Editorial Reviews for Nominees
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Editorial Reviews for Nominees
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Score: 96/100 (9.6 out of 10)
Only eight fiction books in the history of our contests had ever achieved a 9.6/10 score, and The Legend of the Extraordinary Writers by Emiliano Forino Procacci is now the ninth! This novel does almost everything right: the premise is great and compelling, the characters are interesting and layered, the relationships have chemistry and weight behind them, and the villains are more than mindlessly evil devils. Furthermore, this book isn't a confusing, convoluted, overly-complicated, overbooked headache. It's actually a joy and a pleasure to read! Is that so much to ask? Seriously! When did the formula for good storytelling get lost, forgotten, or abandoned? When did good storytelling become such a rarity? It really isn't rocket science. This book reminded us a lot of The Angels of Resistance by David Mammina and Season of the Swords by Domenic Melillo, two of the better books to come our way. And what did these book have in common? Compelling plots, high stakes, strong relationships, and good characters. Every character in these books had a WHY--a reason for being there. Every character in The Legend of the Extraordinary Writers has their own unique struggle, their own relationships and attachments with people, and their own arc. It also really helps that each one has their own, unique power (which adds to the intrigue). What's more? This book features an amazing final battle sequence with proper build behind it and tangible stakes. So, let's discuss this book... The Legend of the Extraordinary Writers follows an ensemble cast of four writers of extraordinary power: Arthur, Ascanius, Luna, and Christine. Arthur has the ability to materialize objects from distant places and to create portals to reach them. Ascanius is able to rewind time, though only for a few minutes, which leads to some humorous and even tragic consequences. Luna has the ability to bring any artwork to life, though having a special affinity for classical works of art. Christine, perhaps our favorite character, possesses a similar ability to Luna, but can conjure beings from fantastical tales rather than from famous art. Christine has a particular spunk about her that we really liked. The author also describes her in a way that really accentuates her attractive features, particularly her fit and athletic physique. She is a nominee for “Hottest Character” alongside Death (believe it or not) in this novel. Ascanius's goofy personality is in stark contrast with his tragic backstory as a parent who lost his child, something that really touched us. His awkwardness was also something that endeared him to us. Arthur's backstory involves the loss of his brother, Lucien, and the desire to use his powers to potentially bring him back from the dead, something which he comes close to achieving at a few points in the book. The fifth writer, Dominik, serves as the primary antagonist of the novel. He is a villain, yes, alongside his mentor, Master Forneus; however, he is far from pure evil. Dominik, like our protagonists, is a tragic character who believes that what he is doing is best for the planet. He is convinced that he is the good guy in his own narrative, a narrative twisted and manipulated by Forneus. Both Dominik and Forneus seem to hate materialism, mercantilism, commercialism, urbanization, and corporatization. They are, in a sense, Quaker-like hippies who reject modernity, modern conveniences, and modern technologies. They actually aren't 100% wrong. They hate how technology distracts people from the simple, natural joys and pleasures of nature. They hate how modern foods are synthetic and full of chemicals and sugars. They hate how humans pollute, destroy nature, and use up the planet's resources. Unfortunately, this leads them to hate humanity as well, wanting to limited the number of humans through population control, making them oddly similar to Thanos in the Marvel movies. They are essentially tree-hugging climate change activists who've taken their ideologies and beliefs to the absolute extreme. They are of an order known as the the Lupe, working hand in hand with the antagonistic Charmolypi to essentially capture and kill the four other writers, thus gaining their powers and ruling the world. Speaking of the four writers, they are in pursuit of special pens called the “Pens of Light” that will grant them increased powers capable of defeating the Lupe, Charmolypi, and Dominik. The Pens of Light are all linked to different classical elements like fire and earth, each having their own backstory. They reminded us of the “Swords of Valor” in Season of the Swords. Helping the writers on their heroic journey are the Brotherhood of Philosophers and their leader, Count Filippo di Santa Rosa. The Brotherhood of Philosophers are the direct counter the malevolent Charmolypi. This might sound confusing, but the battle lines are quite clear, which really helps. We loved that each character had their own individual feud and purpose in the fight. The final battle features both the good writers and Dominik using their powers to summon all sorts of incredible figures from various works of literature, art, and mythology! What a love letter to creators like us! Check it out on Amazon!
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