God of War, Ares: Guardian

by Brandon Chen

In the world of Terrador, the Persian Empire dominates over the other nations on the eastern continent of Dastia. When Darien, the teenage prince of Persia, is banished from his homeland and is forced to wander the endless desert of the Lost Sands, he meets a new and unusual friend, and his grand adventure begins.It is said that no human can cross the vast desert and survive. In the forsaken wasteland, the young boy will discover a power beyond his imagining, one that will change him forever.From the teenage author who brought you the Age of Darkness series comes a new fantasy/action/adventure epic for young adults with a unique mythological twist.To join Brandon's email-list for information and updates on future novels, email brandonchen997@gmail.com!

407 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 16, 2016

About the author

Brandon Chen is a young author, born in May 1997, who began writing his first book, Age of Darkness, at the age of fourteen. As an avid fan of manga at a young age, Brandon took inspiration from various of his favorite works. After several years of editing the novel, Age of Darkness was published when Brandon was seventeen.

Brandon loves fantasy and adventure novels, particularly of darker nature and finds influence from books that he's read and movies that he has seen to incorporate new ideas into his own writing. Brandon published Age of Darkness with the hopes that he would be able to share his own mind and imagination with those around him.

He has published two books in the Age of Darkness series and a new series, which takes place in the same world, called God of War Ares. He has also begun writing for comics with best-selling titles like "Hanzo" and "Taeiyos." His most recent work, Ghost Wolf, is a standalone prequel to the Age of Darkness series.

Brandon is currently an Economics & Computer Science student at New York University.

For updates on future novels: go to www.authorbrandonchen.com or follow him on instagram at @inspired.author/@brandon.the.chen!

Email him at brandonchen997@gmail.com to join his emailing list to receive updates on new novels and projects!

Reviews

[Ava Pavkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review, and I loved it. Not everything happened the way I thought it was going to. Honestly, the person who took over as the New Ares isn't who I thought would. I understand now why Chen had to have the New Ares be Ares, he's selfless. He's so incredibly selfless. This book is amazing, it teaches lessons. It's okay to admit your mistakes, you can fix your mistakes if you are dedicated enough. Also think, is what you think is right going to make anything better? Is it going to fix the mistake?

I love how he writes this. This book was a bit slow at times, but all of the great things mentioned in the previous paragraph are what made this book so worthwhile and incredible. When it comes to the romance of this book it didn't have much, and I liked that. Too many authors these days try to intermix romance when an alien is trying to eat someone's foot. Chen seems to have the hint of a possible romance, some of which I love and one that I am not too fond of, but he doesn't have said infatuation getting in the way of the issue at hand.

The relationships in this book are also very important. Amon and Darien are my most favorite of this book, but I also love the trio of Yuu, Tetsu, and Darien.

Chen didn't make this book simple. He didn't chuck a novel out there for the sake of a book. He thought this out so nicely. This novel is researched, organized, and covers everything. Throughout this novel you see how something touches back on something else earlier, which I loved because that way there are no holes, everything makes sense. You know those books where the author seemed to forget all about a big issue and you're laying there like, "I was waiting for this to unravel and make sense, but I'm still confused." The worst part is when you're at the end of the book and there is no sequel. This book is definitely not that.

I finished this book in three days. True, I didn't have much going on this week, but I got this done way faster than I thought I would. I wanted to read it even faster. I really wanted to know how everything ended up, but I had stuff to do. Brandon does that a lot with this book, he keeps you hooked. Anyone who's read Percy Jackson in their middle school years or just really loved overlapping countries' myths should definitely read this.

[The Bibliophagist · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given this 4 stars, but there were scenes that prevented me from doing so. There is a scene identical to that of Aladdin...even the flying carpet is there...and a villain named Jafaar. This would not have bothered me so much if it was a new twist on a classic, but it wasn't. This was a different book entirely, but used exact scenes from other movies. The worms that cause the ground to quake and then come up...sound familiar...tremors? For those reasons given, I had to remove a star. It was so upsetting that the exact scenes were used, rather than creating his own.

I was also bothered when every detail of each character was given upon introduction. I was told what color their hair was, what they were holding, eye color, exactly what they wore..to the extent of if they wore shoes or not. This was unnecessary and I found myself wanting to skim those sections.

Now that i have gotten that out, this book was good. I really enjoyed the read. I never felt as if I needed to put the book down. It pulled me quickly along this amazing tale. There were some unexpected twists and a great lesson within. Readers learn that it is alright to make mistakes as long as you make the effort to fix it. We also learn that the amount of power you hold is not important, rather how you use it is.

The book left in a huge cliff hanger. I look forward to reading the next book.

[Mellencholic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dropped the book. I couldn't get myself too into the story, for some description was too heavily focused on minor details.