Awakenings

Awakenings by Clint Geller

Arol, a boy of humble origins but extraordinary cosmic birthright, approaches manhood in a time of great strife. The brutal Drenarian Empire has enslaved and impoverished his people, the Gennebri. A courageous band of rebels hopes to liberate the province of Gennebar, but first they must turn hearts and minds away from a corrupt religious hierarchy and a heretical sect preaching passivity. As Arol’s cosmic gift begins to awaken, it falls to the heroic rebel leader, the clairvoyant Senasha, to breathe new hope into the rebellion with a brilliant exploit. 

Meanwhile, Arol’s struggle to understand the changes coming over him leads him to Bernarro, a genius with his own cosmic gift and a scientific sensibility centuries ahead of his time. While Arol learns from Bernarro to harness his powers, Arol’s best friend Zorn meets and falls in love with Senasha, and the pair embarks on a daring mission to kill a tyrant and recover a priceless Gennebri relic. As the rebellion gathers strength, foretellings of natural and divine calamities threaten Gennebar. Arol’s choices will determine not only his own future, but the fate of the rebellion and his people. 

Review

★★★★★

4.8/ 5

What an absolute delight this book was! I recently joined NetGalley and this was one of the first books I got from there. As soon as I read the summary, I was interested and I requested it without a second thought.

This is the first book in the Gennebar Rising series.

I had never even heard of the author or the book itself but I am glad that I took a chance on this because this book is such a fun and fast read. The author absolutely knows his world and the lore and he never overdoes it. The world-building (which is very important to me) was brilliantly done, too. The details are just enough that we don’t mind reading about them and they are properly scattered throughout the book. The characters and the plot was pretty awesome too!

One of it’s absolutely interesting plots was the time and space manipulation shown throughout the book. I have always been an absolute sucker for fantasy and a fantasy book involving time and space, wibbly wobbly timey wimey shenanigans? Sign me up! I loved the way the whole matter was handled in the book and I can’t wait to read more about it in the future books.

It was very easy to get into the book and that’s one of it’s plus points, I think. It’s not terribly long-winded at the start and it stays that way. There was so much happening across the book and sometimes it was a bit hard to catch up (but that’s mostly because I wanted to read more about Arol, to be honest.). It’s not a terribly long book and it kept me interested throughout. If there are any negative points then I can’t think of any. Of course, I am not saying this is the best book I have read but it’s really good. The plot, the lore and the characters are solid enough that they can carry the book and isn’t that what we look for in a book? To keep us engaged and interested throughout? I would have loved to have the next books on my Kindle already but that’s just me being greedy.

I can’t wait for the next books in the series. The best thing is, I have read that part two and three of the series are already written and are in the process of being edited and published, so I don’t have to wait for too long. *fingers crossed*

If you are a fan of fantasy, if you love sword and magic, then this is the book for you. I am really loving it at the moment.