Review of Voice of the Elders
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Sibongile Isabel
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Review of Voice of the Elders
[Following is a volunteer review of "Voice of the Elders" by Greg Ripley.]
Voice of the Elders by Greg Ripley is a sci-fi novel with elements of politics, culture and has a thriller theme to it. The story features Rohini, a young woman environmentalist who gets chosen amongst eleven others, as an ambassador from Earth to visit the planet of the Elders. The Elders are aliens with telepathic abilities and advanced technologies that could help Earth solve its climate change problems, and could advance the human race. The Elders request twelve ambassadors from Earth be chosen to go to their planet to train and learn about their ways, so that they can return and help Earth. When Rohini is chosen, her life transcends into an epic journey, with twists and turns. She meets people she’d never have dreamt of — action movie stars, presidents — but all that dazzle is beneath her when she is left with one main goal, survival.
I enjoyed this novel quite a lot. As a fan of sci-fi, sociology, mythology and cultures, I loved this book very much and I loved how it brought these concepts together to make one power-packed story. I loved the plot, it was action-packed and captivating. It incorporated spy stuff, climate change and aliens all at once. I loved the fact that there was one main point of view character, Rohini, as this made it easier for a reader to connect to the story. The novel also had a great start and good ending, although the pacing was rather rushed and too fast.
Despite how much I enjoyed this book, it was not short of dislikes and criticisms. The main issues were too much information and too much telling vs showing. Telling and not showing completely ruins the flow of a story because the reader doesn’t get to experience scenes. And there was way too much information that was told and not shown. Readers are not interested in data, even an enthusiast like me, it just bogs the story down. Unless the information actually adds to the plot, it does not need to be in the story, especially if it is being told and not shown. If someone is sitting and telling stories rather than the information being shown through context clues as the scene moves, then the reader does not need to know that information. In addition, the pacing was too fast at the very beginning and very end, due to telling. And although the book has good and easy to understand prose, the word “Bartholomew Simms” was used too frequently. Due to it’s length, it only needed to be mentioned once then referred to as either Bart or Simms.
I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars stars. I gave it a 3 because I enjoyed it very much, it had a great plot, great characters and an intricate theme I loved. However, I couldn’t give it a 4 because it was logged with too much unnecessary information and stories that just slowed the book down and made it jarring to read, and there was too much telling vs showing. But in addition, the book was edited very well.
This book is hard to recommend to a specific audience or group due to its diversity but it would appeal most to those that are interested in the following topics; sci-fi, climate change/environment issues, aliens, development, political thrillers, culture and mythology (particularly Chinese), and spy. Also, the story had lots of elements of and references to spiritualism.
To conclude, Voice of the Elders by Greg Ripley is a cultural political thriller type sci-fi novel. The book is action packed, with a great plot but a couple of dislikes. If you’re able to look past those and enjoy the concept of the book, then I highly recommend!
******
Voice of the Elders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Voice of the Elders by Greg Ripley is a sci-fi novel with elements of politics, culture and has a thriller theme to it. The story features Rohini, a young woman environmentalist who gets chosen amongst eleven others, as an ambassador from Earth to visit the planet of the Elders. The Elders are aliens with telepathic abilities and advanced technologies that could help Earth solve its climate change problems, and could advance the human race. The Elders request twelve ambassadors from Earth be chosen to go to their planet to train and learn about their ways, so that they can return and help Earth. When Rohini is chosen, her life transcends into an epic journey, with twists and turns. She meets people she’d never have dreamt of — action movie stars, presidents — but all that dazzle is beneath her when she is left with one main goal, survival.
I enjoyed this novel quite a lot. As a fan of sci-fi, sociology, mythology and cultures, I loved this book very much and I loved how it brought these concepts together to make one power-packed story. I loved the plot, it was action-packed and captivating. It incorporated spy stuff, climate change and aliens all at once. I loved the fact that there was one main point of view character, Rohini, as this made it easier for a reader to connect to the story. The novel also had a great start and good ending, although the pacing was rather rushed and too fast.
Despite how much I enjoyed this book, it was not short of dislikes and criticisms. The main issues were too much information and too much telling vs showing. Telling and not showing completely ruins the flow of a story because the reader doesn’t get to experience scenes. And there was way too much information that was told and not shown. Readers are not interested in data, even an enthusiast like me, it just bogs the story down. Unless the information actually adds to the plot, it does not need to be in the story, especially if it is being told and not shown. If someone is sitting and telling stories rather than the information being shown through context clues as the scene moves, then the reader does not need to know that information. In addition, the pacing was too fast at the very beginning and very end, due to telling. And although the book has good and easy to understand prose, the word “Bartholomew Simms” was used too frequently. Due to it’s length, it only needed to be mentioned once then referred to as either Bart or Simms.
I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars stars. I gave it a 3 because I enjoyed it very much, it had a great plot, great characters and an intricate theme I loved. However, I couldn’t give it a 4 because it was logged with too much unnecessary information and stories that just slowed the book down and made it jarring to read, and there was too much telling vs showing. But in addition, the book was edited very well.
This book is hard to recommend to a specific audience or group due to its diversity but it would appeal most to those that are interested in the following topics; sci-fi, climate change/environment issues, aliens, development, political thrillers, culture and mythology (particularly Chinese), and spy. Also, the story had lots of elements of and references to spiritualism.
To conclude, Voice of the Elders by Greg Ripley is a cultural political thriller type sci-fi novel. The book is action packed, with a great plot but a couple of dislikes. If you’re able to look past those and enjoy the concept of the book, then I highly recommend!
******
Voice of the Elders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Happiness is All We Want! by Ashutosh Mishra
