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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Review: The Hidden Ones (Book One in The Legacy of Watchers series) by Nancy Madore


Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Createspace
Published: January 10, 2013
Pages: 424
Source: I received this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:LEGACY OF THE WATCHERS (the series) A historical, speculative, science fiction adventure

 Thousands of years ago something came out of the sky that changed the course of human history. Testimonies abound of these ‘angels’ and their hybrid offspring, the ‘Nephilim’ giants. These mighty ‘gods’ quickly rose to power, and the ancient world came alive with industry and culture. People who lived for hundreds of thousands of years as hunters and gatherers suddenly began settling in one place, cultivating the land and even governing themselves. They invented irrigation, the wheel and algebra. Yet amidst all this progress, an undercurrent of terror was spreading like wildfire, carrying whispers of ‘djinn,’ ‘daeva’ and ‘demons.’

 The Watchers were supposed to do just that: watch. But humankind proved far too tempting and they ‘fell’ to earth, taking wives and even producing children. But their children grew into unruly giants whose souls didn’t ascend like human souls when they die, but remained here on earth. These errant souls haunt the earth to this day. They are the ‘djinn,’ the ‘hidden ones,’ also known as ‘daeva’ and ‘demon.’ They have one purpose—to live. But to live they need bodies.

 This chain of events has now reached the point where the djinn need more than just our bodies to survive. They must take back control of the earth, just as in the days when they ruled as gods.

 The Hidden Ones (book one)
 As CEO of her own thriving company, Nadia Adeire is flush with success, but a secret society dating back to the Essenes believes her to be one of the ancient djinn—the notorious demoness of Hebrew legend, Lilith. What’s more, they have reason to believe that she’s plotting a catastrophic attack on the world.

 Nadia is snatched from her ‘perfect’ life and caught in a maze between a present day disaster and the ancient legends of the djinn. The only way out is to retrace the steps of her deceased grandmother, Helene. The deeper Nadia delves into the past, the harder it will be for her to emerge unscathed. But it’s the only way to stop this impending disaster that was set in motion five thousand years ago!

Review:

When I first saw this book I wasn't so sure about it. The cover didn't pull me in right away but I know from past experiences covers can mean essentially nothing. I read on into the synopsis and was highly intrigued. I mean in the first paragraph the author really grabbed me. I don't like much history except for ancient history... oh look this has that. Gods and Nephilim giants sounds interesting enough right and to put such a twist on this kind of a story. It was done very well I ended up giving this a 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. 

The amount of research and knowledge that had to go into this book is amazing. The sort of cultures one must know or gets to know when reading a book such as this. It was done so very well. Again like I stated up above I don't really like any other history other than ancient history so I loved when we got to see from Lilith's point of view and kind of see ancient life so to speak. I loved the map of Mesopotamia and even seeing some names through out the book that I have learned about in past ancient history classes that I have taken. 

The only problem I had with the book at the beginning was when the point of view jumped. When you first start reading you read of  Helene at first  I was confused because I thought it was just going to be about Nadia and most likely from her point of view. But as you keep reading you find out there are three different points of views in this book. One is Nadia, the other is Helene, and then there is Lilith. This kept the book interesting and alive in some parts where lot's of info is told to the reader. 

My favorite character to read about I would have to say was Lilith to read about all of her adventures that she had when she lived and seeing through her ancient eyes so to speak is amazing. And sort of tells another side to the whole good vs. evil story. It is easy to see where her logic is coming from and why she starts to hate humans. The only thing she forgot was that not all humans are the same and that's where I kind of think she lost her way so to speak, and that they thought they deserved things when it should have been earned. 

I am very interested to see where this story goes from here and what sort of trouble Nadia is going to get into with Lilith. So I will be continuing on with the series. If you are curious and want to know more about the author and her books her website can be found at: 

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