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The Blue Beacon: Book 1 of The Cascadia Chronicles
200 years after the disappearance of humanity, four new friends––a badger, a marten, a raccoon, and a silent squirrel––camp before the final leg of their journey into Bridge City. The four companions will need each other and every ally they can find over the next few days as they are hunted by dangerous creatures and fight to protect the secret they carry, which will change all of Cascadia forever. The Blue Beacon is the first story in The Cascadia Chronicles, an adventure series set in the post-human ruins of the lush Pacific Northwest, and inspired by and for fans of Redwall, The Rats of NIMH, and Warriors.
281 pages, Perfect Paperback
Published September 18, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 25, 2024
I wanted so much to love this book. As a huge fan of any sort of fiction told with animals, I went in eagerly. Jordan Green is absolutely great at setting a mental image of a scene, and he writes characters I feel connected to, especially in the case of Arrick and Bajo. I loved this unique environment of a world where humans once ruled but no longer tread and has been taken over by animals who speak a unified language but are still building a society with each other.
Reading this book, I could tell Green was inspired by the Redwall series by Brian Jacques (confirmed here), especially in the instances of gentle creatures needing to take violent actions to defend themselves, and the way animals are described and interact with each other. I enjoyed that quite a bit because Brian Jacques is the King of young adult fiction featuring woodland critters as far as I'm concerned, but unfortunately after I picked up those connections my expectations skyrocketed and alas, the story fell short.
The plot just didn't hold me. I found myself waiting for the book to end because I was not intrigued by what was going on. 87% of the way through the book they declared a State of War. I know it's one book in a series, but I still think each book needs to stand on its own as well, and I'm afraid this one didn't. I feel it could have been told much better, because looking back I remember the moments in peace that the friends shared together, but the conflict itself just felt like a brainstorming meeting that could have been an email, or just a really long Prologue.
Also, I understand why the author used AI as a cost-saving measure to illustrate his vision, but the illustrations unfortunately threw me out of the story more than pulled me in because they vary greatly in terms of style and made it more difficult to develop a clear mental image.
Reading this book, I could tell Green was inspired by the Redwall series by Brian Jacques (confirmed here), especially in the instances of gentle creatures needing to take violent actions to defend themselves, and the way animals are described and interact with each other. I enjoyed that quite a bit because Brian Jacques is the King of young adult fiction featuring woodland critters as far as I'm concerned, but unfortunately after I picked up those connections my expectations skyrocketed and alas, the story fell short.
The plot just didn't hold me. I found myself waiting for the book to end because I was not intrigued by what was going on. 87% of the way through the book they declared a State of War. I know it's one book in a series, but I still think each book needs to stand on its own as well, and I'm afraid this one didn't. I feel it could have been told much better, because looking back I remember the moments in peace that the friends shared together, but the conflict itself just felt like a brainstorming meeting that could have been an email, or just a really long Prologue.
Also, I understand why the author used AI as a cost-saving measure to illustrate his vision, but the illustrations unfortunately threw me out of the story more than pulled me in because they vary greatly in terms of style and made it more difficult to develop a clear mental image.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2024
I honestly really enjoy this.
His way of moving these very likable characters through this beautiful and well-described Pacific Northwest landscape has made me pause my reading several times and gone outside to sit by a gentle stream, quietly rattling pebbles on the steam floor, birds chirping overhead, and I imagine the animals in The Blue Beacon book. I love his descriptions of the creatures starting their day, giving us a sense of being right there with them, but than he picks up the adventure quickly and there are no moments where it feels like anything is being drawn out or taking too long to cut to the chase. I’d love to read part two!
His way of moving these very likable characters through this beautiful and well-described Pacific Northwest landscape has made me pause my reading several times and gone outside to sit by a gentle stream, quietly rattling pebbles on the steam floor, birds chirping overhead, and I imagine the animals in The Blue Beacon book. I love his descriptions of the creatures starting their day, giving us a sense of being right there with them, but than he picks up the adventure quickly and there are no moments where it feels like anything is being drawn out or taking too long to cut to the chase. I’d love to read part two!
October 8, 2023
The book itself I enjoyed. I did listen to the audiobook and it was very poorly edited.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews