The Awakened by Jason Tesar

THE HISTORY: Over five thousand years ago, a renegade faction of angels abandoned the spiritual realm and began their inhabitation of earth. Worshiped as gods for their wisdom and power, they corrupted the realm of the physical and forever altered the course of history. 

THE PROPHECY: A midst the chaos of a dying world, a lone voice foretold the awakening of a warrior who would bring an end to this evil perpetrated against all of creation. But with the cataclysmic destruction of earth and rebirth of humanity, the prophecy went unfulfilled and eventually faded from the memory of our kind—until now!

THE AWAKENED: The physical dimension is fractured. What remain now are numerous fragmented worlds moving simultaneously through time, sharing a common history, connected only by a guarded portal. On a parallel earth, in the city of Bastul, Colonel Adair Lorus disappears while investigating the death of an informant, triggering a series of events which will tear his family apart and set in motion the resolution of an ancient struggle. Book Description.

I have just finished the first book in “The Awakened” series by Jason Tesar and I was pleasantly surprised at how well written this book was. I am a huge fan of fantasy fiction and this book fits the bill perfectly.  Filled with mystery, political intrigue and rebellion I was thoroughly engrossed from the first page as it engaged  my imagination.

The story follows a the family of Colonel Adair Lours who is charged with keeping the city of Bastul safe and keeping the peace for the empire. Upon investigating the death of a friend he goes missing, and in his absence his family’s life as they knew it was over. Adair’s wife Maeryn must cope with her new role as the property of the new Colonel. Adair’s son Kael is forced into captivity and with the sentence of death hanging over his young head, and Sabra, the old family friend and mentor to both Adair and Kael is forced into exile as he searches for clues of Adair’s disappearance.

I choose this book to review from our list and all I had to go on was the title “The Awakened” I didn't read the book description just started to read. I look back now and I am so glad I didn't for the book revealed itself to me in the most spectacular way. The author takes his time in revealing the plot by telling the story from the point of view of the each character, which really adds to the buildup of the story line. I had to keep reminding myself that this is book one and not all of my questions will be answered.

I could find no flaw in the character development of this story. The main characters in the novel were so well written that as the story progressed laying the solid foundations  for the continuation of the series.  For me my favorite character in this first book was Kael, the young son of Adair & Maeryn.  Kael's story was so well done and believable. Children have a very unique ability to handle change and adapt to any given situation even one that is dire.  The author did a fantastic job of allowing myself as the reader to watch Kael grow and accept what life was throwing at him, while not losing his own identity and belief system. 

This book was extremely well written and there was so much attention to detail especially in Kael’s story that I was highly impressed with the author’s ability to blend the spiritual and fantasy in away that I could understand and affirm  from my own experiences. This is what made the story more real for me and I sure will resonate with others.

 I would class this as an epic fantasy and Jason Tesar is an author to watch and he has now gained a spot on my list of favorite fantasy authors. So I highly recommend this book to everyone! Even if you are not a fan of fantasy, give this book a try and you may find yourself hooked for it has something for everyone. I am eagerly waiting to start the next book in the series. 

With that said I give this book 5 Stars, it is truly a fantastic read, and the Kindle version is currently free at Amazon. 

                                                             Reviewed by Rayven

You may purchase "The Awakened" here : DarkissReads Bookstore

You may find more about Jason Tesar here : http://www.jasontesar.com/