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Apprentice
Intelligences have evolved, but will people ever change?. Amelika, Terra's Prime Multipath Talent, is ageing. After a lifetime of unparalleled achievements, she should be enjoying a satisfied retirement. To do so, she must nominate a successor. Supervisor Maclaren, her lifelong nemesis, believes the role is rightfully his, but she knows he would only abuse the position of power. The ache of every bone in her body tells her time is running out to find someone more worthy. Laelika doesn’t fit in. She avoids everyone, but trouble still finds her. The other chargelings at the Orphanage treat her as an outcast. With no sign of any Talent, it seems unlikely that she will ever find a place among the Clans. Something is consuming her; something she refuses to remember or acknowledge. On the surface, it would appear the two have nothing in common. Yet there is a force which binds their fates together; both are damaged and without each other, neither will survive. Will Amelika’s Talent be enough to save them both? And so begins the journey of Apprentice, the first book in the fantasy series “Talents of Terra,” tracing four generations of powerful women in a world where human intelligence has evolved beyond any predictions but in other ways, the worst parts of human nature remain the same. Grab Apprentice today and discover a world of intriguing characters in which corruption threatens integrity in a timeless battle of power.
- GenresFantasy
294 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 21, 2018
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62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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Blurb:
The joys of life outweigh all the sorrows it delivers... only sometimes the scales are tipped.
Amelika, Terra's Prime Multipath Talent, is ageing. After a lifetime of unparalleled achievements, she should be enjoying a satisfied retirement. To do so, she must nominate a successor. Supervisor Maclaren, her lifelong nemesis, believes the role is rightfully his, but she knows he would only abuse the position of power. The ache of every bone in her body tells her time is running out to find someone more worthy.
Laelika doesn't fit in. She avoids everyone, but trouble still finds her. The other chargelings at the Orphanage treat her as an outcast. With no sign of any Talent, it seems unlikely that she will ever find a place among the Clans. Something is consuming her; something she refuses to remember or acknowledge.
On the surface, it would appear the two have nothing in common. Yet there is a force which binds their fates together; both are damaged and without each other, neither will survive. Will Amelika's Talent be enough to save them both?
And so begins the journey of Apprentice , the first book in the fantasy series Talents of Terra , tracing four generations of powerful women in a world where human intelligence has evolved beyond any predictions but in other ways, the worst parts of human nature remain the same.
Blurb:
The joys of life outweigh all the sorrows it delivers... only sometimes the scales are tipped.
Amelika, Terra's Prime Multipath Talent, is ageing. After a lifetime of unparalleled achievements, she should be enjoying a satisfied retirement. To do so, she must nominate a successor. Supervisor Maclaren, her lifelong nemesis, believes the role is rightfully his, but she knows he would only abuse the position of power. The ache of every bone in her body tells her time is running out to find someone more worthy.
Laelika doesn't fit in. She avoids everyone, but trouble still finds her. The other chargelings at the Orphanage treat her as an outcast. With no sign of any Talent, it seems unlikely that she will ever find a place among the Clans. Something is consuming her; something she refuses to remember or acknowledge.
On the surface, it would appear the two have nothing in common. Yet there is a force which binds their fates together; both are damaged and without each other, neither will survive. Will Amelika's Talent be enough to save them both?
And so begins the journey of Apprentice , the first book in the fantasy series Talents of Terra , tracing four generations of powerful women in a world where human intelligence has evolved beyond any predictions but in other ways, the worst parts of human nature remain the same.
October 25, 2020
I loved the 'Talent' concept of the book. I really wish the author had gone into more detail about the different types of Talents. I enjoyed most of the characters and was disappointed when they were separated. I felt that Laelika could really have used some friends. It was definitely an interesting start to the series and I am curious where the author takes the series.
June 15, 2019
I will be honest with you, I struggled occasionally with this book. This is not a fast-paced adventure but is instead a very deep, homey character-driven fantasy story. It moves at a very sedate pace which had me sort of antsy on occasion, wishing something would happen. However, I really enjoyed this a lot.
All of the characters feel real and even with their flaws, I fell in love with each of them - even cocky Mclaren, lol. The connections feel real, the dialogue, although sometimes formal, feels natural for the setting. There were so many lovely surprises, as these kids get to know each other, watching each of them grow and blossom, sort of bouncing off of each other. It makes me excited to see more, to know what happens! And I love Amelika, the grumpy old psychic, so high and mighty and powerful yet ironically crippled and withering due to old age. She has some great, snappy rebukes and yet seeing her humbled really endeared her to me.
