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The Pearl Diver
I’m Elsie, from the planet Caelum.
It’s 96% ocean, but that’s okay. Out of all six planets (or seven, if you believe the myths), we’re the only people with gills. I can breathe underwater for minutes at a time, discovering the secrets of the deep-sea. Diving is my first love.
But not everybody understands.
Each year they run a competition—a single black pearl is dropped into the ocean, and graduating students dive to find it. It sounds easy, but it’s not. The ocean is a dark and dangerous place, with caves, crevices, and flesh-eating creatures. Some years, not everybody survives.
It’s how my brother died.
My parents won’t let me compete. At times it seems like the whole island is against me. I don’t care. I will enrol, win, and gain the ultimate prize—a job diving on the head planet of the entire system. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll fight for a better life, out there in the stars.
I will be the Pearl Diver.
Or die trying.
It’s 96% ocean, but that’s okay. Out of all six planets (or seven, if you believe the myths), we’re the only people with gills. I can breathe underwater for minutes at a time, discovering the secrets of the deep-sea. Diving is my first love.
But not everybody understands.
Each year they run a competition—a single black pearl is dropped into the ocean, and graduating students dive to find it. It sounds easy, but it’s not. The ocean is a dark and dangerous place, with caves, crevices, and flesh-eating creatures. Some years, not everybody survives.
It’s how my brother died.
My parents won’t let me compete. At times it seems like the whole island is against me. I don’t care. I will enrol, win, and gain the ultimate prize—a job diving on the head planet of the entire system. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll fight for a better life, out there in the stars.
I will be the Pearl Diver.
Or die trying.
359 pages, Paperback
First published May 24, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 1, 2015
S. Elliot Brandis's opening volley in his latest series, Seven Worlds Saga, offers up a very promising start to what could very well become a high-water mark in the author's oeuvre.
Elsie dreams of becoming the winning pearl diver in the annual competition that will score her a one-way ticket off her planet and to the central world of Dunamis. In the wake of her brother's death in a prior tournament, her parents viciously oppose her, forcing her to rebel.
I won't say much more in regards to the plot, but to say Elsie gets more than she bargains for is putting it mildly.
Brandis delivers the goods when it comes to Young Adult dystopian fiction: there is well-defined and atrocious threat, impossible odds, and a very strong, determined, and capable heroine. Elsie is just a terrific character and honestly written. It's utterly impossible not to root for her, and, frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to hear her name-dropped alongside Katniss Everdeen some day soon.
After having spent the last few days fully submerged in the world of The Pearl Diver, I'm now left eagerly waiting for the next installment in this series. Do yourself a favor and buy a copy of this book ASAP.
Elsie dreams of becoming the winning pearl diver in the annual competition that will score her a one-way ticket off her planet and to the central world of Dunamis. In the wake of her brother's death in a prior tournament, her parents viciously oppose her, forcing her to rebel.
I won't say much more in regards to the plot, but to say Elsie gets more than she bargains for is putting it mildly.
Brandis delivers the goods when it comes to Young Adult dystopian fiction: there is well-defined and atrocious threat, impossible odds, and a very strong, determined, and capable heroine. Elsie is just a terrific character and honestly written. It's utterly impossible not to root for her, and, frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to hear her name-dropped alongside Katniss Everdeen some day soon.
After having spent the last few days fully submerged in the world of The Pearl Diver, I'm now left eagerly waiting for the next installment in this series. Do yourself a favor and buy a copy of this book ASAP.
May 7, 2020
Disclosure Note:
S. Elliot Brandis and I used to belong to the same writer's group a number of years ago. However, I purchased this novel 2 years after leaving the group due to the quality of his other works (one of which I beta-read).
Brief Synopsis
The Pearl Diver is a YA science-fiction tale about a soon-to-graduate high-schooler Elsie. She lives on the planet Caelum and dreams of proving her diving skills by winning the yearly competition to locate the black pearl. If she wins, she believes she will be whisked away to Dunamis, the head-planet of her galaxy, and live a life full of peace and happiness.
Unfortunately for her, Elsie's brother also had the same hopes and dreams. Except, when he tried to locate the pearl, he pushed beyond his limits and died. Due to this, she has become an object of ridicule and derision in her local community, and her parents attempt to control her each and every movement to ensure she lives despite the foolishness of youth pumping through her veins.
Graphic Design
The Pearl Diver is independently published, but the POD version gives no hint of this. Although the cover is a little generic with its woman floating in the sea (in a dress, nonetheless), it captures the essence and mood of the novel. This is a story about a young woman lost in, and in love with, the ocean. It is her home, but also her greatest enemy. With a single picture, it captures the themes and heart of the story all at once. Plus, the back of the book is no slouch either with its subtle transition that leads the eye from one part of the blurb to another.
Fortunately, the internals deliver at the same quality. Despite the fact S. Elliot Brandis formatted the interior himself, it looks and feels like a professional job. And although the text is a little larger than some adult-themed paperbacks, it never feels as if it's trying to increase the page count to some calculated arbitrary amount. Simply put, the choices S. Elliot Brandis made allows the text to fade into the background and not distract from the story.
This is one of those POD novels that is worth the extra cost for the print version. There's a care and professionalism to the paperback edition that makes it worth holding and owning. If you have the cash and are interested in the story, I highly recommend picking up the POD format as it feels this is the way S. Elliot Brandis intended you to read it.
Personal Thoughts / Review
Firstly, I think it's important to remind you that I'm not an expert on the YA genre. Ever since Twilight and The Hunger Games (among others) exploded onto the scene a decade or so ago, this enclosure of the writing world has become saturated with all sorts of tales and sub-genres that play with readers' expectations. As such, I cannot precisely say where The Pearl Diver might fit within that vast ocean of literature. However, as a dabbler in the space, I really enjoyed The Pearl Diver. It's my number two YA novel at the moment, right under The Hunger Games.
There's a lot to like here: an effortless writing style that gives characters a constant sense of motion, a playful shift in the middle of the book that toys with stock-standard YA conventions, a protagonist with a real tragedy to overcome, and a reasonable romance. Let's start with the writing. I've actually read three of S. Elliot Brandis' novels before: Irradiated, Degenerated and Once Upon a Time at the End of the World, so the clarity and warmth of his writing was not a surprise. He's an effective author and uses his skills in The Pearl Diver to slip the reader into the headspace of a driven and motivated teenager.
One of the areas he has always excelled at is using prose to create a sense of character movement. Unlike some authors, he rarely has to fall back on the "And she walked to the door" prose because the way he writes a paragraph implies the character is shifting and spinning through the world. This can easily be seen in the section below:
These paragraphs really capture the joy and ecstasy of swimming. They bring us into Elsie's universe and show us how much she loves what she does. These moments—the silent joys of transversing a location—are some of the best of the novel.
