Reviewer: MissRut

My review on;
LUCIOUS ALEKOS AND THE BEARERS OF THE REAPER’S BED

Thank you analyzone for trusting me with your book.

The Cover: The dark theme of the book cover goes marvelously well with the text. The author has a concept in mind but it’s a bit plain. Also, the author’s display name is not easily spotted unless a closer look is taken because of the intimidating font of the title. 4 points.

The Title: The book’s title is quite long but it has to be for a reason. It holds a lot of questions of course especially the ‘reaper’s bed’. It’s got a nice ring to it and arouses curiosity well enough. 4 points.

The Blurb: Absolutely spine-chilling. At the same time, it’s also the most confusing feature of the book. At least the readers have been warned. It has an appealing ‘at your own risk’ kind of theme. It does well to evoke questions in the mind of readers but doesn’t put one off. 4 points.

The Setting: I assume from everything that the story is based in the early twenty-first century. Then there’s Lucious trying to make his way in the world he’s used to only to have his life paused on a vacation leading him to discover an Atlantis of some sort eventually found to be based in California. Bodie, to be exact. The story takes on the field of discovering worlds in an era of ignorance. It makes for a great sci-fi, thriller, fantasy or mystery story. 13 points.

The plot: while it is still difficult to determine exactly where the story is headed but it’s obvious that Lucious comes from a long line of a different race of humans as both his parents were otherworldly legends that served some purpose. Exactly what this has to do with reapers of any sort, it is very unclear. It’s one of the other unusual plots that you have to follow up to the very end just to know what exactly is going on. I have a gut feeling it’s going to be worth it. 8 points.

The Characters: We can’t tell if Lucious’ father would be rejoining us soon since he has to disappear for a while to make sure his son is fine. The boy in question is treated to wholeness after a run-in with some creatures. Apparently, the boy, Ruben is just one of the other people under some high court known as the council who take in children just like Lucious and take care of them. Proxima is a reliable and responsible personage the council trusts with important tasks like giving Lucious a tour around; appears a bit uptight in the beginning but has a strong personality. Matthias has the characteristics of a wannabe Mister Popular; loud, annoying, a flirt, et cetera. From the looks of it, Lucious is going to have his hands full with him in the coming future. So far, the characters are mostly lovable for their sense of humor and obvious differences, bearing the attributes that create some of the best storylines in history. Lady Vena, Xander and Isaac as well as the other members of the council could turn to be favorites of some. 5 points.

The Content: Initially, it starts off with a serious mood that plunges into thrills and frights. Immediately humor is salvaged from it and goes on for a while, hand in hand with serious loads of sarcasm. It has a fair share of its own history lessons as well without the major backstory. There’s far more to be revealed the more Lucious finds about the happenings in his new surroundings. It is an enjoyable read so far. 17 points.

Writing Style: The author’s style of writing is a remarkable one. With the way everything plays out in first person so naturally, one could say he writes points of views similar to Rob Thier where Lillian Linton is Lucious in this case. They both have the similar spark that readers enjoy as well mostly because of their blunt and questioning nature. It easily carries the audience along with the story with much ease as one finds it easy to flow with the dialogue and picture the scenes from a very detailed perspective. The principle of ‘show and don’t tell’ is used creatively in exciting the mind of the attracted audience. Everyone is sure to have enjoyed the ‘cheese scene’. 9 points.

Grammar, Vocabulary& Sentence Structure: I’m sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t enjoy being referred to as meroi. That aside, I suppose one would have to look extremely carefully and intentionally for grammatical faults of any sort but there is a little pinch in chapter 14 when the ‘Central Woman’ or Lady Vena said, “Some of us, we know, Some of us we have unlocked the full truth”. That plays out in many ways. One; “Some of us have unlocked the full truth”, two; “We know some of us have unlocked the full truth”, three; “Some of us- we know- have unlocked the full truth”, four; “Some of us, we know, have unlocked the full truth”, or even; "We know some of us who have unlocked the full truth”, but asides from the general word arrangement, the second ‘some’ begins with the uppercase ‘s’ and doesn’t come after a period so that’s a hiccup. Other hiccups are not so noticeable, if any but the word usage is exceptional and there aren’t major mistakes to be seen. 13 points.

Engagement with Readers: Any reader with good taste should be absolutely hooked on waiting for the next chapter since it is still ongoing. The minor cliffhangers at the end of each chapter work wonders of possibilities and there aren’t any takebacks. 14 points.

Total Points; 91/100