2 out of 4 stars
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Ethan Templeton and the All-Seeing EYE: Book of the Present (Trilogy 1) by JulieJoe B. is the unexpected story about a little boy tasked with saving the world. He is a happy, respectful, obedient seven-year-old--the kind of boy any parent would be happy to have as a son. He and his parents Scott and Willa are on their annual visit with Uncle Phil and Auntie Myra in the countryside. Very early on the story takes an unexpected turn. Without including spoilers, Ethan ends up playing a critical role in a war between good and evil. He is tasked with finding good people left in the world and helping them in times of crisis, due to his innocent heart. Ethan's rare combination of remarkable innocence matched with extreme intelligence makes him the perfect candidate to fight evil in the universe.
Fantasy fiction readers may enjoy Ethan Templeton and the All-Seeing EYE: Book of the Present (Trilogy 1). It presents a world in tug-of-war with good and evil, and I found myself rooting for the smart, determined Ethan throughout the story. Ms. B paints him as an innocent yet dogged advocate for the good in the world.
Readers from a Christian background may not like that the book is a construct that mixes some Biblical information with fiction. It is easy to interpret the eye in the floor of the abandoned house as a kind of god that has many powers.
Ethan Templeton and the All-Seeing EYE: Book of the Present (Trilogy 1) has an interesting premise, but the grammatical errors and other editorial oversights are distracting. It is hard to get into the story at first due to the sequential writing style (first this happens, then that happens, then they went here...) In addition, in the Kindle version, all the "Th" words at the beginning of a sentence had the "Th" removed. This requires re-reading of many of the sentences for clarity. There is a lack of tense consistency (Ms. B. switches back and forth from past to present tense, from one sentence to the next) and many run-on sentences.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. The concept is intriguing, but the need for further editing prohibits a higher rating for this novel. What could have been an enjoyable story became an exercise in deciphering a series of events. At times I found the need to suspend disbelief at the dialog chosen for some of the characters. The antagonist Mr. Steins, for example, was at times reduced to a stereotypical villain such as one night see in a comic book. He had lines like, "You cannot change the heart of man; they do not want it! So you see I win!" Although Ethan is written as an intelligent observant boy, he says and does things that a seven-year-old would be unlikely to say and do, regardless of his intelligence.
As this is the first installment of a trilogy, professional editing would increase the success of the remaining two books. Even fantasy fiction requires a level of reality sufficient to draw readers in and keep them there. More believable dialogue and situations, and further editing would yield a higher rating from me.
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Ethan Templeton and the All-Seeing EYE
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