Terah Edun's Blog - Posts Tagged "diversiverse"

For the first but hopefully not the last diversiverse I have agreed to review L.A. Bank's book SHADOW WALKER of the Neteru Academy series.

Pre-Book Reaction: It had two things going for it: A) Cover looks great & B) I love contemporary fantasy with a magic academy. But it had one serious thing holding me back – I was not a fan of L.A. Bank’s use of Ebonics in her Vampire Huntress series.

Post-Book Reaction: Refreshingly diverse with non-stop action!

This book starts out fast and doesn’t let up! We enter the scene as Sarah is waking from a nightmare. It's the middle of the night but L.A. Bank's manages to introduce the main characters, Sarah's best friend and brother, while also getting her parents mixed into the dialogue.

It’s so rare and refreshing to see a main character who is fighting to harness her gifts but doesn’t do it ALONE. Her family… her true family...not a super-hot, vampire boyfriend that she met yesterday…is there by her side. Right off we learn that Sarah’s family – her brother, her mother and her father – all have unique talents inherent to their creature background.

Remember when I said I didn’t like the author’s use of Ebonics in the Vampire Huntress series? Turns out the father and mother are the main characters from that series, Carlos (who’s Hispanic) and Damali (who’s African American). When they’re around it’s a good bet the dialogue will switch into ‘street slang’. Not my favorite but since the book is from the viewpoint of their children, who are soon packed off to an academy for intensive training, it’s not too bothersome. I also noticed the diction tended towards Southern American charm among the older adults rather than straight slang.

I haven’t read the Vampire Huntress series and I had no problem immersing myself in this new world. That said, this book reads like the start of a sequel series and drops a lot of spoilers/background information if you haven’t read the Vampire Huntress series. In addition because the world was pre-developed the author doesn’t bother setting the scene and developing the world as she had previously done so in the Vampire Huntress series. Some scenes were flat-out confusing because I hadn’t read the prequel series. Like what’s so special about the Neteru compound brood and what’s the prophecy?

It was also difficult to get a handle on the center of evil. Multiple characters mentioned fit the bill – the Unnamed One, the Vampire Council, the Morrigan, the AntiChrist. From what I gather 16 years ago, in the Vampire Huntress series, Damali and Carlos defeated the forces of evil and drove them back where they came from. At the same time they conceived twins. The evil people are supposed to return right when the twins turn 21 but apparently have decided to come early. Enter the prophecy, the twins and the need for more training for the twins to combat this growing threat.

The author’s descriptions of incidents are vividly detailed and intricate. For instance when Sarah and her brother telepathically hear an argument it’s described as ‘like glass shattering inside my chest.’ I also love the infusion of natural talent into the mix, like mind reading and fire calling, but the magical hierarchy is very confusing.

Again, this is because I hadn’t read the Vampire Huntress series. For instance one of the girls is a kinetic clairvoyant, which I think is an AWESOME talent. Moving things with your mind, thought-speaking and being a fire-starter is pretty cool. But according to the main character, it’s one of the lamest things ever.

There’s also a clear divide between the quintessential Light and Dark. There are some light references to Christianity – the source of evil is the ‘AntiChrist’; the world ended during ‘Armageddon’; and there's a strong influence from the history of Ancient Egyptian gods and African cultural traditions. It’s quite a powerful combination.

What did I most enjoy about this book, besides the fantastic butt-kicking action and fast-paced dialogues? The appreciation for attractive people of color:

“He was as tall as Al, but with exotically dark brown skin and a deep, mellow voice. His eyes reminded her of rich milk chocolate, and his smile was…wow. A little hint of fang added a pearl-white gleam. One dimple always peeked out on the left side of his cheek when he gave her one of his heart-stopping half-smiles.”

A serious issue I had with the books is the god-complex of 90% of the characters. They all think they’re amazing, with more powers than the next person and indestructible. It was bearable when the main character was powerless and magically inept but it reached the level of incredulity when she became even more powerful than the rest of them at around the 76% mark – just in time to save the day.

By the end of this book I was starting to wish I’d read the Vampire Huntress series – there was so much going on that I didn’t understand, some many characters whose back stories I didn’t know but everyone else did, and terms thrown around that were clearly concepts that had been hashed out in the previous series. Nevertheless the intense action and multitude of fantasy characters (Valkyries, Demons, Angels, White-Lighters, Reapers, Vampires) kept me coming back for more.

Genre(s): Contemporary Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, Multicultural

Similar Book (s): Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series

Favorite Quotes:

“Al ran a hand through his hair. “When I heard Mom’s voice, it was like glass shattering inside my chest. I need to get closer so I can hear what’s going on.”

“Carlos,” her mother said, her voice soothing, and Sarah wondered how her mom managed to sound so calm. “I know you wanted to smoke the beast’s heir before he claimed power over the world, but you just might have to accept the fact that maybe it’s our children’s destiny to handle that, not ours.”

“Not fair,” Sarah said, stiffening. “You’re supposed to ask before reading my mind. House rules for all clairvoyants, even mothers.”

“As long as you tell us what the hotties are thinking, your Clair-V skills are okay by me,” Tami said with a wink.