2 out of 4 stars
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Kasen lives in the Slum District of Evenrise, a city consisting solely of Apparitions (those humans with special powers meant to protect and govern). He isn't happy with the current state of society, as it's divided into classes where the less fortunate are, at best, forgotten. He is a thief, stealing from those that are slightly more fortunate than him in order to please Chantel, his boss. He and his friend Vonnie resolve to change the order of society.
Meanwhile, there is a faction of Feral (leftovers from an army of darkness) that would like to see the downfall of Evenrise. They want to be rulers and will stop at nothing to gain the power they seek. With all of Evenrise divided already, will anyone be able to stand against them?
Forever Will End: The Gospel of Chaos Series - Book One by Dom Brandt is a science fiction novel of around 200 pages. The chapters aren't long, and the book can be read in a rather short amount of time. There is violence and language; along with the dark themes present in the plot, I wouldn't recommend this story to young adults.
On the positive side of things, the book was full of action, and I had no trouble finishing it. There's plenty of fighting to keep wandering minds engaged. Also, the author introduces us to unique concepts like Apparitions and Ferals, which helped to capture my interest.
Though I believe the book has plenty of potential, there are drawbacks that distracted from the book's possibilities. The first of which was the odd characters, one of whom was obsessed with playing hide and seek. I wondered if the author was trying to insert some levity into a serious novel; however, it didn't work because I didn't understand why she was that way. The people needed more background or more explanation and detail of their motivations. Without this, I couldn't relate to them.
In addition, the book was less suspenseful than it should have been. Mr. Brandt dropped hints throughout the novel about what was to come. These were not obscure moments of foreshadowing but rather statements of what was to come. For example, in discussing a couple of the main characters, the narrator says that "they were to one day face, and ultimately destroy, Evil."
Furthermore, there were holes in the plot. It's implied that specific individuals knew each other. Sadly, though, we never learn how that is. It was irksome and distracting. Since this is a book one, it can't be that these details are given in an earlier novel. Perhaps, the author plans to expound on the relationships later, but there were scenes that didn't make sense because we didn't know how the characters related.
Lastly, the book isn't professionally edited. I found the first ten errors quite quickly. It was mostly missing or extra punctuation, missing words, and misspelled character names. Moreso, the author waffled between past and present tense, seeming to be unsure of which he wanted to use.
I liked the thought of this story, but it needs rewriting before it's truly great. Therefore, I give Forever Will End: The Gospel of Chaos Series 2 out of 4 stars. I recommend it for anyone that likes action (and violence) oriented science fiction novels that can overlook errors and missing pieces. The good news is that, though this is the first in a series, the significant points are wrapped up without too much of a cliffhanger. Still, there is obviously more to come. As is, however, I doubt I'll pick up the next book.
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Forever Will End: Gospel of Chaos Book One
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