PLOT: 3.5/5
CHARACTERS: 3.5/5
WRITING STYLE: 3/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5
The Story
A man can rise from his body and travel across the World and across Time! He is a gifted one whose soul was separated from his body at a very young age after which he had enjoyed this ability.
But, a single mistake cost him a huge loss and made him stop his ventures into the Unknown realm. However, fate has another plan for him.
His sister is kidnapped and he is forced to use his ability again, after many years of the incident, to find her and ensure her safe return home.
But, he is against something that is supposed to be enemies of mankind who share similar abilities as himself. It is a race against time to find his sister as well as discover more on this realm that may impact his future endeavours to protect the World as a Time Guard.
First Impression
I was not impressed by the cover art as I believe it is not able to portray the subject matter within the book well.
The font used, the cover style and imagery, and the overall composition doesn’t seem inviting enough to me to read the book. Also, the use of different font types along with the absence of a prominent title in the cover makes it even more confusing to me.
Maybe in the successive books, these matters are addressed so as to create a positive impression on the new readers as the cover art is like the book’s face that can display what the reader should expect.
The blurb is the only thing that actually attracted me to the book.
The ideas explored within ‘Time Guard: The Awakening’ related to Astral Projection and Manipulation of Time are intriguing to me.
The author challenges the readers to think outside the box and imagine a scenario where Astral Projection may be used by the gifted few to influence the mass for their own benefits or the ones who practice it for the benefit of the World.
My Review
From the very first pages, I found the book engaging as things were happening so fast. The characters gripped me and I couldn’t put down the book.
The scenes that lead to the female protagonist realising the powers of the protagonist were filled with a sense of thrill and tension.
After the revelation, the path they both decide to take increased my interest in the plotline by a notch. And, although certain scenes were being repeated to move the story forward it did not seem tiresome.
Actually, it helped in understanding the flow of the story and capture the missing elements.
But, coming to the matter of missing elements, there were many characters whose origin or fate remained unknown.
Moreover, the end of ‘Time Guard: The Awakening’ seemed abrupt with the introduction to many new concepts that remained unexplained. Maybe, these will be cleared in the next book in the series; ‘Time Guard II: Reborn’.
Another drawback while reading the book was the presence of a few grammatical mistakes which should have been corrected while editing.
Sometimes, the appropriate words were not used; thus, the author was not able to express a few situations accurately.
Other than that, I enjoyed the narration. The character of Zaffar was pitiable and that of Howrang admirable. When Arjun rose to space, I travelled with him across places.
Overall, there were some plus points as well as some minus points making it a book that I liked but not loved. Hoping for the next one in the series to change this opinion.
However, there were certain factors within the book that I did love.
What I loved the most?
I loved the overall idea behind ‘Time Guard’ – taking up an interesting concept and weaving it into a story of suspense and adventure.
I loved the haunting dream sequences which were descriptive and had the desired impact on me. I also liked the illustrations along with the prose that helped in visualizing the plot line.
Also, I loved the way the author introduced the different ideas from science, mythology and the supernatural, explaining the proposed theories so that the readers are not lost in the narrative.
Would I recommend this book?
Yes, I would recommend it to anyone interested in stories which are a blend of sci-fi, mythology and all things supernatural.
Can’t wait to read it? Buy your copy of Time Guard: The Awakening using the link below.
