Nostalgic Rain:
Galaxies Away
By: A.S. Altabtabai
Publish Date: July 1, 2017
Published By: Author
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 324 Paperback, 329 PDF
Source: Xpresso Book Tours
What
seventeen-year-old Leland finds in the abandoned basement of his house is
something he will never forget.
Leland lost his father when he was seven. Since then, he has successfully adapted to the awful life of being a student, the man of the house, and a father figure to his two younger siblings. All of that changes when he and his best friends stumble upon a secret in his deserted basement, and fall into another dimension with three moons, foggy woods, and an ancient castle-Oremanta.
Learning who he really is, how he came to this remote planet, and the shocking, ugly mystery of Oremanta aren't as bad as the quest he finds himself obligated to complete-killing someone he never thought he'd meet in Oremanta to save everyone.
Leland lost his father when he was seven. Since then, he has successfully adapted to the awful life of being a student, the man of the house, and a father figure to his two younger siblings. All of that changes when he and his best friends stumble upon a secret in his deserted basement, and fall into another dimension with three moons, foggy woods, and an ancient castle-Oremanta.
Learning who he really is, how he came to this remote planet, and the shocking, ugly mystery of Oremanta aren't as bad as the quest he finds himself obligated to complete-killing someone he never thought he'd meet in Oremanta to save everyone.
*********************************
Stories
that transport readers to other worlds are so interesting; they take you away
from the known, a definite reason why I read. Leland gets a soul call to return
to Oremanta, a land he didn’t realize is his birthright, and ends up being
transported there with his good friend, Jennifer, and also apparent schoolmate Dylan
through a portal in his own basement.
But
Oremanta is preparing for war, the great castle, the domed areas, and renegade outposts,
all.
Leland
starts out the novel a sad teen so this adventure ultimately is good for him I
think as he completely transforms into a fierce warrior. His character
development is gradual and well done. There is also a great twist about
Leland’s family that entwines him into what’s happening now. The beginning is a
bit slow but the pace of the story then goes well dipping between Leland and
Jennifer’s POV/experiences as they separate for some of the book as Jennifer is
steered towards becoming a ‘healer.’
I
didn’t get a sense of what Leland and the other characters actually look like.
This leaves a sort of disconnect for me. But we do get good descriptions of
their feelings so you’re rooting for them. Overall the author might have spent
more time fleshing out scenes rather than quick moves to new action.
Nostalgic Rain is somewhere
between a little bit of a gory Middle Grade style and thoughtful YA with a mix
of both straight up monster and battle scenes sometimes and interesting,
thoughtful observations/insights at others.
Page
210
“It’s
haunting how a person can be so greedy and honorable at the same time.”
Page
230
“Healing
is all about your emotions and how you control them. The better you control
your feelings, the better healer you are.”
Some
unanswered questions at the end so we wonder if the author is going to write
part 2. Dylan’s story could be really interesting.
Overall,
Nostalgic Rain reads a little younger
than I was expecting but is an entertaining if not somewhat bloody MG-YA
adventure tale. Good debut effort. 4.1
stars!
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