A Rage in the Heavens (The Paladin Trilogy Book 1)

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From what I remember, the characters make fun of someone's name which people have inevitably turned into a cuss word now and the "f" word is used in an acronym. It's not said, but it's in the "WT-" manner. No sex from what I recall. Some romance, but no sex. Is this a Trilogy??

Cobradragon Yes, it is, but the series would have been better if they had added another book. The 3rd book felt kinda rushed, the characters pretty much had to do …more Yes, it is, but the series would have been better if they had added another book. The 3rd book felt kinda rushed, the characters pretty much had to do everythingsqueezed in those pages. See all 4 questions about The Paladin Prophecy…. Lists with This Book. Have to start with that one word. There are some books that you love but wish had more unpredictability. Then exists some that leave you dumbfounded with great story but you don't necessarily love it.

Rarely does a book come along that does BOTH! Jeez people, just enjoy what the author wants to prese WOW! Jeez people, just enjoy what the author wants to present!!!!! It really draws you in and I appreciate the thought that goes into a well-made jacket. I ordered it instantly to my Kindle and it was all down hill from there! The book starts with a completely "ordinary" teen named Will West. But the beauty of how the author engages you right from the start is incredible.

The action begins FAST! Will is drawn into such a complex series of events from the very beginning and one doesn't have to suffer a couple chapters of endless character background history and storytelling!! The characters introduced and pay attention when you read cause they are MANY have comprehensive backgrounds and depth to them and the perfect lingo that goes with the personality of each. Nobody is just a side guy or a stand in. Will, Nando, Nick who is my favorite and everyone will see why!!

Not to mention the plethora of others! He merges history and fantasy to the point where it can sound believable at times. The classic Good vs. Bad is there of course. You can value how he leads it in to the story slowly. Also they way the story is layered and moves keeps it rolling high from start to end. The ending will have you craving the next book, which is entirely the point of course!

If your one of those people who reads the last page or last paragraph first, DON'T!!!!! Trust me it will destroy the story for you!!!!!! THAT my friend, is the bottom line. View all 4 comments. Perhaps my expectations were a bit high, and that is the reason I was let down. This is not a bad book per se, but the writing came across a little desperate and unnatural to me. I felt like the writer had a clear audience teenage male and wrote so specifically for that audience that he completely alienated anyone else.

Now, that is perfectly ok, if that was his intention. I, personally, believe that there is not enough out there for that particular market. But, even when I take this into consideration, I still found the book difficult to drag myself through. There was the car language "tricked out" cars on "custom chassis" and the homeboy language "nah Personally, I felt that it insulted the intelligence of the teenage male reader. I mean, anyone who picks up a page book and actually intends on reading it rather than throwing it is probably intelligent enough to use their own imagination to visualize the world that the author paints without having to have every detail and nuance spelled out for them.

If you have read my previous reviews, you know that I have a problem with gratuitous descriptions and unnecessary information that which neither propels the story forward, nor gives us insight into the character or setting , and Frost is guilty of this. The biggest problem with the descriptions? It became very frustrating. Now, I accept that this book was clearly not written for the likes of me and I would definitely recommend it to a specific audience. I, also, think it would probably make a killer movie.

Despite its slow pace it seemed like forever before we actually find out any useful information the book was action packed and non-stop. The negative aspects of this book just happen to be qualities in writing that I find it difficult to overlook unless their are very strong points to counter them. For me, the action and the storyline were just not enough to save the book. View all 12 comments.

Very early on in the novel, I began fantasizing that the author had hired a team of Market Analyst Drones MADs to analyze successful YA books of the past half-generation. And that he had this conversation probably via Skype: Male protagonist a must; females readers will adapt, but young male readers still have a hard time imagining themselves as girls.

Caters to typical ad Very early on in the novel, I began fantasizing that the author had hired a team of Market Analyst Drones MADs to analyze successful YA books of the past half-generation. Caters to typical adolescent self-aggrandizing psychology about being special without having to do any actual work to be special. Check And he is, ideally, destined to save the world. Check He's good enough looking but not overly tall, short, thin, or fat Check But he has some amazing powers.

How's running a mile in three minutes, mind control, and spontaneous healing? I'll give him loving parents Your funeral. He'll meet amazingly beautiful girls after making no effort whatsoever. Check One of whom needs rescuing. Check And a new best male friend who is nerdy, useful, but in no way a sexual rival for the girls.

