Title: The Four Guardians
Author: Jessica & Jordan Fisher
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 9781532050619
Pages: 110
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: John Murray
Pacific Book Review
Long ago two civilizations lived side by side on the Earth-like Minemi, humans and the Children of Gaia. The Children of Gaia inspired the mythology of angels and demons due to their magical abilities and winged form. A war shattered the alliance leading humans to systematically hunt down any powered being. Years have passed and the remaining Children of Gaia attempt to live peace. A threat arises and draws four elemental guardians out of hiding. As their followers race to find and educate them, arkness grows and threatens the planet.
The story has an interesting fairytale-like narration. The prose reads like a beloved story passed down through the generations by word of mouth. As such, the story races forward in spurts covering important moments in the guardian’s journey to face a powerful enemy. As typical with fairy tales, characterization is difficult to develop. The characters function as archetypes centered on their given element: air, fire, wind, earth. Each of the elemental guardians have a loyal follower dedicated to teaching and protecting their youthful protégés. As the pair learns how to master abilities and form relationships, the story thunders towards a showdown with a monumental darkness.
Dialogue was difficult to understand as some of the characters speak in lengthy sentences without punctuation. It can be a challenge to follow conversations as speech tags muddy the waters without letting the dialogue emote. Most of the story unfolds through the prose and action sequences making dialogue not as important. The plot is very original and supporting scenes lead to character growth. The action sequences, however, are over the top and exciting. The guardians face down massive corrupted dragons and krakens, often barely escaping unscathed. A minor plotline follows a separated character and shows some world building to interesting effect.
Overall, the story will attract a particular audience which dwells on the battle between good and evil for the fate of a powerful race of beings and an alliance between them and the humans is rife with possibilities. Expanding the journey to show character growth and have them earn success and learn from failure would help the final showdown feel tenser. The Four Guardians is a promising fairy-tale adventure blending sci-fi and fantasy.
