Heather’s Bookshelf: Jexter Bladebrace and the Exalted Kingdom
Author: Jamie Smartkins
Released: 02/03/22
Genre: YA Scifi/Fantasy
“The tall man, whose name was Mac, gazed at the ten masked aliens with suspicious eyes. He then stared at the spaceship and said, ‘Why would you help us and why would we trust you?’”
“Jexter Bladbrace and the Exalted Kingdom” introduces the title character at the beginning of the end of the world, as an asteroid hits Earth.
Jexter thinks he’s alone, but happens upon a group of survivors including Shelly and their leader, Mac. Shelly is witty, intelligent, and connects with Jexter almost instantly. The group is soon rescued by an alien group known as the Spectropeans. The aliens turn the survivors into humphibians, allowing for them to thrive in a world mostly covered in water.
Just as they feel they are getting the hang of living under water, a pathway to a mirror world is opened up. This world brings upon several other possibilities and gifts, but also has it’s challenges. Will Jexter and Shelly make it through all of the dangers around them or will they succumb to an even worse death than those who perished on earth?
Trigger Warning: violence
Overall, I was torn about this book. It is an interesting concept, fast paced, and full of action. However, it was also in need of significant editing. I am not usually one to point out grammatical errors. But it was distracting and made reading the tale less enjoyable. For example, there are many sentences in a row starting with “Jexter” and sentences are often missing indefinite articles. The rest of the review will be based on the content rather than the grammar and structure. The story flies by from start to finish. It is slammed packed with action and events with tons of scifi and fantasy elements in a small little package. The effect is a lot happening, but not a lot of character development. There is also quite a bit of telling that occurs in the story rather than showing. I would have loved for all the ideas in this story to be explained through the eyes of the characters in a full novel instead of in short story format. Overall, I felt this story was full of good ideas, with a melding of genres, but was not well constructed or edited.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A short story filled with interesting scifi/fantasy ideas but challenged from a lack of editing and excessive telling rather than showing
Want to learn more about the author?
Check out my interview with Jamie Smartkins
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Find it for purchase here or Kindle Unlimited
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