Carbon: Session 01 - Alignment

Carbon #1

by Jason J. Berg, Christopher J. Cox

Includes Episodes 000 - 006 of the Carbon Series

+3 Previously Unreleased Appendices'
+Detailed Maps (Full Scale & Enlarged)
+A Complete Sketch Art Gallery


*Episode 000 - Prologue

"The unknown realm of Terra has woven many an intricate tapestry using the souls of all the diverse life forms that have flourished, and withered, during the world's youthful cycles. Now, as the final stitches of another age are being placed, we follow the remaining fabrics as they become even more deeply entwined by the crafting hands of fate..."

81 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2011

Reviews

[L.E.Olteano · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know those really action-focused reads that inexplicably turn into these action-packed movies inside your head the moment you start reading? Well, this is one of those. The mastery of the word is there, ringing of my childhood tales, ringing of forgotten times with heroic battles that were provoked by now dusty reasons, like the moral need to avenge your loved one’s death and to ‘repay’ the wrongdoing that has been done.

I dunno how you guys would name that sort of story, where the good guy is brave, and determined, and he struggles with whatever fate he’s been dealt but valiantly makes it through any and all ordeals; he encounters supernatural beings, often as enemies but also as aids, he uses their help, helps them along the way, and someway, somehow, it all weaves into a path that leads him to where he aught to get to; the pure, righteous, brave one always is wronged, but he always fights back and struggles until he gets what he wants…and the ladies are always fair, and sweet, and gentle, and they end up with the hero in the end. Those kinds of tales fascinated me throughout my childhood, for many, many reasons, and they still do; the art of the word gives them something truly magic, something that few are able to achieve, making them timeless works of art.
Well, that sort of magic, that sort of artful word that flows right into your imagination and makes a crystal clear movie of it all inside your head I’ve found in Carbon: Session 01 – Alignment. The writing is, in my humble opinion, a very strong point of this series, if it’s kept in this artful and stylish form.

Scattered throughout are a few lovely images as well, and let me tell you, as the very visual person that I am, I love to be given those. I mean, sure, I can imagine the character, I will have fun doing it, but give me some hints so my mind won’t go astray with it. The small, beautiful sketches here give you enough detail to have a clear picture, but not as much as rendering your own imaginative process minimal.
I love the way the setting is put up, the characters feel well built, giving you a clear sense of who and what they are even if the read in itself is really not that large, we’re talking about an introductory piece of the story after all.

I will say, as the anime-lover that I am, that me watching the Bleach series might have had a great influence on my perception of this little darling. If you’ve seen Bleach episodes, love the fighting and the pace of the action in it, you will love this as well, I am most sure. It’s got that same kickass slash cool slash fairytale flavor to it; it’s not easy to achieve such a visual degree of story-telling with masterful words, and I applaud the authors for achieving it – for me, this makes or breaks this kind of read.

Obviously, there is much to be learned still, much to be discovered, and much thirst to be quenched, but this is a story I’d love to fallow. Overall, I’d say we have good chemistry, and this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Looking forward to getting ‘personal’ with the rest of the series :D

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arin is a poor man, but happy; he has a loving wife - Elice - and a healthy son, Armon. He works a dangerous job, scavenging in the Orchid river and Emerald Bay near his town of Sunnfal. The danger exists because of the unique fauna of Terra - there are invisible horrors that grab and drag off any person reckless enough to leave the safety of the city in which they live; these people are never seen again. It is safer on the water, but still the danger exists. On his son's 9th birthday, Arin has determined to get the boy something special, and as a result he is working extra hard. He has a large load of timber when he notices a merchant vessel that has been damaged by an accident; one occupant is immediately thrown into the river and disappears, while the other manages to hang onto the remnants of the canoe, but is swept by a strong current onto a rock. Arin, a decent man, discards his load (and all his hopes to be able to afford something special for Armon) and rescues the merchant, who, in his gratitude, gives Arin a beautiful sword - called a katana - which he had traveled to Sunnfal in order to show. Arin presents it to Armon, much to Elice's annoyance - after a meager dinner, mother and son go to bed. Some time later, Arin follows. Not much later, however, a strong wind blows in, destroying the door; Arin is slow to wake, and arises just in time to see his wife and son grabbed out of the bed. In his attempts to save them, he uses the sword, which is tainted by the blood of whatever it is that had entered Arin's home - however, he is unable to defeat the creature and, believing he is about to die, resigns himself to it and closes his eye. However, he is rescued by an unknown man and advised to discard the tainted sword - this Arin refuses to do, insisting he must avenge his family. He then sets out to find and destroy the beast that destroyed his life.

The book deals with the changes that come over Arin as a result of his handling the tainted katana, and his search for the demon.

This book is a mixed bag. The world building and character development are phenomenal - it is obvious that Mr. Berg has taken a great deal of time and effort to give all his characters backgrounds, and also to create a clearly-delineated world, including maps. The plot is interesting and has great potential. However, the writing itself is undeveloped and choppy. While there are few typos, there are a number of misused word forms and apostrophes. It seems like the story could use a good going-over by a copy and content editor, and some re-writing by the author in order to smooth out the style. The dialogue reads like a manga - sentences are simple, but tend to run on. Characters talk to themselves in order to portray actions and provide information, often presenting things in a very forced-feeling way. While it is obvious that the author has spent a great deal of time working out the character backgrounds and the world, it doesn't seem as though as much time was spent smoothing the plot and working through transitions.

I think that, with some revisions, this book could be vastly improved. I hope this author keeps working on his writing style - there is a great deal of potential here that I would hate to see wasted.

[Tricia Kristufek · Rating 3 out of 5]

And so, it has been this way for the humans dwelling inside the ancient cities of Terra for well over five hundred years.

Arin has one of the most dangerous jobs in the city: collecting wood, stones, and anything else of use from the banks of the Orchid River. Still, he is happy and he makes enough to support his small family. Until, on his son's 9th birthday, his life changes in ways he never imagined. Now, he's on a warpath for revenge, battling demons - both inside his head and in his world.

While the world is vividly detailed and the pictures that are interspersed are masterfully done, the characterization fell a little flat. Arin is very single-minded in his quest for revenge, ignoring what could be helpful advice from a stranger to go after the demons that ransack his town. He also doesn't question the interesting cloak that magically appears - he simply accepts it and moves forward. Also, there wasn't a satisfying ending, but since this is made to read as a series, it would seem that Session 02 will pick up where this one left off.

Carbon introduces the reader to a world with plenty of untapped depth and tosses Arin into a fast-paced and bloody battle of revenge. The maps and artwork accurately depict the action of the story, adding a level of intimacy to the writing.

[Kiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please see my full review under Carbon: Session 02 - Forsaken Fates

Happy Reading!
~Kiki

[Amy Eye · Rating 2 out of 5]

When your family is brutally murdered right before your eyes and you have somehow been spared, it is easy to understand how you could believe it is your destiny to avenge the deaths of your loved ones.

That is what Arin tries to do. His family is slain on the night of his son's 9th birthday, the only birthday that Arin has provided a real present for his only child. This truly happy night will always be etched in Arin's memory, but for the horrors he beheld, rather than the laughter.

Carbon is a very high action, fast paced book. Unfortunately, with the action and pacing, the story fell flat of my expectations. It seemed that things were happening for no other reason than to progress the story.

***SPOILERS!!!!!***
***SPOILERS!!!!!***

For instance, we have an EXTREMELY cool thing that happens once the mysterious stranger saves Arin. The cloak that envelops Arin is sinister, creepy, dangerous and COMPLETELY GLOSSED OVER!! Arin never really even seems to care that it is there, sure there are barbed pieces of the cloak nestling into his skin, but the way he reacts to it, it seems to be an everyday occurrence. There is SO MUCH in this story that had the potential to be AMAZING, but it barely had a chance to reach good.

The characters do not have much depth to me. I understood Arin wanting to kill the demon to avenge the deaths of his wife and child, but there seemed to be no real feeling behind it. Sure, the story said how he was feeling, but it was never expressed in a way that I could really believe it. The mysterious stranger also had potential to be, well, mysterious, but instead he came off as a bit annoying and quite worthless in this story.

I know this is the first in a series, but the plot left much to be desired. In order to get people interested in reading the second book, they have to be presented with a full and engaging story with the first book, which I feel did not happen with this installment.

I will say that I loved the attention to detail the author made sure was in the story when it came to formatting his e-book. The map to the world is quite important - there were links to this map every time he mentioned one of the locations. VERY NICE. The illustrations in this book were also fantastic. The pictures seemed to be dead on with what was depicted in the story. I loved that as well. In the back of the book, the author provided us with an appendix with the histories of the main characters and ideas of the book. This does keep us from having to learn about that while trying to get into the story at hand. I give props to the author for that.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a interesting short novel that brings to mind Anime cartoons in the storytelling and the ideas. I loved the accompanying illustrations.

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.

Reviewed for Bitten by Books. http://bittenbybooks.com.