*This book was provided free in exchange for an honest review.
Summary (from publisher):
"On a research mission in one of the most remote regions of the world, former Navy SEAL Eric Slade and Dr. Anna Fayne are caught in a mysterious storm. Catapulted through a rift in space-time, they are marooned on a lost world.
Struggling to survive and desperate to find a way home, they must confront the dangers of this savage land—a dark wizard and his army of undead—a warrior queen and her horde of fierce Neanderthals that stands against him—and a legendary treasure with the power to open the gateway between worlds, or to destroy them all: the Eye of the Storm."
Review:
Every now and then I will pick up a book that ends up leaving me wondering "is this fantasy or science fiction?" Eye of the Storm is one of those books. Cavallo does a very nice job of blending the two together so well that neither is truly the dominant genre of the book. It's a balance that I appreciate and enjoy reading.
For me, the only real disappointment was that the book was fairly predictable; nothing really surprised me. However, the characters and the world from this book were still quite enjoyable. I happily read the book without ever feeling bored or disinterested. There was enough to the characters that no one felt flat, though I'll admit when Slade said his first lines I was hoping he'd die right away and my opinion of him wasn't raised much higher than "okay, let him live."
My favorite part of this book was the setting. What gets the scientists to go looking for something in the remote regions was when they find a "fresh" Neanderthal body with materials that could only be from the Iron Age. This theme of mismatched historical timings is continued throughout the book in a delightful way. The natives of the strange world are well aware of dinosaurs and stay away from their island. There are anthropomorphic frog creatures. There are tribes of Neanderthals. There are ancient Greek Hoplites. At the same time, there are skyscrapers and structures clearly built by civilizations far more advanced than contemporary humans. There is a lot to the world of this book and, if there is a sequel, I'd love to read more about it.
If you're in the market for a blended sci-fi/fantasy book with a world that blends timelines, I do recommend Eye of the Storm. 3.5 hoots!
Hoot!
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