Note that this is not a standalone novel, you actually need to listen to parts 1-3 first.
After part 3 (Evolution) I was a bit hesitant to continue, wondering if I were going to lose interest altogether, because Evolution was not as interesting as the previous two parts. However I am glad I continued on, for Dominion is once again captivating: it felt like I was reading parts 1 and 2 again in the way it held my attention and as far as things like story build-up, character interaction and pacing are concerned.
Of course suspension of disbelief is required here and there, especially in the real world sequences in which all adults seem to be crazy or simple cardboard characters. And most especially where Jason‘s parents are concerned for in this novel they are at their most outrageous yet. I mean it is still one of the issues I have with this series.
A new issue for me originates with this particular book: SPOILER ALERT by the way.
The keeper has to have two soul guards, such are the rules set by the author for this world. However, one of Jason‘s soul guards was sent off and is never asked back to come train with the other soul guard and the keeper. As a result, at the end of the novel the keeper has one fully trained soul guard, whereas the other supposed soul guard doesn’t even know he is one – let alone that he is has missed out on any of the gruelling but necessary training for it. How can this be if the rule is that a keeper has to have two soul guards?! Will the author even fix this potentially glaring plot hole in his next novel, I wonder?
END SPOILER
But these are minor complaints, not big enough to keep me from continuing with this series. For instance I like the concept the author has chosen for this story world, in which heroes can be villains and villains can also be heroes. Although a bit two-dimensionally done, I think those blurry lines are, in general, an accurate representation of life.
The style of writing overall seems to be aimed more at a young adult audience, Probably even teenagers. Everything seems to be consistent with that concept, for instance there’s a lot of naivité and innocence on the romantic front, no nudity, no sex, a lot of teenage angst, shyness, awkwardness etc. Which is why I found the F* bombs the characters kept dropping a bit jarring. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against such language in books per se, but I do feel it has to be consistent with the characters. Which in this book, was not the case at all, imho. The main characters seem to be very civilized and well-raised young people, the cussing just doens’t fit.
All issues aside, this is the first of the four novels in which I actually liked the real world scenes more than the in-game sequences, the author has managed to finally raise the suspense there as well. He’s writing has improved, I feel. Also, I suspect he might have some aspirations to become a courthouse thriller novellist; this book seemed a bit of a practice run, and not at all a bad one I must say.
All in all I feel this is the best one yet, it had me hooked from the beginning, couldn’t stop listening and I’m looking forward to part five.
(I’m still not continuing with the side quest series though, that first one (part 2.5) was very disappointing and I don’t want to waste any more credits on those. You don’t need them for the main series anyway.)
Highly recommend!