Review of The Light of Canopus
Posted: 26 Sep 2021, 09:22
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Light of Canopus" by Frasar.]
The Light of Canopus by Frasar is the third book of the An Improbable Life series. This biography follows the incredible life of Francis between the years of 1976 and 1986. Francis is a highly sought after, very experienced engineer and speleologist who finds himself on contracts in Venezuela and Peru in Latin America, and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. He takes full advantage of every city he lives in and follows his adventurous spirit by exploring the surrounding areas and finding what hidden secrets they hold. Even though he lives an exciting life, Francis faces many challenges. These include betrayal of friends, a sudden financial crisis, alienation etc. This teaches him powerful lessons and helps him grow wise and reflect internally and spiritually. We accompany Francis, a real-life Indiana Jones, on his fascinating projects and explorations, where he discovers volcanoes, ruins, abandoned villages and more.
I was pleasantly surprised that this book was mislabelled and was not a sci-fi/fantasy book, but rather a non-fiction/biography. I completely understand why it would be mistakenly labelled as fiction - Francis led an unbelievable life. I appreciated that the author recapped the previous books in the prologue so that the reader does not feel the need to read previous books in order to understand the context. The photographs between the chapters were enjoyable as they added a sense of reality by substantiating the story and helped me picture the events more clearly. Frasar’s writing is vividly descriptive, allowing the reader to feel as though they are right there with Francis, seeing the breath-taking sights or intense dangerous situations. He also did an amazing job of explaining the Latin and Arabic words without it feeling jarring or awkward.
There is not much I disliked about the book as it was expertly written. I did struggle with the formatting of the writing, as some sentences were incredibly long with up to five commas, which made it difficult to follow. I also found the author’s notes for the reader within the chapters jarring as they interrupted the story and removed the reader. I felt the author could have put the notes at the end or have covered up the missing sections, so it didn’t break the flow of the book. Lastly, I wish the author had included more images that were relevant to the story. While I enjoyed the pictures of the landscape, animals, trees etc., I found that I was disappointed to not see more photos of where he explored, especially when he talked about photographing those areas. An example would be when he went to visit Alexander’s farm and used his last 12 pictures to photograph an amazing discovery, but neglected to include the photos in the book.
The book is thoroughly edited, as I found only one mistake. Even though I named some negative aspects of the book, I understand that could be personal preference and I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. Hence, I will give The Light of Canopus 4 out of 4 stars. It was truly a beautifully written, fascinating book and one that I found very difficult to put down.
I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading biographies and adventure. I would also recommend this book to readers that enjoy reading about travel and different cultures. It was truly an inspiring read. There are no profanity or sexual scenes, so it is suited for sensitive and younger audiences as well.
******
The Light of Canopus
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Light of Canopus by Frasar is the third book of the An Improbable Life series. This biography follows the incredible life of Francis between the years of 1976 and 1986. Francis is a highly sought after, very experienced engineer and speleologist who finds himself on contracts in Venezuela and Peru in Latin America, and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. He takes full advantage of every city he lives in and follows his adventurous spirit by exploring the surrounding areas and finding what hidden secrets they hold. Even though he lives an exciting life, Francis faces many challenges. These include betrayal of friends, a sudden financial crisis, alienation etc. This teaches him powerful lessons and helps him grow wise and reflect internally and spiritually. We accompany Francis, a real-life Indiana Jones, on his fascinating projects and explorations, where he discovers volcanoes, ruins, abandoned villages and more.
I was pleasantly surprised that this book was mislabelled and was not a sci-fi/fantasy book, but rather a non-fiction/biography. I completely understand why it would be mistakenly labelled as fiction - Francis led an unbelievable life. I appreciated that the author recapped the previous books in the prologue so that the reader does not feel the need to read previous books in order to understand the context. The photographs between the chapters were enjoyable as they added a sense of reality by substantiating the story and helped me picture the events more clearly. Frasar’s writing is vividly descriptive, allowing the reader to feel as though they are right there with Francis, seeing the breath-taking sights or intense dangerous situations. He also did an amazing job of explaining the Latin and Arabic words without it feeling jarring or awkward.
There is not much I disliked about the book as it was expertly written. I did struggle with the formatting of the writing, as some sentences were incredibly long with up to five commas, which made it difficult to follow. I also found the author’s notes for the reader within the chapters jarring as they interrupted the story and removed the reader. I felt the author could have put the notes at the end or have covered up the missing sections, so it didn’t break the flow of the book. Lastly, I wish the author had included more images that were relevant to the story. While I enjoyed the pictures of the landscape, animals, trees etc., I found that I was disappointed to not see more photos of where he explored, especially when he talked about photographing those areas. An example would be when he went to visit Alexander’s farm and used his last 12 pictures to photograph an amazing discovery, but neglected to include the photos in the book.
The book is thoroughly edited, as I found only one mistake. Even though I named some negative aspects of the book, I understand that could be personal preference and I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. Hence, I will give The Light of Canopus 4 out of 4 stars. It was truly a beautifully written, fascinating book and one that I found very difficult to put down.
I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading biographies and adventure. I would also recommend this book to readers that enjoy reading about travel and different cultures. It was truly an inspiring read. There are no profanity or sexual scenes, so it is suited for sensitive and younger audiences as well.
******
The Light of Canopus
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon