Today’s review is part of Blackthorn Book Tours tour of the science fiction novel, Prophet’s Journey, by Matthew S Cox.
About the Book
Althea struggles to adapt to an unexpected twist in her life—not being kidnapped in six whole months.The strange police from the faraway city claim the abilities she thought of as magic are really ‘psionics,’ and say she is far stronger than anyone they have ever seen. Despite their curiosity, they let her remain in the Badlands to protect her from an evil they call corporations.
Of course, Althea knows all too well how powerful her healing gift is. For most of her life, she’d been a prize taken in raids. Tribes have killed to own her, and she let them.But the Prophet is done being passive.Having a family changes everything.
No longer afraid to use her powers to protect herself, Althea refuses to be taken again… even when corporate mercenaries find her.
My review
Althea, the 11 year old healer with glowing blue eyes, is back in this fun spin off from Matthew S Cox.
The prophet has lived a whole six months with her family in Querq without being kidnapped, an unprecedented event in her 11 years. Unfortunately her winning streak runs out, and she is whisked away by a new enemy. Her kidnapping goes awry, however, when rogue androids shoot down her plane over the ruins of Detroit. Shackled, far from home, and unable to influence the synthetic men with her psionic abilities, Althea is once again at risk in the Badlands.
Althea is a charming character, with a strong spirit, a mixture of innocence and knowledge beyond her years, and an endearing desire to help everyone. It is nice to see her return, and catch up with her after her experiences in Prophet of the Badlands.
Althea’s abilities and origins are expanded nicely upon in this novel. More information is provided about the fall of civilization, as well as hints given concerning the remnants of humanity on the continental United States. The new characters introduced are sufficiently interesting and novel to avoid repetition from the previous book, with the character of Teal being a particular stand out.
I found the pace wallowed in the first half of the book, evidenced by such scenes as 11 year old Althea and her 14 year old boyfriend watching an older couple have sex, and the extensive details, albeit humorous, of the Transit tribe gods.
The best way I can describe this book is through a comparison between the Escape movies, starring Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken. If Prophet of the Badlands is the darker, edgier Escape from New York, Prophet’s Journey is it’s enjoyable, but goofy, sequel Escape from LA.
I award Prophets Journey…
Prophet’s Journey is available for $4.95 ebook and $14.99 print book on Amazon.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
Originally from South Amboy NJ, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Since 1996, he has developed the “Divergent Fates” world in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, The Awakened Series, The Harmony Paradox, the Prophet of the Badlands series, and the Daughter of Mars series take place.
His books span adult, young-adult, and middle-grade fiction in multiple genres, predominantly science fiction, cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic, and fantasy.
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, developer of two custom tabletop RPG systems, and a fan of anime, British humour, and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of humanity, reality, life, and what might happen after it.
He is also fond of cats, presently living with two: Loki and Dorian.
Links:
Amazon Prophet’s Journey https://www.amazon.com/Prophets-Journey-Prophet-Badlands-Matthew/dp/1950738019/
Twitter: @Mscox_Fiction / https://twitter.com/mscox_fiction
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatthewSCoxAuthor
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/mscox
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/matthewcox10420/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7712730.Matthew_S_Cox
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mscox.author/
Read my review of Prophet of the Badlands by Mathew S Cox.
Read my review of vampire horror novel, Chiaroscuro, by Matthew S Cox.
Iseult Murphy 
I have also had stretches of six months or longer where I have not been kidnapped.
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Wow, that’s impressive!
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Thanks.
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