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.)
