Review of Sword of Time

Review of Sword of Time

            In A.M. Sawyer’s fantasy novel Sword of Time four teens’ post-graduation plans are shattered when a secret government special operations team accidently releases an ancient evil. Instead of having a nice vacation in Australia, the four teens encounter much more adventure than they ever intended. In the Australian Outback an old hermit guides them to a portal that allows them to go to a timeless temple which protects them from the ancient evil, a powerful sage named Kakos.

            The portal leads to a timeless temple where the four teens, Luke, Bob, Tim, and James, learn that it is part of their destiny to stop Kakos. They are given magical weapons, including the Sword of Time, which chooses Luke as its user. With magical weapons in hand the four teens pass through a portal again only to find a world completely dominated by Kakos.

            The four friends join the resistance movement of Lady Fora, chief warrior of the ancient magical kingdom of Basileio. With her they combat Kakos. They return to the distant past to try and save the kingdom of Basileio, to save thousands of magical creatures, and to defeat Kakos once and for all. While there the four friends meet up with Krikos, the younger version of the hermit who saved them from Kakos in the Australian outback.

            Inner conflicts threaten to shatter the teens’ friendships as they struggle against Kakos. After numerous quests to acquire and re-acquire magical weapons and objects, the four teens finally come to the ultimate facedown with Kakos. In the midst of a massive battle between the forces of good and evil, will Luke prove strong enough to defeat Kakos?

            Sawyer’s writing style is shockingly unconventional. His entire book is written from a present tense, second person perspective that seems like a mixture between first person and third person. His writing is first person in the sense that most of the time he is telling the story from very close to the main characters, but it is third person in the sense that he pulls far out and will speak as the omniscient storyteller at times.

            The four teens act like one would expect four teens to act after they get sucked through time and are thrust into a full-scale war. The teens argue with one another. Their dialogue stands out against the setting they are in and their behavior does as well, with one exception. That exception is the chief heroic quality that has stood out for all time, perseverance. No matter the troubles the teens go through, they still move forward to their goal. They vary from the course once or twice throughout the book, but they always get back on track.

            The teenage/young adult reader will connect with the main characters a lot more than an older audience will. The few romantic relationships two of the main characters have with other characters are believable within the setting and are not cliché. The dialogue between said characters seemed stiff in a few places, but the majority of the time it was very heartfelt. The romantic relationships do not, however, take high place in the process of the plot.

            Overall, A.M. Sawyer is a decent writer capable of spinning enjoyable stories. I wouldn’t place him up with the experts yet, but his style does bring something fresh to the world of books. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fantasy novel that successfully weaves time travel into the plot and involves massive battles and high stakes.

Reviewed by Joshua A. Spotts

Joshua A. Spotts is a Professional Writing Major at Taylor University and a book reviewer for Aboite Independent, Church Libraries, and Christian Book Previews.

(I believe that Mr. Sawyer's book is one of the finer examples of self-published, independent, e-books. His style is also very unique and I enjoyed analyzing it.) 

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