Talisman Of El (edizione 2012)

Talisman of El…where do I start. I wanted to like it, I really did. The concept is interesting, the characters seemed like they were going to be as well. But as the story went on, I found myself liking it less and less. I loved finding out more about Arcadia and the people of that world. A world within/underneath our own, a battle between good and evil, a male protagonist (which is starting to become rare in this female dominated genre)…what more could you want in a story, right? Well a lot actually.

There were two things that influenced my low rating: character development, and the time jumps. I don’t feel like there was any character development throughout the books, and part of that has to do with the time jumping. There were multiple places where the plot jumped days or weeks into the future with no warning. One minute Charlie’s in The Land of Dreams and the next scene opens up on him being back in the human world, eight weeks into the future. There’s no explanation on what happened in the eight weeks or how he got to the place he was at…at least not for three to four pages later.

You can really see the time jumps in certain dialog exchanges Ex: ‘Going somewhere, Dolittle?’ Ash asked. Charlie scowled. ‘Stop calling me that. I told you, I don’t talk to animals.’ Well Charlie might have told Ash before but we’re never informed of that. In fact this exchange was the first time we hear Ash call Charlie Dolittle. This exchange is small but it leaves you wondering if you missed a part in the book. The story jumps around so much that it’s not easy to keep track of what’s going on. And it honestly got annoying trying to decipher where they are or what’s happening.

As for character development, like I said, I think it suffered from the time jumps. We don’t get to see anyone’s growth because of it. Beside Charlie finding out what’s going on with him and starting to kind of rise to his destiny, there’s not much growth for anyone else. Alex stayed the same jealous girl, Charlie was clueless on why she was mad at him, Richmond was a sidekick, and Derkein kept trying to play protector to everyone. Nothing really changed as the book progressed.

The character development was even worse for the Arcadians. In fact, I think when they got to Arcadia, there were too many characters introduced. I couldn’t keep track of who was who, what their rank was, or what element they had control over. Again, this is a problem of the time jumps. The characters are introduced and they might have a few lines but we don’t get to know them. Then all of a sudden there’s a battle and all these characters come out and suddenly they’re supposed to be important. It got to the point where I stopped trying to figure out who these people were.

I don't know yet if I'll pick the next book up but either way, I'm hoping that the next two books in the trilogy work out these issues because the concept is great. It's a good start.

You can find this review and others on my blog, Overflowing Bookshelves. This books was provided to me by Centrinian Publishing via Netgalley. ( )

The story follows Charlie, an orphan that has been shuffled around since his dad died when he was 10. His mother died during childbirth. Charlie feels alone and knows that he is different. Then he is sent to live with Jacob, a new foster parent, and his life changes forever.

The best thing about Talisman of El was the world that Stone has created. Especially in Arcadia, the images that Stone showed me with her words were magnificent. Also, in the dialogue, there can be a seamless connection between a serious moment and a humorous one.

Talisman of El is definitely a great adventure. The story flows along at a steady pace, which kept my attention. I actually did care about what happened to Charlie, Alex, Richmond and Derkein. That's always a good sign! Overall, I rather enjoyed Talisman of El. I really look forward to reading more in the series to find out what happens next. This book was excellent, but I know Stone will only get better from here.

4 stars to Talisman of El. ( )

I received Talisman of El through the Early Reviews program. Unfortunately, I took too long to get to it and the EPUB copy "Expired" before I could read it. I didn't realize an EPUB could expire.

Overall it was a quick enjoyable read, but it did have a bit of jumping around and choppiness to it that I don't like - I keep thinking that I missed something when a book is choppy and it takes me out of the story while I re-read to see what I missed.

Enjoyed it and would definitely read the next one.

I really would have preferred that the file for Early Reviewers was available in a mobi or pdf format. It took me a long time to get to this because I had to read it with an alternate reader and thought that it was for PC only - however, I finally discovered that I could read it on my ipad through "Tradebit". Once I had that app installed I was able to enjoy reading this more. ( )

Receive book through library thing through net gallery. Great story. Quick read, I'm guessing because it should or is classified as YA fantasy. Writing got choppy in some places , but overall a good story. ( )