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Destiny Saga #1
Destiny's Road
A sci-fi coming of age story. Caspian Grey’s life was already pretty weird, and then he started high school. He must cope with the bizarre changes in his life while trying to find the family he always wanted.
“Plato once said: ‘No one can escape his destiny.’ A popular TV show pointed out that ‘Destiny is a fickle bitch.’ While I never really believed in destiny, looking back at my life I think they might both have had a point.”
The first book in the Destiny Saga follows Caspian Grey and the women in his life as they cope with his unique nature and struggle to find a way to live in the world. Science, business, love, girlfriends, fist fights and some gun play all come together for a character driven romance with a science fiction bend.
“Plato once said: ‘No one can escape his destiny.’ A popular TV show pointed out that ‘Destiny is a fickle bitch.’ While I never really believed in destiny, looking back at my life I think they might both have had a point.”
The first book in the Destiny Saga follows Caspian Grey and the women in his life as they cope with his unique nature and struggle to find a way to live in the world. Science, business, love, girlfriends, fist fights and some gun play all come together for a character driven romance with a science fiction bend.
542 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 28, 2015
38 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Travis Starnes
45 books90 followersTravis writes science fiction, fantasy, and thriller novels (and the occasional coming-of-age story), with the hope of transporting and enthralling readers. Publishing novels since 2015, Travis’s passion is creating worlds and characters that live and breathe, and experiencing the joy of those stories with his readers.
When not writing, Travis enjoys connecting with readers and other writers, managing the popular Complete Marvel Reading Order website, where he works on his other passion for comics and graphic novels, and spending time with his family.
When not writing, Travis enjoys connecting with readers and other writers, managing the popular Complete Marvel Reading Order website, where he works on his other passion for comics and graphic novels, and spending time with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 29, 2015
Destiny Road is one of those novels that one simply can not forget. Although I'm not very big on teen novels, Destiny Road was one that I'm glad to have read.
The protagonist Cas is a teen that simply grows you from the first pages. Destiny Road is a story about the day to day life of a high school teenager growing up in rural Texas. Although Cas is a teenager and often makes teenage decisions, he never becomes boring. If anything you want to read more about him, you want to immerse yourself in his world even more. And this is simply due to exceptional writing by the other. Every word that the author uses drops you further into his story.
From day to day Cas lives the life of an ordinary teenager, with teenage problems. Problems that quickly turns into adult problems as His world is quickly turned upside down, when an unexpected change occurs. And although I was expecting something drastic to happen in Cas' life, I did not expect what the author had delivered.
Destiny Road was a smooth, exciting and an easy read that I'm glad to have experience. Each character and location played an important role. And this is all due to the author's excellent and unique writing style. I look forward to revisiting his unique world again. I give Destiny Road 5 out of 5.
The protagonist Cas is a teen that simply grows you from the first pages. Destiny Road is a story about the day to day life of a high school teenager growing up in rural Texas. Although Cas is a teenager and often makes teenage decisions, he never becomes boring. If anything you want to read more about him, you want to immerse yourself in his world even more. And this is simply due to exceptional writing by the other. Every word that the author uses drops you further into his story.
From day to day Cas lives the life of an ordinary teenager, with teenage problems. Problems that quickly turns into adult problems as His world is quickly turned upside down, when an unexpected change occurs. And although I was expecting something drastic to happen in Cas' life, I did not expect what the author had delivered.
Destiny Road was a smooth, exciting and an easy read that I'm glad to have experience. Each character and location played an important role. And this is all due to the author's excellent and unique writing style. I look forward to revisiting his unique world again. I give Destiny Road 5 out of 5.
November 10, 2015
Caspian grey the wonder boy!
I don’t really know how to review this story, Caspian is a boy who was abandoned by his birth mother and was tossed around the foster system for years until he was adopted at age ten in a family. Due to his past, and the lack of connection between him and his adoptive mother and sister, Caspian had not really experienced what it felt like to be wanted and loved. He then runs into a situation where he had to save a girl from being molested and the girl then latches on to him and for him this was good, it was like all his Christmases had come at once being loved, wanted and even becoming one of the popular boys in his school. He was wanted by all the girls and he had the respect of the entire adult he came in contact with, it felt like things just changed for him. I won’t go into all the story but what bothered me about Caspian, was not the fact that he was good at everything and the reason for this is better explained towards the end of the book, it was the fact that he had allowed himself to be weakened by his adoration for the girl Zoe, it felt like he just went along with every plan and suggestions she made. Also the way they slept in each other’s bed, climbing in and out of windows and also experimenting with threesomes at the age of fifteen was a shock to my system and it made me wonder how their parents (especially Zoe’s mother) could find this acceptable. Even though I am sure teenagers nowadays are involved in consensual relationship, I still struggled with reading about how this kids were acting like adults and I sort of wanted Caspian to grow some back bone and be better than that but I also understand why he absorbed all the love thrown his way due to his past. This doesn’t take from the book just my personal view of the life styles of the characters.
