LuckSon: A Dream Walker Novel
By Daniel A. Nanto
If you want to read something unique, I think it would be a severe injustice to the literary realm if I didn’t suggest LuckSon to you.
When I read the blurb I thought it seemed a little bit repetitive. It reminded me of the Will Smith movie, I Am Legend, where Will Smith is living alone for years, fighting the zombie-like creatures as he searches for a cure to the disease—created by humans from a failed cure to cancer—that’s destroyed over half of humanity. Very similar yet different on many different levels.
The idea of the dreams and how LuckSon meets the other characters is definitely interesting. The Biblical references are sometimes odd but appropriate, given the unique cast of characters. Speaking of which, I don’t think I’ve ever met such an oddly diverse group ever before. I think part of it was Nanto’s writing but also part of it was the fact that we had a group of people who didn’t really know each other but found themselves lumped together in this story. It was definitely a wild ride, jumping from character to character, but I thought it was cool to meet someone new and find out their relation to everyone else.
Now, I think it would be a good time to start talking about what I didn’t like in this story. The concept and the characters were cool but I think the writing felt stiff. The way the story was written sometimes felt like all the actions were a long list. Bob looked there, then he thought this, then he fanned himself because it was so hot outside.
There was a handful of grammatical errors but I didn’t mind that too much—considering how much I enjoyed the story and cast. But I did think the narration was bland. For such an adventurous and exciting story, I would have liked a few more adjectives, I wanted to see more facial expressions and read the right details at the right time. I think the best way I could put it is ‘show don’t tell’. Instead of telling me a character is angry, let me see the hard lines of their furrowed brow or hear them heave a frustrated sigh.
One of the most irritating parts of the story were the parts that were supposed to be exciting. When we started getting into the ‘muties’ I was ready for those heart-pounding scenes or exhilarating chases but it didn’t really happen. There were some close calls but they weren’t written that way.
Here is an excerpt for an example.
“Slow muties were like big lumbering humans without brains. They wandered around eating whatever they could catch or scavenge. They were deadly if they caught you.”
We’re talking about deadly, zombie-like monsters! You cannot describe them as lumbering humans without brains! That’s not deadly or scary or even very exciting.
Maybe I was just expecting more.
I also thought it was intriguing to have the number of characters involved in this story but jumping from their perspective as frequently as I did was sometimes a little disruptive to the flow of the story.
Other than the complaints I listed, I do think this is a one-of-a-kind story and I would recommend it to other readers to see for themselves if it’s their cup-of-tea. Despite my rating, I think this is a solid book—minus a few kinks—and I believe it is a book that many will find interesting if they’re willing to give it a chance.
*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*