Check Put in some scary floaty creatures from another dimension. It'll CGI well when the book sells to the movies. Check And don't forget to be multicultural, in secondary characters only. I'll give him a black, poor, urban, slang-speaking acquaintance who inexplicably works full-time for him for no pay and hands him a free cell phone after knowing him for ten minutes, and then some scattered Samoan bodyguards. Samoan is good--nobody has done that ethnic group, offscreen have they Sally?

And if you could somehow put him in an English boarding school. Now let's talk about product placement and bullies who have privilege and power. The book was so much this way that on page , I put the book down on my chest and fantasized for an hour about how far we are today, technologically, from writing computer programs that will create derivative books like this. Man, I'm suffering from a lot of imaginary conversations today!

Because he pulls it off pretty well. His grammar is correct. It is blessedly in past tense. He has a slick, invisible style. Though he does need to go look up the words "prone" and "supine" and that slang is already dated--bad idea, dude. The book is fine, much like that root beer I had yesterday afternoon--no vitamins or minerals, but it did me no actual harm. Adolescent readers surely won't suffer this dissociative analysis while reading; they'll think it's hunky dory. Allow me some wiggle room here. I am torn between 3 and 4 on the novel, so give me a little space to say why.

So, what do we have here? Our protagonist is thrown into a world where nothing makes sense any more. If you ever saw an old movie not the remake titled Invaders from Mars you might remember how it opens. A little boy sees a flying saucer land behind a hill. He tells his parents. Dad goes to investigate. There is a path that leads over a hill. Dad goes over the hill Then dad takes mom over that hill. People go over "that" hill and when they came back they look the same, but they aren't "them" anymore.

For a kid this is a frightening plot line This is the situation faced by Will West. All his life his parents have moved around from place to place never living in any one place long enough for Will to make friends and fit in. His parents have told him to be careful not to stand out, don't be an honer student, don't make low grades Then, apparently when not trying he accidentally scored off the charts on a test, and nothing will ever be the same.

As far as the title goes, well from my "screen name" you may suspect that I like the paladin character. It's a character that hasn't often been handled well in fiction. Will the kids turn out to be the "real" paladins and not be evil? Still to be seen. We already seem to be setting up the original paladins the "original" Knights of Charlemagne also the name of an evil club in the book as evil.

And another classic story bites the dust. The novel is definitely YA, but it'd not juvenile nor simplistic. The writing is alright for adults and I would hope for the "young adults" in question. Of course today when people grad. I thought for a lot of the book I'd go 4 stars.

It's just that the book is somewhat uneven if you get my meaning. The book has some trouble deciding where it's going for part of it's length. You will see some cliched plot points but as I've said before, that in itself isn't really a problem depending on the writing itself and how they are used. Here they "mostly" build the story and don't jump out demanding we notice them and compare them to similar people, events and points we've seen in other YA books that take place in magical schools, etc.

So on the whole I think most will enjoy this one. I actually stopped reading this twice, so I am surprised I had decided to keep going. On the third try, I made it to page Well, I mean, to review the book and give someone else the other copy. The author, Mark Frost, is already very successful and well-known in the book writing and television business I think he created Twin Peaks and wrote the script for Fan I actually stopped reading this twice, so I am surprised I had decided to keep going.

The author, Mark Frost, is already very successful and well-known in the book writing and television business I think he created Twin Peaks and wrote the script for Fantastic Four, both of which I have not seen although I saw a commercial for Twin Peaks and it looked interesting so maybe I will watch the pilot episode sometime. However, I did not like The Paladin Prophecy one bit, unfortunately. And I know exactly why. The first reason is how much stuff is just thrown into the book. The first time I had stopped reading was about pages in, because already I had seen magic powers, monsters, secret societies, and people stalking the main character, Will West, for some reason.

Not to mention the scenes that read like cheesy rip-offs of The Men in Black, which is already a cheesy franchise in my opinion. I for one, doubt he will be able to do it in a satisfactory way. The second reason I disliked this book so much was because Will is the most annoying character ever, I could not stand him at all. He thinks he is so much better than everyone and lets everyone know. He is rude, sarcastic, and acts obnoxiously to adults. There is literally nothing that explains why he would be better or could treat every single person he meets like that.