I don’t really know how to review this story, Caspian is a boy who was abandoned by his birth mother and was tossed around the foster system for years until he was adopted at age ten in a family. Due to his past, and the lack of connection between him and his adoptive mother and sister, Caspian had not really experienced what it felt like to be wanted and loved. He then runs into a situation where he had to save a girl from being molested and the girl then latches on to him and for him this was good, it was like all his Christmases had come at once being loved, wanted and even becoming one of the popular boys in his school. He was wanted by all the girls and he had the respect of the entire adult he came in contact with, it felt like things just changed for him. I won’t go into all the story but what bothered me about Caspian, was not the fact that he was good at everything and the reason for this is better explained towards the end of the book, it was the fact that he had allowed himself to be weakened by his adoration for the girl Zoe, it felt like he just went along with every plan and suggestions she made. Also the way they slept in each other’s bed, climbing in and out of windows and also experimenting with threesomes at the age of fifteen was a shock to my system and it made me wonder how their parents (especially Zoe’s mother) could find this acceptable. Even though I am sure teenagers nowadays are involved in consensual relationship, I still struggled with reading about how this kids were acting like adults and I sort of wanted Caspian to grow some back bone and be better than that but I also understand why he absorbed all the love thrown his way due to his past. This doesn’t take from the book just my personal view of the life styles of the characters.
October 21, 2015
The book starts off as a teen romance, albeit a very unique one. Then, just when you've gotten accustomed to the highly unusual situation the protagonist has found himself in, the plot takes a sudden twist and evolves into something entirely different. A very fun read. Looking forward to the next installment!
December 18, 2021
Took a chance and liked it
Not many reviews, I guess not many people know about it. Thought story was okay, enough so that I ended up reading all five books. Have read other stories that weren’t as good that ended up having five times as many reviews.
Not many reviews, I guess not many people know about it. Thought story was okay, enough so that I ended up reading all five books. Have read other stories that weren’t as good that ended up having five times as many reviews.
March 18, 2024
Corny, the cult of Caspian, overly simplistic. Caspian is in high school and already in a four-way sexual relationship. I’m surprised the mothers of these teenage girls didn’t join in as well. Basically, Caspian can do no wrong. When Caspian pulls up his trousers, the sun goes down.
December 3, 2021
Interesting
Not what I expected. A good story that is a slow burner. The concepts are a different take and well thought out
Not what I expected. A good story that is a slow burner. The concepts are a different take and well thought out
November 4, 2015
Destiny’s Road is based on an interesting premise. Fifteen-year-old Cas moves with his adoptive mother and sister to a new town and begins to see unusual changes in himself and those around him. He doesn’t know why these things are happening, and neither do readers. This lack of a logical explanation caused some dissonance for me. I kept wondering if this was going down the path of “Stranger in a Strange Land,” given some of the plot twists.
Given the following categories, I rated the book 4 stars (averages to 3.5).
CHARACTERS: ****
STORY: ****
PACE AND STRUCTURE: ***
USE OF LANGUAGE: ***
NARRATIVE VOICE: ****
DIALOGUE: ***
SETTINGS: ****
THEMES: ***
I’m female, and well past my teenage years, so it’s possible that there’s a gender and age difference component getting in my way. I thought the main character should be bothered by the mystery of why things are changing around him, and what’s happening to him, but Cas didn’t speculate or spend much time angsting about it until quite late in the book. He basically narrated actions play-by-play. I like to know why people do things and how they feel about it. It would have enriched the story for me if the author had delved more deeply into mental and emotional aspects.
Pivotal to the story is that people either instantly liked/trusted Cas, or violently disliked him. Since we don’t know why they respond this way, and Cas didn’t seem bothered by it, I found myself trying to guess at the “why.” Which interrupted the flow of the story but also kept me engaged...
