Devastation by Daniel D Longdon
Review by Natalie
Thought provoking, action packed and emotional. This book of civil war on Albion takes you through the full spectrum. Jason De Silva lives a normal life with his wife Jacky and two young sons. Everything is perfect apart from the local Skav family the Smiths. Their filthy, lawless and lack any honour and decency. Usually people try and stay out of their way and so would Jason until one day his son comes home with a bruise from one of the young Smith lads. A harmless conversation with the family turns into an attack against his home and hearth and leads to the start of a civil war that sweeps across the country. His fellow countrymen hear of his plight at being accused of murder whilst defending his home and all agree that enough is enough. The time doesn't fit the crime and societies slowly being corrupted by a Government that's apparently all for the people. From far and wide people come to Jasons aid on foot and horseback to fight for their country and win it back from the Skav hoardes that are grouping together and taking over the cities. Jason himself goes through personal tragedies and has gone from a simple family man to the leader of an Army. Very detailed and realistic scenes of violence that's in keeping with a book about war. They may say violence doesn't solve violence but it seems to be working in this book. It's not my typical read and I was quite squeemish at some points but a war book isn't going to be fluffy with lovely marching songs, it's gritty and tough. Not for the faint of heart but very eye opening as it mimicks the problems all our societies face today. Almost makes you wish there was a Jason out there brave enough to rise up for all of us. No editing errors that I could notice and the language used was unique as it captured the different dialects of the characters . Go out of your comfort zone and try something new....like Devastation! |
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Devastation by Daniel D Longdon
Review by D Michelle
I was fortunate enough to read this book before its release, just before the riots in the UK shook the news. I was astonished more because everything that Daniel wrote rings true.
I could empathise with the main character and sympathise with how events just sweep him along. He suffers unbearable losses in this story and yet maintains his dignity without becoming pious.
The characters in Devastation are believable and well portrayed. The interaction between them all is also very credible and the storyline is horrific in places but even more so because you quickly realise that this could actually happen.
This story is set in the future, on a far-flung planet in the outer reaches of the universe, but it seems so very close to home.
I'm looking forward to the next book.
Published
01/09/2011
Publisher
Gingernut Books Ltd
ISBN's
9781907939051 Hardback
9781907939075 Paperback
Also in ebook on Kindle
I was fortunate enough to read this book before its release, just before the riots in the UK shook the news. I was astonished more because everything that Daniel wrote rings true.
I could empathise with the main character and sympathise with how events just sweep him along. He suffers unbearable losses in this story and yet maintains his dignity without becoming pious.
The characters in Devastation are believable and well portrayed. The interaction between them all is also very credible and the storyline is horrific in places but even more so because you quickly realise that this could actually happen.
This story is set in the future, on a far-flung planet in the outer reaches of the universe, but it seems so very close to home.
I'm looking forward to the next book.
Published
01/09/2011
Publisher
Gingernut Books Ltd
ISBN's
9781907939051 Hardback
9781907939075 Paperback
Also in ebook on Kindle
Devastation by Daniel D Longdon
Review by Daisy
What happens when civilisation is ground down by increasing lawlessness? How far will a man go to protect his hearth and home? These are the questions that the author sets out to answer in this story. It is set somewhere in the future on an Earth-like planet in the country of Albion, although the cover does seem to hint very strongly towards a spiritual connection with a henge on top of a hill and a knight's arm in the foreground. Jason de Silva is the central character of the novel and we follow him as he struggles to overcome the system which seems to favour the 'new breed' Skavites who run riot over all that is good in human nature with no comeback from the police or government. One man's war soon becomes the country's.
This book starts very well, it sets out the 'straw that broke the camel's back' situation and steps forward from there. About half-way through my interest started to wane as this became more about warcraft and the way that civilisation had developed. For me, this detracted from the central premise that had fired my interest. I wanted to know more about the main characters and what the 'wrong laws' had been to give some depth to this.
Overall, a good start which, in my view, loses the focus which would have made it even more memorable.
What happens when civilisation is ground down by increasing lawlessness? How far will a man go to protect his hearth and home? These are the questions that the author sets out to answer in this story. It is set somewhere in the future on an Earth-like planet in the country of Albion, although the cover does seem to hint very strongly towards a spiritual connection with a henge on top of a hill and a knight's arm in the foreground. Jason de Silva is the central character of the novel and we follow him as he struggles to overcome the system which seems to favour the 'new breed' Skavites who run riot over all that is good in human nature with no comeback from the police or government. One man's war soon becomes the country's.
This book starts very well, it sets out the 'straw that broke the camel's back' situation and steps forward from there. About half-way through my interest started to wane as this became more about warcraft and the way that civilisation had developed. For me, this detracted from the central premise that had fired my interest. I wanted to know more about the main characters and what the 'wrong laws' had been to give some depth to this.
Overall, a good start which, in my view, loses the focus which would have made it even more memorable.