Review: Not quite fantasy, not quite romance, repulsive
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 21, 2013
This book could be for Young Adults, but be aware there is some swearing, including the F-bomb, lots of dismemberment and mutilation, and some sexual references.The perspective is constantly shifting, from Selia to Jaden to Keldar to Nathan. Too much head-hopping.Ahoy! *mild spoilers* (I keep it vague)This book is difficult to classify. It purports to be a fantasy, but nothing is truly fantastic. There is no high fantasy -- no dragons, elves, or sorcerers. The rest could be explained away as genetics and skill -- skill in using herbs to heal, skill in following tracks and in warfare, and genetically-developed ability to smell odors across long distances, especially useful when scenting humans. Everything could be real, and found here on Earth, from the blood-eating, cannibal-like Svistra race to the "White Forest" that devours humans and animals alike (Earth has similar carnivorous plants). Even the wasteland known as the Dead Lands struck me as similar to the kind of decay brought on by a nuclear bomb or the salting of the earth.So, it didn't feel much like a fantasy, despite the "About the Author " section where Thomas refers to reading about Narnia and Middle Earth as a girl. No. It felt like a grim post-apocalyptic political piece. This dark tone was reinforced when one of the most lovable characters was written out midway. A mistake! From treacherous human kings to butchering barbaric Svistras, there were few characters to like, much less love. (Nathan was cool, though.)At the same time, Altered Destiny purports to be a romance -- and it did feel like a mild romance between Selia, the warrior human, and Jaden, her handsome Svistra prince. But yet.... Where's the Happy Ever After? For one thing, the ending was written without even a kiss !!! (and they never made love either, even though we got the "joy" of watching the evil Keldar start to mate with Noe). On the up side, midway through the book there are one or two scenes involving kissing and cuddling between Jaden and Selia.But even more worrisome, I did NOT close the book assured of a fine future for this couple, even though Selia rather carelessly assures Jaden that people will get used to him. Um...how likely is that? The Svistra have been viciously and horrendously mutilating, murdering -- and feeding on-- innocent men, women, and children from all the surrounding villages. Jaden is a Svistra.Plus, why should I even LIKE the Svistra race as a whole? The author portrayed only one !!! likable member of this race, Jaden. The rest are repulsive, engaging voluntarily and even gleefully in vampiric blood-sucking, patricide, infanticide, mutilation, etc. Very gory!As though to make me sympathetic to this bloody Orc-like culture, Jaden tells some long sob story about their history. Then, Shawna Thomas tosses a bone in the last section -- a friend of Jaden's appears suddenly in the cast. Apparently, he's a likable fellow -- a nice Svistra -- but how would I know? He virtually walked across the stage, and that's it, but I am to believe in his ability to command during this critical period of potential peace? Poorly developed.There is also mention of Jaden's mother, a kinder, gentler Svistra who became a healer, but we never actually meet her. (Also, we never find out why Nathan thought the old male healer looked like Jaden.)Bottom line, I don't recommend this book. While Jaden and Selia were awfully sweet together, I was ultimately disappointed and even disturbed by it. Altered Destiny held my attention fairly well, with a balance of scary, suspenseful, and sweet parts, but in the final analysis, it read like a gruesome analogy to the Israeli / Palestinian conflicts over land -- or the "Manifest Destiny" conflict between the pioneering settlers and the Native Americans, but set in some mythical place at some ancient time.