Author: C.W. Trisef
Series: Oracle #1
Pub Date: June 2011
Pages: 348 (paperback)
Indie / Amazon / Barnes and Noble
"Fall, current day, Atlantic Ocean. Another hurricane tears through the Bahamas, headed for Florida. Among the wreckage: a U.S. Coast Guard rescue boat, one survivor (Ret Cooper), and a spherical object of curious design (the Oracle)
Ret Cooper is a simple young man with mysterious origins, unique physical features, and no memory of his past. His new family and friends discover he is truly extraordinary, with supernatural powers and strange scars on the palms of his hands. But what is his destiny?
The Oracle is the key to Earth's unity and full potential, too perfect to be man-made. Legend claims it can unleash limitless power when filled with Mother Nature's six, pure, original elements. But where are these elements? And which of our planet's ancient secrets will be explained in the process of locating them?"
I really enjoyed Oracle: Sunken Earth. I thought C.W. Trisef’s
writing is smooth and intelligent. I couldn’t believe the mix of fact and
fiction. There would be some crazy invention and then an explanation on how it
worked! I had no idea if the logic behind it actually made sense but I would
still nod my head and think oh that’s why that works. I thought it was clever and
well thought out. I also liked the inclusion of the Bermuda Triangle in the
book. Once again a perfect mix of fact and fiction, of course with the Bermuda
Triangle I think anything goes. I felt the book had a good pace and that there
was plenty of action to keep me interested and not too much to overdo it.
I like how the book starts. We witness a scene of events
playing out and then are flashed forward 10 months. This is when we are
officially introduced to Ret Cooper. Ret
has lost his memories previous to when he washed up on shore in Jaret Coopers
rib (his namesake). He is an awkward boy, with pale skin, eyes that freak
people out and strange scars on his hand. I found him to be an enjoyable
character and I liked seeing the book from mostly his perspective. The thing I
found to be most interesting about him is his lack of interest in his lost
memories. It's not that he wouldn’t want to know where he came from but he’s
not obsessed with it like you would probably see in other books. He seems to be
guided more by his gut than anything else.
Ana, Ret’s adoptive sister, is feisty and funny and I like
the bond that her and Ret have. They seem like true brother and sister even
though they have only been that way for the past 10 months. I like the
interactions between the two of them.
Paige is Ana’s best friend and spends a lot of time being googly
over Ret. I don’t think her personality has completely surfaced yet but there
are seven books to this series and I have a feeling we will get more of handle
on her in later books. I liked that her love story with Ret is hinted at but
not the instant kind.
Paige’s father, Ben Coy, is one of those characters that you
love and hate. Sometimes he seems utterly annoying, sometimes he is hysterical
and other times you can tell there is something below the surface with him. I liked
the development of his character throughout the book and of course all of his
crazy logical inventions.
There are definitely other characters that make the book and
in a gutsy move we don’t get to see all of them forever. I like when books take
a risk like that.
There is always a cast of villains and I found the ones in
this book to be almost more background characters. They are introduced and
interesting but they are not the main focus of the story. I think this book is
more about establishing who Ret is, what his mission is and who the villains
are. We do find out who the mastermind villain is that is pulling the strings
and what for the most part his attentions are. I did like the awkwardness of Quirk and Stone, there lack of being subtle was pretty funny.
It was a good read and I plan to continue the series. I like the cover and the simplicity of it, my two year old son pointed out the triangle to me over and over again.
It was a good read and I plan to continue the series. I like the cover and the simplicity of it, my two year old son pointed out the triangle to me over and over again.