Dark Portals - Planets Collide

Information

Status

Hiatus

Author

AlexKnowles

Reviews

Community Reviews(4)

• Allan GRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  First things first Alex is clearly a novel writer rather than a web serial author.
  What does that mean?
  The writing is excellent but the start is slow and that's going to unfairly turn people are away. I'm writing the review (only on chapter 5 currently) but thats far enough to for the story to develop and really hook you. I like the main character I'm rooting for him and there is plenty of intrigue to go around all ready.
  I've seen enough to say its a good book. If my opinion changes when I read the rest of it I will downgrade the review accordingly.
• DunskelRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Style:
  The author does a good job exposing the narrative. All things considered, the style is good. I like it.
  Story:
  So far, a blast. It is a typical YA setting, with interesting characters and a well-planned world. I liked the concepts of "powers" and the way they were addressed. It deviates a bit from the more traditional concepts, but they still work very well.
  Grammar:
  I took a star from this point because I found some typos. Nothing that a good editing can't fix.
  Character:
  This is the icing on the cake for me. The author manages to bring to life believable characters with real personality traits. I also liked that Jeska is not the typical protagonist, young and inexperienced. Character building of this kind is difficult, but the author has succeeded with mastery.
  Overall:
  A good story, with only a few typos. The separation of each book into small arcs intrigues me, and I look forward to reading the rest. I believe that small breaks in the story make the series flow more naturally.
  Even though I am not very familiar with the genre, I could clearly understand the concepts presented in the story. There was no great confusion, but rather a clear explanation of what was going on.
  I believe that an edition will solve the problem of typos. With that said, it is definitely a worthwhile story, especially for fans of the genre.
• ajcernaRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I wasn't expecting this story to be so wonderfully character driven. I admit I'm the type of reader whose eyes glaze over during hard to follow prologues in sci-fi and fantasy stories, and worried this one would follow suit.
  But after a bit of a rocky prologue, we are introduced to the MC, and it doesn't take me long to get engrossed in his story. His relationship with his sister is warm yet tragic, and it really anchors the story going forward (at least as far as I've read).
  there are some issues here and there. Sometimes it's hard to tell who is talking. Sometimes I found myself flipping back to see if I misunderstood something, only for a key motivation to a previous scene to be revealed later. And I do think the bully angle is a bit to swallow at the MC's age.
  Thay being said, it's easy to let all that go because of how engaging the MC is, and his unexpected sci-fi plight. On the whole the author did a good job really grounding the emotion before taking things to a new level. Looking forward to reading more!
• Emerson FortierRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 3.5

  Anton is special. He can open portals under duress. Across the galaxy, a faction is keeping watch for people (teenagers) manifesting this power so they can scoop them up and train them to serve their interests instead of their enemy's. As it happens, Anton is special even in this category becasue he's got a really powerful portal ability. When he's scooped up, leaving an autistic sister behind on earth with his abusive parents, he is introduced to a brand new world and the opportunity to develop his strengths, as he'll have to, if he ever wants to get back home to save his sister.
  It's YA fiction. The opening tells us the protagonist is in college, and also that he's seventeen, which confused me until I decided that college didn't meant the same thing it does in the U.S. This isn't helped by the fact that the characters act more like they're fourteen or fifteen with all the petty bullying and angst that comes with that time of life.
  This doesn't take away from the characters however. They are, at least in the first few chapters, relatively well developed. The protagonist is your typical bland individual with no real ambitions or creativity, (in his own words and based on his actions) but with a sister he's taken care of since she was an infant and these powers that he doesn't know what to do with. There are some particularly striking scenes between him and his sister that makes the separation which comes later that much more painful and his motivations particularly clear.
  While I haven't finished the story, the chapters I skimmed ahead and the set up thus far (as of chapter 8) have all the hallmarks of your typical YA. Romance. Betrayal. Training in a powerful magical art that will have a dramatic impact on the course of a galactic scale war... I'd be pretty surprised if some kind of voldemort didn't show up at some point. If that's you're thing I think you'l enjoy this. Story and character. Easy four stars each.
  The weaker side of the story is definitely the writin