However, the plot is a mixed-bag. If you glance over Mindy's Review, there's a critique about deus-ex machina being overly deployed throughout the story. Elsie lucks out time and time again during her quest to be the Pearl Diver (to avoid spoilers, I won't say how or when she benefits). This is a fair call, and S. Elliot Brandis' tales have always suffered from this. Traditionally, his plotting weakness usually rears its head at the end of one of his books when everything has to wrap up and the need for sustained tension doesn't allow for a plot hole to be organically fleshed out, but in The Pearl Diver, it's all throughout the novel and Elsie seems to be blessed with the touch of a god.
In saying that, I couldn't tell if S. Elliot Brandis was trying to make a (poorly executed) statement about how luck has to break our way to succeed no matter how hard we struggle ... or if it was a case of slapdash plotting. Which side you come down on might depend on how much you enjoy this book.
Despite the "sloppiness" of the minutia, the overarching structure of the narrative is well done. Opening novels in a YA dystopian series usually focus on some special event. The protagonist's only goal in the introduction of the trilogy is to WIN! And the story charts their near misses as they move closer and closer to their elusive goal until they achieve it and the book ends. Without giving too much away, S. Elliot Brandis bends those rules and closes out the diving competition in the first half of the story. This allows him the freedom to explore questions about how a single focus can limit our curiosity to the point we may end up losing more than we gain. Also, it ensures the reader receives a magnificent second act that pushes the boundaries of the YA dystopian narrative in compelling and interesting ways. It's the latter half of the book I enjoyed the most and made me hope for a continuation of the Seven Worlds Saga.
Unfortunately, this brings us to the characters. Hmm. In The Pearl Diver, there's a lack of clarity in regards to why Elsie reacts the way she does to other people. Let's begin with the main one: her romance with Jeriah. Unlike Mindy, I'm not as uncomfortable with the blossoming adoration between Elsie and her hunky heartthrob. Firstly, she's not fifteen and lusting after a twenty-year-old—she turns eighteen in the novel and eighteen before anything actually happens between them. Secondly, he's twenty-two. This is not a huge age-gap. They're effectively university students or junior / senior coworkers, which is not perfect, but it is much easier to overlook and forgive. Finally, their bond emerges mostly from the loss of her brother Diadro, and it is unclear when their relationship morphs from two friends clinging to each other for comfort in the wake of tragedy into something more lustful.
Yes, I agree, it would have been more interesting to see S. Elliot Brandis subvert the standard YA romance, but not every book has to do every single thing and definitely not the first novel of a series. So, he gets a pass (justified or not).
However, for me, the most frustrating aspect of Elsie is a personality trait that is baked into the entire dystopian YA sub-genre: she is angry at the world because she's a teenager learning to becoming an adult, and that's all the reason she needs. Elsie hates her mum, her classmates, her father, her teacher and everyone else she encounters. The issue for us readers is that ... we don't see these groups do terrible things to her. We are told (numerous times) that they are the worst people alive, but there is very little evidence of them being awful. And if she's irrationally furious with them because of the loss of her brother, the impact of his absence is not discussed enough throughout the early stages of the novel. And so, we have a young woman who is punching and screaming at the universe (while believing she is unique) without a clear picture of what made her this way. It feels as if S. Elliot Brandis made the assumption that if he told us certain things (some people are jerks, her brother died) then he could skip over the "showing" part of storytelling because we would simply accept them as justifications for her rage. However, in this case, it doesn't quite work. There should have at least been two or three scenes outlining why Elsie hated everyone despite her best efforts not to. We (or at least I) needed some type of rationale behind her frustrations.
While it may be easy to critique S. Elliot Brandis for this lapse, the late-teen-girl-angry-at-world is a stock character in dystopian YA, and Elsie at least has a basic justification for it (her brother's passing). If you can simply accept that's who she is and don't need a complex rationale for it, all her interactions with those around her will fall into place. However, if you need there to be a well-developed cause and effect for a character to constantly be enraged, you might find Elsie a bit much and illogical (even for a teenager).
The only other thing that I think worth mentioning is that S. Elliot Brandis gets hung up on certain phrases. He likes "wentfish" and "goofy" off the top of my head. And people's emotions are often described with words such as "tired" and "comforting" rather than shown through body gestures. This over reliance on certain descriptors is odd. Irradiated has whole sections that tap into a well of literary brilliance and are as poetic as anything Patrick Rothfuss could have written. My theory about why these novels feel vastly different is that S. Elliot Brandis deliberately limited his vocabulary to what he believed the YA market was willing to read. I think this was a mistake. He should have infused the novel with his traditional eloquence or given Elsie a backstory to enable him to use a more loquacious lexicon. So while S. Elliot Brandis capably deploys the sparse set of tools he has chosen to paint with, it is a self-inflicted wound he could have avoided.
Summary
There are flaws with The Pearl Diver. Elsie's rage is not explained by the narrative, the romance is stock-standard for the genre and S. Elliot Brandis limits himself to a palette of word pictures that overstays its welcome. However, these issues are significantly overshadowed by the excellent aspects of novel: the fluidity of the writing, the subverting of the YA dystopian plot structure and the effective deployment of tropes in a punchy and interesting way. If YA is your jam or you're simply looking for an enjoyable read, The Pearl Diver is for you.
Series Note: The Pearl Diver was published in 2015, yet a sequel does not seem to have been completed for it and there are no hints on the author's page about when it might be finished.
S. Elliot Brandis and I used to belong to the same writer's group a number of years ago. However, I purchased this novel 2 years after leaving the group due to the quality of his other works (one of which I beta-read).
Brief Synopsis
The Pearl Diver is a YA science-fiction tale about a soon-to-graduate high-schooler Elsie. She lives on the planet Caelum and dreams of proving her diving skills by winning the yearly competition to locate the black pearl. If she wins, she believes she will be whisked away to Dunamis, the head-planet of her galaxy, and live a life full of peace and happiness.
Unfortunately for her, Elsie's brother also had the same hopes and dreams. Except, when he tried to locate the pearl, he pushed beyond his limits and died. Due to this, she has become an object of ridicule and derision in her local community, and her parents attempt to control her each and every movement to ensure she lives despite the foolishness of youth pumping through her veins.
