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Prossia #1
Prossia
Where were you, when you had to grow up?
For a seventeen-year-old Goolian named Aly, it was on another planet, a world where she had to "adjust" in order to fit her new surroundings. Daydreaming got replaced with nightmares. Sparring got replaced with killing. Singing to adoring crowds in her father's store turned into shouting for cover. This is what fighting in the war has given Aly, ever since her tribe was drafted. This is the sacrifice she makes while defending galactic order against the Cyogen.
However, there's a danger lurking right among the allies and friends Aly has sworn to protect. It's worse than any Cyogen weaponry, or any being known in the galaxy. It's wrath has the potential of crumbling enemy forces, and bringing allied troops to their knees.
That danger is Aly, herself, and the best part is this: she doesn't even know it.
For a seventeen-year-old Goolian named Aly, it was on another planet, a world where she had to "adjust" in order to fit her new surroundings. Daydreaming got replaced with nightmares. Sparring got replaced with killing. Singing to adoring crowds in her father's store turned into shouting for cover. This is what fighting in the war has given Aly, ever since her tribe was drafted. This is the sacrifice she makes while defending galactic order against the Cyogen.
However, there's a danger lurking right among the allies and friends Aly has sworn to protect. It's worse than any Cyogen weaponry, or any being known in the galaxy. It's wrath has the potential of crumbling enemy forces, and bringing allied troops to their knees.
That danger is Aly, herself, and the best part is this: she doesn't even know it.
- GenresScience FictionFantasy
326 pages, Paperback
First published May 25, 2010
4 people are currently reading
821 people want to read
About the author
Raphyel M. Jordan
10 books47 followersRaphyel Montez Jordan grew up in a household sensitive to the creative arts. As a child, his hobbies were drawing favorite cartoon and video game characters while making illustrated stories. This passion for art never left and followed him all the way up to his high school and college years.
It wasn’t until college when he underwent a personal “renaissance” of sorts that Jordan took his interest in writing to another level. When he was 19, he started writing a novel for fun, taking inspiration from the constant exposure of different ideas and cultures that college showed him while staying true to the values he grew up to embrace. However, when the “signs of the times” influenced the story and the characters to spawn into universes of their own, he figured he might possibly be on to something.
As he studied graphic design at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, Jordan also used his electives to study sciences like Astronomy, Psychology, and Biology in order enhance the reading experience in his story. He eventually made it a goal to have the story published after he graduated, and dubbed the goal “Operation Prosia,” the very same project that would develop into his first published book, “Prossia.”
Jordan spearheads the Stories For Nerds online community, which strives to connect avid science fiction & fantasy readers with authors whose stories are inspired by all modern forms of entertainment, including books, movies, video games, television, and anime.
It wasn’t until college when he underwent a personal “renaissance” of sorts that Jordan took his interest in writing to another level. When he was 19, he started writing a novel for fun, taking inspiration from the constant exposure of different ideas and cultures that college showed him while staying true to the values he grew up to embrace. However, when the “signs of the times” influenced the story and the characters to spawn into universes of their own, he figured he might possibly be on to something.
As he studied graphic design at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, Jordan also used his electives to study sciences like Astronomy, Psychology, and Biology in order enhance the reading experience in his story. He eventually made it a goal to have the story published after he graduated, and dubbed the goal “Operation Prosia,” the very same project that would develop into his first published book, “Prossia.”
Jordan spearheads the Stories For Nerds online community, which strives to connect avid science fiction & fantasy readers with authors whose stories are inspired by all modern forms of entertainment, including books, movies, video games, television, and anime.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 25, 2012
Okay… this is going to be a complex review. There were a lot of elements that I liked about this story, but I had issues with it in equal turns. It makes me uncertain about whether I actually liked it or not. I was able to finish it, but between my issues and sci-fi not always being my favorite, I might not have kept on with it had I not taken it for review.
What I didn’t like…
I had some problems with the language in the writing. It would have been okay, since this is a sci-fi book with no humans, but only if it was kept to the alien’s dialog. But it was in the exposition too and that really kept pulling me out of the story. It was a strange mix of “alien talk,” psuedo-archaic and modern colloquial.
It also needed editing… like, “smile” is not a proper dialog tag. You can’t smile words, or shrug, or grin them. And there were many, many cases of words being mixed up: descent for decent, waist for waste, contempt for content. Again, was this a try to make it sound non-human? But it was in the exposition.
The story is written in Third Person Omniscient, so the flip-flopping tones (formal to informal), the inconsistent word usage, couldn’t be easily explained as alien perspective. That would have been okay in First Person, or even Third Person Limited. (I’m still a little on the fence about the Omniscient voice, since it’s not my favorite, but Jordan actually did fine with it so I don’t think it hurt the story.)
Jordan does very well to avoid most information dumps, though sometimes it leads things to not be as well explained as a reader might like, but you get the point.
This next point is my issue and not the author’s. Aly – the main character – is well written as a teenage female protagonist, as well as the other things she is. (You have to read the story to find out.) But… I don’t like most female teenager main characters. And sadly Aly was not the exception. Her melodrama and inconsistencies drove me nuts. It made it hard for me to sympathize/relate.
There was a little bit of Mary Sue Syndrome with her too: a character the commands more loyalty and love than I see reason for in the story and actions of the character.
My last issue was the main plot line in relation to the story. It’s obviously more of a character study than a plot driven one, but still, it is a story about war – building to a war, being in one, and so on. But the way it’s paced and moved, I felt no immediacy or urgency from the characters or in myself. Made it hard to hook into it.
And some Events at the end that I think were supposed to be shockers didn’t really shock me at all.
What I did like…
Now, I know it sounds like I’m bitching all over the place, but the fact that I’m pulling out this much actually shows that I saw a lot of potential and a lot one could like in the story. The fact that I did finish it was also telling, because I have a very frightening DNF rate when it comes to books.
I liked the mix of being naive and knowledgeable about other races and planets in the Goolian, and the controlling one’s being thing was interesting. I really liked Gurthyus (whose name I think I’m misspelling from memory).
This story kind of gave me a Starship Troopers feel, which amused me.
Prossia really did have a fascinating concept and I liked the premise. I liked that there were no humans. The Sungstra stuff I found really cool, but I can’t say why because then I’d give away too much of the Reveals later on in the story. I don’t know if I’ll read other Prossia stories, but I may. I am curious.
And the character illustrations at the end were a nice touch.
I had too many issues to justify a higher rating than a 3, though I think if it weren’t for those things, I would have given it a higher rating, and I acknowledge that some of my issues were entirely me-specific and other people will likely have no issues with them at all.
What I didn’t like…
I had some problems with the language in the writing. It would have been okay, since this is a sci-fi book with no humans, but only if it was kept to the alien’s dialog. But it was in the exposition too and that really kept pulling me out of the story. It was a strange mix of “alien talk,” psuedo-archaic and modern colloquial.
It also needed editing… like, “smile” is not a proper dialog tag. You can’t smile words, or shrug, or grin them. And there were many, many cases of words being mixed up: descent for decent, waist for waste, contempt for content. Again, was this a try to make it sound non-human? But it was in the exposition.
The story is written in Third Person Omniscient, so the flip-flopping tones (formal to informal), the inconsistent word usage, couldn’t be easily explained as alien perspective. That would have been okay in First Person, or even Third Person Limited. (I’m still a little on the fence about the Omniscient voice, since it’s not my favorite, but Jordan actually did fine with it so I don’t think it hurt the story.)
Jordan does very well to avoid most information dumps, though sometimes it leads things to not be as well explained as a reader might like, but you get the point.
This next point is my issue and not the author’s. Aly – the main character – is well written as a teenage female protagonist, as well as the other things she is. (You have to read the story to find out.) But… I don’t like most female teenager main characters. And sadly Aly was not the exception. Her melodrama and inconsistencies drove me nuts. It made it hard for me to sympathize/relate.
There was a little bit of Mary Sue Syndrome with her too: a character the commands more loyalty and love than I see reason for in the story and actions of the character.
My last issue was the main plot line in relation to the story. It’s obviously more of a character study than a plot driven one, but still, it is a story about war – building to a war, being in one, and so on. But the way it’s paced and moved, I felt no immediacy or urgency from the characters or in myself. Made it hard to hook into it.
And some Events at the end that I think were supposed to be shockers didn’t really shock me at all.
What I did like…
Now, I know it sounds like I’m bitching all over the place, but the fact that I’m pulling out this much actually shows that I saw a lot of potential and a lot one could like in the story. The fact that I did finish it was also telling, because I have a very frightening DNF rate when it comes to books.
I liked the mix of being naive and knowledgeable about other races and planets in the Goolian, and the controlling one’s being thing was interesting. I really liked Gurthyus (whose name I think I’m misspelling from memory).
This story kind of gave me a Starship Troopers feel, which amused me.
Prossia really did have a fascinating concept and I liked the premise. I liked that there were no humans. The Sungstra stuff I found really cool, but I can’t say why because then I’d give away too much of the Reveals later on in the story. I don’t know if I’ll read other Prossia stories, but I may. I am curious.
And the character illustrations at the end were a nice touch.
I had too many issues to justify a higher rating than a 3, though I think if it weren’t for those things, I would have given it a higher rating, and I acknowledge that some of my issues were entirely me-specific and other people will likely have no issues with them at all.
October 25, 2012
A true sci-fi book. I liked Prossia because it has action and keeps the reader engaged in the storyline. Aly encounters danger and enigma in her world. Prossia kept me interested to find out what was next.
February 18, 2013
WALKI'S REVIEW
PROSSIA is a sci-fi novel about an inter-planetary war in another galaxy. Refreshingly it doesn't feature any Earthlings; however the people featured are not so psychologically different, including when it comes to differences between genders.
The main character is Alytchai of the Kutenbriun tribe (Aly). She lives on the planet Gooliun with her father Shanvi. Her best friend is Cattalice (Catty). They're referred to as greenies by peoples from other planets, as Gooliun is mostly covered by trees where they train their agility skills. The Goolian culture has a rule that the Sungstra are never told of their true nature by anyone. Aly is a Sungstra; she cannot produce or control the power of her being; she cannot produce and throw orbs of energy like most other Goolians. But this is about to change.
