Review of Heroes of Atlantis

[Deb Vil]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Heroes of Atlantis" by Ryan Carriere.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Heroes of Atlantis by Ryan Carriere is a fantasy adventure novel about a young boy named Roeg. He lives in a nomad clan where he's constantly rejected by the other members because of his differences: he has a burnt arm that impedes him to hunt, a weird rune hanging from his neck, and blue hair that makes him stand out from the rest. He's endeavoring to prove he is worthy of respect, and he would do anything -including risking his life- to demonstrate it. There is a secondary storyline in the book that follows Sephonei. A girl who suddenly finds herself in a perilous quest she could have never imagined. With very little training, she is sent to find dragon runes to distant and dangerous lands.

Both stories take place in the same world but in very different contexts. Sephonei comes from the safe lands of Atlantis, while Roeg lives in the wild with his clan. What these stories have in common is that both have to face new experiences and deal with the feeling of being alone. It's easy to empathize with the characters since the book conveys the feel of loneliness and being left out, something most people have felt throughout their lives.

The rest of the characters are a mix of different types of people, having diverse abilities, interests, and flaws. My favorite character was Ku-aya, a rune hunter from Atlantis. She takes Sephonei as her apprentice in their search of the dragon runes. What I liked the most in the book is that the women have strong participation in the plot and are not stuck in stereotypes or as a romantic interest.

Overall, the characters are very varied, and you can sense the personality of each of them. I also liked that they even speak differently depending on where they’re from, which makes total sense because they must have different accents. For example, Ku-aya talks like this: “Ai. Finally, yer makin’ some sense, kid.” The dialogs are natural and fluid, making the reading entertaining and easy to follow. I also liked that not everything is revealed firsthand in an explanatory way. One discovers this world and the creatures in it subtly, along with the experiences of the characters, making the reader organically enter this world.

This is the first book of a saga, so it leaves the reader intrigued with what may come next and how these two stories may merge in the future. I consider the story to be very original. I cannot think of any fantasy book where there's a clan of nomad hunters in a stone-like era.

For all of these reasons, I rate the book with four out of four stars. I didn’t find any grammatical errors or typos, which means the book is professionally edited. It also has black and white illustrations made by the author. These drawings helped me visualize the creatures and characters of the book, immersing me more into the story.

There are only a couple of minor profanities, such as “bloody” and “damn,” and some scenes where there’s blood, but not in a graphic way. I recommend this book to teenagers and young adults who enjoy fantasy or reading about adventures.

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Heroes of Atlantis
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[Mbrooks2518]

Sounds like an interesting book with great characters. Great review!

[Rodel Barnachea]

I can relate to what Roeg feels to some degree. Since the feeling of being isolated and alone is universal, I believe many readers would also be able to empathize with the main characters.

[katerina_12]

The plot seems interesting but I don't think this book is for me. Thanks for your awesome review!

[Julia J 1]

I love books that have multiple character points of view. Especially when they have different life experiences. Thank you for your review, it was nicely detailed but concise. I think I will check this book out.