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The Bane of Yoto
Some say the Arbitrators existed long before the universe was born. Others believe their dark powers spun the fabric of time itself. They are mystery. But here is After ages of formless existence, the Arbitrators craved physicality once more. Their hunger sparked a great fire-a blaze that found its shape in the form of a dagger capable of transmitting their essence into a living vessel. In their search for a worthy body to inhabit, they destroyed the world of the gentle numah and the combative olokun.
But not all was lost.
General Vega and his vile olokun warriors enslaved the remaining numah and relocated them to a thriving moon where they were forced to toil in endless strife.
Cycles later, two numah brothers, Eon and Yoto, witnessed the slaughter of their parents at Vega's whim. Eon vowed vengeance, while Yoto sought a timid life in hopes of drawing no attention from their cruel overlords. But when an alien witch dispatches a minion to bury a mystical dagger in Eon's heart, thereby granting him the Arbitrators' power and the ability to defeat Vega, it is Yoto who is stabbed. Now, Yoto's days of cowardice are over. He is transformed into a monstrous creature of tremendous strength and intellect.
But will Yoto become the heroic liberator of his people-or the cause of their total annihilation?
But not all was lost.
General Vega and his vile olokun warriors enslaved the remaining numah and relocated them to a thriving moon where they were forced to toil in endless strife.
Cycles later, two numah brothers, Eon and Yoto, witnessed the slaughter of their parents at Vega's whim. Eon vowed vengeance, while Yoto sought a timid life in hopes of drawing no attention from their cruel overlords. But when an alien witch dispatches a minion to bury a mystical dagger in Eon's heart, thereby granting him the Arbitrators' power and the ability to defeat Vega, it is Yoto who is stabbed. Now, Yoto's days of cowardice are over. He is transformed into a monstrous creature of tremendous strength and intellect.
But will Yoto become the heroic liberator of his people-or the cause of their total annihilation?
- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
427 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 3, 2012
5 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Viola
40 books55 followersJoshua Viola is a two-time Colorado Book Award finalist and co-author of the Denver Moon series. His comic book collection, Denver Moon: Metamorphosis, was included on the 2018 Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel. He edited the Denver Post bestselling anthology, Nightmares Unhinged, and co-edited Cyber World—named one of the best science fiction anthologies of 2016 by Barnes & Noble. His fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and has been reprinted by Tor.com. He is owner and chief editor of Hex Publishers.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
September 13, 2013
I'm torn between 2 & 3 stars. I'll go for 3 because there is a niche I feel this fits into and lovers of that niche will enjoy the book.
It seems like it'd be a great read for people who love comic book style adventures/heroes... it reads like a comic in book form - Hulk meets Abe's Odd World (video game) (with a splash of Riddick, WoW and Avatar).
Especially reminiscent of Abe's when we get into the biological structures. *cue a giant burp from the bio-jail's sloshing innards*
I kept thinking as I read it: "This would make a great animated movie..." There's kind of an Anime flavor to some of the alien elements going on there.
There's a whole lot of gratuitous violence and gore and a high "gross out" factor that fans of gory comics like Helsing or Berserk will like... Heads smushed or ripped off, broken bones as weapons, innards falling out, gobs and gobs and GALLONS of bile-like fluids and blood and god knows what else...slime, glop, excretia, etc.
Overall, I liked Yoto's character. I really liked him up to a point, then it faded off a bit, but he was by far the most empathetic character in the story. The brother relationship was full of conflict and broken/unrealistic expectations. Celeste, I liked as well.
I loved the idea of Yoto and the dagger and the environment and the description of him, though the story was not so much my cuppa tea. I enjoyed it more or less till the last 100 pages, then it lost me & I wasn't along for the ride anymore.
The comic app - I quit pretty quickly to avoid too many spoilers. I may go back later.
Update: I went back to the comic app, which gives you "part 1" roughly, before you have to purchase more. I feel like this whole thing could be so much better as one digital graphic novel vs. app + book. There'd be a heckuva lot of text to trim down and squeeze in there, but I think the combination of graphics, music and story as one entity would have been much more satisfying.
It seems like it'd be a great read for people who love comic book style adventures/heroes... it reads like a comic in book form - Hulk meets Abe's Odd World (video game) (with a splash of Riddick, WoW and Avatar).
Especially reminiscent of Abe's when we get into the biological structures. *cue a giant burp from the bio-jail's sloshing innards*
I kept thinking as I read it: "This would make a great animated movie..." There's kind of an Anime flavor to some of the alien elements going on there.
There's a whole lot of gratuitous violence and gore and a high "gross out" factor that fans of gory comics like Helsing or Berserk will like... Heads smushed or ripped off, broken bones as weapons, innards falling out, gobs and gobs and GALLONS of bile-like fluids and blood and god knows what else...slime, glop, excretia, etc.
Overall, I liked Yoto's character. I really liked him up to a point, then it faded off a bit, but he was by far the most empathetic character in the story. The brother relationship was full of conflict and broken/unrealistic expectations. Celeste, I liked as well.
I loved the idea of Yoto and the dagger and the environment and the description of him, though the story was not so much my cuppa tea. I enjoyed it more or less till the last 100 pages, then it lost me & I wasn't along for the ride anymore.
The comic app - I quit pretty quickly to avoid too many spoilers. I may go back later.
Update: I went back to the comic app, which gives you "part 1" roughly, before you have to purchase more. I feel like this whole thing could be so much better as one digital graphic novel vs. app + book. There'd be a heckuva lot of text to trim down and squeeze in there, but I think the combination of graphics, music and story as one entity would have been much more satisfying.
June 27, 2012
The Bane of Yoto is a book that was taken from a comic and turned into a full length book, and therein some similarities lie. First off, the good guys are really good, and the bad guys are so bad that they fairly drip with blood. You want to boo and hiss when they come on to the page, because they are the least sympathetic characters that I've ever read. In this book, it is Vega and his son Cadoc who play the roles of the evil ones you want to destroy. The good guys are Eon and his brother Yoto, even though Yoto at first is a coward, but you know that won't last. It can't last. Then there's Celeste, Yoto's old girlfriend, who's now a healer, she's very good. There is also a Witch that Vega used, he thought, to create Neos,the moon they all live on, and the Aegis Wall so that the Olokun would be safe from the Arbitrators, but the witch has her own agenda, and always did. In the whole story, the witch is the only one who is not truly evil, and not truly good, she is just out for herself. So selfish she is, but that does not make her evil, it makes her self serving. She does kill a few people, but that was self interest too.
SETTING: The book takes place on the moon Neos, where the Numah people (Eon, Yoto and Celeste along with the rest of the Numan people) are slaves to the Olokun (Vega and his son Cadoc are the leaders of the Olokun). The Numah mine ore to build the Aegis shield to protect the planet from the Arbitrators who destroyed the original planet of the Numah which was Ajyin. The Olokun have a system of building the wall using the ore and a creature that extrudes the ore onto the wall to build it. This has been going on for years. The Olokun also use the Numah in the arena for entertainment, as the Numah are much smaller than the Olokun, they don't stand a chance of saving their own lives. So the Olokun kill them, licking up their blood in the process, and cheering and laughing when one of their soldiers wins. This makes all of the Olokun bad guys. Many Numah have died in the arena on trumped up charges of defying the law of the Olokun. The Numah are not lying down for this, and the leader of their rebellion, is Eon.
PLOT: The plot is very simple, the Numah want to take back the planet from the Olokun by force. They've been planning for years how to do this. They unexpectedly get help from a source rather different than they expected that makes all the difference to the failure or success of their rebellion. The help was once a Numah, but now really isn't. It's grown into something else was unexpected, to say the least. But, it's big, it's fast, it's deadly, it's angry, it's intelligent, it knows things that no one else does. So they follow it and see what happens. Basically, all hell breaks loose. The planets is in full rebellion, and while Vega, Cadoc, and the rest of the elite guard entertain themselves in the arena, the Numah strike at different points in the city, taking down the Olokun guards sent to capture them. When the Numah exotic help gets there, they put in place a plan to get Vega out of the arena by attacking his favorite thing. Not only does this work, but it has the side effect of killing innocent Numah miners, which almost kills the Numah exotic mentally. Things keeps going as planned until Cadoc gets out of the arena and gets into the action, then he grabs one of the good guys and takes him back to arena to fight for his life. Will the exotic come in time? Can the exotic kill Vega and Cadoc? If he does, what about the elite troops in the stands? What will they do? And the Witch? What does she want? Will the Arbitrators come? Will the Rebellion win? The Rebellion has a very good chance of taking it all down, but will they do it, and will they exotic support them? What about the Shield? Will it stand? If it doesn't the Arbitrators are sure to come? Will they ruin Neos like they did Ajyin? These questions and more are answered in the book. The plot is so twisty, it's like a Swiss mountain road, with switchback after switchback. First you think it's one way, then you think it's the other, the you go back to your first position, the you change your mind again to the second position, over and over again, until you're not sure how you feel about what's going on, or who is doing what to whose dog for how many cookies.
THE CHARACTERIZATION: The characterization in this book, while very good, is simply black and white. There is no grey anywhere in this book that I could find, no in-between,no shades of gray, no levels between good and evil. You are either very good, or you are very evil. The good people are so good that they good pass a while glove test. The bad people on the other hand, should crack mirrors as they pass, just because they are so very evil, that glass should react to the fact that much evil exists in the universe and they should simply break apart at it's existence. Either that, or their footsteps should leave an imprint of blood in their wake as a warning of the amount of evil in the man passing by. Cadoc for example, commonly has blood all over him from his victims, either from the arena or elsewhere, but before he gets home, he licks himself clean. Yuck! What a guy! They do say that cleanliness is close to Godliness, but I don't think that they had that in mind. So, Cadoc, commonly drips blood as he passes by. Vega himself, paints with the blood of Numah that he's just tortured. What a prince! These guys have absolutely no redeeming qualities about them. They are even thinking about killing each other. This is not sophisticated characterization - it has more to do with the comic book roots of the story than with the sophisticated characterization found in five star books that make characters fully three dimensional with quirks, foibles, flaws, damage, buttons, and all those others things that make a fictional character seem absolutely real.