Goolians train for combat from a young age. Aly is seventeen (universal) years old, and about to be drafted with her father to go to war. The Allies have once again to fight the deadly Cyogen. The Allies are the Goolian, Argutain, Ufrian, Hethroycken, Requely, and a few more peoples from their galaxy. Occasionally mentioned, but hardly seen is a third faction: Prossia, the pacifists, believed to have disbanded.
The aliens talk with their own language structure (one shared throughout their galaxy) that is also reproduced in the narrative, lending more presence to their galactic worlds and grounding them positively. Characters are quite well developed and very likeable. Each stands out clearly defined with their racial and personal qualities amongst the diversity of races. While the dynamics in their interactions were generally entertaining and realistic, there were once or twice moments of uncharacteristic psychology. I have to say that the final cliffhanger left me a bit disconcerted. I could have done with a few more details, but Raphyel Jordan chose to leave one of his characters cloaked with a shadow of mystery.
PROSSIA reads well and easily, like a Young-Adult novel, but can be appreciated by adults all the same. The author created here a brave new world where everything could be so quickly lost to war, as easily as on planet Earth. Part of the reader would want Raphyel Jordan to have stayed in the green peace of the planet Gooliun (and I mean this in a positive way).
PROSSIA is a sci-fi novel about an inter-planetary war in another galaxy. Refreshingly it doesn't feature any Earthlings; however the people featured are not so psychologically different, including when it comes to differences between genders.
The main character is Alytchai of the Kutenbriun tribe (Aly). She lives on the planet Gooliun with her father Shanvi. Her best friend is Cattalice (Catty). They're referred to as greenies by peoples from other planets, as Gooliun is mostly covered by trees where they train their agility skills. The Goolian culture has a rule that the Sungstra are never told of their true nature by anyone. Aly is a Sungstra; she cannot produce or control the power of her being; she cannot produce and throw orbs of energy like most other Goolians. But this is about to change.
Goolians train for combat from a young age. Aly is seventeen (universal) years old, and about to be drafted with her father to go to war. The Allies have once again to fight the deadly Cyogen. The Allies are the Goolian, Argutain, Ufrian, Hethroycken, Requely, and a few more peoples from their galaxy. Occasionally mentioned, but hardly seen is a third faction: Prossia, the pacifists, believed to have disbanded.
The aliens talk with their own language structure (one shared throughout their galaxy) that is also reproduced in the narrative, lending more presence to their galactic worlds and grounding them positively. Characters are quite well developed and very likeable. Each stands out clearly defined with their racial and personal qualities amongst the diversity of races. While the dynamics in their interactions were generally entertaining and realistic, there were once or twice moments of uncharacteristic psychology. I have to say that the final cliffhanger left me a bit disconcerted. I could have done with a few more details, but Raphyel Jordan chose to leave one of his characters cloaked with a shadow of mystery.
PROSSIA reads well and easily, like a Young-Adult novel, but can be appreciated by adults all the same. The author created here a brave new world where everything could be so quickly lost to war, as easily as on planet Earth. Part of the reader would want Raphyel Jordan to have stayed in the green peace of the planet Gooliun (and I mean this in a positive way).
February 17, 2013
Confession, I'm a sucker for an interesting book cover. The cover of Prossia caught my eye. It turns out the author is a talented graphic artist and therefore does his own artwork. Neat, right? Another ensnaring detail is Prossia does not revolve around humans. In fact, there are no humans at all in the story. Intriguing. As a huge sci-fi fan, I was officially hooked from the beginning.
I love the premise of the book. The story’s tagline is catchy as well. Where were you when you had to grow up?
Aly (Alytchai) is forced to face the realities of war overnight. At seventeen-years-old, Aly finds herself drafted to a war on an unknown planet. Worse yet, Aly is not like her fellow Goolian. Aly sees her difference as a weakness and overcompensates by excelling in hand-to-hand combat and mastering weapons. Still, her obvious difference on top of battling teenagehood is no easy thing. Along the way, she’ll wage a complex, internal war while learning to exist on a new planet (Aly experiencing rain for the first time is one of my favorite scenes). She’ll develop new friendships and nourish familiar ones.
Surrounded by danger, Aly is unaware she poses the greatest threat of all. Will she unravel the layers of mystery that have shadowed her entire life and discover the truth about herself before it is too late? For the sake of the galaxy, she must. Aly coming into her own is a beautiful process to witness.
Yes, there were some drawbacks. There were issues with grammar, pesky repetitiveness and general flow. At times, these issues pulled me away from the story. Yet I finished the book and happily so. The positives by far outweigh any negatives. I found myself caring about Aly and the supporting characters. The unpredictable ending caught me by surprise. I hope we can all look forward to more of Aly’s world in the future.
In conclusion, Prossia was definitely a worthwhile read. After another scrubbing and polishing, the novel has every opportunity to go from worthwhile to out of this world.
~Layla
www.laylamoon.blogspot.com
I love the premise of the book. The story’s tagline is catchy as well. Where were you when you had to grow up?
