Book Review of The Book of Prophecy by Steven J. Guscott

Goodreads Summary: No one in this quiet world knows what ignited the change; no one suspects that it all began with a secret book... Living among the innocent, in a society that has blossomed under seven centuries of tranquility, Dragatu expects to live out his days following the same path as his father before him, without even the smallest challenge to lift the monotony. But when he and his brothers are granted incredible mythical powers, every skill they possess is put to the test. Their actions will determine the fate of their people. What has been passed on in trust threatens to tear the brothers apart. Honour, love, power; all are at stake, and with them the only hope for a return to peace.

Goodreads Rating: 3.83 with 6 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Adventure

Get the Book: Amazon

Review:

Edited 12/1/2016

First of all, I would like to thank Steven J. Guscott for reaching out to me and sending me this book to review. I love being able to connect with authors and readers, so this was pretty exciting for me to receive a book directly from an author.

This is going to be a very hard review for me to write. The author seems like an incredibly nice guy, but I just did not enjoy the book. If I'm completely honest, I couldn't even finish it. I felt a huge disconnect with the story, and when I tried to read it, I could only get through a few pages at a time. I've been trying to read it since the end of February, and I just can't get through it anymore.  It has a lot of potential, but I feel like it just tries to be too much at once.

A lot of my issues with this book stems from the main character Dragatu. I felt like he was very monotone and didn't connect with the other characters. When he spoke to everyone in the book, it was like he was talking to a complete stranger. For me, when I read books I need to connect with the main character, and I do that based on their interactions with their surroundings and other characters. Similarly, I got the feeling the book was supposed to be about the three brothers, but what I read was primarily centered around Dragatu. It was hard for me to connect with the other two brothers when Dragatu was the primary focus. In general, I didn't find Dragatu to be a likable character. He was arrogant, distant, and while the other brothers seemed to want to do good for the sake of helping, Dragatu appears to want to do good for the prestige of it.

I feel that this book tries to span over too much time while still keeping it short. Even though the dates were written to signify the new time, it was hard to keep track of how much time had passed in the book. Just in the first half of the book, several years and projects had passed. It makes it hard to follow along with.

If a re-write for this book is possible, I think it could help a lot. There are some adjustments that I believe would help it a long way. They are listed below and are only my opinions on what I think would make it better.

1.) Make the language less formal. The language used needs to bring readers in, and for me, it was just very monotone and stiff. Warm the language up a little bit, and give it some emotion. I think this alone would do wonders for the story. To me, it seemed like every single action was documented. While I enjoy detail, there is a limit to what is needed. Recording every thought and movement bogs the story down.

2.) I guess since I didn't finish this I don't know if Dragatu was meant to be unlikable. If he's not, then he drastically needs an overhaul. I don't know about most readers, but for me, the main character needs to be relatable, likable, and I need to care about them. None of this happened for me with Dragatu.

3.) If the book is to be centered around the three brothers, then Unilus and Phoenon need to be integrated more. If they are going to be a central component of the story, then I need to see their point of view more often. I got a small glimpse of it when they received their gifts and then another little glimpse of it when Unilus got married.

4.) I would also change the timing of the book. Twenty-six years is a lot to comprehend in just over three hundred pages. Personally, I would make the gifts happen sooner, within the first few chapters. I would spend more time on that instead of the initial projects. Not saying that the beginning chapters weren't necessary, but I got that the gifts were more important and they didn't happen until halfway through the book. If it's that important, I need to know about it right away.

I'm sorry that I couldn't finish this book, but it's hard to finish a book when I genuinely do not enjoy it. I appreciate that it was sent to me, and I hope this review is of some help.

One out of five Moons