THE PACE: The pace of the book was rather slow in places, not knowing how things were going with the rebellion, or how Yoto fit into all of it, the book sped up and slowed down until the last half of the book which was all high speed. The first part of the book seemed to be set up for a situation that takes place at a rebellion meeting. This situation changes everything for not only Yoto, but for Neos as a whole. Once you get to that point, the book perks right up, and whisks you away to fantastic happenings. There is no doubt about it, the second half is definitely the most exciting half of the book. There is excessive violence, though not gratuitous violence in the second half. You get to cheer when the good guys win, and boo when they don't. And when things happen that you never dreamed possible, you simply are pulled along by the narrative at high speed. All of it is first person POV, either you are in Yoto's head or Eon's, sometimes, you even get to get into Cadoc's brain. That is quite scary. Cadoc's always got plans to take down Vega and subjugate the Numah. Eon is always thinking about his Rebellion. Yoto is thinking about Celeste, Neos and what to do to save his people and his planet. He wonders about the Arbitrators and if they would help. He doesn't believe that they shattered Ajyin, even if that's the only story they all knew.
THE ENDING: You knew the ending was coming, you didn't know how it was going to play out, but you knew who the players were going to be. The exotic Numah went to the arena to go after Vega and Cadoc. He was enraged by what they had done to Celeste. In the arena, Vega used magic to make himself bigger, stronger, quicker, faster, and took on the exotic Numah, trying to kill him, or control him. Either way, Vega thought he had won. The problem was the exotic Numah was heartsick that Celeste had been violated after death, and could feel each death that Vega caused in the arena, it didn't make him stronger, it made him heartsick, so he couldn't summon the anger to fight Vega like he should have. But they still tangled, throwing pieces of the arena at each other, throwing each other over fields and forests, Meanwhile, Eon is fighting Cadoc in the arena, and Eon is armed with a weapon and Cadoc is not. Also, the Witch is loose. What will happen? Will Vega kill they exotic? Will Eon kill Cadoc? Will the Witch, loose her magic, control people to do her bidding? And what will she want them to do? She hates both Cadoc an Vega? But we don't know how she feels about the Numah. She freaks out about the Arbitrators. Who will her target be? Will Eon and the exotic win, taking back the planet, so that they could all live peaceful lives? And what of the Arbitrators? You know they'll show up sometime. Will they waste they planet? Will they side with the Numah? The Witch was the one who knew them. Will they take her away? All these questions and more are answered. The ending fits the story perfectly, though parts of it are tragic. A love is lost, a brother is lost, a home is lost, but a new beginning is made, so there is good there too.
THE UPSHOT: If you like your bad guys evil and your good guys pristine, and you love adventure in grand style, then this book is for you. It's science fiction, magic, and thriller all rolled up into one gigantic present. There is nothing unequivocal here. You can cheer and boo as much as you like and feel justified about it. When you buy the book, you even get a free download of episode one in 3D on the Bane of Yoto website, and for the first few people to buy the book, there are other goodies that come along too. I was fortunate to win this book as a part of the program on GoodReads First Reads and I want to thank them, this was and excellent read, and I appreciate your sending it to me. Everything I get from the First Reads program has been stellar, so again my thanks Goodreads. You people are awesome.
SETTING: The book takes place on the moon Neos, where the Numah people (Eon, Yoto and Celeste along with the rest of the Numan people) are slaves to the Olokun (Vega and his son Cadoc are the leaders of the Olokun). The Numah mine ore to build the Aegis shield to protect the planet from the Arbitrators who destroyed the original planet of the Numah which was Ajyin. The Olokun have a system of building the wall using the ore and a creature that extrudes the ore onto the wall to build it. This has been going on for years. The Olokun also use the Numah in the arena for entertainment, as the Numah are much smaller than the Olokun, they don't stand a chance of saving their own lives. So the Olokun kill them, licking up their blood in the process, and cheering and laughing when one of their soldiers wins. This makes all of the Olokun bad guys. Many Numah have died in the arena on trumped up charges of defying the law of the Olokun. The Numah are not lying down for this, and the leader of their rebellion, is Eon.