Aly (Alytchai) is forced to face the realities of war overnight. At seventeen-years-old, Aly finds herself drafted to a war on an unknown planet. Worse yet, Aly is not like her fellow Goolian. Aly sees her difference as a weakness and overcompensates by excelling in hand-to-hand combat and mastering weapons. Still, her obvious difference on top of battling teenagehood is no easy thing. Along the way, she’ll wage a complex, internal war while learning to exist on a new planet (Aly experiencing rain for the first time is one of my favorite scenes). She’ll develop new friendships and nourish familiar ones.
Surrounded by danger, Aly is unaware she poses the greatest threat of all. Will she unravel the layers of mystery that have shadowed her entire life and discover the truth about herself before it is too late? For the sake of the galaxy, she must. Aly coming into her own is a beautiful process to witness.
Yes, there were some drawbacks. There were issues with grammar, pesky repetitiveness and general flow. At times, these issues pulled me away from the story. Yet I finished the book and happily so. The positives by far outweigh any negatives. I found myself caring about Aly and the supporting characters. The unpredictable ending caught me by surprise. I hope we can all look forward to more of Aly’s world in the future.
In conclusion, Prossia was definitely a worthwhile read. After another scrubbing and polishing, the novel has every opportunity to go from worthwhile to out of this world.
~Layla
www.laylamoon.blogspot.com
November 20, 2012
Prossia is an interesting scifi offering by Raphyel Jordan. The story follows a young lady whose planet is filled with a people who have pretty amazing agility and are known for their martial prowess. Aly seems to be pretty typical Goolian teenage girl, but life is about to change drastically. She and a a whole lot of other Goolians are getting shipped off to another planet to fight in a war against the Cyogen.
Raphyel sent me a print copy of his book to review and the first thing that popped out at me was the art. Raphyel is also a talented artist and in the back of the book (I always flip through a book cover to cover when I get it) there are a few character profiles with sketches. Considering there are no human characters I thought this was a great idea to help get an idea of the appearance of some of the more unique characters.
The fact that the protagonist was a teenage girl was a bit of a turn off to me. Although she was a well written teenager, the constant self-doubt always throws me off a bit. I like characters that are a bit more self confident.
I really liked the various alien races especially the Hethroycken. The gradual unveiling of the Sungstra subspecies of Goolian added a level to the story as well. The combat sequences were exciting and well written, though there was an element of the story that didn't really appeal to me all that much. I can't say what it is without ruining a major part of the book so I'll just say it was a matter of personal preference and not an inherent flaw in the book. I'd give the book 3.5 stars if that was allowed but since it's not I can round up to a 4 with a clear conscience.
Raphyel sent me a print copy of his book to review and the first thing that popped out at me was the art. Raphyel is also a talented artist and in the back of the book (I always flip through a book cover to cover when I get it) there are a few character profiles with sketches. Considering there are no human characters I thought this was a great idea to help get an idea of the appearance of some of the more unique characters.
The fact that the protagonist was a teenage girl was a bit of a turn off to me. Although she was a well written teenager, the constant self-doubt always throws me off a bit. I like characters that are a bit more self confident.
I really liked the various alien races especially the Hethroycken. The gradual unveiling of the Sungstra subspecies of Goolian added a level to the story as well. The combat sequences were exciting and well written, though there was an element of the story that didn't really appeal to me all that much. I can't say what it is without ruining a major part of the book so I'll just say it was a matter of personal preference and not an inherent flaw in the book. I'd give the book 3.5 stars if that was allowed but since it's not I can round up to a 4 with a clear conscience.
January 18, 2013
I found the work difficult, to say the least.
The premise is well thought out, though the execution felt lacking. The utopia type world the main character comes from was disconcerting and less than believable. During the reading I found myself not being drawn into the story as I should have been. Instead, my eyes kept looking at the incorrectly spelled words and grammatical mistakes that littered the pages.
I struggled through as much as I could, finding myself stopping after one or two pages a day while my mind wondered. After pushing through a great deal of the book I came across unbelievable sections where the main character, in her group of comrades at arms, needed to travel to another city on the planet they were protecting. To my dismay, the writer had them travel on foot instead of whisking the aboard a transport ship, making the whole idea a mash of unnecessary pages. During their trip, they became accosted by indigenous monsters on the planet that they did not know about. The idea of such increase the difficulties of the read for that was impossible to comprehend. No military commander would send troops through an area with such monsters without advising them of such.
If you can overlook the obvious mistakes in spelling and grammar, see past the unbelievable errors that the military minds had conceived, and lastly, the fact the one race has a Star Wars "Force" type of power that boarders on the magical manipulation of their spirit, you could enjoy the piece. I for one could not finish it.
My recommendation is to what till the book has been edited properly with several sections rewritten to add believability in the situations written about.
The premise is well thought out, though the execution felt lacking. The utopia type world the main character comes from was disconcerting and less than believable. During the reading I found myself not being drawn into the story as I should have been. Instead, my eyes kept looking at the incorrectly spelled words and grammatical mistakes that littered the pages.
