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"Behemoths Rising"
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“If not now, when?”
The United Nations has become the central force to battle against the biggest threat facing humanity, climate change. Jason and his fleet of fighter pilots battle storms off the Atlantic coast with weather altering weapons. Doctor Mara is a geologist called to study some mysterious seismic activity that’s been taking place in the now desolate environment of Siberia. A paleontologist (Warren) has made an incredible discovery in a Brazilian rainforest. Nothing could have prepared them for the ancient forces of nature about to awaken from the depths, but life must go on in spite of the “Behemoths Rising”!
The United Nations has become the central force to battle against the biggest threat facing humanity, climate change. Jason and his fleet of fighter pilots battle storms off the Atlantic coast with weather altering weapons. Doctor Mara is a geologist called to study some mysterious seismic activity that’s been taking place in the now desolate environment of Siberia. A paleontologist (Warren) has made an incredible discovery in a Brazilian rainforest. Nothing could have prepared them for the ancient forces of nature about to awaken from the depths, but life must go on in spite of the “Behemoths Rising”!
Readability
There are a lot of moving parts in this fast paced action packed novel. At first it was a bit jarring to be bombarded by so many names, locations, and activities taking place, but for better or for worse Grover ties everything together by the end. In terms of pace, the action picks up within the first three chapters, but I felt like this book moved way too fast for the size and scope of the project (pun intended). Once all the main characters have been introduced the narrative begins rapid firing scenes, one after another, as the plot hops between the various storylines taking place simultaneously in each subsequent chapter. The book was well formatted, but despite the action I think the overall narrative bit off more than it could chew in respect to plot structure.
Creativity
In “Behemoths Rising”, John Grover takes all the larger than life action that’s reminiscent of classic creature features and brings it down to earth with lifelike characters. I thought the world building done early in the novel really made the behemoths’ carnage feel more personal, as I got to see how the characters’ lives were emotionally affected by the aftermath. This has got to be the most action oriented plot in a novel that I’ve read from the indie market, to date. One big thing about the action in this novel though, is that it gradually becomes less and less effective as the narrative progresses. What I noticed is that the prose during several of the action sequences suffered from white room syndrome, minus the generic explanations of how bland structures were being compromised by the behemoths or navigated by the protagonists. The high flying action scenes read more like a series of actions/reactions rather than a picture in motion that I was able to witness with my own third eye. Some of the fighter pilots’ individual maneuvers were pretty easy to envision, based on the way they were written, but they may as well have been flying in the void of outer space as far as I’m concerned. My sense of direction was lost in the mix while trying to follow each character's position, at any given moment, in relation to the threats they faced and the environment they were navigating. I think this is where the book really could have benefitted from the use of more analogies, metaphors, and word play.
Delivery
I think Grover does a good job at casting a wide net of characters that could catch the appeal of a mainstream audience. This makes sense given the nature of the material and how this is a story about humanity’s struggle to persevere during the most tumultuous of times, when it seems like the end of the world is nigh. Each character from the “motley crew” has their own personal dilemma that they’re coping with, and the Behemoths act as like a catalyst for their character arcs. It was interesting to see how their outlooks on life were impacted by an extinction level event.
What didn’t work for me was the timeline and how everything conveniently came together at the end. Here’s the thing, this novel was written as if it was a standalone. There’s a grand finale action scene and then that’s promptly followed up by a resolution, to wrap up each character’s story arc. If you’re an author and you know that you’re about to write a three book series or trilogy, your readers should be unapologetically left in a state of limbo after book one, imo. I didn’t feel that way with “Behemoths Rising”. After book one, I felt satisfied (even though I knew there was a second book and third on the way), because the book delivers what the title suggests… but then the narrative takes it a step further and then some. Just the sheer size and scope of this project alone was enough for me to be like, you had the whole world… in your hands… and two more books, but it ends like this?!
Something notable that I’d like to mention about the plot structure, is about the interludes that take place during an unspecified period of time in the book. Based on the conversations of the main protagonists and the fact that the characters featured in these interludes use spears and dwell in caves, I assumed they took place during the Paleolithic age. Anyway, the interludes served as like a historical parallel that mirrored what the protagonists from the main narrative were dealing with, but from the point of view of a more primitive mind. I thought that was a really great way to add some perspective to the human condition in this book. For instance, during one of the interludes a caveman and his family are running away from a fire-breathing behemoth. To protect his legacy, the caveman turns to face off against this giant monstrosity while it’s hot in pursuit and just chomping at the bit to snatch his ass up like a snack. This Neanderthal decides that he’s going to pick up a big fucking rock and give this god damn behemoth a little doot on the snoot! Now knowing what I know, about these behemoths at this particular point in the novel, and how much physical damage their bodies can endure, I’m saying to myself, “would you get a load of the BALLS on this guy!”