I know a bunch of people would call him basic. And the school itself is so weird. The school grounds cover dozens of acres and there is a castle in the middle of a lake there. Like, have you ever been to a school? No school is going to be that big or luxurious. I kept reading in the hope that something would happen, but all that did was the addition of even more to the plot which made the story lose focus even more.

I honestly could not tell you what this book is about, and I read the majority of it. Is it about aliens? Is it about monsters? Is it about knights? I still had a ton of questions and not one of them had been answered yet. Like, what happened to his parents? Why does his dad have a List of Rules? What or who is Will?

What is the school he goes to? Why does he supposedly have super physical and mental powers? What is going on in this book? Overall, this is just a mess. I feel like this is for younger teens and not YA, because I can imagine that only young kids would enjoy reading a book with so much stuff and not care about the lack of any explanation. I have two copies. What should I do with them? This book is friggin fantastic! What a start to an awesome series. Set In a dystopian future, but not too far into the future and to be honest the way the economy and government is discussed, it doesn't sound too far off the mark.

This book is like Harry Potter meets mythology and secrets like the davinci code with tons of page turning excitement. Lots of unexpected twists. I will be purchasing the next one in the series as soon as it hits the street. Highly recommend this book. The Paladin Prophecy is one of the most derivative, unimaginative, and reductive books I've ever read. This is the plot: It is exactly the plot of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The Paladin Trilogy by James A. Hillebrecht

The protagonist, Will West, even gets rescued by a giant burly man who has a badass ride. His name is Dave. Frost's startling la The Paladin Prophecy is one of the most derivative, unimaginative, and reductive books I've ever read. Frost's startling lack of imagination extends beyond plain character names to the names of places and things. The super-secret academy is called "The Center.

And when Will's group of "friends" decide to name themselves, they simply call themselves "The Alliance. Female characters treated only as sex objects. Upon seeing a female doctor, Will's first thought is she's smoking hot. Female characters being captured and needed to be rescued. Minority characters existing to serve the white, hetero male protagonist. A group of Samoan security guards who all look exactly the same to said white protagonist. An exceptionally offensive depiction of Native Americans.

All bad guys are physically "deformed" in some way -- overweight, acne, otherwise unattractive. These issues are just sprinkles on the shit sundae of cardboard characters coupled with a brainless plot that lacks both suspense and cohesion. Everything about this book is predictable. Guess who the bad guy is? Yep, the shadowy guys in black! And who is helping them? Even if you haven't read Harry Potter, you can see where this book is going because it's one giant wide straightaway road to nowhere, without a single twist or turn.

All of these problems are compounded by our protagonist, Will West, a fifteen-year-old asshole who thinks he is hot shit. His first year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter seemed amazed at the magic he encountered. He was impressed by his own powers and the powers of others. Will is a cocky little dickbag.

He can run fast. He can manipulate people's thoughts. He can send out psychic waves of energy. He can generate a radar map of the surrounding area in his head like the goddamn Soliton radar from Metal Gear Solid and numerous video game mini-maps thereafter. Will has the power of deus ex machina. Powers manifest themselves when convenient to the story, and each time the holes in the plot are torn wider and wider. For example, Will is accepted by the super-secret academy because of a perfect score on a standardized test, which includes English, science, math, etc. Yet at school, he completely bombs at chemistry.

How did he get a perfect score on that test when science is "a different language" to him? Yes, I realize the test itself is probably some sort of scam, which I would learn if I hated myself enough to read another one of these. But no one questions it, illustrating the novel's general thoughtlessness. The most egregious issue with Will's perfection is that never once is he in awe.

Never once does he think, "Wow. He is the ultimate entitled American douchebag. Upon discovering a supernatural reservoir of unlimited power within him, he merely shrugs his shoulders, and thinks, yep. Blunt, bombastic Americanness drips from every page of The Paladin Prophecy. There are explosions, guns, high-speed chases, and fights on the wings of airplanes stolen straight from The Twilight Zone. Oh, Frost's "borrowing" knows no bounds.

The humor, or what passes for it, involves already dated catchphrases, references, and memes. Names are plain and unimaginative. You won't find a Hermione or a Hagrid here.

