DORMANT WINGS
by SimbaCub (Thejal Mathura)
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Status: Complete/Under Construction
My Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5 stars)
Synopsis:
In a world where demons preyed on humans and a war threatened to break the natural balance, Josephine cares about two things; protecting humanity and avenging her father. Then an encounter with an arrogant boy seems to cause a chain reaction of new aggravations. Suddenly Josehpine finds herself working for they very people she despised.
The appearence of an evil sibling and a snitch within the walls of her new found sanctuary, can Josephine prove what happened to her father and bring peace to the two worlds or is she destined to follow her father's foot steps to her grave? Her life holds secrets and powers she thought were non-existant. When it's Jo against the worlds, who's gonna win?
Review:
It needs to be said first of all that this story is currently "under construction," that is, being edited or rewritten. However, I believe it's worth sticking in there even though, by the author's own admission, there might be a few dangling plot threads at the moment. Despite this, the plot is very interesting and takes a number of unexpected twists and turns along the way, that follow through into the sequel, "War's Angel."
There are two great things that really stand out in this story. The first is the heroine, Josephine. She's a kick-ass demon fighter with a murky past and a wayward (and kind of sexy) brother: what's not to like? Her very personality drives the story forward, whether its through her banter with the other main characters or through her disobeying orders and getting into trouble.
The second thing I love is the action sequences. Well thought out and well written, it's very easy to visualise them and it flows very nicely. I personally think these are SimbaCub's greatest strength in her writing.
Ok, there's a third thing. The creatures. There are some freaky demon things in this book, and I find I can picture them clearly from her descriptions and they all have a purpose.
There are a few cons, but as this is a website dominated by amateurs I hope you'll forgive them and read it anyway. There are quite a few grammar and punctuation issues, but I believe SimbaCub is fixing them as she edits. Another thing that I think pulls this story down at times is Jo's constant arguing with some of the other characters. Most of the time this suits her character and the situation well, but there are a few times when it seems unnecessary and not appropriate to the situation. This is just my opinion, however, you may think differently.
Overall, this story swept me up in the constant flow of action and mystery, and despite some flaws, I fell in love with it. Definitely read this if you're a fan of action-packed fantasy and like to support up-coming amateur writers.
