Book Review - Heir to Power

Heir to Power by Michele Poague

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book took me a long time to read and I really think it can be shortened by at least 200 pages. There is a very "technical" feel to it and I wasn't surprised when reading that the author has written technical manuals. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a manual instead of a piece of fiction.

I think that Poague's overall idea is a great one. The tribe of Survinee people whom which the book were based upon were very intriguing, and seeing the world through their eyes felt almost like being an adventurous child again. That was probably the aspect of the book that I enjoyed the most: seeing my world through the eyes of someone who has never experienced it. Come to think of it, the two weeks that it took me to read this book was a little like I was a foreign exchange student experiencing a whole new place.

I definitely think that this book is being classified in the wrong genre. There were only about 5 paragraphs in the whole book that left the reader with any feeling of futuristic, much less science fiction. If you took out those 5 paragraphs, this book could have been a work of non-fiction about any ancient civilization.

I felt like the author left a lot of loose ends at the closing of the book which is always frustrating to me and I just read another review on goodreads that says the author plans to make a trilogy (which would explain the loose ends.) I know I am no expert but if I were to sit down with the author and have a perfectly honest talk (I don't believe I am even capable of being anything but completely honest) I would tell her to forget the trilogy and to get a good editor to cut the book length in at least half. Use the ideas for a trilogy to make ONE sound book that has a faster cadence with a whole lot less detail and technicalities. This will take a lot of letting go emotionally for the author, but I do think it would be to her great advantage in the book sales department.

As of right now, the one word that comes to mind with this book is "long" which I don't think any author wants to have on the book cover. However, I do think the story-line and the author have a lot of potential and Poague could have a great best seller on her hands with some editing.

This book made me think about Emily Dickinson. She wrote and wrote all day, but only let the public see a small 1% of what she found her best writing. I hope that when I write that book I've been dreaming about one day that I will be able to self-edit because I am also long-winded.

I received a copy of this book for free but as you can see I am still very honest in my critiquing. Note to future best-sellers: send me your books first, I will be brutally honest. Please go here and buy a copy for yourself and tell me that you didn't think the book was long at all and that I am just a slow reader, it will make me feel better. It is always fascinating to me how every reader has a completely different experience with the same book.

You can also go over to Michele (with one L) Poague's website if you would like.

Check out the goodreads book synopses:

The colony of Survin has been hidden for centuries, protecting an ancient religious artifact called the Healing Crystal from men who would steal or destroy it. Kairma, heir to the Crystal, is destined to mate with the handsome Naturi and become the leader of the reclusive colony, but she is too young to realize the peril soon to arrive. At sixteen, Kairma is too young to realize many things...

Kairma would rather go spelunking with her brother and his best friend than study ancient medicine and religious laws, but the discovery of a tomb containing ancient artifacts leads Kairma to question her religion and the true nature of the Crystal. To further complicate Kairma's ascent, a childhood illness has left her resembling a nearby race of men both hated and feared by the people of Survin. Because of this, Kairma's younger sister Kinter, who is in love with Naturi, believes she is the rightful heir.

Disease and infertility have decimated Survin, but bigotry and religious laws forbid the introduction of new members so things heat up when a traveling archeologist stumbles upon the reclusive colony and introduces a powerful new weapon. Forced into a larger world, the Survinees discover they hold an object of unimaginable power, a power other men covet, a power that might save or forever damn the human race

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