2 out of 4 stars
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Aluria is a fantasy novel written by Tyler Cook. The book follows Jason Conner, the heir to the Conner business empire. After being possessed by a benevolent spirit named Aluria, he develops supernatural capabilities and saves his girlfriend, Tessa, from an evil sorcerer named Raiz. Ten years later, Jason returns to his hometown, Canton, and assumes his rightful position as heir to his family’s corporation. Assisted by the spirit who possesses him, Jason also develops a secret identity as a crime-fighting vigilante. Fate reunites Tessa with Jason, but their happiness is short-lived when the power-hungry sorcerer, Raiz, returns to Canton. However, things are not always what they seem. Why is Raiz targeting Tessa? Is Raiz someone from Jason’s past? More importantly, will Jason and Aluria be able to save Tessa once again from this terrible evil?
In my opinion, Aluria is a comic book written as a novel. The story includes a superhero, a villain and a damsel in distress. As with most comic book storylines which revolve around such themes, the superhero must save the damsel from an evil villain. Although some parts of the book were predictable, I liked the simplicity of the story. The plot was straightforward and easy to understand. The role and personality of each character were also very distinct from each other. I also liked the few small surprises that made the book different from a typical superhero story such as Tessa’s identity as a European princess.
There were a few things I did not like about the book. Firstly, the settings are confusing. Canton is a modern city teeming with technology, while Blaton is portrayed as a small medieval kingdom. While both places are located close to each other, no magic or supernatural phenomena is described in Canton besides the spirit, Aluria. Ordinary characters in Canton, such as Jason’s housekeeper, have a hard time believing Jason’s supernatural encounter. Contrary to this, the entire kingdom in Blaton eagerly awaits the reawakening of the Oracle, a supernatural source of power which has been serving the monarchy for centuries. These two places seem to be located in totally different eras, which is confusing because the story takes place without any description of time travel.
Secondly, I disliked the sparse descriptions in the book. I think that the book lacked adequate descriptions of places and people. There was a lot of dialogue in the book, but I was unable to get details of the landscapes. Some of the character descriptions were also quite vague, for example, Tessa was described as simply having white skin and teeth. She is described as beautiful on several occasions but the author failed to describe her beauty. She is supposed to be a princess in the story so I was expecting more descriptions of her grandeur and attractiveness. I also found the villain’s descriptions were lacking. He is simply written as ‘evil’ and ‘dark.’
Thirdly, the villain’s backstory is not convincing. The evil sorcerer reveals that he first pursued a life of darkness to save a loved one, but when he accomplishes this, he continues to lead this lifestyle simply because he suddenly became obsessed with power. A villain’s backstory usually gives them a strong purpose to carry out their evil actions. I felt like the author failed to give this character the depth he needed.
The rating I would give this book is 2 out of 4 stars. Not only did I find the settings, descriptions and the villain's backstory inadequate, but I also noticed many errors. Words were jumbled on two pages, there were three spelling errors, and a few prepositions were missing which made certain sentences ambiguous. Despite my qualms about the book, I think that teenage readers would enjoy this book. Comic book fans and superhero enthusiasts will also find this book enjoyable.
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Aluria
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