Author: David Berger
Title: Task Force
Gaea: Finding Balance
Series: Finding
Balance (#1)
ISBN: 9780615596129
Publisher: David
Berger (February 2nd 2012)
Disclaimer: Copy
received for review purposes.
| 
My rating: 3 of 5
stars
“Dan, Aleta, Brandon, and Sarah -- four reluctant modern day heroes gifted by ancient civilizations born of the gods -- bound by prophecy, have to choose whether or not to save their world when it could mean they never existed. They must master their new powers while battling incomprehensible forces from the Underworld and repairing the Sacred Scales, destroyed long ago.
With the equilibrium between Order and Chaos unhinged, and the Olympian gods struggling to exist, these four must join with the United Nations to protect an endangered world, becoming the only group who can fight against the metaphysical threats to the Earth, forging Task Force: Gaea.
Can mortals succeed where gods cannot go? ” GoodReads’ blurb
I’m pretty sure that
you know, by this point, all about my healthy obsession with myth and folklore.
Because of that,I was quite stoked about reading Task Force Gaea... and it was
good. But.
I found one issue
that could be potentially major for readers. The book has several parts, but it’s
most distinctly divided in two halves. And the first one is a narration of
events by Apollo, with a small contribution when the point of view changes to his
son in one chapter. When I say “narration”, I mean just that. Apollo is telling
the events to someone else, with no dialogue and very little action.
This first part is, I
understand, important to understand the worldbuilding—which I didn’t really
understand until we moved on to the second half, but was based on events from
the first. Still, I believe that the amount of detail was not necessary. The
key stuff could have been covered somehow without going over 150 pages of just
one character talking. It dragged, and the fact that we are encountering
original Greek names quite often didn’t help to make the reading any easier.
Still, the concept
was interesting and once the second part picked up, I was able to enjoy the
story. The characters were diverse and compelling, not just your usual kick-but
heroes, and the consequences towards the end were original and well-thought
out.
Perhaps it’s just
that it was slightly difficult to push through to that second half... it might
also be that, back when I studied the classics, I did it in Spanish to on top
of the style, vaguely reminiscent of said classics, and the huge amount of myth
and names, I had to constantly think about who was who. However, I think you’ll
be more likely to enjoy Task Force Gaea if you’re very familiar with Greek
culture, myth and literature, and if you have plenty of time. And if you don’t
mind the slow parts.
What I don't understand is that why do there needs to be more of narration when world building in involved. To me, dialogue helps a lot more.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Task Force Gaea before and the only Greek mythology fiction book I read is Oppression by Jessica Therrien. But needless to say, I like how you write your reviews.
Sana @ artsy musings of a bibliophile
Exactly my point. I'd have cut the first half whole, and just add bits here and there to explain the important parts because for the most part, and while there *is* some progression, it felt like filler.
DeleteBut I shudder to think about the amount of work and research gone into it, so I think it doesn't suffer from the usual aspects that make me shot a book down to two stars... And, even though it wasn't for me, I guess there's some people who would enjoy it.