Graphic Design
The Pearl Diver is independently published, but the POD version gives no hint of this. Although the cover is a little generic with its woman floating in the sea (in a dress, nonetheless), it captures the essence and mood of the novel. This is a story about a young woman lost in, and in love with, the ocean. It is her home, but also her greatest enemy. With a single picture, it captures the themes and heart of the story all at once. Plus, the back of the book is no slouch either with its subtle transition that leads the eye from one part of the blurb to another.
Fortunately, the internals deliver at the same quality. Despite the fact S. Elliot Brandis formatted the interior himself, it looks and feels like a professional job. And although the text is a little larger than some adult-themed paperbacks, it never feels as if it's trying to increase the page count to some calculated arbitrary amount. Simply put, the choices S. Elliot Brandis made allows the text to fade into the background and not distract from the story.
This is one of those POD novels that is worth the extra cost for the print version. There's a care and professionalism to the paperback edition that makes it worth holding and owning. If you have the cash and are interested in the story, I highly recommend picking up the POD format as it feels this is the way S. Elliot Brandis intended you to read it.
Personal Thoughts / Review
Firstly, I think it's important to remind you that I'm not an expert on the YA genre. Ever since Twilight and The Hunger Games (among others) exploded onto the scene a decade or so ago, this enclosure of the writing world has become saturated with all sorts of tales and sub-genres that play with readers' expectations. As such, I cannot precisely say where The Pearl Diver might fit within that vast ocean of literature. However, as a dabbler in the space, I really enjoyed The Pearl Diver. It's my number two YA novel at the moment, right under The Hunger Games.
There's a lot to like here: an effortless writing style that gives characters a constant sense of motion, a playful shift in the middle of the book that toys with stock-standard YA conventions, a protagonist with a real tragedy to overcome, and a reasonable romance. Let's start with the writing. I've actually read three of S. Elliot Brandis' novels before: Irradiated, Degenerated and Once Upon a Time at the End of the World, so the clarity and warmth of his writing was not a surprise. He's an effective author and uses his skills in The Pearl Diver to slip the reader into the headspace of a driven and motivated teenager.
One of the areas he has always excelled at is using prose to create a sense of character movement. Unlike some authors, he rarely has to fall back on the "And she walked to the door" prose because the way he writes a paragraph implies the character is shifting and spinning through the world. This can easily be seen in the section below:
The surface of the water ripples as I come up for a breath, catching the light of the moon. I take a moment to admire the effect, then dive back down, kicking my legs hard behind me. I can feel the pressure building on my chest as I dive, threatening to force the air out of me. Finally, I oblige. I breathe out slowly, the bubbles tickling my body and legs as they wobble to the surface. I dive deeper and deeper.
It's dark near the seabed, the moon a distant light. Creatures are scampering around, claws and legs scratching at the sand, looking for morsels of food. A school of wentfish swims back and forth, following each other's movements as though telepathic.
These paragraphs really capture the joy and ecstasy of swimming. They bring us into Elsie's universe and show us how much she loves what she does. These moments—the silent joys of transversing a location—are some of the best of the novel.
However, the plot is a mixed-bag. If you glance over Mindy's Review, there's a critique about deus-ex machina being overly deployed throughout the story. Elsie lucks out time and time again during her quest to be the Pearl Diver (to avoid spoilers, I won't say how or when she benefits). This is a fair call, and S. Elliot Brandis' tales have always suffered from this. Traditionally, his plotting weakness usually rears its head at the end of one of his books when everything has to wrap up and the need for sustained tension doesn't allow for a plot hole to be organically fleshed out, but in The Pearl Diver, it's all throughout the novel and Elsie seems to be blessed with the touch of a god.
In saying that, I couldn't tell if S. Elliot Brandis was trying to make a (poorly executed) statement about how luck has to break our way to succeed no matter how hard we struggle ... or if it was a case of slapdash plotting. Which side you come down on might depend on how much you enjoy this book.
Despite the "sloppiness" of the minutia, the overarching structure of the narrative is well done. Opening novels in a YA dystopian series usually focus on some special event. The protagonist's only goal in the introduction of the trilogy is to WIN! And the story charts their near misses as they move closer and closer to their elusive goal until they achieve it and the book ends. Without giving too much away, S. Elliot Brandis bends those rules and closes out the diving competition in the first half of the story. This allows him the freedom to explore questions about how a single focus can limit our curiosity to the point we may end up losing more than we gain. Also, it ensures the reader receives a magnificent second act that pushes the boundaries of the YA dystopian narrative in compelling and interesting ways. It's the latter half of the book I enjoyed the most and made me hope for a continuation of the Seven Worlds Saga.
Unfortunately, this brings us to the characters. Hmm. In The Pearl Diver, there's a lack of clarity in regards to why Elsie reacts the way she does to other people. Let's begin with the main one: her romance with Jeriah. Unlike Mindy, I'm not as uncomfortable with the blossoming adoration between Elsie and her hunky heartthrob. Firstly, she's not fifteen and lusting after a twenty-year-old—she turns eighteen in the novel and eighteen before anything actually happens between them. Secondly, he's twenty-two. This is not a huge age-gap. They're effectively university students or junior / senior coworkers, which is not perfect, but it is much easier to overlook and forgive. Finally, their bond emerges mostly from the loss of her brother Diadro, and it is unclear when their relationship morphs from two friends clinging to each other for comfort in the wake of tragedy into something more lustful.
Yes, I agree, it would have been more interesting to see S. Elliot Brandis subvert the standard YA romance, but not every book has to do every single thing and definitely not the first novel of a series. So, he gets a pass (justified or not).
However, for me, the most frustrating aspect of Elsie is a personality trait that is baked into the entire dystopian YA sub-genre: she is angry at the world because she's a teenager learning to becoming an adult, and that's all the reason she needs. Elsie hates her mum, her classmates, her father, her teacher and everyone else she encounters. The issue for us readers is that ... we don't see these groups do terrible things to her. We are told (numerous times) that they are the worst people alive, but there is very little evidence of them being awful. And if she's irrationally furious with them because of the loss of her brother, the impact of his absence is not discussed enough throughout the early stages of the novel. And so, we have a young woman who is punching and screaming at the universe (while believing she is unique) without a clear picture of what made her this way. It feels as if S. Elliot Brandis made the assumption that if he told us certain things (some people are jerks, her brother died) then he could skip over the "showing" part of storytelling because we would simply accept them as justifications for her rage. However, in this case, it doesn't quite work. There should have at least been two or three scenes outlining why Elsie hated everyone despite her best efforts not to. We (or at least I) needed some type of rationale behind her frustrations.