PLOT: The plot is very simple, the Numah want to take back the planet from the Olokun by force. They've been planning for years how to do this. They unexpectedly get help from a source rather different than they expected that makes all the difference to the failure or success of their rebellion. The help was once a Numah, but now really isn't. It's grown into something else was unexpected, to say the least. But, it's big, it's fast, it's deadly, it's angry, it's intelligent, it knows things that no one else does. So they follow it and see what happens. Basically, all hell breaks loose. The planets is in full rebellion, and while Vega, Cadoc, and the rest of the elite guard entertain themselves in the arena, the Numah strike at different points in the city, taking down the Olokun guards sent to capture them. When the Numah exotic help gets there, they put in place a plan to get Vega out of the arena by attacking his favorite thing. Not only does this work, but it has the side effect of killing innocent Numah miners, which almost kills the Numah exotic mentally. Things keeps going as planned until Cadoc gets out of the arena and gets into the action, then he grabs one of the good guys and takes him back to arena to fight for his life. Will the exotic come in time? Can the exotic kill Vega and Cadoc? If he does, what about the elite troops in the stands? What will they do? And the Witch? What does she want? Will the Arbitrators come? Will the Rebellion win? The Rebellion has a very good chance of taking it all down, but will they do it, and will they exotic support them? What about the Shield? Will it stand? If it doesn't the Arbitrators are sure to come? Will they ruin Neos like they did Ajyin? These questions and more are answered in the book. The plot is so twisty, it's like a Swiss mountain road, with switchback after switchback. First you think it's one way, then you think it's the other, the you go back to your first position, the you change your mind again to the second position, over and over again, until you're not sure how you feel about what's going on, or who is doing what to whose dog for how many cookies.
THE CHARACTERIZATION: The characterization in this book, while very good, is simply black and white. There is no grey anywhere in this book that I could find, no in-between,no shades of gray, no levels between good and evil. You are either very good, or you are very evil. The good people are so good that they good pass a while glove test. The bad people on the other hand, should crack mirrors as they pass, just because they are so very evil, that glass should react to the fact that much evil exists in the universe and they should simply break apart at it's existence. Either that, or their footsteps should leave an imprint of blood in their wake as a warning of the amount of evil in the man passing by. Cadoc for example, commonly has blood all over him from his victims, either from the arena or elsewhere, but before he gets home, he licks himself clean. Yuck! What a guy! They do say that cleanliness is close to Godliness, but I don't think that they had that in mind. So, Cadoc, commonly drips blood as he passes by. Vega himself, paints with the blood of Numah that he's just tortured. What a prince! These guys have absolutely no redeeming qualities about them. They are even thinking about killing each other. This is not sophisticated characterization - it has more to do with the comic book roots of the story than with the sophisticated characterization found in five star books that make characters fully three dimensional with quirks, foibles, flaws, damage, buttons, and all those others things that make a fictional character seem absolutely real.
THE PACE: The pace of the book was rather slow in places, not knowing how things were going with the rebellion, or how Yoto fit into all of it, the book sped up and slowed down until the last half of the book which was all high speed. The first part of the book seemed to be set up for a situation that takes place at a rebellion meeting. This situation changes everything for not only Yoto, but for Neos as a whole. Once you get to that point, the book perks right up, and whisks you away to fantastic happenings. There is no doubt about it, the second half is definitely the most exciting half of the book. There is excessive violence, though not gratuitous violence in the second half. You get to cheer when the good guys win, and boo when they don't. And when things happen that you never dreamed possible, you simply are pulled along by the narrative at high speed. All of it is first person POV, either you are in Yoto's head or Eon's, sometimes, you even get to get into Cadoc's brain. That is quite scary. Cadoc's always got plans to take down Vega and subjugate the Numah. Eon is always thinking about his Rebellion. Yoto is thinking about Celeste, Neos and what to do to save his people and his planet. He wonders about the Arbitrators and if they would help. He doesn't believe that they shattered Ajyin, even if that's the only story they all knew.
THE ENDING: You knew the ending was coming, you didn't know how it was going to play out, but you knew who the players were going to be. The exotic Numah went to the arena to go after Vega and Cadoc. He was enraged by what they had done to Celeste. In the arena, Vega used magic to make himself bigger, stronger, quicker, faster, and took on the exotic Numah, trying to kill him, or control him. Either way, Vega thought he had won. The problem was the exotic Numah was heartsick that Celeste had been violated after death, and could feel each death that Vega caused in the arena, it didn't make him stronger, it made him heartsick, so he couldn't summon the anger to fight Vega like he should have. But they still tangled, throwing pieces of the arena at each other, throwing each other over fields and forests, Meanwhile, Eon is fighting Cadoc in the arena, and Eon is armed with a weapon and Cadoc is not. Also, the Witch is loose. What will happen? Will Vega kill they exotic? Will Eon kill Cadoc? Will the Witch, loose her magic, control people to do her bidding? And what will she want them to do? She hates both Cadoc an Vega? But we don't know how she feels about the Numah. She freaks out about the Arbitrators. Who will her target be? Will Eon and the exotic win, taking back the planet, so that they could all live peaceful lives? And what of the Arbitrators? You know they'll show up sometime. Will they waste they planet? Will they side with the Numah? The Witch was the one who knew them. Will they take her away? All these questions and more are answered. The ending fits the story perfectly, though parts of it are tragic. A love is lost, a brother is lost, a home is lost, but a new beginning is made, so there is good there too.
THE UPSHOT: If you like your bad guys evil and your good guys pristine, and you love adventure in grand style, then this book is for you. It's science fiction, magic, and thriller all rolled up into one gigantic present. There is nothing unequivocal here. You can cheer and boo as much as you like and feel justified about it. When you buy the book, you even get a free download of episode one in 3D on the Bane of Yoto website, and for the first few people to buy the book, there are other goodies that come along too. I was fortunate to win this book as a part of the program on GoodReads First Reads and I want to thank them, this was and excellent read, and I appreciate your sending it to me. Everything I get from the First Reads program has been stellar, so again my thanks Goodreads. You people are awesome.
