Tuesday, April 7, 2015

The Rift by J.T. Stoll

This one requires a pretty big disclaimer, so let me get it out of the way (I'll repeat it again later). Not only did I receive a free copy from the author, I happen to know the author. He's one of the WriteOn members, and I have traded critiques for it. That said, I've done my best to be objective.

The Rift follows four, well, they're not really friends, so perhaps averaging out their relationships, I'd say acquaintance? There's Vero, who's dating Pieter, who brought her on a double date with his friend Neil and Gloria. I suppose Pieter is the friend in common. Anyway, there are these four kids, and on the double date which wasn't really working out, they come across a dying soldier from another world. He warns them of a coming invasion, gives them special weapons then dies. The rest of the book would be about the four trying to decide what to do, and running away from two of the evil soldiers that slipped in when the first soldier did.

Because this book is the first in the series, a lot of the space is there for the laying of groundwork. Sure, the kids are running and learning how to deal with their weapons, but the threatened invasion is absent for most of the book. But, the start at the end does focus on the other world (which gave me a shock, because Chapter one and the Prologue seemed so drastically different), tying this to the overarching plot.

I liked Vero and her family, and I hope to see more of them in the next books. As for the other three, they did have their appearances, but I felt Vero was the strongest character, and I liked her the best. Gloria sort of, faded, into the background until the end. Neil and Pieter were basically opposites - One super enthused about getting a quest like in a video game while the other is just trying to get away from it.

This book was short, but I'm not lying when I say that I enjoyed it. I'm the sort that likes reading about people mastering new skills and new environments, so while I do wish that the story was a bit longer and had more about the other world, it was still a fun and fairly read for me.

Disclaimer (the second one): I received a free copy of the book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review.

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