4 out of 4 stars
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Patch Man by author Rick Stepp-Bolling
Patch Man by author Rick Stepp-Bolling is an exciting 400 page Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel consisting of 63 chapters. The story was published by Crimson Cloak Publishing on August 31, 2017. Patch Man is one of three published books by the author.
In the midst of a war between two factions calling themselves Imperiana and Summia, a child of prophecy appears. It has been said that a small child will determine the fate of the two warring groups. This child appeals to an older gentleman, selling magical patches in the ruined streets of Hagra-Dis when she begs him to fix her one-armed doll. She offers him marbles to pay for her doll when all of a sudden an Imperial missile lands and kills the girl. The old man known as Var, unable to handle the girl’s sudden death, uses his abilities to patch her back to life so that they may flee the invading troops. Little does he know that he too has been prophesied about differently and the two together are meant to bring about miraculous changes.
As the two flee, Imperial High Command unleashes a formidable assassin and mystic to chase this Patch Man and the young girl. The two meet different individuals along the way who assist them to evade capture by entering into a labyrinth below their world filled with dangerous monsters and powerful beings. Both parties find themselves in life or death situations after they stumble upon the Greeter, who is a mysterious being that controls entrance to parallel worlds that populate the labyrinth. It is within these worlds, known as domains, that the group discovers clues to end the war with Meesha, as the secret key to ultimate victory and peace.
The main characters of this novel are Meesha and Var with supporting characters Ka, Tennie, Zefa, Kerash, and Ulan. Meesha is a young girl with one arm and incredible powers that she uses to help her friends. She matures some during the novel but maintains the personality of a young naïve child who just wants to play games despite the death and havoc happening around her. Var is known as the Patch Man and has some form of power himself. His wife is Zefa and assists him by making the patches for him to use. The two together can create their magic that can alter death. They lead the group and become parent figures to Meesha. Ka is a hybrid Imperial Flyer. In the book, Flyers are described as, “human in nature with legs, arms, torso, and head of a man, but with feathers on their neck and backs.” They also have a massive set of wings and a high pain tolerance for fighting. Tennie is a young boy they meet while fleeing before entering the tunnels. He becomes like a brother to Meesha and has experience with several of the tunnels in the labyrinth. Kerash is a Lore Mistress and is trained in the lore of the land. She can control her body in ways unimaginable and seeks to aid the group to evade the Imperial Command. Ulan is a hired assassin and former Lore Mistress who aims to stop the group.
I really enjoyed the various characters in this novel and the unending excitement. With every different domain one of the individuals visited, a lesson was learned and there was always some form of action. The author also did a wonderful job in detailing the environment for the various scenes of each domain, the labyrinth, and the world of the Summia and Imperiana people.
A few things I did not like about the book were that there was no table of contents at the beginning which left me to wonder just how many chapters were in the book. I also found a few errors. One being the word faith being capitalized in chapter 1 location 27 of 5394 on Kindle where it should not have been and another being a missing ‘s in the sentence piece, “desperation in Adrian voice and” at location 2916 of 5394 in chapter 30. I also found the cover art slightly misleading and had a difficult time distinguishing whether the author meant for the title to be one word or two as it is in the storyline. Other than those mentioned, there were no other errors or issues I came across while reading the novel and I felt that these did not detract from the story. That being said I feel like a 4 out of 4 stars is a great rating for this novel.
This book would appeal to readers interested in action, adventure, magic, wars, and interesting creatures. Due to the amount of fighting and some gore in this novel, I feel that it would be best for more mature readers. There is also one incident where nudity is mentioned, and sex is hinted at a few times as well that would not be suitable for young readers.
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Patch Man
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