The Awakened: Book One by Jason
Tesar
Returning to his home
city of Bastul, Kael finds the Southern Territory of the Orudan Empire under
invasion. As he races to unravel the secrecy of the enemy’s identity, he
becomes entangled in a brutal conspiracy to gain control of the government.
After years of
collaboration with the Resistance, Maeryn coordinates the covert exodus of the
entire slave population of Bastul. Along their treacherous journey to the
capital city of Orud, she is faced with the pressures of leadership as she
attempts to protect her daughter and ensure the survival of her companions.
Saba, held captive by
a mysterious military force, escapes after years of solitary confinement.
Propelled by an elusive memory, he chases after the hope of rediscovering his
past and learns that everyone’s future is in jeopardy.
In book two of his
debut series, Jason Tesar delves into the heart of an ancient legend, expanding
an epic saga that will journey from earth’s mythological past to its
post-apocalyptic future, blending the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and
military/political suspense.
I have to say that after reading the debut of Jason
Tesar, I was excitedly anticipating the second book, The
Awakening: Book Two. It starts with a cryptic opening scene with
Aldair and leaves the reader still questioning the fate of this character. Then
the book continues with the narratives of Kael, Maeryn, and Saba. You are going
to have to be patience with this one.
It completely starts telling the narrative of this book
without answering this reader’s blaring questions from the first book. The majority of this read was frustrating to
me... ignorance was not bliss to me. The characters were less dynamic that the
first book but so much more familial. From around 23% to 85%, of the book, Mr.
Tesar, sets up his story like a master illusionist, giving this reader what I
thought were random and pointless stories.
As with everything in natural, it has symmetry. Symmetry he
reveals in his own time. When I got to the end it reminded me of the line in
the Matrix, Know thy self. It felt like I didn’t recognize the symmetry until I
was ready for it to be revealed to me.
As I read it on a Kindle, my patience was rewarded the last
15% of the novel. This is where the three narratives start to come together and
gets excitingly captivating. It’s like eating the Brussels sprouts to get to
the French fries and steak. Everything I read before was needed to get to this
point. But once I got there all the frustrations of the middle 62% are
alleviated and forgiven.
What I wanted to happen and what did was shocking and astonishingly
different. It ended on a high note that invigorated my wanting to read the
third novel. The Awakening: Book Two
closed some of my questions from the first, made me start asking new questions,
and morphed some of the questions I still have left. Prime example: Where is
Aldair? I have my suspicions and I’m hoping I’m correct but the one thing I do
know based on Jason
Tesar’s first two books, I will not be disappointed with the answers
that I find.
I give The
Awakened: Book Two 4 out 5.
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