While it may be easy to critique S. Elliot Brandis for this lapse, the late-teen-girl-angry-at-world is a stock character in dystopian YA, and Elsie at least has a basic justification for it (her brother's passing). If you can simply accept that's who she is and don't need a complex rationale for it, all her interactions with those around her will fall into place. However, if you need there to be a well-developed cause and effect for a character to constantly be enraged, you might find Elsie a bit much and illogical (even for a teenager).
The only other thing that I think worth mentioning is that S. Elliot Brandis gets hung up on certain phrases. He likes "wentfish" and "goofy" off the top of my head. And people's emotions are often described with words such as "tired" and "comforting" rather than shown through body gestures. This over reliance on certain descriptors is odd. Irradiated has whole sections that tap into a well of literary brilliance and are as poetic as anything Patrick Rothfuss could have written. My theory about why these novels feel vastly different is that S. Elliot Brandis deliberately limited his vocabulary to what he believed the YA market was willing to read. I think this was a mistake. He should have infused the novel with his traditional eloquence or given Elsie a backstory to enable him to use a more loquacious lexicon. So while S. Elliot Brandis capably deploys the sparse set of tools he has chosen to paint with, it is a self-inflicted wound he could have avoided.
Summary
There are flaws with The Pearl Diver. Elsie's rage is not explained by the narrative, the romance is stock-standard for the genre and S. Elliot Brandis limits himself to a palette of word pictures that overstays its welcome. However, these issues are significantly overshadowed by the excellent aspects of novel: the fluidity of the writing, the subverting of the YA dystopian plot structure and the effective deployment of tropes in a punchy and interesting way. If YA is your jam or you're simply looking for an enjoyable read, The Pearl Diver is for you.
Series Note: The Pearl Diver was published in 2015, yet a sequel does not seem to have been completed for it and there are no hints on the author's page about when it might be finished.
June 9, 2015
An advance reader copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.
17-year-old Elsie’s greatest passion and skill in life is diving. In fact, it’s what her people are made for: they have gills that help them stay underwater longer than their strong lungs allow; and their small planet, Caelum, is filled with vast oceans. But plagued by her brother’s death and a struggling relationship with her parents, Elsie seeks a better life far away from Caelum. Every year, the head planet in Elsie’s solar system, Dunamis, holds a diving contest that is the key to Elsie’s much-desired future. Each student in the graduating class is eligible to participate, and the goal is to locate a single black pearl that has been dropped in a specific region of ocean. The winner (if there is one), deemed the Pearl Diver, is whisked away to Dunamis to begin a life of prestige as an esteemed diver, diving for minerals that power Dunamis’ electricity. Saltwater is toxic to the people of Dunamis, so Pearl Divers are crucial to the planet’s (and thus the other five planets it oversees) function. Elsie is graduating this year, and the dive is her one chance to make a new life for herself.
This story has some really great ideas, but there were several things holding me back from proper enjoyment.
Elsie
Elsie is the kind of protagonist who really annoys me in that she is an outcast for no particular reason. The other kids don’t like her. They tease her and gossip about her. They bully her. Even her teacher seems to have a vendetta against her. Elsie suspects it’s because she’s the best diver in her year. Everyone must simply be jealous of her. I suspect that it may have a bit more to do with Elsie not having a particularly warm or friendly personality. The new girl at school, Holi, tries to befriend her, but Elsie treats her coldly and brushes her off (until, of course, she shows herself useful to Elsie).
“Holi runs towards me, her blonde hair flicking across her face. “Oh my gosh, where have you been?”
I don’t have the time for her. I’ve decided I don’t even like her. We have none of the same interests. If she has any at all. Other than boys, that is.”
Excerpt From: S. Elliot Brandis. “The Pearl Diver.” iBooks.
Really, Elsie? It’s no wonder you don’t have friends—you’re kind of a jerk. And never once has Holi mentioned anything about boys, so I don’t know why we’re supposed to assume they’re what she’s all about.
Elsie is also sort of dumb.
“Outstanding,” Yidel says, the word stretched out long, syllables flowing into each other like nectar. “That pearl is from twenty-two years ago.”
Now, it’s me who gasps. There is no way he can tell black pearls apart. There is nothing to them. They are a dark ball of unreflective mineral, so black it confuses your mind. They are the ultimate expression of nothingness.
Yet, I don’t doubt his words. I can’t. His voice drips with honesty, eminently trustworthy. I nod, my mouth slightly agape.
He laughs, a booming rumble. “I worked out the location of the dive from the rare truths in the rumours. That was the last time a dive was held anywhere near that location.”
Excerpt From: S. Elliot Brandis. “The Pearl Diver.” iBooks.
No kidding! That was extremely obvious, Elsie. Come on.
The Romance
Elsie does have one friend, actually. After her brother’s death, she grew very close with his best friend, Jeriah. Jeriah is 22, and doesn’t seem to have any other close friends besides Elsie, which is kind of weird. Suffice it to say, he quickly becomes her love interest. [Note to writers: please, please stop giving your teen girl protagonists love interests who are grown adults. It’s creepy and I don’t want to read about it.] Their romance is underdeveloped and overly sentimental. They exchange “I love you”s and “always”s after a couple of weeks or so of dating. By the last third of the book, Elsie is placing Jeriah’s needs before everyone else’s, including her own. Please, spare me the mawkishness.
The Writing
Many of the events in the story that move the plot forward are circumstantial—they result from sheer luck or coincidence rather than Elsie’s skill. Some of it is believable, e.g. But others, such as , are awfully convenient. To me, it feels a bit lazy and passive. Rather than Elsie making things happen to advance the plot, things simply happen to her.
The writing suffers technically, as well. There are redundancies and repetitiveness.
“He looks so handsome in their glow—mature yet gentle, with a strong jaw and gentle eyes.”
Excerpt From: S. Elliot Brandis. “The Pearl Diver.” iBooks.
Gentle. Got it.
“I see a shore on the horizon and decide to swim towards it.” And a paragraph later, “I decide to swim towards the land.”
Excerpt From: S. Elliot Brandis. “The Pearl Diver.” iBooks.
All right, Elsie, you are swimming to the beach. No need to tell us again.
Jeriah’s “goofy” smile and Yidel’s “inky” eyes make countless appearances. Elsie’s pink hair and Jeriah’s muscular physique are brought up incessantly. It gets boring having to read about the same things over and over again.
Despite my negative review, I can see this book finding fans—particularly readers who enjoy dystopian YA. It has an inventive premise (I rather enjoyed the diving bits in the first half of the book, actually) and the potential to turn into an epic adventure, but the writing needs some work. In the next installment, I would also like to see a lot more of Elsie being proactive about what’s happening to and around her—thankfully, this occurs with more frequency towards the end of this book.
17-year-old Elsie’s greatest passion and skill in life is diving. In fact, it’s what her people are made for: they have gills that help them stay underwater longer than their strong lungs allow; and their small planet, Caelum, is filled with vast oceans. But plagued by her brother’s death and a struggling relationship with her parents, Elsie seeks a better life far away from Caelum. Every year, the head planet in Elsie’s solar system, Dunamis, holds a diving contest that is the key to Elsie’s much-desired future. Each student in the graduating class is eligible to participate, and the goal is to locate a single black pearl that has been dropped in a specific region of ocean. The winner (if there is one), deemed the Pearl Diver, is whisked away to Dunamis to begin a life of prestige as an esteemed diver, diving for minerals that power Dunamis’ electricity. Saltwater is toxic to the people of Dunamis, so Pearl Divers are crucial to the planet’s (and thus the other five planets it oversees) function. Elsie is graduating this year, and the dive is her one chance to make a new life for herself.
This story has some really great ideas, but there were several things holding me back from proper enjoyment.
Elsie
Elsie is the kind of protagonist who really annoys me in that she is an outcast for no particular reason. The other kids don’t like her. They tease her and gossip about her. They bully her. Even her teacher seems to have a vendetta against her. Elsie suspects it’s because she’s the best diver in her year. Everyone must simply be jealous of her. I suspect that it may have a bit more to do with Elsie not having a particularly warm or friendly personality. The new girl at school, Holi, tries to befriend her, but Elsie treats her coldly and brushes her off (until, of course, she shows herself useful to Elsie).
“Holi runs towards me, her blonde hair flicking across her face. “Oh my gosh, where have you been?”
I don’t have the time for her. I’ve decided I don’t even like her. We have none of the same interests. If she has any at all. Other than boys, that is.”
Excerpt From: S. Elliot Brandis. “The Pearl Diver.” iBooks.
Really, Elsie? It’s no wonder you don’t have friends—you’re kind of a jerk. And never once has Holi mentioned anything about boys, so I don’t know why we’re supposed to assume they’re what she’s all about.
Elsie is also sort of dumb.
“Outstanding,” Yidel says, the word stretched out long, syllables flowing into each other like nectar. “That pearl is from twenty-two years ago.”
Now, it’s me who gasps. There is no way he can tell black pearls apart. There is nothing to them. They are a dark ball of unreflective mineral, so black it confuses your mind. They are the ultimate expression of nothingness.
Yet, I don’t doubt his words. I can’t. His voice drips with honesty, eminently trustworthy. I nod, my mouth slightly agape.
He laughs, a booming rumble. “I worked out the location of the dive from the rare truths in the rumours. That was the last time a dive was held anywhere near that location.”
Excerpt From: S. Elliot Brandis. “The Pearl Diver.” iBooks.
No kidding! That was extremely obvious, Elsie. Come on.
The Romance
Elsie does have one friend, actually. After her brother’s death, she grew very close with his best friend, Jeriah. Jeriah is 22, and doesn’t seem to have any other close friends besides Elsie, which is kind of weird. Suffice it to say, he quickly becomes her love interest. [Note to writers: please, please stop giving your teen girl protagonists love interests who are grown adults. It’s creepy and I don’t want to read about it.] Their romance is underdeveloped and overly sentimental. They exchange “I love you”s and “always”s after a couple of weeks or so of dating. By the last third of the book, Elsie is placing Jeriah’s needs before everyone else’s, including her own. Please, spare me the mawkishness.
The Writing
Many of the events in the story that move the plot forward are circumstantial—they result from sheer luck or coincidence rather than Elsie’s skill. Some of it is believable, e.g. But others, such as , are awfully convenient. To me, it feels a bit lazy and passive. Rather than Elsie making things happen to advance the plot, things simply happen to her.
The writing suffers technically, as well. There are redundancies and repetitiveness.
“He looks so handsome in their glow—mature yet gentle, with a strong jaw and gentle eyes.”
Excerpt From: S. Elliot Brandis. “The Pearl Diver.” iBooks.
Gentle. Got it.
“I see a shore on the horizon and decide to swim towards it.” And a paragraph later, “I decide to swim towards the land.”
Excerpt From: S. Elliot Brandis. “The Pearl Diver.” iBooks.
All right, Elsie, you are swimming to the beach. No need to tell us again.
Jeriah’s “goofy” smile and Yidel’s “inky” eyes make countless appearances. Elsie’s pink hair and Jeriah’s muscular physique are brought up incessantly. It gets boring having to read about the same things over and over again.
Despite my negative review, I can see this book finding fans—particularly readers who enjoy dystopian YA. It has an inventive premise (I rather enjoyed the diving bits in the first half of the book, actually) and the potential to turn into an epic adventure, but the writing needs some work. In the next installment, I would also like to see a lot more of Elsie being proactive about what’s happening to and around her—thankfully, this occurs with more frequency towards the end of this book.
May 27, 2015
I'm honestly not sure if I'm "qualified" to review this book, because I'm quite frankly not a huge YA reader. I've read Harry Potter and one of the Hunger Games books, and that about sums up my familiarity with the genre.
However, let's just go with "I read this thing and it was good!" as my qualification, and move on. ;)
The world and premise that Brandis has created is, no shocker, really awesome. I had similar comments about his work in the anthology No Way Home; Brandis is an extraordinarily creative writer, who really puts his whole imagination into creating a "what if" that will suck you in immediately. The alien world, people with gills, diving for the pearl in order to achieve prosperity for your homeland, it was all unique and interesting on the surface .
Dive a little deeper (see what I did there), and you'll find themes similar to popular YA today: a young woman struggling in a competitive situation to bring prosperity to her home. Sounds familiar, non? As someone who hasn't been saturated in YA, I didn't mind that at all. It wasn't old news to me. I'm willing to bet that those die-hard YA readers who loved Hunger Games will find Brandis' work to be different enough that the basic plot similarities won't ruin their enjoyment of this world.
Just like in his other works, I found the characters to be surprising, in the best way. I love the way some of these people at first feel completely "wrong" for the situations they end up in. I think to myself "No, there's no way that this person , with all these crazy flaws, can possibly end up being the hero(ine) for this situation." And you know what? Brandis proves me wrong. He's not jamming a round peg into a square hole, either; he lets it happen in a believable way, and I'm honestly pretty amazed at his ability to let his characters grow into heroes from where they start.
