Official Review: The Apostates by Lars Teeney
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Mune
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Official Review: The Apostates by Lars Teeney
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Apostates" by Lars Teeney.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Dystopian novels are always an interesting read as they carry the hints of possibility in them. What would happen if the world changed because of this or that? How and would a leading government or power be established? What would life be like after so many changes? With my passion for dystopians, I was intrigued to read Apostates, the first in the series, by Lars Teeney. Though I have read many similar stories, I am often curious to see each and every take different authors use to delve into the dark possible futures of our world.
Apostates does not have a definitive time period. Throughout the book, there are hints that the past decade has occurred, but there isn't a solid idea of how long the world has been in the current state. The government has changed and has a ruling system similar to the modern United Kingdom; which is to say, there is a president, but his power seems secondary to the guiding force of the church. A monotheistic religious belief that seems reflective of modern Christianity controls the people. The government and religious sectors do seem to be in a silent but tense battle for superiority but are, for the book's time, brought together with the common goal of taking down the rebel force of outcasts referred to as the Apostates. The story jumps between significant people in each of these three factions and leads up to one grand moment toward the end of the book.
The storyline was great. I really enjoyed the differences in each faction and the people involved. There was a sense of no one actually being in control or a fully willing participant. Though there are varying circumstances, each person has been pulled in due to a different circumstance and each has a different view as to the outcome of the undeclared war. The characters seemed believable and somewhat relatable, although there were moments were certain emotional situations seemed rushed or unnecessary. Without giving spoilers away, the idea of a world manipulated heavily by both a corrupt government and a corrupt church in such an obvious fashion but with technological limitations that disallow any rebellion without grave consequences is a terrifying premise.
I am really glad the story was so good and in depth that it helped me overlook the biggest problem in this book: the writing. With the use of a good read through by an editor, many of the issues could have been remedied, but some were difficult enough to have me struggling near the beginning. The plot and how it unfolded was able to keep me engaged. The characters speak to themselves in dialogue, which gets a bit confusing. Speaking of dialogue, there tends to be a very unrealistic conversational tone between characters. They constantly refer to each other's first names, which drove me nuts and tended to repeat themselves and over explain situations. The entire narration, actually, tended to be repetitive and overly descriptive with unrelated aspects and details. In fact, there were sections where the same word would be repeated at least once, sometimes twice, in every sentence. Chapter sections would have every paragraph starting with the characters name followed by a verb. Another issue was that there were so many characters, especially with the flashbacks to another era, that I had to write some of them down to keep up with what was going on.
Despite the writing style and narration, I really did like the book. I understand that there are two more already published and am interested enough to check them out. Adult fans of books like The Hunger Games and Westerfield's Leviathan series would enjoy this book. I give Apostates a 3 out of 4. If the writing and editing had been better, it would have been a very easy 4, but I couldn't get past the errors and repetitions. I hope the next two books improve in this area, as they could easily become another favorite dystopian series of mine.
******
The Apostates
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3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Dystopian novels are always an interesting read as they carry the hints of possibility in them. What would happen if the world changed because of this or that? How and would a leading government or power be established? What would life be like after so many changes? With my passion for dystopians, I was intrigued to read Apostates, the first in the series, by Lars Teeney. Though I have read many similar stories, I am often curious to see each and every take different authors use to delve into the dark possible futures of our world.
Apostates does not have a definitive time period. Throughout the book, there are hints that the past decade has occurred, but there isn't a solid idea of how long the world has been in the current state. The government has changed and has a ruling system similar to the modern United Kingdom; which is to say, there is a president, but his power seems secondary to the guiding force of the church. A monotheistic religious belief that seems reflective of modern Christianity controls the people. The government and religious sectors do seem to be in a silent but tense battle for superiority but are, for the book's time, brought together with the common goal of taking down the rebel force of outcasts referred to as the Apostates. The story jumps between significant people in each of these three factions and leads up to one grand moment toward the end of the book.
The storyline was great. I really enjoyed the differences in each faction and the people involved. There was a sense of no one actually being in control or a fully willing participant. Though there are varying circumstances, each person has been pulled in due to a different circumstance and each has a different view as to the outcome of the undeclared war. The characters seemed believable and somewhat relatable, although there were moments were certain emotional situations seemed rushed or unnecessary. Without giving spoilers away, the idea of a world manipulated heavily by both a corrupt government and a corrupt church in such an obvious fashion but with technological limitations that disallow any rebellion without grave consequences is a terrifying premise.
I am really glad the story was so good and in depth that it helped me overlook the biggest problem in this book: the writing. With the use of a good read through by an editor, many of the issues could have been remedied, but some were difficult enough to have me struggling near the beginning. The plot and how it unfolded was able to keep me engaged. The characters speak to themselves in dialogue, which gets a bit confusing. Speaking of dialogue, there tends to be a very unrealistic conversational tone between characters. They constantly refer to each other's first names, which drove me nuts and tended to repeat themselves and over explain situations. The entire narration, actually, tended to be repetitive and overly descriptive with unrelated aspects and details. In fact, there were sections where the same word would be repeated at least once, sometimes twice, in every sentence. Chapter sections would have every paragraph starting with the characters name followed by a verb. Another issue was that there were so many characters, especially with the flashbacks to another era, that I had to write some of them down to keep up with what was going on.
Despite the writing style and narration, I really did like the book. I understand that there are two more already published and am interested enough to check them out. Adult fans of books like The Hunger Games and Westerfield's Leviathan series would enjoy this book. I give Apostates a 3 out of 4. If the writing and editing had been better, it would have been a very easy 4, but I couldn't get past the errors and repetitions. I hope the next two books improve in this area, as they could easily become another favorite dystopian series of mine.
******
The Apostates
View: on Bookshelves
Like Mune's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "The Silent Shadow" by Patrick Clarke
