Review: Infinite Sacrifice, by L.E. Waters

Author: L.E. Waters

Title: Infinite Sacrifice

Series: Infinite (#1)

ISBN: 9780983911

Publisher: Rock Castle Pusblishing (October 21^st 2011)

Disclaimer: Copy received for review purposes.

Buy your copy: Kindle | Paperback

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“Maya’s shocked to discover it’s not the heaven she imagined;in fact, a life of adventure begins the moment you die.

Zachariah, her faithful spirit guide, explains the rules of the dead: in order to regain complete awareness and reunite with loved ones all souls must review their previous lives.

Maya plunges warily into her turbulent pasts as a sociopathic High Priest in ancient Egypt; an independent mother protecting a dangerous secret in glorious Sparta; an Irish boy kidnapped and enslaved by Vikings; and a doctor’s wife forced to make an ethical stand in plague-ridden England.

All the while, Maya yearns to be with those she cares about most and worries that she hasn’t learned all of heaven’s most vital lessons. Will she be forced to leave the tranquility of heaven to survive yet another painful and tumultuous life? Or worse, accept the bitter reality of having to go back alone?” GoodReads’ blurb

This is not the first reincarnation romance I’ve read, but it’s the first with this unique approach. L.E. Waters placed some high bets in writing this piece, and I think that, for the most part, they’ve paid off.

This first volume is a bit like a collection of short stories, with each story being one of the main character’s previous lives. To be honest, I was blown by the level of detail each  incarnation was given. If I expected anything like your usual star-crossed lovers who have to fight through time to be together... boy, was I wrong.

And yet, I was right at the same time, I guess. There are some seriously twisted things happening. The funny thing is that, sometimes, the most twisted character of them all is... why, the main character! Her soul has certainly changed and evolved through time. Since she cannot remember each life as she goes, lessons take a while to sink in, and sometimes you can’t really see how she learns from the happenings on one life and applies that to another, but...

But each life would throw the main character into situations, and she would have to make choices, and even though each time she’s a completely different person, you can sort of see the progression. I’m not sure I’m explaining it right, but it’s the best I can do!

Other than the original plots stringing each life along, and the array of characters that, while related, are still original, I love the depth of research in this one. I admit freely that I’ve not cross-referenced stuff, but from what I already know, and from the smooth, solid, logical way each world works, it’s easy to see that the author knows the stuff and has done the homework – something that really needs to get all the recognition it deserves!

So, what made this a good book instead of an excellent book? It’s difficult to put my finger on it, but I think Infinite Sacrifice would have benefited from a more vivid, faster storytelling.

Or perhaps that’s the issue, actually. It’s storytelling. Nothing wrong with that: I liked it, and from time to time I enjoy to sit out the action and just read a story. But since this book was so highly emotional, and it dealt with such interesting concepts, I think that showing would have worked better. It would have allowed us to get much more involved in each life, and a reader invested is a reader unable to put the book down.

Still, I truly enjoyed Infinite Sacrifice, I found the idea very original and the execution very well-handled. I certainly look forward to the next book.