I have a confession to make. When reading books, I frequently get a little bored in the middle and flick ahead to find out how the book ends before deciding whether the ending might be worth the journey to get there. For me, there are two signs of a good book. Firstly, it keeps me interested enough to stop me flicking ahead and secondly, the characters stay in my mind for quite some time after the book ends. Akane: Last of the Orions, the debut novel from G. Clark Hellery, manages to do both of those.
In a future where Earth has been taken over by an alien race, the Shadows, who have forced most of the people to work in their labour camps. Akane is the last of the Orions, a race of people with special powers to send others to new worlds and to safety. As the last of the humans prepare for war against the Shadows, Akane and the few remaining Orions must combine to save the human race.
Akane, the heroine is intelligent, determined and feisty, focused on trying to keep her community safe and helping others escape from the Shadows. However, her efforts have also caught the attention of the police, and in particular, the young detective Devron, who wants to know more about the Orions and their powers. As Akane tries to stay out of the clutches of both the police and the Shadows, she also discovers that her closest friends are not quite who they seem. Is there anyone she can really trust?
Each of the main characters within the story is complex without being complicated – their personalities gradually being revealed in more depth as the story is unwoven. Most of the book is written in the present tense from Akane’s viewpoint, which helps draw the reader right into the heart of all the action. This was particularly effective in the last few chapters of the book, and kept me on the edge of my seat at times, almost breathless with suspense. In between the parts of the story seen directly through Akane’s eyes, there is a switch to a third-person, past tense narrative which allows a wider view of all the main characters within the story and a little breathing space from the intensity of the first person voice.
Fantasy and science fiction are not usually genres that I enjoy but this book has made me think that perhaps I shouldn’t dismiss them so lightly! It’s certainly left me with a book hangover that will linger for quite a while.
Akane: Last of the Orions is published by Fox Spirit and is available to buy on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. I have one paperback copy of Akane: Last of the Orions to give away to one of my readers. You can enter the competition by filling in the Gleam form below. The competition is open to UK entrants and ends on 5th February 2016 at 11.59PM. Good luck!
Disclaimer: The author of the book is a friend of mine; however I purchased two copies of the book to review and give away. All opinions are my own.
Akane: Last of the Orions book giveaway
I would choose super strength
That’s a good superpower to have. Good luck!
I would choose healing hands
I think that would be my choice of superpower too. Good luck!
to be able to fly!
Wouldn’t that be an amazing superpower? Good luck!
I’d be able to sleep and perform routine tasks at the same time… 🙂
I think that’s a superpower all mums would like to have! If only…! Good luck! 🙂
Oh wow, this looks great – right up my street and my OH would love it too! I would obviously choose to be invisible, but only when you wanted to be! It wouldn’t be nice to get stuck that way. Ray xx #triedtested
Invisibility would be great – good point that it would have to be only when you wanted though! Good luck! 🙂
Invisibility
Would be very useful sometimes! Good luck! 🙂
to fly
Wouldn’t that be amazing? Good luck! 🙂
I would definitely choose moving things with my mind… I could do the housework whilst sitting down and playing with my son :p
Ooh I like the sound of that! Good luck! 🙂
This book sounds fab, I love anything like this! I would choose to be able to read minds. Not sure it would help me save humanity but it would be interesting to say the least!
Debbie
Reading minds would definitely be interesting. I’d like to be able to read my children’s minds sometimes! Good luck! 🙂
I’d like to have healing powers, so I can heal the sick.
Healing powers would be my chosen superpower too, I think. Good luck! 🙂
This sounds amazing! I love books like this – I am a big fan of SciFi and Fantasy. I would want the power to heal.
Healing would be such a wonderful superpower to have, wouldn’t it? It’s certainly one I wish I did have. Good luck! 🙂
I would love to have the power of time-travel because I think it would be really fun to go back in time and see how things were!
Time travel would be a great superpower to have. Good luck! 🙂
i would love to be invisible
It would be very handy sometimes, wouldn’t it? Good luck! 🙂
I would love to have the power of manipulation – of things and of mind (of the enemies)
Being able to manipulate our enemies and things around us could be quite useful. Good luck! 🙂
I would love to have the power of manipulation – of things and of mind (of the enemies, that is)
Oooh I love a good fantasy novel this sounds right up my street 🙂
It’s a great book, I really enjoyed it 🙂
To see into people’s minds!
Wouldn’t that be useful sometimes?! Good luck! 🙂
I would love to be able to fly
It would be amazing, wouldn’t it? Good luck! 🙂
The ability to pause time…. Although I would mainly use it to catch up on sleep!!!
I think I would too! Good luck! 🙂
I’d love to be able to teleport. It would make traveling to see family and friends around the world so much easier. And it would allow me to transport VIPs in the book world safely.
It certainly would make travelling around the world a lot easier! Good luck! 🙂
i would love to be able to travel in time, perhaps have a time machine
That would be a great superpower to have – it would certainly be an interesting experience! Good luck! 🙂
Love that you cheat and flick ahead! I would never dream of doing that 😀
Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week x
Lol, it is naughty I know but it’s just how I like to read! 🙂
Invisibility
Great choice – good luck! 🙂
Being invisible would come in handy for so many reasons!
It would do, wouldn’t it? Good luck! 🙂
The power to heal
I think that would be my chosen superpower too. Good luck! 🙂
I’d have the power to make people nice to each other.
I love this one – the world would be a much better place if everyone could do that. Good luck!
I’d love to be invisible
It would certainly come in handy sometimes! Good luck! 🙂
I would love to be able to make people do what I want them to do
That would certainly make life easier sometimes, wouldn’t it? Good luck! 🙂
I would like to be able to take away peoples pain and illness.
That’s the one I would choose too, Denise – if only we could! Good luck! 🙂
I have to agree with so many posters – invisibility. Could have some fun with that one 🙂
Good luck everyone!
Yes, invisibility could certainly be a lot of fun! Good luck! 🙂
I’d love to be able to teleport!
It would be amazing, wouldn’t it? Good luck! 🙂
I would like the power to steal other people’s super powers to use myself!
Lol, I never thought of that one! Good luck! 🙂
I’d choose invisible powers
Invisibility would be a lot of fun! Good luck! 🙂
I would love the super power of clicking my fingers and the housework has been done for a week!
Lol, that’s a brilliant one – yes, I think that one would be up there on my wishlist too! Good luck! 🙂
The ability to pause time
There are definitely moments when I wish I could do this – what a great superpower that would be. Good luck! 🙂
I spend a LOT of time thinking about superpowers for the characters in my books but at the moment the superpower I’d love is the ability to read minds, specifically so I would know what the baby is jabbering about!
Oh that would be so useful with little ones, wouldn’t it Geri – even at Jessica’s age though with her ability to speak quite clearly, there are times that I would love to be able to read her mind and know what she is thinking about! 🙂
I would like to be self healing.
To read someones thoughts, as if they have big invisible thought bubbles above their heads that only I could see
Would love to be invisible
To fly
invisibilty
I would love to be invisible
The power to heal or to bring the dead back to life
I would chose to give everyone the gift of peace
I would love invisibility !
I would have the power to disolve all unwanted calories, sugars and carbs so that I could gorge myself on sweeties, cakes and chocolates without putting on any weight! Then I could be as greedy as I wanted all the time lol.
being able to hear peoples thoughts!
i would love to have the superpower of controlling the weather to be able to stop floods and droughts etc so people all over the world could grow their crops and feed themselves
Telepathy