A couple complaints regarding character: not enough flaws. At times, Jonika seemed too perfect to me. I get that she's a psychic and all and this entire story is geared towards opening and healing Laelika, so, it forced Jonika into this role of "older than her years" understanding and compassion. But it came off as a little unrelatable sometimes. The same problem with Mataka, who wasn't a psychic, and yet there was no room in the plot for her to make mistakes.
Just a non-spoiler note: this book is all about Laelika. Not just in a "main character/protagonist" sort of way, but in a plot focus kind of way. The entire thing is about the mystery in this girl's mind, her hidden gift, and her emotional awakening. All the interactions we see are very geared towards her, revolving around her. It's not a bad thing and in fact, it's an intriguing mystery and exercise in a semi-realistic attempt to cope with trauma - except everybody are psychics, so, it's different. I just think it is important for others to know that the plot isn't about anything other than Laelika in a very literal sense.
A small complaint regarding psychic abilities: I think the author assumes psychic abilities are more interesting than they actually are. In the superhero/X-Men sense, yes, mind abilities can be entertaining to watch or read about. But when it's more elevated context and a realistic take on "if people actually had them"? It was the biggest thing I struggled with trying to maintain interest. I am really mostly complaining about how much focus was given to Jonika's powers and the detailing of the colors she was seeing. I much preferred when Amelika uses hers towards the end; I found the last chapter very interesting and enthralling and the solving of the mystery was gratifying.
I am not fond of accents written out phonetically either, and Jonen was hard to read for the first quarter of the book; it gets better and he eases up on speaking with half words and apostrophes after a while. Some people find it immersive, but I didn't. I would have preferred it hadn't been there at all because he was the only one who had it and it came off as the one guy with a Scottish accent in a room full of Americans.
This book is entertaining and interesting with lovely, compelling characters and an interesting world where psychics are powerful, hold seats of authority and leadership. It is not exciting or dramatic the way you think of a fantasy book. It is nonetheless an interesting story and I would recommend it. (Same as my review posted on Amazon)
All of the characters feel real and even with their flaws, I fell in love with each of them - even cocky Mclaren, lol. The connections feel real, the dialogue, although sometimes formal, feels natural for the setting. There were so many lovely surprises, as these kids get to know each other, watching each of them grow and blossom, sort of bouncing off of each other. It makes me excited to see more, to know what happens! And I love Amelika, the grumpy old psychic, so high and mighty and powerful yet ironically crippled and withering due to old age. She has some great, snappy rebukes and yet seeing her humbled really endeared her to me.
A couple complaints regarding character: not enough flaws. At times, Jonika seemed too perfect to me. I get that she's a psychic and all and this entire story is geared towards opening and healing Laelika, so, it forced Jonika into this role of "older than her years" understanding and compassion. But it came off as a little unrelatable sometimes. The same problem with Mataka, who wasn't a psychic, and yet there was no room in the plot for her to make mistakes.
Just a non-spoiler note: this book is all about Laelika. Not just in a "main character/protagonist" sort of way, but in a plot focus kind of way. The entire thing is about the mystery in this girl's mind, her hidden gift, and her emotional awakening. All the interactions we see are very geared towards her, revolving around her. It's not a bad thing and in fact, it's an intriguing mystery and exercise in a semi-realistic attempt to cope with trauma - except everybody are psychics, so, it's different. I just think it is important for others to know that the plot isn't about anything other than Laelika in a very literal sense.
A small complaint regarding psychic abilities: I think the author assumes psychic abilities are more interesting than they actually are. In the superhero/X-Men sense, yes, mind abilities can be entertaining to watch or read about. But when it's more elevated context and a realistic take on "if people actually had them"? It was the biggest thing I struggled with trying to maintain interest. I am really mostly complaining about how much focus was given to Jonika's powers and the detailing of the colors she was seeing. I much preferred when Amelika uses hers towards the end; I found the last chapter very interesting and enthralling and the solving of the mystery was gratifying.
I am not fond of accents written out phonetically either, and Jonen was hard to read for the first quarter of the book; it gets better and he eases up on speaking with half words and apostrophes after a while. Some people find it immersive, but I didn't. I would have preferred it hadn't been there at all because he was the only one who had it and it came off as the one guy with a Scottish accent in a room full of Americans.
This book is entertaining and interesting with lovely, compelling characters and an interesting world where psychics are powerful, hold seats of authority and leadership. It is not exciting or dramatic the way you think of a fantasy book. It is nonetheless an interesting story and I would recommend it. (Same as my review posted on Amazon)
February 21, 2019
Sometimes a little boring but overall, I enjoyed reading it. If there are more books to go with this one, I'd love to read them! :-)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews