been improved. Within the text, the author told his scenes, rather than showed them. Every feeling was stated, every thought was said, and every inference was told. Showing, not telling doesn’t mean the book needs to remain a mystery for the reader, but perhaps if the focus of complexity was done in the showing aspect rather than producing an overwhelming amount of uncommon words, then this would have been a more thought-provoking story. Due to this style, the plot did not flow very well. There were several overly-described scenes. It became really frustrating when scenes that should have had the adrenaline going were bogged down with too many details. This led to some choppiness and disruption while reading.
Lastly, there were several errors throughout. Apostrophes in odd places, words with extra spaces in between them, run-on sentences, and inconsistent hyphen usage were found. One of example of inconsistent hyphen usage would be in the following phrases: “black cloaked rider”, “black-cloaked rider”, and “black- cloaked rider”. These phrases were used within a couple of pages of each other. Errors, of course, can interrupt the flow and this book was no exception.
After much consideration, I give Primeval Origins a 2 out of 4 stars. For those who enjoy low fantasy books and don’t mind the usage of uncommon names, you might find some enjoyment here. For those who would like more fantasy, less character confusion, and more of an origin story, you might want to pass on this one.
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Primeval Origins
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