Book Review - The Dark Star By H. R. Hess
For some time now my mother was urging me to get back to reading. The Dark Star has gained my attention with its thrilling story and thoughtful character arcs.
Ini-mini-mini-moe…
Usually a book follows one protagonist and perhaps occasionally moves onto a different character. However, some books differ. Sometimes, a writer decides to write the story about 2 protagonists and often that means the chapters are written about each character in an A-B-A-B style. First time I saw such was in Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, specifically in its last book, Allegiant. There she separates the viewpoint of her two main characters, Tris and Four, which foreshadowed the conclusion of the story.
Interestingly Hess decided to follow a similar path. At first we are introduced to Zapreth, a young lad part of the General’s guard on the Island of Callenlas. After the prologue one would figure that he is the main character, we will follow his journey through the book, whereas on the contrary, few chapters later we are introduced to Runa, an heir to the throne of the nothern Kingdom of Feldemoore.
The stories of the two children are written in an unorthodox and somewhat incosnsistent form, however, as everything, this has its reason. Their stories combine at some point in the book (I won’t reveal that to not spoiler away too much) and it shows the writer’s intended idea to link her book to Jesus.
Indeed, this is a book that is inspired by christianity.
A Carefully Crafted Story
Hess’ story telling is - in my opinion - amazing. There are no boring or prolonged or pulled sections in The Dark Star, everything fits into the greater puzzle fully. Nothing is revealed too early or too late. Some bits of the story remind me of How To Train Your Dragon as the story of this book includes dragons too. Kind of the main point of the book, but I won’t tell you more.
The story is action filled and builds up in a readable way. However, some people may be put off at first when in the first 10 or so chapters we read about two different tales, which can make it hard to keep up with the story.
The two children’s story is interesting as it shows the two opposite sides of a conflict - how respect and trust can win over deceit and mallicousness. One’s redemption and humbleness can lead to gain another’s forgiveness.
All in all, 5/5 in terms of story development and 4/5 in terms of character development.
Links To The Bible
Many things in the book resonate with the Christian belief.
Places such as the ‘Field of Lights,’ conveying Heaven, and the ‘Council of Stars,’ illustrating the 12 apostles seated on the throne next to Jesus, as it is written in Matthew 19:28 - '“Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
While the story’s antagonist, the General turns out to be a demonic being - forming the devil - he is defeated by King Elior at the end; who’s image is very similar to that of Jesus Christ’s.
Furthermore, Zaphreth’s redemption shows that it is never too far and never too deep for something to be turned around.
Conclusion
The book’s vocabulary and readability makes it a viable choice for pretty much anyone while its action-filled world negates anything I have had against the author due to the chaotic structure of each chapter. In fact, it made me want to read more. Not knowing which main character will be at focus in the next part kept the book glued to my hand.
This book is the first in a trilogy written by H. R. Hess. Being the first book in a year that was able to keep me interested in the story I will be making a series out of reviewing this thrilogy. Therefore, if you are interested in this book series then you can subscribe to my publication for free and that way you will not miss any other reviews in the future!