Embattled
- Series: Em and Yves, Book 1
- Series: Em and Yves, Book 1
- Category: Fiction » Fantasy » Urban
- Category: Fiction » Science fiction » General
- Published: Nov. 6, 2011
- Words: 71,720
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781465948861
Darlene Jones is a retired educator and writer. A graduate of the University of Alberta she was a teacher, principal, second language consultant, and staffing officer with Edmonton Public schools. Her multiple roles included second language curriculum development for secondary students. After retiring she continued to provide educational workshops for teachers in the province of Alberta.
Her career began as a volunteer with Canadian University Services Overseas. She taught school in Mali and it was the plight of the Malians that inspired her to write her first novel—science fiction—described by readers as a “think piece.”
She continues to write fiction that incorporates topics such as world affairs, aging, and Alzheimer’s, with the added mix of adventure, romance and humor.
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Reviews of Embattled by Darlene Jones
I liked it.
Em's life is taken over by supreme beings who use her to make Earth a better place to live. She is given super powers and thrives in her new role. But a love triangle inevitably causes its own brand of chaos. Embattled will have you turning pages as your emotions become entangled with those of the characters. This book is well written and entertaining. The author has a special talent for painting with words. She is skilled in the mechanics of writing, but there is nothing mechanical about the storytelling. A great read!
The plot this story was very interesting, and I stay interested throughout the entire book. The characters held their own personalities, own quirks, that really made them stand out for me; allowed me to care for them.
I was confused at first, as this book switches POV between the "Madam of Miracles" and a "Drone", an otherworldly entity. The hard part here, wasn't the switch perse, it was the fact that one part was in third person, while the other was in first. And there wasn't much transition between the two - it simply jumped. Also, with this, some times the Drone's section was only a few lines then would skip back to the Madam. While it did add an interesting pace and unique viewpoint to the story, the harsh back and forth sometimes was hard to keep up with.
I did enjoy the story, the idea of an empowered miracle worker saving the world from itself. I think the author handles the growth of the Madam from first learning of her special abilities and her "mission" to the end when she accepted it whole heartedly and could use her abilities without a second thought - and ultimately could live with herself and what she was doing.
I do wish some more information was given about the "Guardian's" and who they were exactly, only to cure my own curiosity. However, the mystery of them fit well with the story, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions about who the Guardian's really are.
Overall, a good read. As I said, the only real issue was the hard shift in point of view, but by the end of the story, I was almost used to it and barely noticed anymore. It did give the story an interesting perception and tempo for sure.