Official Review: New Beginnings by Caleb Monroe
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Official Review: New Beginnings by Caleb Monroe
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "New Beginnings" by Caleb Monroe.]
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New Beginnings by Caleb Monroe has all the makings of an escapist sci-fi read. Everyman hero? Check. Beautiful girl in trouble? Check. Evil cult trying to take over the world using alien technology? Check. I went into this book fully expecting to enjoy it simply as a quick read that I wouldn’t get very much depth out of. After all, not every book needs to have depth; some are written for pure entertainment. However, I could only give this book 2 out of 4 stars because I found it poorly written and bland.
It isn’t all bad; the story itself could be very good, and it went beyond the Macguffin-a-book plan that I had been expecting (this is the first in a trilogy) to introduce a larger plot with a wider scope than simply stopping the cult. However, the writing felt like it belonged to a very early draft. I noticed a few typos and other minor grammar/punctuation mistakes that, while not horrifyingly distracting, felt less than professional. Much of the dialogue feels flat and stilted, and there were missing scenes (such as Ben being trained in using a gun) that I would prefer to have seen rather than simply be told they happened. The twists at the end also seemed to come out of nowhere, and not in a good way. I saw nothing leading up to either of them and think there should have been a few subtle hints left near the beginning, something readers could look back on and realize that this had been the plan all along rather than feeling like a sudden choice by the author to throw us all off.
The story starts out with our protagonist, the unemployed recent graduate Ben Callder, sitting on his couch, waiting for something to happen in his life. Just then, a beautiful young woman bursts in, followed by two men in white cloaks who are trying to kill her. The girl, whose name is Jenna, fights them off and convinces Ben to get her out the fire escape of his neighbor’s apartment. From there, he is drawn into a struggle against a group called the Cult of New Beginnings, who are attempting to bring their master back to life so he can take over the world and give them power as his co-rulers. Jenna entered the fight of her own accord because the cult killed her father, and Ben has been drawn in through pure chance, because she went into his apartment and drew him to the cult’s attention. Later, they team up with Professor Sam Oakledge, a former FBI agent with a great deal of knowledge about the Cult of New Beginnings, and Clark Smalls, whose wife has been captured by the cult. Their journeys take them all over the world, from Mexico to Easter Island and beyond as they try to gather artifacts before the cult does.
New Beginnings is a short book: only 138 pages. A lot happens in it, and at times I felt like I was being given a lot of information all at once, with barely any chance to catch a breath. The chapters were full of either exposition or action, and I could have used a chance to step back and take a breath. I know authors are cautioned against using filler and told that every scene ought to contribute to either plot or character, and I completely agree. I think Monroe could have given us the same amount of information in a way that would be much easier to take in by showing us rather than telling us. A lot of the time, either through Ben or another character, he tells us what the characters are thinking and what is going on rather than showing the changes the characters go through. Because of this telling, even the most conflicted and complicated character comes across as flat. The theme, too, is largely told rather than shown, and only appears halfway through the novel. It could have been a very fitting theme – whether you would choose to save the world as a whole or the people who are your world – and it was very nearly done well, but it could have been phased in much sooner. The two relationships the theme is connected to also seem abrupt. That between Clark and his wife is understandable in its abruptness; after all, they have been married for quite some time, and we don’t have to see their relationship progress. However, that between Ben and Jenna seems to simply happen. I saw no chemistry between the two of them aside from some hand-holding and him thinking that she is beautiful.
I wouldn’t tell anyone that this is a bad book. I merely found it mediocre, and would advise people to read it largely if they need something to read or are intrigued enough by the plot and characters to overlook the dialogue.
***
Buy "New Beginnings" on Amazon
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It isn’t all bad; the story itself could be very good, and it went beyond the Macguffin-a-book plan that I had been expecting (this is the first in a trilogy) to introduce a larger plot with a wider scope than simply stopping the cult. However, the writing felt like it belonged to a very early draft. I noticed a few typos and other minor grammar/punctuation mistakes that, while not horrifyingly distracting, felt less than professional. Much of the dialogue feels flat and stilted, and there were missing scenes (such as Ben being trained in using a gun) that I would prefer to have seen rather than simply be told they happened. The twists at the end also seemed to come out of nowhere, and not in a good way. I saw nothing leading up to either of them and think there should have been a few subtle hints left near the beginning, something readers could look back on and realize that this had been the plan all along rather than feeling like a sudden choice by the author to throw us all off.
The story starts out with our protagonist, the unemployed recent graduate Ben Callder, sitting on his couch, waiting for something to happen in his life. Just then, a beautiful young woman bursts in, followed by two men in white cloaks who are trying to kill her. The girl, whose name is Jenna, fights them off and convinces Ben to get her out the fire escape of his neighbor’s apartment. From there, he is drawn into a struggle against a group called the Cult of New Beginnings, who are attempting to bring their master back to life so he can take over the world and give them power as his co-rulers. Jenna entered the fight of her own accord because the cult killed her father, and Ben has been drawn in through pure chance, because she went into his apartment and drew him to the cult’s attention. Later, they team up with Professor Sam Oakledge, a former FBI agent with a great deal of knowledge about the Cult of New Beginnings, and Clark Smalls, whose wife has been captured by the cult. Their journeys take them all over the world, from Mexico to Easter Island and beyond as they try to gather artifacts before the cult does.
New Beginnings is a short book: only 138 pages. A lot happens in it, and at times I felt like I was being given a lot of information all at once, with barely any chance to catch a breath. The chapters were full of either exposition or action, and I could have used a chance to step back and take a breath. I know authors are cautioned against using filler and told that every scene ought to contribute to either plot or character, and I completely agree. I think Monroe could have given us the same amount of information in a way that would be much easier to take in by showing us rather than telling us. A lot of the time, either through Ben or another character, he tells us what the characters are thinking and what is going on rather than showing the changes the characters go through. Because of this telling, even the most conflicted and complicated character comes across as flat. The theme, too, is largely told rather than shown, and only appears halfway through the novel. It could have been a very fitting theme – whether you would choose to save the world as a whole or the people who are your world – and it was very nearly done well, but it could have been phased in much sooner. The two relationships the theme is connected to also seem abrupt. That between Clark and his wife is understandable in its abruptness; after all, they have been married for quite some time, and we don’t have to see their relationship progress. However, that between Ben and Jenna seems to simply happen. I saw no chemistry between the two of them aside from some hand-holding and him thinking that she is beautiful.
I wouldn’t tell anyone that this is a bad book. I merely found it mediocre, and would advise people to read it largely if they need something to read or are intrigued enough by the plot and characters to overlook the dialogue.
***
Buy "New Beginnings" on Amazon
Latest Review: "Heart of Flint" by Scott Stricklen
