Review by ThyraYin -- Otherside by Aaron Dennis
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Review by ThyraYin -- Otherside by Aaron Dennis
[Following is a volunteer review of "Otherside" by Aaron Dennis.]
2 out of 4 stars
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The novel Otherside by author Aaron Dennis is about a young man accidentally stumbling into a world of voodoo, strange creatures and different dimensions. His life is completely turned upside down, when he starts to piece together the rules this world obeys to and gets drawn into its fights. The power he gains when he comes into contact with this magic form of voodoo, not only alters his physical abilities, but also changes his mind into one of a warrior, while also allowing him to jump into another dimension. Together with his new companions, who are more experienced in the workings of this world, but at the same time are strangely uninterested, he takes on the role of leading them into battle against a dark force, that threatens his new found reality.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars for the following reasons: The writing style of the book is very advanced and depictive. A lot of the sentences are carefully crafted. The author finds new ways to express a simple chronology of normal events in an absolutely beautiful and creative way.
One problem I have with the book, is that I can't relate to the characters and think their behaviour is quite strange. The other reason I have, for giving only two stars, is that I am not a fan of the condensed writing style, which crams a lot of actions into a few sentences. I especially don’t like that there are a number of pages, where we learn nothing about the characters, just follow the main hero around while he collects pieces of information. For people that enjoy interesting, different and fast progressing stories that are beautifully written, this book might be exactly the right investment. People that are more into character development and growth, might want to look for something else.
In the following I will elaborate on my two main negative aspects. A quit promising idea concerning the magic that’s used in this novel is, that there is a real emphasis on the fact that this magic changes the personality of the main character. However, this is only conveyed through the inner monologue of the character. As we, as the reader, have never come into contact with him prior to the change, it's hard to really feel as if something has changed even though we are told many times. On a logical level, it's easy to grasp, because he's supposed to be a normal person, with normal persons problems before, so we can relate to him and the magic takes all of these problems away from him, while adding different ones to his live. It's relatable, but it's not really conveyed in a way, that I started to care what's happening to the main character.
Moreover, the interactions with other people are kind of strange. Conversations in general are very brief and without much depth, or new information. The way the characters react to new information or other people is relative absurd and not relatable at all. Most of the times it takes only one simple excuse to make the conversation partner accept everything. Even though that might fit to the completely changed, and superhuman personality the main character portraits (and to the general weirdness of all the characters related to the otherside), characters that are supposed to behave normally, because they are just normal people, show equally strange behaviour patterns.
The second issue I have, is the pacing of the story. The fast progression in which the hero runs from one place to another to get pieces of information, strongly reminds me of MMORPG quests series. The pace is too fast, the pieces of information are too tiny and the number of places he runs to and forth in the span of a few hours time is just too high. Also, the dialogue sounds exactly like the dialogue between players and quest NPCs, which adds to the impression, that there is really not much character behind any of the supporting roles. I’m also missing deep and meaningful conversations. Every conversations is just a brief exchange to get a tiny piece of new information. We learn nothing about the characters from them.
******
Otherside
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2 out of 4 stars
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The novel Otherside by author Aaron Dennis is about a young man accidentally stumbling into a world of voodoo, strange creatures and different dimensions. His life is completely turned upside down, when he starts to piece together the rules this world obeys to and gets drawn into its fights. The power he gains when he comes into contact with this magic form of voodoo, not only alters his physical abilities, but also changes his mind into one of a warrior, while also allowing him to jump into another dimension. Together with his new companions, who are more experienced in the workings of this world, but at the same time are strangely uninterested, he takes on the role of leading them into battle against a dark force, that threatens his new found reality.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars for the following reasons: The writing style of the book is very advanced and depictive. A lot of the sentences are carefully crafted. The author finds new ways to express a simple chronology of normal events in an absolutely beautiful and creative way.
One problem I have with the book, is that I can't relate to the characters and think their behaviour is quite strange. The other reason I have, for giving only two stars, is that I am not a fan of the condensed writing style, which crams a lot of actions into a few sentences. I especially don’t like that there are a number of pages, where we learn nothing about the characters, just follow the main hero around while he collects pieces of information. For people that enjoy interesting, different and fast progressing stories that are beautifully written, this book might be exactly the right investment. People that are more into character development and growth, might want to look for something else.
In the following I will elaborate on my two main negative aspects. A quit promising idea concerning the magic that’s used in this novel is, that there is a real emphasis on the fact that this magic changes the personality of the main character. However, this is only conveyed through the inner monologue of the character. As we, as the reader, have never come into contact with him prior to the change, it's hard to really feel as if something has changed even though we are told many times. On a logical level, it's easy to grasp, because he's supposed to be a normal person, with normal persons problems before, so we can relate to him and the magic takes all of these problems away from him, while adding different ones to his live. It's relatable, but it's not really conveyed in a way, that I started to care what's happening to the main character.
Moreover, the interactions with other people are kind of strange. Conversations in general are very brief and without much depth, or new information. The way the characters react to new information or other people is relative absurd and not relatable at all. Most of the times it takes only one simple excuse to make the conversation partner accept everything. Even though that might fit to the completely changed, and superhuman personality the main character portraits (and to the general weirdness of all the characters related to the otherside), characters that are supposed to behave normally, because they are just normal people, show equally strange behaviour patterns.
The second issue I have, is the pacing of the story. The fast progression in which the hero runs from one place to another to get pieces of information, strongly reminds me of MMORPG quests series. The pace is too fast, the pieces of information are too tiny and the number of places he runs to and forth in the span of a few hours time is just too high. Also, the dialogue sounds exactly like the dialogue between players and quest NPCs, which adds to the impression, that there is really not much character behind any of the supporting roles. I’m also missing deep and meaningful conversations. Every conversations is just a brief exchange to get a tiny piece of new information. We learn nothing about the characters from them.
******
Otherside
View: on Bookshelves | on Barnes and Noble | on Smashwords
Like ThyraYin's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Unbalanced by Courtney Shepard
