Review of Zheng Taishi - War of Two Suns
3 posts
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Zheng Taishi - War of Two Suns" by Shane Hallawa.]
"Zheng Taishi - War of Two Suns" by Shane Hallawa is a science fiction and action thriller set in a world where two big groups that the rest of the world believe are extinct are in a dangerous war that involves, without knowing, a lot of innocent people and the biggest world powers. The story is written as a mix of gritty realism (bombings, federal investigations, and drug cartels) and mysticism (hypnotic stare powers, ancient orders, and meditative combat).
As the main groups we first find, Alexander Gan, the last surviving member of the ancient Buddhist Chanpa order, also known as the Lotus Moon. With the help of his friends, Russ Lovell and Emile Turke, Gan created and manages the Tsuki Kai martial arts dojo in Washington State. The dojo has chosen students to become the new generation of Chanpa warriors, the Taishis. These martial arts investigators seem to operate under a mandate of equanimity and protection.
And on the other hand, we find the Kingdom of the Red Sun, a secret society and global criminal empire that uses both financial corruption and psychological manipulation to control the world. But, as this was not complicated enough, another masked vigilante, the Fire Angel Renata, also gets in their way, another warrior who uses a phoenix-based martial art and who draws a big group of followers nationwide in the U.S. and in Canada because of her ideals of exposing all the secrets from these groups to the world and who holds secrets from both the Taishi’s and the Red Sun and yearns to destroy both.
The author created a very complex world and included a full glossary of characters, main groups, and weapons at the beginning of the story. The author also uses images throughout the story to help readers understand the complex armor or codes explained by the characters, which I find helpful because it is difficult to follow the amount of information about this new world.
Although this story is built in a futuristic universe, I appreciated how the author included modern technologies to let readers relate to the narrative. For example, employed AI to create a tool that may assist a soldier in tracking down devices or locating suspects during a conflict.
This book receives a rating of 4 out of 5 stars because, as I stated before, the author created a complex and incredible world and combined very well futuristic and current technological and criminal descriptions that create a connection to the story. However, I found some confusing details while reading, which made me repeat some parts to understand the story.
First, I am not a fan of presenting such a large amount of details at the beginning of a story. There are many characters, and most of them have deep backgrounds. Trying to understand all that information before the story even began was confusing. And since the information was presented at the beginning, not many details were explained again during the story, so I often got lost. Also, It might have been best to allow the characters to slowly reveal their backgrounds as the story developed. Many of the details in the glossary at the beginning seemed irrelevant once the book was finished.
I would recommend this book for fans of science fiction, action and adventurous thrillers. However, due to the violent scenes and complex espionage and military aspects, it is more suitable for a young adult audience.
******
Zheng Taishi - War of Two Suns
View: on Bookshelves |
"Zheng Taishi - War of Two Suns" by Shane Hallawa is a science fiction and action thriller set in a world where two big groups that the rest of the world believe are extinct are in a dangerous war that involves, without knowing, a lot of innocent people and the biggest world powers. The story is written as a mix of gritty realism (bombings, federal investigations, and drug cartels) and mysticism (hypnotic stare powers, ancient orders, and meditative combat).
As the main groups we first find, Alexander Gan, the last surviving member of the ancient Buddhist Chanpa order, also known as the Lotus Moon. With the help of his friends, Russ Lovell and Emile Turke, Gan created and manages the Tsuki Kai martial arts dojo in Washington State. The dojo has chosen students to become the new generation of Chanpa warriors, the Taishis. These martial arts investigators seem to operate under a mandate of equanimity and protection.
And on the other hand, we find the Kingdom of the Red Sun, a secret society and global criminal empire that uses both financial corruption and psychological manipulation to control the world. But, as this was not complicated enough, another masked vigilante, the Fire Angel Renata, also gets in their way, another warrior who uses a phoenix-based martial art and who draws a big group of followers nationwide in the U.S. and in Canada because of her ideals of exposing all the secrets from these groups to the world and who holds secrets from both the Taishi’s and the Red Sun and yearns to destroy both.
The author created a very complex world and included a full glossary of characters, main groups, and weapons at the beginning of the story. The author also uses images throughout the story to help readers understand the complex armor or codes explained by the characters, which I find helpful because it is difficult to follow the amount of information about this new world.
Although this story is built in a futuristic universe, I appreciated how the author included modern technologies to let readers relate to the narrative. For example, employed AI to create a tool that may assist a soldier in tracking down devices or locating suspects during a conflict.
This book receives a rating of 4 out of 5 stars because, as I stated before, the author created a complex and incredible world and combined very well futuristic and current technological and criminal descriptions that create a connection to the story. However, I found some confusing details while reading, which made me repeat some parts to understand the story.
First, I am not a fan of presenting such a large amount of details at the beginning of a story. There are many characters, and most of them have deep backgrounds. Trying to understand all that information before the story even began was confusing. And since the information was presented at the beginning, not many details were explained again during the story, so I often got lost. Also, It might have been best to allow the characters to slowly reveal their backgrounds as the story developed. Many of the details in the glossary at the beginning seemed irrelevant once the book was finished.
I would recommend this book for fans of science fiction, action and adventurous thrillers. However, due to the violent scenes and complex espionage and military aspects, it is more suitable for a young adult audience.
******
Zheng Taishi - War of Two Suns
View: on Bookshelves |
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