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DiDonovan
, February 25, 2015
(view all comments by DiDonovan)
Book One of a dystopian young adult fantasy, Arena One: Slaverunners, is set in New York in 2120, when a second civil war has all but wiped out the city and left its few remaining survivors living in gangs with a favorite pastime: the death sport at Arena One. Their challenge lies in finding new victims outside the city for their spectator sport of bloodshed.
Speaking of 'outside the City', that's where teen Brooke and her younger sister survive: up in the Catskills, alone, and keeping a sharp watch out for the marauding gangs of kidnappers working for Arena One. It only takes an instant for disaster to strike when Brooke relaxes her guard and her younger sister is kidnapped.
So far, so predictable: shades of The Hunger Games permeate a story centered around two courageous teens determined to buck all odds in an effort to regain their loved ones.
But the true strength in any story lies not so much in its setting and events as in how the characters come across, come alive, and handle their lives - and it's here that Arena One begins to diverge from the predictable and enters the more compelling realms of believability and strength.
Now, be advised: there is a LOT of attention given to explaining methods of viewing this world and handling it; to the point that some readers expecting staccato action and high-powered transition points closely woven together might find the plot plodding or too well-detailed. But in many a story this attention to detail serves the greater good later on, leaving little to wonder and few glaring gaps to fall into.
There are other similar small bits of explanation throughout that tie the whole thing together but keep the action moving along well enough to satisfy all but the thriller genre reader (and those won't last long enough to appreciate the fact that attention to detail in the beginning picks up a few chapters later as the action really gets going).
There's nothing wrong with offering a twist on The Hunger Games that assumes its own original form after lurking about like a transformed werewolf.
And there's nothing dull and plodding about Arena One, either: despite its attention to detail, it builds a believable, involving world and is a recommendation not so much for general fantasy readers, but for those who enjoy dystopian novels, powerful female characters, and stories of uncommon courage.
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