The Atlantis Grail : Book Review

 The Atlantis Grail is a four book series written by Vera Nazarian. The full list along with the year in which they were released is -

1 Qualify - 2014

2 Compete  - 2015

3 Win - 2017

4 Survive - 2017




 I found this in my weekly hunts of the Google Books for free books. Now most books there are free because they are trash..no one is gonna pay for them. So my expectations as I started this series were not very high. But as I read it, it proved me wrong. This was a surprisingly good book read different from the usual science fiction books. 


The series opens with many huge shocks. It is set in the year 2047 and a huge asteroid is heading towards Earth which will reach in a year and basically humans are gonna go extinct. Now suddenly appear the aliens with their advanced technology and stuff to save the humans. How very convenient you'll say, but not quite. There's a catch, of course there is, or there wouldn't be a good plot to develop, would it. These aliens apparently are the Atlantians, they lived on Earth about a 10000 years ago. Even back then they were more advanced than humans are today. It would be interesting to note that at that time, humans were still nomads and cave dwellers. But these people had to abandon Earth and move to a new planet where they had been living since. So technically, they also are humans. The problem is, they can't save all the people on Earth, they can only take some thousands of people between the ages 12-17 with them. 

So the series follows a 16 year old girl as she struggles to first "qualify" and then follows her journey to Atlantis and how she faces the challenges there and saves the Atlantians from their own ancient enemy. Yeah, a lot of wrap your mind around, I know.


Now that is enough to get you all excited and curious about what's gonna happen next. I won't ruin the ride for you by going into the details anymore. Meanwhile, a bit extra details. The author, Vera Nazarian is an American- Russian writer, two-time Nebula Award finalist, a Dragon award 2018 finalist author and member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. She immigrated to USA as a refugee from the former USSR, sold her first story at 17 and made her debut with the critically acclaimed Dreams of the Compass Rose in 2002. 

 

Interesting features - One thing to be noticed is the details of the culture of both Earth and Atlantis which have been described. The book even describes the makeup a lady should wear while visiting the royal court and the Atlantean formal salute. Also, the books have enough science in them to please a science lover and maybe just enough to confuse a guy. There are some novel ideas scattered within the books, some of which can only be spotted on a closer, second reader. The extensive description and stress laid on sound is unique and to be honest, I found it to be slightly irritating (that's because I was continuously reminded of how poor a singer I am). The series also has an appreciable amount of humour, action and romance in it. Something which is not often found in fiction. Books generally tend to focus on one or two genres at the max. If it's a science fiction, there won't be any romance. It it's humour, then no action. Well, you get the idea. This book defies the norms and successfully so. 


Problems - One thing that could have been improved is that the main character, Gwen Lark somehow managed to get everything going her way. The author was unable to strike a balance between her efforts and rewards. I mean, I can't reveal much of the plot here, but you are talking about the best teenagers on Earth who all managed to Qualify to be saved. Point is, that each and every guy there is way above average. Most of them lost their entire families, compared to that, the author makes Gwen look like an incredibly lucky person who got everything she wanted. 

But this is something most fiction books do, the hero always wins rule is bound to books also. But yeah, apart from this tiny thing, the series has everything going for it.


Final recommendation - A good weekend read, but if you read one book, you'll have to read all. 


Links- 

Qualify (The Atlantis Grail Book 1) eBook : Nazarian, Vera: Amazon.in: Kindle Store

Compete (The Atlantis Grail Book 2) eBook : Nazarian, Vera: Amazon.in: Kindle Store

Win (The Atlantis Grail Book 3) eBook : Nazarian, Vera: Amazon.in: Kindle Store

Survive (The Atlantis Grail Book 4) eBook : Nazarian, Vera: Amazon.in: Kindle Store


Thank you for reading my review. If you liked it, please share it with your friends, family etc. I'll be back soon with another interesting book for ya'll to read.

Here are links to my other posts - 

A Twist In The Tail - An Original Short Story (krishnakabra7.blogspot.com)

The Need For A World Government - Part A (krishnakabra7.blogspot.com)

The Issue with God’s future… (krishnakabra7.blogspot.com)

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