I struggled through as much as I could, finding myself stopping after one or two pages a day while my mind wondered. After pushing through a great deal of the book I came across unbelievable sections where the main character, in her group of comrades at arms, needed to travel to another city on the planet they were protecting. To my dismay, the writer had them travel on foot instead of whisking the aboard a transport ship, making the whole idea a mash of unnecessary pages. During their trip, they became accosted by indigenous monsters on the planet that they did not know about. The idea of such increase the difficulties of the read for that was impossible to comprehend. No military commander would send troops through an area with such monsters without advising them of such.
If you can overlook the obvious mistakes in spelling and grammar, see past the unbelievable errors that the military minds had conceived, and lastly, the fact the one race has a Star Wars "Force" type of power that boarders on the magical manipulation of their spirit, you could enjoy the piece. I for one could not finish it.
My recommendation is to what till the book has been edited properly with several sections rewritten to add believability in the situations written about.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2014
I received this book from Goodreads.
I feel really lucky that I won this book from Goodreads. I honestly would never have given this book hardly more then a half-hearted glance nerveless checked it out and bought it. If that was the case I would have missed out on a really good book.
Okay, in the beginning I found the book boring and more confusing then a Young One on a new planet. Be that as it may, there was still something that made me keep turning the pages.
I'm glad I did.
This book is intense! It's action packed and witty. Well written and brutal. I stayed up till 4 in the morning because I couldn't put it down. Prossia made me get attached to the characters. The kind of attachment that feels more like family then fiction characters. Prossia made me laugh, made me cry, and made me mad enough to kill a certain half-breed.
AND it left me with a cliff-hanger so I'm forced to let my anger simmer until I can get my hands on the next book.
I feel really lucky that I won this book from Goodreads. I honestly would never have given this book hardly more then a half-hearted glance nerveless checked it out and bought it. If that was the case I would have missed out on a really good book.
Okay, in the beginning I found the book boring and more confusing then a Young One on a new planet. Be that as it may, there was still something that made me keep turning the pages.
I'm glad I did.
This book is intense! It's action packed and witty. Well written and brutal. I stayed up till 4 in the morning because I couldn't put it down. Prossia made me get attached to the characters. The kind of attachment that feels more like family then fiction characters. Prossia made me laugh, made me cry, and made me mad enough to kill a certain half-breed.
AND it left me with a cliff-hanger so I'm forced to let my anger simmer until I can get my hands on the next book.
October 20, 2012
I received this book as a Goodreads First Reads win.
I loved this book. Lots of action. The descriptions of the characters was great
and very creative. I'm a big sci-fi fan so anything involving aliens of multiple
different planets is a hit with me.
The ending is a bit of a cliff hanger, but it gives the reader the chance to hope for
a sequel and/or create their own ending. I did both, LOL.
I don't like giving a summary of the book in my reviews as I assume anyone reading my
review has already read the blurb about the book. Plus it tends to give spoilers without
meaning to.
I would recommend this book to any sci-fi fan, and if you're not, read it anyways. You may
become one.
I loved this book. Lots of action. The descriptions of the characters was great
and very creative. I'm a big sci-fi fan so anything involving aliens of multiple
different planets is a hit with me.
The ending is a bit of a cliff hanger, but it gives the reader the chance to hope for
a sequel and/or create their own ending. I did both, LOL.
I don't like giving a summary of the book in my reviews as I assume anyone reading my
review has already read the blurb about the book. Plus it tends to give spoilers without
meaning to.
I would recommend this book to any sci-fi fan, and if you're not, read it anyways. You may
become one.
August 11, 2014
As a part of the Prossia blog tour, Raphyel was kind enough to offer a copy of his book if I would do a review. I’m not a huge sci-fi fan, but I thought I’d give it a shot. At worst, I would retract my offer of review. At best, I’d find an entertaining read.
Prossia surprised me.
Warfare is a large part of Prossia. An alien girl, Alyichai, lives on the planet Gooliun. Her people train from the time they are young to be warriors in case the call for war is sent out. Aly is friends with Cattalice, another high level warrior from her home planet. Aly is different than the others of her tribe because she cannot control her “being”, a weapon others of her tribe use like a natural laser. Aly makes herself better at weapons to make up for the lack of being.
Her people know what her differences are, but they are forbidden to explain them to her. Everyone ignores her differences past the usual childhood teasing.
Aly and Catty are called off to war with their fathers and other members of the planet. Aly becomes a force of destruction. We learn she is a mutation of her people, something called a Sungstra. They are beings capable of extreme warfare. She survives many harrowing trials, surviving through war only to be presented with a choice: Go the way of her people, or set off on her own in search of truth.
I really enjoyed reading the battle scenes, especially later in the book when Aly learns more of her abilities. She disposes of her foes in particularly brutal ways. I liked the play between Aly and her father and the almost opposite relationship between Catty and her father. Tradition versus innovation.
The book really could have used another run through an editor. There were repetitions of “shriek” and “ticking time bomb”. Toward the end of the book, every time someone shrieked or used the phrase ‘ticking time bomb’, I grit my teeth. Ears would “whimper down” and “frown”. Instead of using the word “passed”, it was simply “pass”. When speaking of someone’s middle, it is “waist”, not “waste”. Some of the beings would not “trot” off to do bidding, especially the giant mountains of people termed “heavies”. The villain of the story “trotted” to the heroine in the big fight scene when walking slowly and deliberately toward her would have been much more powerful. I’m anal enough to notice things like that over the course of a book and at times I really had to push through and ignore improper usage and repetition. That was the major flaw of the book.
