Aaron Hodges

Rebirth
The Praegressus Project, Book 1
By: Aaron Hodges
Narrated by: Michael Stene
This is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary.
This is a suspense-filled book that kept me on the edge of my....tablet. lol
The world building was good and I don't want to live there. It was an intense book where scientist were experimenting on kids. If you like Max Ride by James Patterson then you will like this. Similar but different enough to stand alone. Can't wait to see what happens next!
The show more narrator kept the feel of the book flowing well. Great job! show less

The Sword of Light: The Complete Trilogy
By: Aaron Hodges
Narrated by: David Stifel
This is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary.
This book has all the fantasy I like, dragons, wizards, adventure, touch of romance, good vs evil, gods, supernatural gifts, and more. Book one was a book was a young boy with a gift and it and him coming of age. Learning to control it was a no go without the wizard that finds him. It was a constant adventure, one thing after another, never boring. show more At the same time, another boy is after the kid for burning down the town and killing his family. The two groups come together at the end and a lot of things have changed by then. The next book continues with the girl with the dragon, the one that everyone has the hopes of the world on. Eric, the boy with the power, is mastering his power. There is also a big surprise noted in this book! They still are fighting demons, helped by gods, and it is still wonderful! The last book, sob, raps up the trilogy well and maybe someday the author will come back and give us more from this world. I liked the world building, the well developed characters, the twists (esp in the last book) and the fun fantasy.
The narrator made the book flow extraordinary! He performed the voices faultlessly. He made the suspense, tension, fighting, and romance seem so real. I felt like I was watching a movie! Great job! show less

When I began this book, I was expecting Eric’s character to be connected to or be one of three things: Humanity’s last hope/sole savior from the coldest and darkest of all evil, a descendant of the gods or gifted with the power of the mythological power of the unstoppable Greek fire. When I finished the book, I was certain that two of these three things were not true and for the third, only time will tell preceding the release of the remaining books in this series.

I gave this book three show more and a half stars because I liked the story’s concept and most of the characters in this book. I immediately liked Eric’s character and genuinely felt his sadness and fearful state of mind he was stuck in since discovering his ‘ability’. It is really easy to connect to Eric in this book as the reader is able to learn about him and Alistair’s true quest through Eric’s eyes.

Although my opinion about Inken eventually changed by the end of the book, I wanted to also mention that I liked her character’s introduction (pretty visually graphic and memorable). I didn’t much care for her character once Eric started to crush on her character though because then her character was no longer independent from Eric’s storyline. Her character, in my opinion becomes a prop for Eric’s character development and I would have liked to have seen a neutral friendship form in this book between these two characters as they forged on against Archon instead of the two of them falling for one another right away.

A few things I really liked the most about this book were Alistair’s character, the magic elements and Archon, who is consequently the bad guy (but I have a reason for it). The main thing these three points have in common with each other were their consistency throughout the book. Alistair’s character seemed to take on the role of the father-figure, mentor and hero in the book. He was truly a force to be reckoned with; kind of reminded me of a Merlin-type character and I loved the bond he and Eric shared in this book. I also liked that the further I got into the book, the more the story revealed about the world and how those with magic are connected to it.

I even liked the parts with Archon’s character (up until the last quarter of the book) who had a clear presence and motive in the book that was easy to follow. His darkness truly came across as something to be feared as it was unwavering and forever progressive (always a step or two behind the heroes). In fact, I liked the initial set-up the book has with Gabriel and the shadow-wolf and I was hoping for a payoff confrontation with Eric, but that never happened.

Which leads to my slight disappointment of the lukewarm ending. That and the ungodlike Gods in the book, i.e. Antonia, who more or less came across as being upper-level Magicker humans rather than Gods. However, I think the biggest attribute the story offered was perseverance as above all else and against all the odds, sheer will power (and faith) has kept Antonia, Jurrien, Alistair and all the people of the three nations fighting against Archon’s dark, cruel power for centuries.

Although I still had a handful of questions by the end of this book, I think Stormwielder does a great job of setting up the world of the three nations, its history and the dark path the main characters are set to face in the next two books. I also have a few predictions about Eric and Enala’s future and possibly an answer to the disappearance of Darius.

This book is content heavy, but if you are a Lord of The Rings fan or like magic, monsters, beasts conjured by dark magic, dragons and earth-walking Gods, then this is the book for you. show less

Emoting emotingly

The logic is thin, and the characters are so emotional as to be drama queens. No one acts rationally; they all have stereotypical roles to play. Not enough is really explained to make sense of everything.

The copy editing is acceptable and the plot stays true to itself.