One of the challenges of writing books is how to approach the
ever-present conundrum of originality. Do you attempt to write something
completely different and risk the likely low sales forecasts, inviting
the scorn of the reading world as they fail miserably to understand all
the clever themes and plot twists of your brave new story. Or do you
play safe and go for the reader’s jugular vein, writing your book in the
familiar and dark style shadows of, for example, Harry Potter and
Twilight?
At the end of the day, there is no conundrum if the book itself is
badly written. Fortunately, in this case, “The Call of Agon : The
children of Telm” and its author, Dean Wilson, need not worry for this
is a beautifully written book full of loveable twists and well
developed characters. The story revolves around Ifferon and his journey
to confront the beast Agon and his mighty forces. Along the way, he has a
magic scroll and fellow companions to assist him as fierce battles rage
across the land of Iraldas. It’s all written passionately and
interspersed with themes of love, bravery and faith.
Did the story sound familiar? However brilliant the writing, I found
it hard to escape the feeling that I had read this type of book before.
It’s certainly not difficult to guess where all the influences are
coming from, intentional or not. Replace the magic scroll in the story
with a ring, for example, and you’ll find a lot of glaring similarities
with Lord of the Rings. But does it matter? A lot of people out there
love stories of this caliber. Wherever your tastes may lie, it’s hard to
deny that this is a good read. But don’t expect anything original here,
just enjoy the journey!
4 out of 5 stars
Dean F. Wilson was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1987. He started
writing at age 11, when he began his first (unpublished) novel, entitled
The Power Source. He won a TAP Educational Award from Trinity College
Dublin for an early draft of The Call of Agon (then called Protos
Mythos) in 2001. He has published a number of poems and short stories
over the years, while working on and reworking some of his many novels.
The Call of Agon is his first published novel.
Review written by Roger Gerald Scott, best-selling novelist,
author of 5 short stories, voted “Most Promising New Author 2012″ at
EKAP and recently received “Clean Slate’s Most Promising Breakthrough
Short Story 2013″ for “The Strange Case of Will Newman”.
Also
a team member of theprobookeditor.com, offering formatting and book
cover design services for indie eBook publishers and a
professional editor.
Drop a line to mrsdlhartmann@gmail.com to request your book review and/or author interview!
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