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A review by katsbookishthoughts
Earthlings - The Beginning by Ray Star
4.0
I have to say, this book was stunning from the moment I opened the package. I loved the touch of the bookmark and the wrapping: the seal made it seem like I was receiving a special gift.
Onto the story. I realised quickly after beginning this that it was going to have to work hard to really impress me due to the fact it is written in the first person and I find that I don’t enjoy this kind of writing as much as I do third person stories. Having said this, with a good author I can still enjoy stories written in this style. The type is a nice size, not being too small and the first few chapters do pull my interest. I enjoyed the way the prologue was tied into the first chapter. Very clever way of pulling two distinct parts of the story together. The way the dream element is woven through the story is also clever.
I surprised myself by enjoying a lot of the story, especially the thoughts of the protagonist and the telling of the general happenings, many elements reminded me of The Lord of the Rings. I found I had more and more problems swallowing the anthropomorphism the further I got into the story though: I could see some elements of this being possible but all of them? No. I did like the way the camps seem to have been based upon concentration camps in some respects though and the way the use of magick brought understanding and similarities to the Witch trials. I can believe that humans would do this kind of thing to each other. The references to The Resistance reminded me of Nazi Germany as well.
As I enjoy reading fantasy I loved the elements of magick scattered throughout the story and this helped make up for the elements that I found myself disbelieving. All in all this was a complex story that had much to enjoy and left many questions I am sure will be answered in the following books. I might read on and I might reread: far more likely that I will given the ending: it’s almost worth reading for that alone! I need to know what happens, I need to know more about these ancestors: well played, Ray Star. As well as the questions I need to get answered, this story left me with the contented feeling that spending a decent length of time reading a good story does. All of the above means t this story earns four stars
Onto the story. I realised quickly after beginning this that it was going to have to work hard to really impress me due to the fact it is written in the first person and I find that I don’t enjoy this kind of writing as much as I do third person stories. Having said this, with a good author I can still enjoy stories written in this style. The type is a nice size, not being too small and the first few chapters do pull my interest. I enjoyed the way the prologue was tied into the first chapter. Very clever way of pulling two distinct parts of the story together. The way the dream element is woven through the story is also clever.
I surprised myself by enjoying a lot of the story, especially the thoughts of the protagonist and the telling of the general happenings, many elements reminded me of The Lord of the Rings. I found I had more and more problems swallowing the anthropomorphism the further I got into the story though: I could see some elements of this being possible but all of them? No. I did like the way the camps seem to have been based upon concentration camps in some respects though and the way the use of magick brought understanding and similarities to the Witch trials. I can believe that humans would do this kind of thing to each other. The references to The Resistance reminded me of Nazi Germany as well.
As I enjoy reading fantasy I loved the elements of magick scattered throughout the story and this helped make up for the elements that I found myself disbelieving. All in all this was a complex story that had much to enjoy and left many questions I am sure will be answered in the following books. I might read on and I might reread: far more likely that I will given the ending: it’s almost worth reading for that alone! I need to know what happens, I need to know more about these ancestors: well played, Ray Star. As well as the questions I need to get answered, this story left me with the contented feeling that spending a decent length of time reading a good story does. All of the above means t this story earns four stars