May 29, 2012
I discovered The Bane of Yoto via the 3D comic app on the iPhone. The app itself impressed me enough to check out the novel (which I was able to receive an advance copy of).
I wasn't sure what to expect. It's written by newcomers, so I had my doubts, but I was unexpectedly engrossed and a bit shocked at the outcome.
The book starts off a bit slow. It's not necessarily boring, but it focuses a lot on the characters/setting much more than a high-octane opener. That's not to say that it doesn't ever achieve that - the finale is an in-your-face action set piece comparable to most big-budget Hollywood films, though it never forgets its characters and their relationships to one another.
The plot/concept itself is pretty unique. That's not an exaggeration. So many of what comes out today claims to be original, but this one truly is. The setting, world, characters, ideas are all very new and feel fresh. I mean, it's about a guy who gets stabbed in the chest and the blade transforms him into a giant creature (rather than killing him off). For such a strange, high-concept idea, I was surprised to find it focus on the character's so much. It's really a story about brotherhood. And though it's an ultra violent roller-coaster ride, the message is pretty clear in the end: it's about tolerance/acceptance. The world of Yoto is very intriguing, but you'll fall in love with the characters when its all said and done.
It's a long book, but well worth the read. The pacing was great and the twist ending was, well, a twist.
I thoroughly recommend it. It may be from unknowns, and there are a few things to get past regarding the writing style, but once you dig in, you'll find it hard to leave behind.
I wasn't sure what to expect. It's written by newcomers, so I had my doubts, but I was unexpectedly engrossed and a bit shocked at the outcome.
The book starts off a bit slow. It's not necessarily boring, but it focuses a lot on the characters/setting much more than a high-octane opener. That's not to say that it doesn't ever achieve that - the finale is an in-your-face action set piece comparable to most big-budget Hollywood films, though it never forgets its characters and their relationships to one another.
The plot/concept itself is pretty unique. That's not an exaggeration. So many of what comes out today claims to be original, but this one truly is. The setting, world, characters, ideas are all very new and feel fresh. I mean, it's about a guy who gets stabbed in the chest and the blade transforms him into a giant creature (rather than killing him off). For such a strange, high-concept idea, I was surprised to find it focus on the character's so much. It's really a story about brotherhood. And though it's an ultra violent roller-coaster ride, the message is pretty clear in the end: it's about tolerance/acceptance. The world of Yoto is very intriguing, but you'll fall in love with the characters when its all said and done.
It's a long book, but well worth the read. The pacing was great and the twist ending was, well, a twist.
I thoroughly recommend it. It may be from unknowns, and there are a few things to get past regarding the writing style, but once you dig in, you'll find it hard to leave behind.
July 13, 2012
"The Bane of Yoto" was an amazing tragic and thrilling read! Not a fast read, but thought-provoking at the start and action-packed at the end. With excellent writing and thrilling plot, the author has created the scenes well.
The plot starts with the lives of Numah people, who are treated terribly by Olokun. Among these Numah people were the kids - Eon, Yoto and Celeste - and their parents. Their parents were killed in the arena, before their very eyes. Eon waits for revenge for years..few of the other Numah people also help him. They want to kill the Olokuns and take over the entire planet, as the Olokuns destroyed their planet. Although it started very slow, it was action packed after some time.
The writing was okay, the world building was great and the characters are scary. When the author needed some action in the story, she just brings in a new character..got to love that - it just added to the thrill and action.
Recommended for those, who want to try science fiction!
The plot starts with the lives of Numah people, who are treated terribly by Olokun. Among these Numah people were the kids - Eon, Yoto and Celeste - and their parents. Their parents were killed in the arena, before their very eyes. Eon waits for revenge for years..few of the other Numah people also help him. They want to kill the Olokuns and take over the entire planet, as the Olokuns destroyed their planet. Although it started very slow, it was action packed after some time.
The writing was okay, the world building was great and the characters are scary. When the author needed some action in the story, she just brings in a new character..got to love that - it just added to the thrill and action.
Recommended for those, who want to try science fiction!
July 4, 2012
The Bane of Yoto is a high concept, epic sci-fi/fantasy novel about the enslaved race of Numah versus the oppressing, overpowering, vile Olokun race. Under the illusion of a new peaceful life on the moon of their planet, Olokun imprison the Numah to slavery, putting them to work to create a shield to combat and hide the new found "planet" Neos from the destructive ethereal race known as the Arbitrators.
The threads of the story come together through the different perspectives of all the characters creating an engrossing and compelling tale.
The pacing and characterization were fleshed out very well. The writing was absolutely top notch, lots of blood, sweat, tears, and years went into the creation of this unique and fascinating universe.
This has been one of the best novels I've read in quite some time. It's an absolute page turner from beginning to end.
Highly recommend you buy this novel and its subsequent novels in the trilogy, and prequel novellas as they are made available.
Yoto lives!