The ending really wasn’t what I was expecting. I wanted to see Aly take down an entire city of bad guys all by herself, Rambo-style. I was vaguely let down.
All in all, the story is entertaining and kept me flipping pages. Despite the editing errors, I did enjoy the read. I was impressed enough with the book, even with its flaws, to buy a copy despite having a review copy. Raphyel is a great storyteller and I hope he continues this series. I have to find out if the epilogue ends horribly. If it does, Raphyel and I are going to have words.
Prossia surprised me.
Warfare is a large part of Prossia. An alien girl, Alyichai, lives on the planet Gooliun. Her people train from the time they are young to be warriors in case the call for war is sent out. Aly is friends with Cattalice, another high level warrior from her home planet. Aly is different than the others of her tribe because she cannot control her “being”, a weapon others of her tribe use like a natural laser. Aly makes herself better at weapons to make up for the lack of being.
Her people know what her differences are, but they are forbidden to explain them to her. Everyone ignores her differences past the usual childhood teasing.
Aly and Catty are called off to war with their fathers and other members of the planet. Aly becomes a force of destruction. We learn she is a mutation of her people, something called a Sungstra. They are beings capable of extreme warfare. She survives many harrowing trials, surviving through war only to be presented with a choice: Go the way of her people, or set off on her own in search of truth.
I really enjoyed reading the battle scenes, especially later in the book when Aly learns more of her abilities. She disposes of her foes in particularly brutal ways. I liked the play between Aly and her father and the almost opposite relationship between Catty and her father. Tradition versus innovation.
The book really could have used another run through an editor. There were repetitions of “shriek” and “ticking time bomb”. Toward the end of the book, every time someone shrieked or used the phrase ‘ticking time bomb’, I grit my teeth. Ears would “whimper down” and “frown”. Instead of using the word “passed”, it was simply “pass”. When speaking of someone’s middle, it is “waist”, not “waste”. Some of the beings would not “trot” off to do bidding, especially the giant mountains of people termed “heavies”. The villain of the story “trotted” to the heroine in the big fight scene when walking slowly and deliberately toward her would have been much more powerful. I’m anal enough to notice things like that over the course of a book and at times I really had to push through and ignore improper usage and repetition. That was the major flaw of the book.
The ending really wasn’t what I was expecting. I wanted to see Aly take down an entire city of bad guys all by herself, Rambo-style. I was vaguely let down.
All in all, the story is entertaining and kept me flipping pages. Despite the editing errors, I did enjoy the read. I was impressed enough with the book, even with its flaws, to buy a copy despite having a review copy. Raphyel is a great storyteller and I hope he continues this series. I have to find out if the epilogue ends horribly. If it does, Raphyel and I are going to have words.
August 4, 2015
I first encountered Alytchai, a female Goolian, and an anomaly among her people, in the prequel to the Prossia trilogy, Evaluations of the Tribe. I was pulled into this remarkable story, hooked by the end of it, left wanting to know more. So, I progressed to Prossia.
In part 1 of the trilogy, the Cyogen are on the march, wreaking war on nearby planets. Alytchai and her best friend, Catty, along with the two girls’ fathers must go to the planet Argutas to defend against an imminent Cyogen invasion. Ali encounters the half Cyogen, Cyleroa . He is an enigma—why would a Cyogen be fighting against his own people? Why is he accorded any sort of respect amongst the allies?
The mysteries surrounding Cyleroa multiply when he joins Aly and a group of soldiers in a months-long trek across the planet. The book keeps you wondering and guessing about Cyleroa and why he is able to command opposing Cyogen forces. What is he hiding?
The tension builds when two unknown and unnamed characters have scattered conversations throughout the book, dropping hints to enable the reader to unravel the story.
Aly slowly discovers more about herself and her Sungstra abilities during the trek, and she grows up as she learns to think for herself and not always obey her father when faced with a moral dilemma. She further matures as her feelings for Cyleroa deepen. She finds he is someone who understands her and who always has her back.
The characters are not cardboard cutout, one-dimensional personas. They are well defined and developed. The suspense kept me turning the pages and there was a giant twist at the end that I never saw coming (loved that!). As with the prequel, this book is multilayered; on one level it is a book about Aly’s self discovery in battle. On another level, it explores the themes of racism and growing up to find that your parents, who you put on a pedestal, have flaws like anyone else.
What I liked about Prossia: The characters were unique and engaging. The battle scenes were riveting. The mysterious half-Cyogen kept me guessing. It was an excellent story and the twist at the end was a thrilling shocker.
What I did not like: Prossia could have used another strong edit for shifting points of view that confused the reader, and to tighten it up a bit by deleting extraneous material that slowed the story down.
Overall: Four stars! A unique and compelling read!
In part 1 of the trilogy, the Cyogen are on the march, wreaking war on nearby planets. Alytchai and her best friend, Catty, along with the two girls’ fathers must go to the planet Argutas to defend against an imminent Cyogen invasion. Ali encounters the half Cyogen, Cyleroa . He is an enigma—why would a Cyogen be fighting against his own people? Why is he accorded any sort of respect amongst the allies?
