Official Review: Tales from the Wasteland by Jon L. Young

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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Tales from the Wasteland" by Jon L. Young.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Tales from the Wasteland by Jon L. Young is the author's debut novel and the first in an ongoing series about hunter Rod Calaway. Rod, also known as No Leaf Clover for his lack of luck, has been in the hunter business for a long time. He has all the knowledge and weaponry needed to take down whatever comes his way, and in the Wastelands, that could mean demons, werewolves, vampires, succubi, and many other creatures. Not only that, but he has the voice of the Dark One whispering in his thoughts and sometimes lending him power. Rod's latest contract is one that he's not exactly happy to take on. He must travel to Ogrimdeare and participate in a tournament to the death for a chance to meet with the city's emperor, Claudius. However, just getting to Ogrimdeare is a struggle that forces him to face countless enemies while also reuniting with old friends.

My first impression while reading this book is that it's very similar to the Supernatural TV series, although it is set in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone is aware of the dangerous creatures around them. The chapters are fairly episodic, with Rod taking the time to fight the monster of the day before moving on. Still, there are underlying plots that continue throughout the novel and tie the chapters together. The author does a good job of introducing new characters to hold the reader's interest and keep the book from getting too repetitive. While some of the creatures he faces off against are well-known, others have been given an interesting twist. For example, the very first monster he fights in the novel is a demon mixed with a tentacle monster. If that doesn't catch your attention, I don't know what will.

Although the book did its best to be creative in a genre that's been done in many ways before, I did find it to be a bit formulaic at times. I also had a hard time liking Rod until I started to wonder who the Dark One inside his head was and how he got there. The mysteries behind his past and the woman he kept dreaming of made up for his slight lack of personality. On the other hand, my favorite character was a fellow hunter, Alena. Up until she appeared in the novel, all the other women were damsels in distress or background characters who served or waited on Rod, making the book seem rather sexist. But Alena is a strong, intelligent, and independent woman who can certainly handle herself as a hunter, though she did act a childish at times.

Unfortunately, it is very obvious that this is a debut novel and that the author self-published it without running it by an editor or even a proofreader. The book is riddled with mistakes. What bothered me the most was that the author never started a new paragraph when a different character started talking, so I had to reread many lines to understand who was saying what. There was also a lot of subject disagreement. For example, a sentence would start with "The demon charged..." making the subject the demon, but the next line would be "He (meaning Rod) fired a bullet..." The author also fell into the habit of telling instead of showing, with long explanations that weren't necessarily needed. A good editor would have been able to simplify things and make the author's prose more active instead of passive, engaging the reader more.

I enjoy the Supernatural series and thought I would enjoy this book as well, but the sexist views, poor writing style, lack of editing, and episodic fight scenes honestly made the book drag on and on. I felt relieved when I got to the end, so I will not be reading any other books in the series or from this author. If the book went through an editing overhaul and at least fixed some of the most basic grammatical errors I would be able to give it two stars, but as it is, I can only give it 1 out of 4 stars. I would not recommend it to my friends, but if I absolutely had to recommend it to someone, I'd say that it is definitely geared toward men who enjoy more action than plot. Also, it can be quite gory and the characters swear a lot, so it is definitely targeted toward an older audience.

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Tales from the Wasteland
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