Author: R.B. Holbrook
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Got it from: the author
Why I read it: received a review copy
Grade: A+
Synopsis:
The Structure is a secret civilization made up of seven houses that chase after enlightenment by attempting to understand the nature of energy.The structure of the Houses that insists upon learning and growing together is collapsing. In its place begins the seeds of infighting. Soon, without their notice, the people of the Houses begin losing their special powers.The Oracle, the leader of the Structure, hates to see what has become of her people. But she's dying and can do little to help them. Now, as the Structure begins tipping deeper into darkness, a new leader is needed to prevent conflict among the houses from escalating into an all-out war.Ollie could be the key to finding the next leader, but she has her family to think of and a life to live. Getting involved in a violent conflict is the last thing she wants to do, and so she must remain unnoticed.As power hungry factions hunt for Ollie, however, she has no choice but to get involved. She'll do whatever's necessary to protect her loved ones. My review:
This book started off a little rough for me. I felt like I was dropped into a world where I had no idea what was going on, what the rules were, who all these characters were--and this all after reading the glossary in the beginning. But the more I read, the more I realized that was the coolest part of the book. As you read, the story starts to become clearer, and layer upon layer peels off, until you begin to understand more of what's going on. And even though I still didn't know everything that was going on, I knew enough to know that it was awesome! Normally I don't think I'd like that kind of book, but in Oracle's Legacy it really works.The writing style is reminiscent of the Black Dagger Brotherhood novels. Lots of alpha males, but the bonus in this book is that there is also a kick-butt heroine in Ollie. In fact, she steals the show. It's obvious that this is a first novel. It could have used some tighter editing, but when a first novel is this good, it makes me really excited to read more books by this author. Lucky for me, I have a review copy of the second novel in the trilogy waiting for me. Yay!
The world is incredible and extremely well thought out. At first I thought there were way too many characters, but as the story progresses, the focus moves to a handful of main characters, and the others fade into the background a bit. In an interview on the author's website, she talks about growing up reading Marvel comics, and then the ideas for the Oracle's Legacy trilogy grew from there and the "what ifs" in her head. As a huge fan of Marvel and superheroes, I'm loving these characters and the cool powers they have.
I would definitely recommend this one, and it's at Amazon right now for a steal! It's also available FREE in ebook format here. Read it! An A+ rating is rare from me, only 24 of the last 700 books I've read have gotten it. A review of the next book in the series will be coming shortly--I'm going to start it now.
4 comments:
I just finished the first book. It was a complex novel. i will post my review shortly.
Wow -- an A+ book, can't get much better than that. My daughter recently enjoyed a young adult sci fi fantasy book -- The Graceling. Maybe you have already heard of it.
Kim, I've got that one checked out from the library. It's on my big stack of books to read.
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