Title: Red Death
Author: Jeff Altabef
Rating: 3/5 Stars
I was sent a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Summary
Everyone who lives in Eden, a small community, fears a disease known as the Red Death, which quickly takes your life. The “creator”, known as Jacob, created this society to protect the people. When a cure for this plague is discovered, the leaders of this community decide this is a perfect chance to show their power and do not want to let anyone get in their way. This sets off a chain of events that might change the fate and balance of this world.
Review
This story is told through the eyes of many various characters. The perspective of the story changes with each chapter. When I began reading, I was worried that this was going to be incredibly confusing to navigate however it ended up being really easy to understand. The author also includes a “cast of characters” section at the end of the book to keep track of all of the characters and a link to this is included at the end of every chapter. I found this particularly helpful at the beginning when I was not as familiar with the characters. The negative aspect of having such a large cast of characters is I feel as though they were fully developed throughout the story. I hope this is rectified in the sequel, The Ghost King. I also feel this way for the setting of the story. I would have loved a deeper description of the various sights that this story takes us, especially the campsite of the Painted Ones. I would have loved more of their culture. I would be definitely interesting in reading a novel purely about each of the various tribes.
I was a bit confused in the beginning because I feel like the concepts were told to the reader all at once. I think the author created an incredibly interesting concept for this novel. However, it was so complex that I was constantly trying to play catch up. As the story progressed, all of the characters and their various stories came together and it was fun to find all of their connections and understand the importance of each character.
One of my favorite characters was Wilky. Even though he has trouble speaking and expressing himself, I feel like I got to know him much more than other characters. He was also the most consistent. He never did anything out of character, which is what I saw for many of the other characters, especially Piers. I definitely want the author to bring more out of this character in the sequel. I also hope Gemma and Wilky can come together and help each other communicate with the others. There is also some instalove between two characters that I am a little disappointed in. I totally feel that these two characters should be together but it was just so sudden I was taken back a bit.
There are heavy religious elements throughout this novel. Some of the characters have corrupted their religion by assuming that the “creator” would want them to harm others for the bettering of Eden. I found this an interesting view. Even while one of the main characters, Aaliss, was finding out many of the beliefs she was told her entire life were false, she still has these beliefs engrained in her system and would not let them go.
Overall, this is an incredibly entertaining read. It never lost my attention while I was reading. It was also easy to read with an interesting story and short chapters. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick and amusing read for a weekend, especially for those who love crazy societies with corrupt rulers and people trying to make thing right. I would have loved to see this novel spilt into two so more detail could be given for each story.
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