Book Review | Shatter by Elizabeth C Mock

Occasionally I like to read science fiction or fantasy. It’s a nice break from my normal fiction type and I enjoy it. While browsing the books on Amazon for my Kindle app I found Shatter: The Children of Man: Book One. It was free and the reviews are good so I hit one click buy and downloaded. Did I mention that the Kindle app on my iPod touch is awesome? Free books are always awesome and with the iPod Touch I can have a book in my purse available for reading an.y.time! [as long as I keep the battery charged]

So, back to Shatter. I started to get worried that I wouldn’t keep all the characters straight, but the author brought them together nicely and reminded me of the pertinent things I needed to know. It reminds me a lot of David Edding’s Belgariad series with the prophecies, people coming together, and their journey. I liked those stories and I liked this one. It could be called a typical sci-fi plot – gather the necessary people, take the journey, save the world – but it’s still a good plot.

The characters felt real to me. There are quite a few different characters and I think they are well written and well balanced. The tragedy is well balanced by comedy; the hate by love; the wrongs by right. The reader gets to figure things out as the characters do. I like that point of view. I’m not patient with books when I have the information and the characters don’t.

My biggest problem with the whole book is that it stopped! Of course it didn’t end. It just stopped! I immediately went to Amazon determined to find the second and actually – gasp – pay money for it if necessary. Alas and alack the second is not published yet. I must leave the characters just when the pivotal point has been reached.

This is not a religious book, and if you are opposed to reading about magic you won’t like it. There is some violence [fighting] described, but otherwise it is clean.

Here is the backcover copy:

Growing up during the chaos of the Nabosian War, Faela Durante and her entire generation never knew what it meant to live in a time of peace. Though the war ended years ago, the devastation has not. Every decision, no matter how seemingly insignificant, has a consequence and some consequences can never be predicted. But some are foretold.

Less than a year ago, Faela, the first Tereskan mind healer in generations, disappeared from her family home in Finalaran scared and pregnant. Hunted and living as an outcast, Faela searches for a legend that might be her only hope of gaining atonement and returning to her son. When her journey collides with two strangers and a prophecy, she must choose between trusting those around her or endangering her mission. With her past refusing to stay behind her, the consequences of Faela’s choices will risk more than her own fate.

You can find more information at the author’s site. I did use my Amazon affiliate link in this post, but the Kindle edition is free so obviously I’m going to make a lot there.

P.S. If you have any leanings toward science fantasy you might like Tahn: A Novel by L.A. Kelly. This one does have a Christian testimony and was quite riveting.

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