The threads of the story come together through the different perspectives of all the characters creating an engrossing and compelling tale.
The pacing and characterization were fleshed out very well. The writing was absolutely top notch, lots of blood, sweat, tears, and years went into the creation of this unique and fascinating universe.
This has been one of the best novels I've read in quite some time. It's an absolute page turner from beginning to end.
Highly recommend you buy this novel and its subsequent novels in the trilogy, and prequel novellas as they are made available.
Yoto lives!
May 29, 2012
It's a great book. And better than that, it's truly new. And very gritty. Josh did a masterful job of throwing this world WAY outside the box yet keeping the characters and situations as believable as possible.
There are places that are going to make you cringe - Oh man, will they - so prepare yourself! And others that will really elevate you. A real quality experience. Which was a real relief for me. See, I'm one of the guys who was given the task of turning this book into an animated comic. As soon as i got done with it, I was compelled to call Josh up and exclaim, "Dude! It's good! It's really REALLY good! I'm SOOO glad it doesn't suck!"
It's been one of my greatest pleasures to come in everyday and dive into the world of Yoto. So give it a read! You won't be disappointed. :)
There are places that are going to make you cringe - Oh man, will they - so prepare yourself! And others that will really elevate you. A real quality experience. Which was a real relief for me. See, I'm one of the guys who was given the task of turning this book into an animated comic. As soon as i got done with it, I was compelled to call Josh up and exclaim, "Dude! It's good! It's really REALLY good! I'm SOOO glad it doesn't suck!"
It's been one of my greatest pleasures to come in everyday and dive into the world of Yoto. So give it a read! You won't be disappointed. :)
July 4, 2012
I received a copy of this book from a Good Reads giveaway. I was VERY impressed. I have to admit when entering the description of the book reminded me a lot of the movie Transformers which is why I decided to enter the giveaway in the first place. I didn't know at the time that the "Bane of Yoto" was actually a comic turned into a book and was happily surprised when I indulged in this story. Everything about this book is very well written and developed. I was engaged right from the start by this book and sent on an adventure Id jump in and read again easily. I loved how it was told from a different side with the main character being an alien, I loved the different views of the characters and how they meshed together, and I loved even more how I felt like I was in the middle of an action movie the entire time while reading. HIGHLY recommended for sci-fi and action lovers!!!
May 24, 2013
The Bane of Yoto isn't the type of book I normally read, but I'm glad I got it. What I like about it most is the rich environment, the history of the Olokun and the Numah. There is plenty of tension here, the Numah are basically up against overwhelming odds. They are slaves of the Olokun, led by General Vega. They are forced to mine minerals that are used in the construction of the Aegis Shield, which will protect them from the forces that destroyed their planet (they had to flee to a moon). I especially enjoyed the uniqueness that surrounds the setting. Everything is biological for the Olokun, it brought back memories of the Zurg in Starcraft. All in all, if you like fantasy/sci-fi, you should check this out.
May 29, 2012
I thought that The Bane of Yoto was a phenomenal read! Without spoilers it is a book that lets you see Joshua Viola's alien world through the horrified eyes of a slave, his people, and their disgustingly cruel master(s). Simply put, the protagonist's monstrous evolution should not be missed! Every so often there are those rare gems of books whose imagery of character savagery, magic and compassion make the reader yearn for a continuation at the conclusion of the novel, and this is one of those books.
May 29, 2012
Bane of Yoto takes place in another time and another place, when the mystical dagger pierces Yoto in error, he is overwhelmed at the changes he sees in himself and must come to terms as to how he will use these new powers. The development of characters is phenomenol, and you are drawn into the foreign environment and see the raw texture of of the beings that make up the inhabitants of this planet and their culture.
May 30, 2012
I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone that enjoys a good sci-fi. The characters are well imagined and painted fantastically through text. The story puts the reader into a deeply inspired universe while at the same time reflects on themes relevant to modern society. There are so many levels to this story that I'm sure anyone would enjoy to discover and experience.
May 29, 2012
A story of another time and another place that kept me on the edge of my chair. The development of characters was outstanding and the main character, Yoto, continues his journey trying to adjust against all odds at what has happened to him by a strange accident.
May 29, 2012
Excellent sci-fi novel! Definitely a page turner that keeps the reader on the edge. The character development is very well done and I really enjoyed how detailed the writing was. I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a revolutionary new product!
July 4, 2012
This book had me interested throughout. This sprawling story grabs you from the start and rarely loses momentum. Once I got to later chapters I couldn't put it down. Both the universe and the characters are very well imagined. Anyone that enjoys a good sci-fi fantasy should not pass this up!
May 14, 2023
The story is a good one but not a memorable one. Don’t get me wrong, I recommend this book to anyone who likes anime & action with gore. But the story over all can be forgotten over time. Over all I gave this book 4 stars for being a great one time read.
