Review: Excellent World Building
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 1, 2013
Book Review: Journey toLightSeptember 1, 2013​Rating:Title: Journey to Light (Part One of the High Duties of Pacia)Author: Bob CratonGenre: Fantasy​Review:I haven't read  good fantasy book in a long time, and Journey to Light, written by Bob Craton, definitely fits the bill for an excellent fantasy novel. Craton creates such a complex world, merging common aspects of our world with a fantastical one. And although the events happening at the beginning of the story seemed rather random, much of it all ties together at the end. This book is filled with interesting characters--some human and some not. Although I feel like much of this book is dedicated to setting up the backbone/background for the rest of the series, I still really enjoyed it.As mentioned before, Journey to Light is full of unusual characters. This story is told from the point of view of many, many character. Actually I think this book is told from 6-7 different points of view. Luckily, the story focuses on only 3-4 of the point of views or else I probably wouldn't have been able to keep what was happening to each character straight in my head. The plot mostly revolves around Graice, Rafe + Belo, Caelia and the Boy's point of view.Graice is probably my favorite character of the novel. She's a Sistere, someone who can see and control other people's feelings. This is known as the effect. She's one of the most powerful and youngest Sistere of all time. However, one day she comes across a man named Holder and is surprised to discover that he isn't affected by her effect. ​What's even more curious is that Holder doesn't remember the first 24 years of his life. Nevertheless, Holder turns out to be the perfect person for guiding the Graice, Madrere and Ignacio throughout a dangerous journey.Rafe and Belo are quite a pair with a slightly wonky sense of humor (which I enjoyed...probably my own sense of humor is slightly quirky too :-). Rafe is a lupun; a lupun is kind of like a werewolf/wolf man. Although he is pretty scary looking, he is actually like a cuddly teddy bear on the inside just as long if you don't imply that he is scared of anything. Lupuns hate being accused of being afraid. Belo is a kiropteran, which is kind of like a vampire-like creature. Both of them have been kicked out of their respective community and have decided to band together to survive the wilderness. Things have been going pretty well until Rafe catches a whiff of something unnatural in the wind. And whatever is giving off that scent terrifies Rafe. Something sinister is following them...and they can't seem to be able to get away.Caelia lives in a secluded community that boasts of a very intelligent population. She also happens to be one of the smartest individual of everyone. However, supplies are running low and a group of people must venture out to conduct some trade with the outside world. The catch is that the outside world is full of dangers--from bandits to warring countries--and anyone who decides to go out risks death. But Caelia is smart and she has a plan...Last but not least is the Boy. He doesn't know his name. He doesn't know his real mother or father. All he knows is that he is on the run with his aunt. The people after them are willing to do anything to capture them.Like I said before, I think most of this novel focuses on world building and setting up the base for the "big picture" that is to come. It was interesting to read from the start (albeit a little confusing since I had to work out all those characters and how the world worked), but I really, really got sucked into the story about halfway through. I couldn't stop reading.I would remmend this book for anyone who loves to read fantasy books.Likes:*excellent world building*like the idea of the effectDislikes:* told from many points of view; would've preferred just 2-4 POVs***free copy was receive in return of an honest review***