Review of Rise of the Savior

[Wy_Bertram]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Rise of the Savior" by Antoine Bonner.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Reborn in every era, the Acolyte of Truth has always played the role of humanity’s unseen protector. And as fate would have it, this time, the mantle falls on the shoulders of Amanda, a supposedly typical eighteen year old who is not exactly the best fit for the job. But Amanda is forced to quickly adapt and accept her new responsibilities when the threat to the world becomes a bit more personal. In order to protect herself and her family, Amanda must learn what it means to be the Acolyte of Truth.

If nothing else, there is something to be said about the uniqueness of Antoine Bonner’s young-adult fantasy novel. Though rife with immediately-obvious tropes, the author introduces enough new material to make this book his own. The familiar unlikely hero is a bit sillier than usual and our villain has surprisingly understandable motivations most of the time. Sadly, however, the novel idea of deities and acolytes was not enough to make this book a winner, particularly because of the juvenile writing and poor editing.

Given the state of the novel, I am convinced the author is a new writer, but even with reigned-in expectations, Rise of the Savior: Acolyte of Truth still fails to check a few rudimentary boxes. The first is a basic realistic portrayal of characters – and this covers their general descriptions to most of their motivations. Amanda, especially, was quite unconvincing for her role. She behaved erratically most of the time, and all of the author’s attempts to endear her to readers fell short.

The second issue would be the lack of a coherent tone in the narrative. Bonner seemed unsure of how he wanted the characters to act and feel most of the time, making for this awkward mix of silliness and seriousness. That is not to say humour has no place in a book with a serious plot, it just was not properly executed in this case. In addition to the generally poor writing quality, it’s clear that this book was nowhere near ready for the shelves. Hence, my rating of one out of four stars.

In the end, it really all came down to the author’s ability to tell this story. It was an interesting concept undone by the Bonner’s lack of experience, and I believe what this book needs is to be completely rewritten, and possibly the touch of a professional editor.

Happy reading.

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Rise of the Savior
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