It ends on a cliffhanger, but as always, that's not an issue for me. If it is for you, be aware, but I wouldn't let that stop you from reading. The halfway point, as I've come to think of it, though I don't think it's actually halfway, kind of throws you into a whole deeper story that you didn't even see coming. It's all "dive, pearl, dive, pearl, dive, pearl" and then suddenly BAM! Much bigger story. Very clever, and I was really grateful that the story got so much larger; I could sense a great world there, and I was disappointed thinking we would only see that little bit involved with the dive.
So...4 stars, and my sincere recommendation that you check this one out, especially if you liked Hunger Games. (Really, if you liked HG, I can't see how you can possibly do without this book.)
However, let's just go with "I read this thing and it was good!" as my qualification, and move on. ;)
The world and premise that Brandis has created is, no shocker, really awesome. I had similar comments about his work in the anthology No Way Home; Brandis is an extraordinarily creative writer, who really puts his whole imagination into creating a "what if" that will suck you in immediately. The alien world, people with gills, diving for the pearl in order to achieve prosperity for your homeland, it was all unique and interesting on the surface .
Dive a little deeper (see what I did there), and you'll find themes similar to popular YA today: a young woman struggling in a competitive situation to bring prosperity to her home. Sounds familiar, non? As someone who hasn't been saturated in YA, I didn't mind that at all. It wasn't old news to me. I'm willing to bet that those die-hard YA readers who loved Hunger Games will find Brandis' work to be different enough that the basic plot similarities won't ruin their enjoyment of this world.
Just like in his other works, I found the characters to be surprising, in the best way. I love the way some of these people at first feel completely "wrong" for the situations they end up in. I think to myself "No, there's no way that this person , with all these crazy flaws, can possibly end up being the hero(ine) for this situation." And you know what? Brandis proves me wrong. He's not jamming a round peg into a square hole, either; he lets it happen in a believable way, and I'm honestly pretty amazed at his ability to let his characters grow into heroes from where they start.
It ends on a cliffhanger, but as always, that's not an issue for me. If it is for you, be aware, but I wouldn't let that stop you from reading. The halfway point, as I've come to think of it, though I don't think it's actually halfway, kind of throws you into a whole deeper story that you didn't even see coming. It's all "dive, pearl, dive, pearl, dive, pearl" and then suddenly BAM! Much bigger story. Very clever, and I was really grateful that the story got so much larger; I could sense a great world there, and I was disappointed thinking we would only see that little bit involved with the dive.
So...4 stars, and my sincere recommendation that you check this one out, especially if you liked Hunger Games. (Really, if you liked HG, I can't see how you can possibly do without this book.)
June 13, 2015
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.The story centers around a young women who is training for a diving competition that killed her older brother.Elisa lives on the planet Caelum which is 96% water and the inhabitants have gills.I thought the diving competion would be the climax of the book,but the author added a twist that changed the direction of the story in an interesting way.The author is quite talented at world building and well developed characters that I feel invested in. I can't wait to read the next installment of the Seven Worlds Saga.I have read this authors Tunnel Trilogy and his story in the anthology No Way Home and highly recommend them to any fan of the sci-fi genre.
May 27, 2015
What I loved about this story was that it was very simple and it flowed really nicely, even when plot made a complete 180 degrees. I was really shocked how fast the story changed midway and was honestly caught off guard when this transition occurred. It is always a positive thing for me when a book genuinely shocks me. The story overall was very entertaining and I enjoyed the adventure and uncovering the secrets of this universe.
Another great thing about this book was the characters. The characters were very fleshed out and I was able to really connect with these people, especially Elsie. Sometimes authors like to create so many characters that are not memorable or likable. Mr. Branidis slowly introduced each character and because of that each of them made a statement and were special in their own way. I was able to either hate or love any character Elsie encountered; there were no mixed feelings when it came to the characters in this book.
The only negative thing about this book is that it had some YA elements that seemed too familiar with other stories. It started off as an individual and unique story, but towards the end the author began to use some elements from other popular YA books.
Other than my one complaint, this was a fantastic tale about a girl trying to achieve her goal of becoming the pearl diver and discovering the truth about Dunabis. I wasn't expecting to fall in love with this book, but now I am both excited and nervous to see what will happen in the next chapter of the Seven Worlds Saga!
Another great thing about this book was the characters. The characters were very fleshed out and I was able to really connect with these people, especially Elsie. Sometimes authors like to create so many characters that are not memorable or likable. Mr. Branidis slowly introduced each character and because of that each of them made a statement and were special in their own way. I was able to either hate or love any character Elsie encountered; there were no mixed feelings when it came to the characters in this book.
The only negative thing about this book is that it had some YA elements that seemed too familiar with other stories. It started off as an individual and unique story, but towards the end the author began to use some elements from other popular YA books.
Other than my one complaint, this was a fantastic tale about a girl trying to achieve her goal of becoming the pearl diver and discovering the truth about Dunabis. I wasn't expecting to fall in love with this book, but now I am both excited and nervous to see what will happen in the next chapter of the Seven Worlds Saga!
Read
November 1, 2015YA Dystopian Done Right
S. Elliot Brandis's opening volley in his latest series, Seven Worlds Saga, offers up a very promising start to what could very well become a high-water mark in the author's oeuvre.
Elsie dreams of becoming the winning pearl diver in the annual competition that will score her a one-way ticket off her planet and to the central world of Dunamis. In the wake of her brother's death in a prior tournament, her parents viciously oppose her, forcing her to rebel.
I won't say much more in regards to the plot, but to say Elsie gets more than she bargains for is putting it mildly.
Brandis delivers the goods when it comes to Young Adult dystopian fiction: there is well-defined and atrocious threat, impossible odds, and a very strong, determined, and capable heroine. Elsie is just a terrific character and honestly written. It's utterly impossible not to root for her, and, frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to hear her name-dropped alongside Katniss Everdeen some day soon.
After having spent the last few days fully submerged in the world of The Pearl Diver, I'm now left eagerly waiting for the next installment in this series. Do yourself a favor and buy a copy of this book ASAP.
S. Elliot Brandis's opening volley in his latest series, Seven Worlds Saga, offers up a very promising start to what could very well become a high-water mark in the author's oeuvre.
Elsie dreams of becoming the winning pearl diver in the annual competition that will score her a one-way ticket off her planet and to the central world of Dunamis. In the wake of her brother's death in a prior tournament, her parents viciously oppose her, forcing her to rebel.
I won't say much more in regards to the plot, but to say Elsie gets more than she bargains for is putting it mildly.
Brandis delivers the goods when it comes to Young Adult dystopian fiction: there is well-defined and atrocious threat, impossible odds, and a very strong, determined, and capable heroine. Elsie is just a terrific character and honestly written. It's utterly impossible not to root for her, and, frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to hear her name-dropped alongside Katniss Everdeen some day soon.
After having spent the last few days fully submerged in the world of The Pearl Diver, I'm now left eagerly waiting for the next installment in this series. Do yourself a favor and buy a copy of this book ASAP.
May 24, 2015
was excited to receive a copy of this book after first the reading the intriguing description. I am happy to say that I was not too disappointed. While it had many similar features of so many Young Adult series out today, it still was exciting and adventurous enough to keep my interest.
Elsie is about to reach her eighteenth birthday and graduate from school. She lives on the planet Caelum, which is 96% water and the people are born with gills. They are part of the Sandic System, six planets (with rumors of a seventh) led by the planet Dunamis. Each year, those who are of age are able to put their name in for a special event, a dive to search for the "black pearl." This is a test to see who is the best diver of them all, if they can survive the perils of the deep to find the pearl. If victorious, they will be taken to Dunamis to live what they are told is a life of luxury.
Elsie knows about the dangers of the dive. Her brother died during in his own attempt to find the pearl. This did not stop Elsie, but only made her more determined to be the best and win. Her parents are forbidding her to take part, fearful of losing another child. Her teacher is only helping for his own gain, and the official from Dunamis seems kind, but you never know. The only true support Elsie can count on is Jeriah's, her brother's best friend who has now become hers, and Holi, a new girl who wants to help her prepare for the dive.
As Elsie enters the dive of her life, she finds that she is willing to do just about anything to win, but what she finds on the other side is never what she wanted or expected. The story leaves with a cliffhanger that will lead right into the next part of the Seven Worlds Saga, of which I have been told there will be seven books in total for this series.
First of all, I have to say before anything else that I really did enjoy this book Saying that, I do have to add that if you are looking for something completely new and different from other YA series out there, that you will not find that here. There are many similar aspects in this story as you will find in many (strong female heroine, science fiction world, government control). So obviously, any fans of those types of stories should definitely read this one, because it is captivating enough to keep your attention.
I liked the character of Elsie for the most part, even as she is the similar fiery female heroine you will find in many YA books. I thought the beginning and the set up to the dive was great, and I completely felt the tension Elsie did in entering. The weakest part of the story to me was the dive itself. For some reason it seemed to drag and I didn't feel like Elsie was in the kind of danger that I thought she would be. I was expecting more conflict between Elsie and the other divers, and more creatures of the deep that might attack. I also did not like the fact that she decided to cheat to win the contest, but her decision and what she does is actually quite important to later on in the story.
I think one of the most interesting things about the book is that although you are led to believe the big dive is the climax of the story, and actually it is not. What happens to Elsie after the dive is really where the story gets going and was the best part of the book. She heads to Dunamis, and finds that life there is nothing near what she thought it would be. I was surprised at every turn at this point, and once reading the cliffhanger at the end, was ready to find out what happened to Elsie next.
Overall, while I don't see this as outstanding amongst all the other series out there, I really was captivated by the idea of it at the end. Fans of this type of YA fare will enjoy this as I did, and like me will want to get the next chapter.
Happy Reading!
Bookgirl318
Elsie is about to reach her eighteenth birthday and graduate from school. She lives on the planet Caelum, which is 96% water and the people are born with gills. They are part of the Sandic System, six planets (with rumors of a seventh) led by the planet Dunamis. Each year, those who are of age are able to put their name in for a special event, a dive to search for the "black pearl." This is a test to see who is the best diver of them all, if they can survive the perils of the deep to find the pearl. If victorious, they will be taken to Dunamis to live what they are told is a life of luxury.
Elsie knows about the dangers of the dive. Her brother died during in his own attempt to find the pearl. This did not stop Elsie, but only made her more determined to be the best and win. Her parents are forbidding her to take part, fearful of losing another child. Her teacher is only helping for his own gain, and the official from Dunamis seems kind, but you never know. The only true support Elsie can count on is Jeriah's, her brother's best friend who has now become hers, and Holi, a new girl who wants to help her prepare for the dive.
As Elsie enters the dive of her life, she finds that she is willing to do just about anything to win, but what she finds on the other side is never what she wanted or expected. The story leaves with a cliffhanger that will lead right into the next part of the Seven Worlds Saga, of which I have been told there will be seven books in total for this series.
First of all, I have to say before anything else that I really did enjoy this book Saying that, I do have to add that if you are looking for something completely new and different from other YA series out there, that you will not find that here. There are many similar aspects in this story as you will find in many (strong female heroine, science fiction world, government control). So obviously, any fans of those types of stories should definitely read this one, because it is captivating enough to keep your attention.
I liked the character of Elsie for the most part, even as she is the similar fiery female heroine you will find in many YA books. I thought the beginning and the set up to the dive was great, and I completely felt the tension Elsie did in entering. The weakest part of the story to me was the dive itself. For some reason it seemed to drag and I didn't feel like Elsie was in the kind of danger that I thought she would be. I was expecting more conflict between Elsie and the other divers, and more creatures of the deep that might attack. I also did not like the fact that she decided to cheat to win the contest, but her decision and what she does is actually quite important to later on in the story.
I think one of the most interesting things about the book is that although you are led to believe the big dive is the climax of the story, and actually it is not. What happens to Elsie after the dive is really where the story gets going and was the best part of the book. She heads to Dunamis, and finds that life there is nothing near what she thought it would be. I was surprised at every turn at this point, and once reading the cliffhanger at the end, was ready to find out what happened to Elsie next.
Overall, while I don't see this as outstanding amongst all the other series out there, I really was captivated by the idea of it at the end. Fans of this type of YA fare will enjoy this as I did, and like me will want to get the next chapter.
Happy Reading!
Bookgirl318
August 22, 2015
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This book... What can i say other than I FREAKING LOVE IT!
Soooo... about this book. I don't really want to say it's a dysopian novel, because it really isn't. At least on the planet Caelum. The only planet that really falls under that is the head planet Dunamis. So about 30/70 ish? But anyways...
Lets first start of with the main character Elsie. She has long pink hair and gills (just like anyone else on this particular planet). Her brother died from the dive for the black pearl 5 years before and ever since has been an outcast. Her father had receded into himself, barely talking and keeping to himself and her mother is outwardly protective almost to the point of obsession.
(I don't really like her. She's cruel almost to the point of crazy.) Just.... OHHHHHH.... Growl. Makes me wanna...
bitch.
Oh and Yidel is still a sexy beast.
So in a way I do understand why Elsie acts the way she does. Though she does have two friends (kind of) Mr. Handsome Jeriah who was previously her brothers best friend and Holi, a new transfer. Though it takes a bit for her to warm up to her.
But Elsie is a strong heroine, which you don't see to many of these in YA much these days. She pushes past her fears of diving and maybe finding death at the bottom of the ocean and pushes her limits but at the same time knows when to stop.
Except that one time.
Then of course... right in the middle of the darned book... PLOT TWIST. I so did not see that coming.
You are a sneaky author. I saw what you did there...
The writing was good. Though I did find one spelling error in the book (I'll look for it again as I don't remember what page it's on). I wish there was a little more world building outside of the island that Elsie lives on but other than that I didn't find any issues with this book.
So an awesome "5 black pearls" for this book! I cannot wait to read the next one!
So thumbs up there S. Elliot Brandis. Good job.
This book... What can i say other than I FREAKING LOVE IT!
Soooo... about this book. I don't really want to say it's a dysopian novel, because it really isn't. At least on the planet Caelum. The only planet that really falls under that is the head planet Dunamis. So about 30/70 ish? But anyways...
Lets first start of with the main character Elsie. She has long pink hair and gills (just like anyone else on this particular planet). Her brother died from the dive for the black pearl 5 years before and ever since has been an outcast. Her father had receded into himself, barely talking and keeping to himself and her mother is outwardly protective almost to the point of obsession.
(I don't really like her. She's cruel almost to the point of crazy.) Just.... OHHHHHH.... Growl. Makes me wanna...
Oh and Yidel is still a sexy beast.
So in a way I do understand why Elsie acts the way she does. Though she does have two friends (kind of) Mr. Handsome Jeriah who was previously her brothers best friend and Holi, a new transfer. Though it takes a bit for her to warm up to her.
But Elsie is a strong heroine, which you don't see to many of these in YA much these days. She pushes past her fears of diving and maybe finding death at the bottom of the ocean and pushes her limits but at the same time knows when to stop.
Then of course... right in the middle of the darned book... PLOT TWIST. I so did not see that coming.
You are a sneaky author. I saw what you did there...
The writing was good. Though I did find one spelling error in the book (I'll look for it again as I don't remember what page it's on). I wish there was a little more world building outside of the island that Elsie lives on but other than that I didn't find any issues with this book.
So an awesome "5 black pearls" for this book! I cannot wait to read the next one!
So thumbs up there S. Elliot Brandis. Good job.
June 26, 2016
Let me preface this by saying that I know S. Elliott Brandis. We're friendly acquaintances, but I was not asked to read or review The Pearl Diver. I grabbed it out of my own curiosity, because I'm a nosey bugger and like to know about all the awesome stuff my friends are writing.
I have a feeling that I was not the target audience for The Pearl Diver. It's a Young Adult novel, but I still found a lot to enjoy. It's a tale about Elsie, a young girl on the planet Caelum, who dreams of being the next Pearl Diver. A competition is held on Caelum once every few years - a black pearl is dropped into a section of the ocean, and the very best divers on the island planet are tasked with finding it. Whoever finds the pearl becomes the next Pearl Diver.
I did find the earlier chapters to be a bit of hard slog, but I am not the target audience. Young adult romance is not my usual choice of reading material. But when the competition for the next Pearl Diver begins, the story really picked up pace.
I loved the world building in The Pearl Diver. I really enjoyed how the universe seemed to expand very organically, which I think was enhanced by the close perspective we had with Elsie. The sense of immediacy, discovery and eventual horror when the tale is tipped on its axis is compelling, and more than makes up for the slow start.
I also really enjoyed the somewhat blunt, but effective, social commentary the book provided about the state of our lives, and how much we let ourselves be controlled by fear and misinformation, to our peril.
A great beginning to a series that I have no doubt will take us to even greater heights.
I have a feeling that I was not the target audience for The Pearl Diver. It's a Young Adult novel, but I still found a lot to enjoy. It's a tale about Elsie, a young girl on the planet Caelum, who dreams of being the next Pearl Diver. A competition is held on Caelum once every few years - a black pearl is dropped into a section of the ocean, and the very best divers on the island planet are tasked with finding it. Whoever finds the pearl becomes the next Pearl Diver.
I did find the earlier chapters to be a bit of hard slog, but I am not the target audience. Young adult romance is not my usual choice of reading material. But when the competition for the next Pearl Diver begins, the story really picked up pace.
I loved the world building in The Pearl Diver. I really enjoyed how the universe seemed to expand very organically, which I think was enhanced by the close perspective we had with Elsie. The sense of immediacy, discovery and eventual horror when the tale is tipped on its axis is compelling, and more than makes up for the slow start.
I also really enjoyed the somewhat blunt, but effective, social commentary the book provided about the state of our lives, and how much we let ourselves be controlled by fear and misinformation, to our peril.
A great beginning to a series that I have no doubt will take us to even greater heights.
March 14, 2017
This book wasn't my usual fare when it comes to books but I did enjoy reading it. Having been forced to spend the weekend without electricity due to a storm (curse you Mother Nature!), I took the opportunity to pick up this book and give it a try. I wasn't disappointed as I found I did like the world building and the characters enough to want to keep going. In my opinion, this is worth ones time to pick up if you are curious about it.
*won as a GoodReads Giveaway*
*won as a GoodReads Giveaway*
December 27, 2015
A GREAT READ BY A YOUNG AND RISING AU THOR...
This is an unusual story. Author S. Elliot Brandis creates an unusual world with amazing characters. Since this book is #1 of the saga, we should have six more worlds to learn about.
I love the characters and they are developing throughout the book. The plot is a simple good vs. bad but it has many subplots that will keep you turning pages. I was hooked right away and read the book in one day.
This seems to be a mix of sci-fi and dystopian with a good balance of mystery, thrills, action and adventure and even a little romance.
I can recommend this book to young and old alike. The reason I gave this book 4 instead of 5 is because I felt the ending was premature. Don't miss out on this saga...I think we have a lot to look forward to with Author S. Elliot Brandis.
KUDOS Mr. Brandis on a tale well told.
This is an unusual story. Author S. Elliot Brandis creates an unusual world with amazing characters. Since this book is #1 of the saga, we should have six more worlds to learn about.
I love the characters and they are developing throughout the book. The plot is a simple good vs. bad but it has many subplots that will keep you turning pages. I was hooked right away and read the book in one day.
This seems to be a mix of sci-fi and dystopian with a good balance of mystery, thrills, action and adventure and even a little romance.
I can recommend this book to young and old alike. The reason I gave this book 4 instead of 5 is because I felt the ending was premature. Don't miss out on this saga...I think we have a lot to look forward to with Author S. Elliot Brandis.
KUDOS Mr. Brandis on a tale well told.
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