OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Sign" by Monokuro Yun.]

The Sign by Monokuro Yun follows Medani, a member of the royal Kseres family, as she travels with a half-demon, Siris, and his companion, a cat-like immortal named Nytrio. Because of her bloodline, Medani is capable of wielding the Red Pearl to use fire magic, but since she is a half-blood, her control is extremely limited. Since she was highly sheltered before running away from an arranged marriage and meeting Siris, she must learn about herself and the world at large, while simultaneously trying to discover the reason that supernatural monsters are plaguing the countryside, all heading towards the Coast of Despair.

This book does employ a few clichés, most notably with regards to Medani's character: her sheltered upbringing makes her the audience stand-in, as she is new to every situation, and princesses in fantasy novels running away from arranged marriages are quite common. However, many of the concepts introduced are quite unique, most notably the concept of Felyns, which Nytrio is. These are immortal creatures that were transformed at a moment when they were near death, and they gain power over whatever would have killed them.

Unfortunately, I feel like this concept wasn't explored enough, as it took a backseat to the Pearls, which are fairly standard elemental magic - there is one for each Aristotlean element, plus electricity and metal. The plot reads like a typical hero's journey, with Medani first trying to find a staff to improve her magic, then following Siris to unite all of the Pearl bearers. Why Siris wants to do this isn't really explained in much detail, but there aren't any massive plot holes, and the characters are charming enough to make up for the lack of narrative direction, at least until an incredibly abrupt ending.

Perhaps the most egregious flaw of this book is the fact that characters are simply too eager to tell Medani their entire life story. Whenever she questions someone about a plot element that would be a wonderful source of narrative tension, they divulge every single detail, leaving nothing for readers to be surprised by later. This also means that characters don't have any of the "fluff" scenes that are so important for letting readers get to know them on a deeper level. In addition, there is a severe lack of foreshadowing or even continuity, as characters and concepts seem to pop up suddenly whenever it's convenient. At one point, after training with her magic, Medani uses a stream of fire in a fight. This is a departure from her normal fireballs, and it should've logically been mentioned when she discovered she could do this while training.

Overall, I would say that this book is an incredible first draft. It contains a healthy mix of common tropes alongside unique concepts, and the characters are quite distinct. Grammatically speaking, there are very few errors. However, a complete lack of detail with regards to narrative tension, dialogue, and flow make it a rather poor published novel. Therefore, I rate it 2 out of 4 stars. This is a good book to read if you have a very strong interest in inventive magical systems, but for most readers, I'd recommend waiting to see how the author's future novels fix these issues before giving this series a try.

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The Sign
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The Felyns sounds fascinating. From reading your review, I also wish they played a larger part and were developed more. It seems this one would have been better with a round of editing to take out the unnecessary backstory of characters. Thank you for your review, I'll have to pass on this one.

Great review. While this does sound like an interesting plot, the fact that the author doesn't allow for enough suspense turns me off. I appreciate, as well, being told about the author using the protagonist to introduce the audience to all that's new. That does happen quite a bit, but it isn't too off-putting if the rest of the book is good. Thanks so much!

Thanks for the review! It sounds like your standard fantasy adventure novel for teens. There are intriguing aspects like all the different races and types of magic, but overall it doesn't seem like this novel is aiming for anything groundbreaking. Still, it could be a fun read for fantasy fans who need something quick and simple to pass time.

I enjoyed the way you methodically described all the different aspects of the book. Great job! Unfortunately, the weaknesses add up. I will take your advice and wait to see what the next books look like.

Thank you for this review. I think I'll wait for the upgrade

I thought the cover was amazing, but after reading your review, I see it is just another YA fantasy novel... And it is good to know that the book is part of the series. I prefer standalone books, and with flawed adult characters

Thanks for the great review! I was mostly intrigued by the cover art of the book, but I think I'll take your advice and wait to see how others respond to future books in the series before trying it out myself. It sounds like there is a lot of potential here that just hasn't been unleashed yet.

I'm glad that, although there are multiple books centered around magic in fantasy worlds, this author was able to create a brand of magic and creatures that are genuinely unique. It's a shame that they were not focused on, but I'm still interested. Great review!