June 28, 2016
The Bane of Yoto – Joshua Viola with Nicholas Karpuk- Part I THE BOOK REVIEW
I had the extreme pleasure of reading The Bane of Yoto. I have to admit I was like a kid at Christmas waiting for the newly released Limited Second Edition to hit my front porch. My first thought after seeing the cover and the size of the book….wow! As if it couldn’t get any better, when I cracked it open and saw the full color pictures in the back as well as the black and white pictures of each of the characters I was ecstatic! In addition to all of that, it includes 16 pages of Bloodmoon, the prequel to The Bane of Yoto. Now just let that digest for a minute. So far I’m super impressed, but does the story live up to the awesome cover and all the goodies contained in this limited second edition? The answer is a resounding hells yeah!
The characters have depth, some likable, some lovable (in their own way) and some you love to hate. Each of them has their own demons to overcome. Young Yoto sees his slave parents brutally murdered before his eyes. His older brother Eon becomes the leader of the rebellion while Yoto becomes a quiet Manager in the slave mines under Olokun rule. Yoto is content not to rock the boat even though his brother tries to get him to use his talented mind to help them overthrow the Olokun and take their lives back. On the Olokun side we have Cadoc the son of the current ruler, Vega. Cadoc has major daddy issues and is trying to take Vega’s job as ruler. Of course there are several other characters in the mix. The beautiful witch that Vega disfigures in order to teach her a lesson, Vega’s mom and dad are there, as well as Celeste. Her and Yoto had a ‘thing’ and at some point Yoto realized he still loved her. Is it too late for these two to make things work? Does Eon overthrow the Olokun and free the Numah from their years of slavery and abuse? Does Yoto grow into the man his father hoped he would be? And who the heck is the giant dude on the cover of the book? I could answer all of these questions for you, but it defeats the purpose of you actually reading it. I will say this…from cover to cover it’s an awesome book, it has perfect flow and kept me engaged from the first page. The details in the story are amazing, the world the author created jumps from the pages and no details were left out. When I say no details I’m talking about the font used for chapter numbers, the various pictures scattered through the text as well as the page break lines. Who looks at this stuff anyway? Apparently I do and I was so impressed, that I was compelled to download the audio version to see what the author did with is.
The Bane of Yoto – Joshua Viola with Nicholas Karpuk – Part II THE AUDIO BOOK REVIEW
Just as the story and the book didn’t disappoint, the audio was amazing. J.D. Hart and Deb Thomas did an awesome job bringing voices to these complex characters. In listening to the book I realized I had been pronouncing Cadoc’s name wrong the entire time I read the book. Celeste had a far more sensual voice then I had given her, and Yoto’s voice was just cool. Seriously, it was cool. There are a few well placed musical interludes and I must say that was a pleasant surprise. The music was done by Celldweller and added a little something extra to the audio book. I’ve listened to a lot of audio books over the years and this is one of the few that actually had male and female readers. Nothing is worse then listening to some old guy with a British accent try to sound like a teenage girl. Ew!
So if you aren’t getting what I’m saying…I’m saying do yourself a favor…if you like science fiction with some violence, some cool characters, an amazing, well thought out story and some cool character pictures, go read get this book. Did I mention there is also an app for that? Joshua Viola has a lot of irons in the fire and I expect to see more and more great things from him. You can check out his latest stuff on his website at http://www.joshuaviola.com. Did I mention he even has his own Yoto Beer? I haven’t had the opportunity to partake of this yet, but I think it’s in my future!
You can see the review on our website as well:
http://groovey.tv/bane-yoto-double-re...
I had the extreme pleasure of reading The Bane of Yoto. I have to admit I was like a kid at Christmas waiting for the newly released Limited Second Edition to hit my front porch. My first thought after seeing the cover and the size of the book….wow! As if it couldn’t get any better, when I cracked it open and saw the full color pictures in the back as well as the black and white pictures of each of the characters I was ecstatic! In addition to all of that, it includes 16 pages of Bloodmoon, the prequel to The Bane of Yoto. Now just let that digest for a minute. So far I’m super impressed, but does the story live up to the awesome cover and all the goodies contained in this limited second edition? The answer is a resounding hells yeah!
The characters have depth, some likable, some lovable (in their own way) and some you love to hate. Each of them has their own demons to overcome. Young Yoto sees his slave parents brutally murdered before his eyes. His older brother Eon becomes the leader of the rebellion while Yoto becomes a quiet Manager in the slave mines under Olokun rule. Yoto is content not to rock the boat even though his brother tries to get him to use his talented mind to help them overthrow the Olokun and take their lives back. On the Olokun side we have Cadoc the son of the current ruler, Vega. Cadoc has major daddy issues and is trying to take Vega’s job as ruler. Of course there are several other characters in the mix. The beautiful witch that Vega disfigures in order to teach her a lesson, Vega’s mom and dad are there, as well as Celeste. Her and Yoto had a ‘thing’ and at some point Yoto realized he still loved her. Is it too late for these two to make things work? Does Eon overthrow the Olokun and free the Numah from their years of slavery and abuse? Does Yoto grow into the man his father hoped he would be? And who the heck is the giant dude on the cover of the book? I could answer all of these questions for you, but it defeats the purpose of you actually reading it. I will say this…from cover to cover it’s an awesome book, it has perfect flow and kept me engaged from the first page. The details in the story are amazing, the world the author created jumps from the pages and no details were left out. When I say no details I’m talking about the font used for chapter numbers, the various pictures scattered through the text as well as the page break lines. Who looks at this stuff anyway? Apparently I do and I was so impressed, that I was compelled to download the audio version to see what the author did with is.
The Bane of Yoto – Joshua Viola with Nicholas Karpuk – Part II THE AUDIO BOOK REVIEW
Just as the story and the book didn’t disappoint, the audio was amazing. J.D. Hart and Deb Thomas did an awesome job bringing voices to these complex characters. In listening to the book I realized I had been pronouncing Cadoc’s name wrong the entire time I read the book. Celeste had a far more sensual voice then I had given her, and Yoto’s voice was just cool. Seriously, it was cool. There are a few well placed musical interludes and I must say that was a pleasant surprise. The music was done by Celldweller and added a little something extra to the audio book. I’ve listened to a lot of audio books over the years and this is one of the few that actually had male and female readers. Nothing is worse then listening to some old guy with a British accent try to sound like a teenage girl. Ew!
So if you aren’t getting what I’m saying…I’m saying do yourself a favor…if you like science fiction with some violence, some cool characters, an amazing, well thought out story and some cool character pictures, go read get this book. Did I mention there is also an app for that? Joshua Viola has a lot of irons in the fire and I expect to see more and more great things from him. You can check out his latest stuff on his website at http://www.joshuaviola.com. Did I mention he even has his own Yoto Beer? I haven’t had the opportunity to partake of this yet, but I think it’s in my future!
You can see the review on our website as well:
http://groovey.tv/bane-yoto-double-re...
March 6, 2013
Joshua Viola did an amazing job when writing The Bane of Yoto. The Bane of Yoto is told from the different characters own perspective. Joshua Viola has created characters to be both loved and despised. The characters in The Bane of Yoto created very well and given the description readers can conjure a picture of them easily in their minds. You will learn that not everything is as it seems through the telling of the story. The story may start out slow, but by the second chapter, The Bane of Yoto quickly turns to a fast paced read and will have readers finding it hard to put down. The Bane of Yoto is a fast paced, action packed read and the end will leave you asking what happens now. Joshua Viola is an amazing writer and I cannot wait to read book 2 in the series The Bane of Yoto - Bloodmoon: Birth of the Beast.
October 28, 2014
I'm not usually a reader of sci-fi books, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It has so many imaginative elements and a compelling cast of characters. And the book kept surprising me. There are some twists at the end that will make you re-evaluate where you thought the story was going - very cool.
I can't wait to download the app to see the artwork that goes with these characters and this imaginative world.
And I can't wait until the sequel comes out, to find out what is next!
You will be drawn in by this imaginative, creative world, and captured by this epic adventure featuring an unlikely hero. The story will keep you guessing until the very end, and the characters will stay with you long after you have finished reading this book.
I can't wait to download the app to see the artwork that goes with these characters and this imaginative world.
And I can't wait until the sequel comes out, to find out what is next!
You will be drawn in by this imaginative, creative world, and captured by this epic adventure featuring an unlikely hero. The story will keep you guessing until the very end, and the characters will stay with you long after you have finished reading this book.
Read
December 12, 2012This book was nothing like I ever thought it to be. It introduce a new world to me and the characters were just amazing. I could never tell what was going to happen next. The society within the book was inspiring. Inspiring because people who have been taken over and rebel just set a fire in me. There isn't much I can say really without giving spoilers and that is something I wanted to avoid doing. It was a great book and I definitely recommend everyone to read it.
March 31, 2014
It took me a while to get into the story, but after my second attempt I was drawn in and continued to the end. I really enjoyed the story once I got about 100 pages in. For some reason I felt lost in the beginning. The only real thing that I did not like about the story was the bloody violence, but at times it did further the telling. Overall a good read. I am sorry that I waited so long to actually finish it.
July 11, 2012
I received my copy of this book as part of the First reads giveaway program.
This is a fast paced novel that reads like an anime movie, in fact I would recommend it to fans of the genre. I have to say I really didn't care for the character Yoto, but because I liked some of the secondary characters I was able to enjoy the story.
This is a fast paced novel that reads like an anime movie, in fact I would recommend it to fans of the genre. I have to say I really didn't care for the character Yoto, but because I liked some of the secondary characters I was able to enjoy the story.
January 26, 2013
I thought this book was great. I could not put the book down! The author did an excellent job of telling the story of the Numah in such a way that you felt their pain. I would suggest this book to any fan of fantasy/scifi. I look forward to reading the other Bane of Yoto book.
December 17, 2013
There's a reason why this book keeps winning award after award. (I believe 12 or 13 up to this point.) It's epic science-fiction fantasy at its best. Keep your eye on this young author. He's going places.
August 9, 2015
Amazing book, what can I say. I simply love general Vega, he's really fucked up, and I dig that. Read the book guys,it's brutal and I love it.
December 17, 2013
Bane of Yoto took its adventure much farther than I expected it to go from its humble beginnings. A unique scifi fantasy, Yoto is well worth your hard earned dollars.
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