The mysteries surrounding Cyleroa multiply when he joins Aly and a group of soldiers in a months-long trek across the planet. The book keeps you wondering and guessing about Cyleroa and why he is able to command opposing Cyogen forces. What is he hiding?
The tension builds when two unknown and unnamed characters have scattered conversations throughout the book, dropping hints to enable the reader to unravel the story.
Aly slowly discovers more about herself and her Sungstra abilities during the trek, and she grows up as she learns to think for herself and not always obey her father when faced with a moral dilemma. She further matures as her feelings for Cyleroa deepen. She finds he is someone who understands her and who always has her back.
The characters are not cardboard cutout, one-dimensional personas. They are well defined and developed. The suspense kept me turning the pages and there was a giant twist at the end that I never saw coming (loved that!). As with the prequel, this book is multilayered; on one level it is a book about Aly’s self discovery in battle. On another level, it explores the themes of racism and growing up to find that your parents, who you put on a pedestal, have flaws like anyone else.
What I liked about Prossia: The characters were unique and engaging. The battle scenes were riveting. The mysterious half-Cyogen kept me guessing. It was an excellent story and the twist at the end was a thrilling shocker.
What I did not like: Prossia could have used another strong edit for shifting points of view that confused the reader, and to tighten it up a bit by deleting extraneous material that slowed the story down.
Overall: Four stars! A unique and compelling read!
February 11, 2013
Alytchai (Aly) is seventeen and has been drafted to fight a war on a planet she has never been to amongst a people she has never seen against an enemy who would wipe out their entire civilisation. Dealing with teenage hormones whilst trying to focus on the war and their mission, Aly has a harder time at it than her fellow Goolians who can make fireballs of hot plasma out of their hands. On the way she learns to mix with other races - the cheeky Ufrian called Gruago, the imposing Hethroycken, Lord Gurythrus, Lord Juazi of Argutain their team leader and even a Cyogen half-breed, Cyleroa whom she cannot decide if she should trust. And yet, although she doesn’t know it, the biggest danger to them all is herself, for the strength and power that she doesn’t know she has or how to control.
Whilst I was interested enough to finish reading the story, Prossia could have been much better if it had been properly edited to make the scenes and writing tighter and less rambly. As it was, the story meandered its way through from when Aly and her best friend Cattalice (Cat) were first drafted and takes a terribly long time through training and strange mishaps until it reaches the final battle, which wasn’t quite a battle. The book also contained numerous errors, which rather detracted from what would have been a pretty much enjoyable read. Several phrases were also overused, especially “ticking time bomb” (to describe Aly) to the point that it got a little bit annoying.
Another annoying thing was that after all the gradual revelation of who (or what) Aly really was, it was never clearly defined what exactly was wrong with being a Sungstra. Yes, they lacked control of their being, but what was it that so clearly marked them apart? Or, more interestingly, what marked them to be hated or compared with the Cyogens? Was it because the Cyogens too were Sungstren and that somehow made them alike? (It didn’t seem that way).
Also you don’t discover what Prossia actually is until something like the last chapter of the book.
All that said… it was an okay read. The story itself is strong enough on its own to attract you, if only the other things didn’t really detract as much.
Whilst I was interested enough to finish reading the story, Prossia could have been much better if it had been properly edited to make the scenes and writing tighter and less rambly. As it was, the story meandered its way through from when Aly and her best friend Cattalice (Cat) were first drafted and takes a terribly long time through training and strange mishaps until it reaches the final battle, which wasn’t quite a battle. The book also contained numerous errors, which rather detracted from what would have been a pretty much enjoyable read. Several phrases were also overused, especially “ticking time bomb” (to describe Aly) to the point that it got a little bit annoying.
Another annoying thing was that after all the gradual revelation of who (or what) Aly really was, it was never clearly defined what exactly was wrong with being a Sungstra. Yes, they lacked control of their being, but what was it that so clearly marked them apart? Or, more interestingly, what marked them to be hated or compared with the Cyogens? Was it because the Cyogens too were Sungstren and that somehow made them alike? (It didn’t seem that way).
Also you don’t discover what Prossia actually is until something like the last chapter of the book.
All that said… it was an okay read. The story itself is strong enough on its own to attract you, if only the other things didn’t really detract as much.
July 11, 2014
Well, this is going to be the most conflicted and complicated review I've ever written. First off, I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
All right, so, I hated the typesetting and the typos. I know that most books have typos, but there were a ridiculous amount. Sometimes words were omitted so that the sentence wasn't even a sentence. This about drove me crazy. The editor really should have caught these and I hope they will be corrected in future editions because they really detract from the book.
The story was about aliens. There are no humans in it. However, the aliens have humanoid gestures and features. I didn't like the way they spoke. Furthermore, the way the book was written and typeset often made conversations hard to follow. Again, I think the editor should have rectified this.
As far as the story goes, I was so turned off by the typos and not being able to follow the conversation threads, that I didn't enjoy most of the first two-thirds of the book. However, then things went CRAZY! Like crazy interesting and you want to keep reading! The ending was completely unexpected and just crazy. Holy smokes! Anyways, when I read, I do it for pleasure. I feel like reading this book was not pleasurable because the poor editing made reading more like work, but regardless, I did enjoy the story and would read this author again, IF the story seemed to be edited better. And preferably typeset in a more traditional manner.
Bottomline: If typos don't bother you, READ THE BOOK! Go for it! You'll enjoy it! If typos DO bother you, wait for future editions, but read it when a new edition comes out.
All right, so, I hated the typesetting and the typos. I know that most books have typos, but there were a ridiculous amount. Sometimes words were omitted so that the sentence wasn't even a sentence. This about drove me crazy. The editor really should have caught these and I hope they will be corrected in future editions because they really detract from the book.
The story was about aliens. There are no humans in it. However, the aliens have humanoid gestures and features. I didn't like the way they spoke. Furthermore, the way the book was written and typeset often made conversations hard to follow. Again, I think the editor should have rectified this.
As far as the story goes, I was so turned off by the typos and not being able to follow the conversation threads, that I didn't enjoy most of the first two-thirds of the book. However, then things went CRAZY! Like crazy interesting and you want to keep reading! The ending was completely unexpected and just crazy. Holy smokes! Anyways, when I read, I do it for pleasure. I feel like reading this book was not pleasurable because the poor editing made reading more like work, but regardless, I did enjoy the story and would read this author again, IF the story seemed to be edited better. And preferably typeset in a more traditional manner.
Bottomline: If typos don't bother you, READ THE BOOK! Go for it! You'll enjoy it! If typos DO bother you, wait for future editions, but read it when a new edition comes out.
June 23, 2015
I read 100 pages before I gave up on this book. It had a number of problems and I was just not enjoying it.
Firstly the characters and story never drew me in. There was just something about them which made me not interested in them.
Secondly the speech of the characters was very odd, it was an odd mix of archaic and modern speech with some odd alien speech thrown in (a combination of Yoda back speak and a bad translation program). This made it at times hard to follow, or pulled me away from the story as I had to reread a paragraph to understand what someone was saying, or at least pulled away because I was very aware of how they were saying something instead of what they were saying.
You are also plunged into the alien world with very little context or explanation, making it harder to follow.
In full disclosure I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
Firstly the characters and story never drew me in. There was just something about them which made me not interested in them.
Secondly the speech of the characters was very odd, it was an odd mix of archaic and modern speech with some odd alien speech thrown in (a combination of Yoda back speak and a bad translation program). This made it at times hard to follow, or pulled me away from the story as I had to reread a paragraph to understand what someone was saying, or at least pulled away because I was very aware of how they were saying something instead of what they were saying.
You are also plunged into the alien world with very little context or explanation, making it harder to follow.
In full disclosure I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
March 2, 2014
I received this through First Reads Giveaways.
I have to admit, I wasn't a huge fan of this book. I can't point to any one specific thing that I didn't like about it, but it took me a LONG TIME to read it because I kept stopping and starting other books on top of it. It simply didn't hold my interest. I don't know why exactly. I LOVE sci-fi. But this one just didn't do it for me.
I wish I could give a better review, but I just didn't care enough about the book to give a more detailed review. To be honest, it held my interest so little, I probably couldn't point out specific details if I had to.
I have to admit, I wasn't a huge fan of this book. I can't point to any one specific thing that I didn't like about it, but it took me a LONG TIME to read it because I kept stopping and starting other books on top of it. It simply didn't hold my interest. I don't know why exactly. I LOVE sci-fi. But this one just didn't do it for me.
I wish I could give a better review, but I just didn't care enough about the book to give a more detailed review. To be honest, it held my interest so little, I probably couldn't point out specific details if I had to.
March 19, 2014
Prossia is about a special Goolian teenage girl who along with friends and family and immediately thrown into a war that takes place on an allied planet. The entire story was just ok for me, the characters were all really likeable though. Most of the alien species introduced and described were like creatures created in Spore. There was a decent amount of action in the whole book. I wished there was more detail in it, I was left wondering what the planet of the war looked like along with the terrain of some scenes and buildings. I saw the ending coming from mid ways through the book.
March 1, 2013
One word to describe this book , SCI-FI ♥. It takes place on another planet , not EARTH. Can you believe that. Jk! :p Whats better then aliens. Aliens at war. Alytchai is the main character and she is fighting for the Allies. However, through out this book the point of view changes from Alytchai to the Prossia people. (Who are neutral, they are not evil but they are not good either.) This book is very action and has alot of betrayal. All the elements to make this book a GREAT BOOK ♥
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June 11, 2017Ralphyeh Jordan has done a neat thing with this space opera series. I was just alerted to its existence, and now I am swamped with Prossia series reading.
This is the first one, and luckily I only have to wait the length of a download for the second. Jordan has created an immense universe full of sci-fi races and cultures.
The author clearly has thought way too hard about all the details, and for that, I gladly award virtual high fives.
This is the first one, and luckily I only have to wait the length of a download for the second. Jordan has created an immense universe full of sci-fi races and cultures.
The author clearly has thought way too hard about all the details, and for that, I gladly award virtual high fives.
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