We frequently see Cas in intimate moments with several characters, and while the scenes aren’t graphic, the subject matter itself is beyond what I usually think of as YA. Are teens – are most of us? - mature enough to accept multiple partners in a relationship with so little angst? Hopefully all will be explained in the sequel, because I didn’t see how it was necessary to the plot.
This is described as a Sci-Fi YA, but science fiction has very little to do with this book until the very end. Mostly, we’re getting to know Cas, his family dynamics, and his relationships between various characters. Lots of interesting topics – we learn a bit about Krav Maga, the fight scenes are well-described, and the author did a great job explaining the medical aspects.
As another reviewer comment, the part which made it so difficult to rate this book is the age of the characters who are involved in such mature relationships. I have read a lot of dystopian, fantasy, sci-fi, and romance YA the last few years, but this one deals with sexual relationships to a much greater extent. The sex scenes aren't described in any detail, and only one comment in the book was jarringly graphic, but if you’re a parent whose teen wants to read this book, you might check it out for yourself before giving the green light.
Overall an interesting read, and I’d like to learn more about Cas and his plans for the future.
Given the following categories, I rated the book 4 stars (averages to 3.5).
CHARACTERS: ****
STORY: ****
PACE AND STRUCTURE: ***
USE OF LANGUAGE: ***
NARRATIVE VOICE: ****
DIALOGUE: ***
SETTINGS: ****
THEMES: ***
I’m female, and well past my teenage years, so it’s possible that there’s a gender and age difference component getting in my way. I thought the main character should be bothered by the mystery of why things are changing around him, and what’s happening to him, but Cas didn’t speculate or spend much time angsting about it until quite late in the book. He basically narrated actions play-by-play. I like to know why people do things and how they feel about it. It would have enriched the story for me if the author had delved more deeply into mental and emotional aspects.
Pivotal to the story is that people either instantly liked/trusted Cas, or violently disliked him. Since we don’t know why they respond this way, and Cas didn’t seem bothered by it, I found myself trying to guess at the “why.” Which interrupted the flow of the story but also kept me engaged...
We frequently see Cas in intimate moments with several characters, and while the scenes aren’t graphic, the subject matter itself is beyond what I usually think of as YA. Are teens – are most of us? - mature enough to accept multiple partners in a relationship with so little angst? Hopefully all will be explained in the sequel, because I didn’t see how it was necessary to the plot.
This is described as a Sci-Fi YA, but science fiction has very little to do with this book until the very end. Mostly, we’re getting to know Cas, his family dynamics, and his relationships between various characters. Lots of interesting topics – we learn a bit about Krav Maga, the fight scenes are well-described, and the author did a great job explaining the medical aspects.
As another reviewer comment, the part which made it so difficult to rate this book is the age of the characters who are involved in such mature relationships. I have read a lot of dystopian, fantasy, sci-fi, and romance YA the last few years, but this one deals with sexual relationships to a much greater extent. The sex scenes aren't described in any detail, and only one comment in the book was jarringly graphic, but if you’re a parent whose teen wants to read this book, you might check it out for yourself before giving the green light.
Overall an interesting read, and I’d like to learn more about Cas and his plans for the future.
November 10, 2015
I don't know what to make of this book. It was kind of marketed (to me anyway) as an 18+ adult novel, yet is it most certainly pure YA (all the characters are 15 for one thing). At 575 pages it represents a major commitment from readers and frankly I don't think most of them will ever finish it. And to top that off it's part of a series and the story is unresolved.
Almost since I started it I've been searching for an apt description and I finally found one: unrealistic. While mildly enjoyable for what it is, the book is very frustrating because you keep thinking it's eventually going to get around to something, but in the meantime you have to suffer through the most stilted dialogue and unrealistic plot lines.
I'm around many kids from 2 to 14 years old in my immediate family and none of them speak in Miss Manner's perfect English using proper grammar. I would venture to say there is probably not a 15 year old in America who talks like these kids. Example: "Well Vicki, I would love to go on a date with you."
And as if the dialogue is not unrealistic enough to jerk the reader out of the story, how many 15 year old boys do you know who regularly sleep with naked girls (yes the plural was intended) all night in bed and never touch them? Sure, that happens in real life.
Finally in Chapter 20, 66% of the way into the book, we find something unusual about Cas, the main character. But that really doesn't go anywhere either (at least in this first book) and was too little too late for me.
The book isn't bad. If you like YA it's okay. It just wasn't what I was expecting and it's a huge time commitment for what you get in return.
Almost since I started it I've been searching for an apt description and I finally found one: unrealistic. While mildly enjoyable for what it is, the book is very frustrating because you keep thinking it's eventually going to get around to something, but in the meantime you have to suffer through the most stilted dialogue and unrealistic plot lines.
I'm around many kids from 2 to 14 years old in my immediate family and none of them speak in Miss Manner's perfect English using proper grammar. I would venture to say there is probably not a 15 year old in America who talks like these kids. Example: "Well Vicki, I would love to go on a date with you."
And as if the dialogue is not unrealistic enough to jerk the reader out of the story, how many 15 year old boys do you know who regularly sleep with naked girls (yes the plural was intended) all night in bed and never touch them? Sure, that happens in real life.
Finally in Chapter 20, 66% of the way into the book, we find something unusual about Cas, the main character. But that really doesn't go anywhere either (at least in this first book) and was too little too late for me.
The book isn't bad. If you like YA it's okay. It just wasn't what I was expecting and it's a huge time commitment for what you get in return.
October 31, 2015
This is was a difficult book to rate. Did I enjoy it overall, yes. At first it was rather an eye roller, with a 'too good to be true' american hero, shy and great at everything. Within minutes of getting to campus on his first day at a new school, Caspian Grey beats the baddies and saves the damsel in distress, who literally grabs onto her knight in shining armour like a limpet.
It got better the further along I got, but had the added advantage that you sometimes get with 'whodunits' that after I'd finished it, I wanted to go back and pick out when things started to change. Dating, football, part-time jobs and hobbies all feature extensively, all par for the course for Caspian, and his growing entourage of both teenage and adult admirers.
The part I had trouble with were the ages of the characters, although from a brief google, I found that in the setting, consenting sexual relationships between 14 and 15 year olds is legal, but you cant buy a beer till 21. I'm English, so I had a hard time getting my head around this. I don't think having the characters a few years older would have compromised the story at all, and might make it more acceptable to a wider audience.
Their parents also seemed quite happy to let these teen share beds and sneak about their neighbourhood alone at night, climbing through windows and in and out of each others beds, although this was explained by the effect Caspian has on people.
It got better the further along I got, but had the added advantage that you sometimes get with 'whodunits' that after I'd finished it, I wanted to go back and pick out when things started to change. Dating, football, part-time jobs and hobbies all feature extensively, all par for the course for Caspian, and his growing entourage of both teenage and adult admirers.
The part I had trouble with were the ages of the characters, although from a brief google, I found that in the setting, consenting sexual relationships between 14 and 15 year olds is legal, but you cant buy a beer till 21. I'm English, so I had a hard time getting my head around this. I don't think having the characters a few years older would have compromised the story at all, and might make it more acceptable to a wider audience.
Their parents also seemed quite happy to let these teen share beds and sneak about their neighbourhood alone at night, climbing through windows and in and out of each others beds, although this was explained by the effect Caspian has on people.
December 27, 2015
Cas is a seemingly normal 15 year old at the beginning of the story. However, soon we begin to realize that he's not all that he seems. He is good at everything, which was sort of annoying. Everyone around him seems to do his bidding and all agree with him, except for a select few people. Those people have the opposite reaction to him and seem to loathe him. The pace of the story was slow, but oddly pulled me to keep reading because I wanted to know what it was all about. The fact that most of the main characters are all 14-15 years old and having multiple partner sexual relationships was off putting. I would have preferred if they were 17ish. That would have been more palatable. It was pretty unbelievable that they would leave their homes in the middle of the night and be gone until morning without their parents knowledge. They would have been caught on at least a few occasions. One more thing was the dialogue. It didn't flow. I was pulled out of the story by it's stilted nature. An example: (Chapter 1) "I am just glad you are okay." Should have been "I'm just that you're okay." That being said, the story has a very interesting plot. I found myself wanting answers to questions that could only be answered by the next book in the series. I would be interested in reading the next installment.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest, non-reciprocal review.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest, non-reciprocal review.
November 12, 2015
Interesting read.
Following Caspian through the first part of his saga is interesting. The action starts immediately, and mostly doesn't let up throughout. The reaction of others, be it love or hate, depending on their genetic disposition is a new twist on things. Can't wait for the next part.
Following Caspian through the first part of his saga is interesting. The action starts immediately, and mostly doesn't let up throughout. The reaction of others, be it love or hate, depending on their genetic disposition is a new twist on things. Can't wait for the next part.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews