Dead Forever: Apotheosis

Title: Dead Forever: Apotheosis
Author: William Campbell
Series: Dead Forever Trilogy (Book Two)
Preceeded By: Dead Forever: Awakening
Succeeded By: Dead Forever: Resonance (coming 2011)

Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite!

Review

The first thing that I want to say about this book is: Read it! Although I didn't give the first book in the series a particularly glowing reference, this book is a great read, and very thought provoking.

But I'll get to that in a moment. For the last book I began with the cover, and I'll start there again. It's a great cover, mainly an wraparound of the world the first part of the book is set on, overlayed with one of the final scenes and an image of the main female character, which ties it in nicely to the previous cover (see image above). This time the cover is more representative of the full story, and works really well.

But even if you don't like the cover, This is a great book to read. It's as entertaining as any good book, but unlike many it tackles some of the deep problems and questions of the world today, in a way that is subtle as you read the book, but makes you think when you put it down. If you are looking for a book that makes you think about the world, then this is a great one to read. I don't want to give anything away, but the theological implications are fascinating.

If you aren't looking for such a book, then don't worry, the book is great entertainment even if you ignore the philosophical ideas it presents. The first part in particular is very cleverly written, and great to read, while the second is full of action and humour. Well, on saying that, the whole thing is full of humour.

This is probably the most indescribably good book that I have read, and the only bits I found annoying were the main character's dreams, which seemed to get more and more confusing as the book progressed. But since there are few of these scenes the good far, far outweighs them.

If I were you, I would hunt a copy of this book down until you find one. Of course, I'm not you, and already have a copy, but I would seriously recommend this book to anyone.


More Information

Main Protagonist(s): 1 male, with other secondary characters (mixed genre)
Main Antagonist(s):  1 male + 1 association
Main Relationships: Heterosexual
Genre: Science Fiction, Bordering on Religous Fantasy...
Amazon Synopsis:

A god? No thanks, too much responsibility. Sequel to Awakening, the adventure continues as our hero travels to the Restricted Zone, where mistakes mount and the mission falls apart. Plunged into an alien world at war, the hero is caught between battling natives who either worship him as a god, or another heretic scheduled to burn alive. The hero struggles to bring peace among chaos but his nemesis has arrived, and he likes playing god, poised to launch unthinkable wrath that fulfills a world-ending prophecy. The natives are confident their savior will prevail, but trouble brews back home: the rebels are under siege, two planets ruined, and the body supply is depleted. More of all the hero is expected to fix while he only longs to be a child again, the one dream denied him for lifetimes. He hatches a daring plot to outsmart the enemy but in doing so risks his own life, in the last body to enjoy as a free soul. A single choice could spell his end, for real this time. Dead forever.


ISBN: 978-0-9717960-5-8
Website: Books Page on Series Website
Amazon Link: Dead Forever: Apotheosis
Pages: 357
First Published: 2010
Publisher: Glyd-Evans Press

The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss, Book One)

Title: The Iron Hunt
Author: Marjorie M. Liu
Series: Hunter Kiss

Succeeded By: Darkness Calls

Ratings
Score: 7/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite

Review 

This book surpassed my expectations. I expected it to be another of the now commonplace vampire novels , with a main female character with some special ability. Now, although we do have that type of protagonist, I was happy to see that the books style was somewhat unique to me. It is important to know that the first chapter is not representative of the whole. It is a somewhat poetic prologue, which sets the rhythm of the plethora of unanswered questions going, while the rest of the novel is closer to standard prose.

The main strength of the novel is it's fast pace, as many questions are answered as not, and there are plenty of plotlines that seem to range from minor to major, although due to some of the twists these minor themes can become major at any time. In addition to this speed, which makes the reader hunger for more, is the characters. While in many other novels, the characters are deliberately left less developed to preserve mystery, here the author manages to make hers more rounded, while revealing almost nothing, this is particularly true of "the boys", which is rather impressive since only one can actually speak. Somehow what we know we don't know about them helps to shape their characters, and I would recommend Reading it for those characters alone.

However, no book is perfect, and this is no exception. The biggest problem I had was that her name, Maxine Kiss, is supposed to be secret. Yet there is no sense of secrecy applied to, even though it seems to be important. There a couple of other small moments like that, where the way Maxine acts or feels seems to defy the narrative, but they are less noticeable. Perhaps this is evidence of characters not behaving the way the author wants them to...

The other possible downside is that the novel didn't have a sense of ending, by which I mean that it feels like the first part of a larger book. The other parts of the trilogy, or at least the next one, would help give a much more solid major story arc to the first book, as we still don't really know the major goal of the protagonist, except try and stay alive as her world gets worse and worse, which is pretty standard anyway. But this can also be seen from a more positive point of view, by considering that it leaves a perfect place, even demand for the next novel, and instead of the traditional single strong sense of "what happens next", it provides a collection of weaker ones.

Is it worth reading? Definitely. It's an interesting concept to read, and the "boys" are excellent characters. Is it worth buying? Well. I can't answer that until I read the next book. It was a good read, but since it's plot depends so much on book two, I personally wouldn't want to buy it until I knew it was going to lead to a great story. If you can get it at a discount, go for it, or if you just want to read about demons that turn into tatoos (which you should, it's brilliant), then buy the book. I sincerely look forwards to Reading the sequel.

More Information
Main Protagonist(s): 1 Female + 5 (male)demons
Main Antagonist(s): 1 Female Demon + ???
Main Relationships: Heterosexual
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Amazon Synopsis:

Nomad born and bred, demon hunter Maxine Kiss has always relied upon herself to fight the darkness that surrounds her, and the predators - human, zombie and otherwise - who threaten the earth. But one man has managed to get through the isolation she uses to protect herself: Grant, the last of his kind. With music he is able to control any living creature ...including demons. And now his life is in danger. Haunted by the past, and determined to change the future, Maxine soon understands that to save Grant, she has only one choice - to lose control, and release her own powers of darkness. 

ISBN: 978-1841498010
Website: http://marjoriemliu.com/index.php?/novels/details/the_iron_hunt/

(Note: This is a really nice website)

Amazon Link: US Site UK Site
Pages: 384
Publisher: Orbit