ARA Review by 8Lopp of Mark of the Remaker

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8Lopp
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Joined: 19 Feb 2020, 19:58
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ARA Review by 8Lopp of Mark of the Remaker

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[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, Mark of the Remaker.]
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3 out of 5 stars
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Mark of the Remaker: Book One by Ian Yamagata is the story of Hugo, who is introduced to the reader as an infant boy. His father, dead from a titanic battle just ended, had special powers bestowed on him by God-like beings to defend the World from evil. Several characters are introduced at the very beginning of the tale including Bask, a reptilian warrior, the mysterious Deanic, who fought with Hugo’s father, and a town full of people dedicated to protecting their own. Hugo and his sister, who each bear unusual birthmarks which look suspiciously like the mark of the Remakers, must be protected from the bad guys who want to rule the World because they represent the future warriors who just might end the evil Ruler.

Immediately, the story skips around 20 years to Hugo all grown up, trained for combat and ready to defend his township from whatever. Hugo has several well-established friendships and even has the respect of his chief rival for leadership of the trainees who want nothing more than to be part of the band of village defenders known as the Bringers. So the tale begins in earnest at this point in time. Yamagata creates a World filled with magic crystals or stones which, if refined correctly, can be used to power machines of destruction enabling the Ruler to maintain his power over the realm. Even warriors can be turned into Golems for an extra burst of unstoppable killing.

The story moves well with only the occasional slowdown for descriptions of caves and how food and supplies are gathered and transported for needy townsfolk. The action scenes are interesting and the story moves along at a good pace. The reader will find plenty to keep his or her interest in the book. The dialogue needs a lot of work. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the inane conversations that fill the book from end-to-end. At times, the conversations led me to think of a first grade primer. “See Bob. See Bob run. Run Bob run. See Spot. See Spot run. Etc. ect.”

I wanted Hugo’s sister, Aika, to begin showing the powers available from her birthmark, but Ian Yamagata studiously appears to be leaving her powers to the next books in his series. It would have been nice to see Hugo become a little more imaginative about the weapons he conjures. Long swords, a nice shield and some exploding arrows are not enough for me when new battles are just around the corner of the next chapter. I kept waiting and waiting for some new weapon idea, and it never came.

I rate the book, Mark of the Remaker: Book One, as an overall 3 out of 5. I did not give a rating of 2 because the story holds your interest and keeps you wanting to read it. The editing and punctuation were well done. I did not rate the book higher than 4 because the dialogue between the characters was childish much of the time. I hope the second book in the series will solve the conversation dilemma.

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