My son “Mike,” age 16, is carrying the book Heroes of Old around with him, the one by Jay L. Young that I reviewed. He really likes this book—it’s right up his alley, with plenty of detail about the X-men style hero characters. We’ll see if he likes it enough to buy the other two books. That would take most of his Christmas money.
When he read this first book, he skipped some of the scenes from the ancient days. He was focusing on the contemporary characters. The way this book is put together, that works out OK–the entire story is eventually told in the present day. Funny way to read a book though.
I’ve started reading another book to review but haven’t finished it yet. So, hold on, dear readers! I haven’t forgotten you!
Self-published through i-Universe, 2007. 187 pages.
Worldview: Christian. Good vs. evil with redemption themes.
Caution: Graphic violence described. Sexual misdeeds are mentioned (not described).
This king-sized tale has been described as “X-Men Meets the Bible.”
Here’s the gist of the story: Peleg, a few generations removed from Noah, is still alive in our era. Across the millennia he has, over and over again, assembled a group of seven heroes with super powers, gifts from the Lord. Their assignment is to oppose the Nephilim, or giants, which are briefly referred to in Genesis. Young has answered the question, “Who are the Nephilim?”
Two parallel stories are told: one of the origins of the evil Nephilim, and the other of a modern Christian teenager named Noah, who discovers he has special powers (actually gifts). Peleg recruits him for the Faction, which sounds very much like the X-Men. Young Noah learns that he will have a key role to play in the struggle with the Nephilim–he is mentioned by name in an ancient prophecy.
Because of the self-publishing, this story has an unfinished quality to it–mainly some consistent spelling errors. It would benefit from editing. (I would suggest avoiding Peleg’s first person narration–it spoils the suspense.)
It is a lively, well-told, memorable story that will appeal to my 16-year-old boys, I am sure. In fact, I think it would work best in another medium–as a movie and/or a graphic novel. I can see it becoming quite popular. I hope Young pushes harder for a wider audience.
In fact this book is doing pretty well on Amazon (very well for a self-published book) and is getting favorable mentions by fans on the Internet. But it is only available on the Internet, and so would-be fans like my sons have been missing out. —Phyllis Wheeler
If you would like to buy this book, consider buying it here to help pay the costs of this blog.
