Aura: Revive Edition

By Krisley Jior Castillo

“Do whatever it takes to survive for now. We both know this won’t end well.” – Aura

Looking for a quick, fluffy story as good battles evil in an epic fight for the future? You may want to check out this book, with a couple caveats.

Plot

Sixteen year-old Ren is minding his own business, sleeping under a tree in the futuristic Kingdom of Zinah. His younger sister, Garnet, hollers at him to wake up or get locked out of the house again. Suddenly a mysterious dark-hooded man shows up with a golden necklace. Everything goes sideways from there, when Garnet is captured and taken prisoner by the evil Gaians who are on the war path against pretty much everyone else.

Highlights

I read the first 60-ish pages of this 313-page book at the author’s request, via a free sample made available by the author. A little too teenage for me. But younger audiences will enjoy it. Lots of sword play. Explosions. Daring raids and rescues. Piles of dead bodies. Aura shrouds. Flashing lights and gun fights. Beware the mark of the emerald crescent moon.

Caveats

It is unlikely this novel received any substantive attention from a professional editor. Spelling and grammar errors abound, especially subject/verb confusion. It makes for a jarring read. The dialogue is shallow and hackneyed, the characters cartoonish. (How many times can Ren say, “What the hell just happened”?) If you don’t mind that, Aura is an imaginative read with some interesting plot twists.

Potential

An admirable effort from a fledgling author, Aura offers promise and plenty of high-energy imagination and creativity.

We hope the author continues to grow and mature as a writer. He has much potential and a bright writing future if he continues to hone his craft and sharpen his skills. (Kimber and Mom do not feel it’s fair to give this book a rating in its present form. So we won’t. Give it a look-see for yourself and draw your own conclusions. The under-30 crowd will probably love it.)