There are a lot of moving parts in this fast paced action packed novel. At first it was a bit jarring to be bombarded by so many names, locations, and activities taking place, but for better or for worse Grover ties everything together by the end. In terms of pace, the action picks up within the first three chapters, but I felt like this book moved way too fast for the size and scope of the project (pun intended). Once all the main characters have been introduced the narrative begins rapid firing scenes, one after another, as the plot hops between the various storylines taking place simultaneously in each subsequent chapter. The book was well formatted, but despite the action I think the overall narrative bit off more than it could chew in respect to plot structure.
Creativity
In “Behemoths Rising”, John Grover takes all the larger than life action that’s reminiscent of classic creature features and brings it down to earth with lifelike characters. I thought the world building done early in the novel really made the behemoths’ carnage feel more personal, as I got to see how the characters’ lives were emotionally affected by the aftermath. This has got to be the most action oriented plot in a novel that I’ve read from the indie market, to date. One big thing about the action in this novel though, is that it gradually becomes less and less effective as the narrative progresses. What I noticed is that the prose during several of the action sequences suffered from white room syndrome, minus the generic explanations of how bland structures were being compromised by the behemoths or navigated by the protagonists. The high flying action scenes read more like a series of actions/reactions rather than a picture in motion that I was able to witness with my own third eye. Some of the fighter pilots’ individual maneuvers were pretty easy to envision, based on the way they were written, but they may as well have been flying in the void of outer space as far as I’m concerned. My sense of direction was lost in the mix while trying to follow each character's position, at any given moment, in relation to the threats they faced and the environment they were navigating. I think this is where the book really could have benefitted from the use of more analogies, metaphors, and word play.
Delivery
I think Grover does a good job at casting a wide net of characters that could catch the appeal of a mainstream audience. This makes sense given the nature of the material and how this is a story about humanity’s struggle to persevere during the most tumultuous of times, when it seems like the end of the world is nigh. Each character from the “motley crew” has their own personal dilemma that they’re coping with, and the Behemoths act as like a catalyst for their character arcs. It was interesting to see how their outlooks on life were impacted by an extinction level event.
What didn’t work for me was the timeline and how everything conveniently came together at the end. Here’s the thing, this novel was written as if it was a standalone. There’s a grand finale action scene and then that’s promptly followed up by a resolution, to wrap up each character’s story arc. If you’re an author and you know that you’re about to write a three book series or trilogy, your readers should be unapologetically left in a state of limbo after book one, imo. I didn’t feel that way with “Behemoths Rising”. After book one, I felt satisfied (even though I knew there was a second book and third on the way), because the book delivers what the title suggests… but then the narrative takes it a step further and then some. Just the sheer size and scope of this project alone was enough for me to be like, you had the whole world… in your hands… and two more books, but it ends like this?!
Something notable that I’d like to mention about the plot structure, is about the interludes that take place during an unspecified period of time in the book. Based on the conversations of the main protagonists and the fact that the characters featured in these interludes use spears and dwell in caves, I assumed they took place during the Paleolithic age. Anyway, the interludes served as like a historical parallel that mirrored what the protagonists from the main narrative were dealing with, but from the point of view of a more primitive mind. I thought that was a really great way to add some perspective to the human condition in this book. For instance, during one of the interludes a caveman and his family are running away from a fire-breathing behemoth. To protect his legacy, the caveman turns to face off against this giant monstrosity while it’s hot in pursuit and just chomping at the bit to snatch his ass up like a snack. This Neanderthal decides that he’s going to pick up a big fucking rock and give this god damn behemoth a little doot on the snoot! Now knowing what I know, about these behemoths at this particular point in the novel, and how much physical damage their bodies can endure, I’m saying to myself, “would you get a load of the BALLS on this guy!”
#LFLR Indie Rating: 6/10
The “Kaiju Overlords” series is some classic monster madness that features contemporary themes and focuses on developing diverse character arcs. I skimmed the excerpt from the next book that’s previewed at the end of this one, and it appears that this series utilizes a reoccurring formula with variances rather than one epic overarching narrative (reminiscent of classic eighties movie sequels). John Grover has also written a dark fantasy series (Knightshade), but his most recent project to date is an action-packed zombie horror trilogy, “Underground”, as well as a couple anthologies. Aside from current projects, he has many other previously published works that are also available to browse on his Amazon Author page.
The “Kaiju Overlords” series is some classic monster madness that features contemporary themes and focuses on developing diverse character arcs. I skimmed the excerpt from the next book that’s previewed at the end of this one, and it appears that this series utilizes a reoccurring formula with variances rather than one epic overarching narrative (reminiscent of classic eighties movie sequels). John Grover has also written a dark fantasy series (Knightshade), but his most recent project to date is an action-packed zombie horror trilogy, “Underground”, as well as a couple anthologies. Aside from current projects, he has many other previously published works that are also available to browse on his Amazon Author page.
THIS BREAKDOWN IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE #LFLR NETWORK.
