REVIEW: The Age of Ra by James Lovegrove

The Age of Ra

by James Lovegrove

Synopsis from Amazon:

An alternate history of the world where the Egyptian gods have defeated all others and have carved up the planet between themselves. Only a band of Freedom Fighters and their enigmatic leader can free the Earth from their divine tyranny.

Review:

So, first off... tell me what you think when you look at that cover... no, really, stop and think about it?

What do I think? Kurt Russell, James Spader... Stargate... yes. There I said it. Stargate. 

That aside, I'm not sure how I feel about this book. Due to my own confusion over how to feel, I went out and read several other reviews... some of which loved the book, and some of which hated it... and here's what it boils down to for me: I agree more with the folks who didn't exactly enjoy it.

I think this review by Nathan Brazil over at The SF Site really sums it up... the book just did not reach its full potential. Any veteran Science Fiction reader should have been able to see the plot twists coming from a mile away... and the things I *hoped* would happen to add variety and originality to said twists did not... instead they followed a very cookie-cutter path.

There was so much potential in the character of David Westwynter, and how he could have interacted with not only other main characters, but with the gods themselves... but it just felt like none of that was really explored. When he did interact with the gods, it left me wanting more... a lot more, and a lot more explanation as well... and when he interacted with the other human characters... well... it left a lot to be desired. Other than knowing that he's a "Generally good guy who doesn't like deep emotions"... well, David didn't strike me as much of anything special. By the time we reached the end of the book, I barely cared what happened to the humans in the story anymore.

The gods were a lot more interesting to me, but mostly because I enjoy reading the tales of different mythologies... and this was no exception when it came to filling you in on a bit of the Egyptian Gods history with one another. I was disappointed though, by who the "Big Bad" turned out to be. This is probably a bit of a spoiler (this next sentence)... but yeah, if you know anything about Egyptian Mythology... and who their prime betrayer often is... well... it's not much of a shocker. It's kind of like any story about Norse Mythology... you can pretty much expect Loki to be in there, causing major trouble somehow.

The most interesting part of the book to me, sadly, was the very end when there is a meeting between a human and a god (unknown to the human)... but by that point, I found I just didn't care that much anymore... plus, as far as I can tell, "The Age of" god series that Lovegrove has going is just filled with one-offs that are bound together by theme only... so why should I care about the end of the book or what happens to the character? I don't... and it's sad.

I'm still going to read the second book, and hope for something better, since I've heard good things about Lovegrove... because I'm not going to lie, I really want to get to the third book in the series (The Age of Odin)... and I hate reading things out of order... even if it's just the order they were written in.

In Conclusion:

I don't think I'd recommend this book... perhaps if the second book is excellent, I'll still recommend the series and just tell people to skip the first book... but I just felt like I learned very little about the characters. Their motivations all felt superficial, or totally dictated by their nature... and when it comes to "The Ancient Gods have returned" type books, I've read better.

Shadow of the Serpent: Kane Chronicles

The Serpent's Shadow

by Rick Riordan

Synopsis:
(from Amazon):

He's b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sadie Kane can't seem to keep Apophis, the chaos snake, down. Now Apophis is threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and the Kanes are faced with the impossible task of having to destroy him once and for all. Unfortunately, the magicians of the House of Life are on the brink of civil war, the gods are divided, and the young initiates of Brooklyn House stand almost alone against the forces of chaos. The Kanes' only hope is an ancient spell that might turn the serpent's own shadow into a weapon, but the magic has been lost for a millennia. To find the answer they need, the Kanes must rely on the murderous ghost of a powerful magician who might be able to lead them to the serpent's shadow . . . or might lead them to their deaths in the depths of the underworld.

Nothing less than the mortal world is at stake when the Kane family fulfills its destiny in this thrilling conclusion to the Kane Chronicles.

Characters:
Sadie: The spunky, attitude-filled little sister has softened some from the beginning of this series... we find her in love and with more obvious affection towards her brother... she has become quite the likable character... not that she wasn't before, but now we see more of her loyalty shining through. She's not just an angry kid anymore.
Carter: Carter has really matured over this series, to the point where even his sister begrudgingly admits that he's quite the leader figure. He's a likable character, although I find him most interesting when he's hemming and hawing over teenage boy issues (aka, girls).
Walt: Sadie's love interest is as mysterious as ever, you know that Walt is a man with a plan through most of the book, and it's not that hard to guess what it might be, but you still wonder at the logistics of it.

Anubis: Sadie's other love interest, the poor girl... how does one choose between hot mortal guy and hot god guy?
Zia: Still coming to terms with the fact that another version of herself met and fell in love with Carter, Zia is also kind of losing her mind in this book. She's given the job of caring for the aged form of Ra, and it's having quite the effect on her.

Amos: Now Chief Lector, Amos is dealing with trying to keep a lot of very  nervous magicians under control, while still fighting off Apophis and his underlings. Due to events in previous books (aka, being possessed by Set), Amos is not the most trusted person around.

Setne: The guy you love to hate... he's bound to help Sadie and Carter, but he's tricksy, and causes them no end of trouble.

Everyone Else: To not at least mention other characters like Jet, Felix, Freak and Bes... would be criminal. These books are filled to the brim with an enjoyable supporting cast.

 
Writing:

As per usual, Rick Riordan is a master. These books go by waaaay too quickly.

Ending:
A wonderful ending in which you see satisfying conclusions to quite a few of the story archs that have been present through the series. Not only that, but there's quite the hint that this is not the last we'll see of the Carter siblings when it comes to Rick Riordan books. It looks like he's building up to something quite epic.

Plot:

This is a plot that's been building up through two other books. It concludes quite a few of the mysteries that were left hanging, and promises more. 

Believability of World:
I believe I've said it before, but I love that these books are set in "our" world, just kind of behind the scenes.


Overall Grade: A