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Like the goofy otter from Animal Crossing or Todd. Okay, I'll concede to Todd. Never trust a Todd! The fearsome Lyle oh I have goosebumps! You think because our culture panders to your infantile impulses that now you're supposed to have a voice. That we should have to listen to you. You believe you're all so special! You couldn't possibly be responsible for your own dead-end lives--you've got too much self-esteem. You're all stars waiting to be discovered.

Forget self-discipline or education or knowing the right people. The world's one big talent show and all you have to do is show up. Lyle is right, which is why we have so many books, like this one, to fulfill power fantasies.

See a Problem?

The Paladin Prophecy is especially offensive because it compounds this problem instead of trying to find a solution to it. However, tt puts this diatribe in the mouth of its villain. Instead of telling its target audience, you know what, you're not special, but you can still find happiness, it offers a fantasy world where they can pretend to be the strongest, fastest, and smartest in the room.

It presents a situation in which someone tells them that they're not special, and they prove him wrong and defeat. The power fantasy works. The book is a success. Frost has published sequels, and it has been optioned for a movie. I don't know why. It isn't even a fun book to read! I never do the "recommended to" part of Goodreads, but seriously, who is this book for? People who liked Harry Potter? If you liked Harry Potter and want exactly the same, but without the charm, wit, warmth, and magic, I guess you could read this book.

But honestly, just re-read Harry Potter again. Or Rick Riordan novels if you like the mythology that Frost shoehorns into the book. Or Lovecraft if you like oozy demons that Frost summons from nowhere. I'm not a big Twin Peaks fan, but I am in awe that so much weirdness ever existed on prime time network television.

The Paladin Prophecy

I'm curious as to what Mark Frost's role was in the show. Maybe he wrote the dialog. Because if I were to judge his ability as a creative artist from this book alone, I would think he had no imagination whatsoever. Perhaps it died alongside Laura Palmer. This is one of those books that isn't just bad, but offensively bad. It perpetuates mindless power fantasy and male entitlement.

If I met someone who liked this book, I would back away slowly. He has all the stereotypical traits of a sociopath. Will has no friends, but doesn't care that he has no friends. He never feels lonely. He makes friends only because he needs them to fulfill his goals. Will lies to persuade the reader and other characters that he is the good guy. He says about Lyle: Will feels nary a qualm after his actions. Will has no feelings.

Will's mother is taken over by a mind-controlling demon in the first few chapters. The mother he knew is probably dead. In the brief characterization we get of her, we learn she's not Aunt Petunia. She likes to give hugs. Pay attention if you read this book: However, not once, not a single time, does Will ever feel sadness or any sort of emotion over her death.

If you could look into Will West's eyes, they would not look back at you. They are cold and hollow inside. He doesn't see you. He sees through you.

He is the center of the universe and you simply revolve around him. He will devour you if he needs to, in order to get ahead. And he will make you feel like you are doing an honorable deed by sacrificing yourself to him. But you are dead, while Will is alive. Will only cares about himself. Will is the bad guy. View all 5 comments. Buddy Read with Shandra Actual Rating 4. He knows he's smart and more athletic than other students, but his parents make him promise that he will not try to excel in anything. He has to live by a certain set of rules. Don't Draw Attention to Yourself That's shitty parenting to me, but his parents have their reasons and we soon find out why.

Will barely escapes being taken, and makes it to a school where there are other kids like him. He tries to figure out how and what is happening to him and his family. With this new group of friends he starts to trust others, when he couldn't before. He starts to develops relationships when he was told not to. Will and his friends uncover so many secrets that they are not sure if they are safe at school. This book started full of action, none stop. I think some parts were over the top, but it worked perfect. I just adore Nick and his loyalty to Will, and of course his dumb remarks.

Don't show up for a knife fight with a Hostess Twinkie in your hand Then there is Elise, she's as tough as nails. And she speaks her mind all the time. Therefore, the stupid act with blind assurance, while the smart are crippled by self-doubt. There are wise words from teachers and coaches, who know something is going on at school.

Because your lives must first and foremost make sense to you. I keep forgetting to put damn book marks because I get so involved and impatient to see what happens next. I guess that's when you know you are really enjoying a book. I have read mixed reviews of book two, but I will keep my head up and positive when I read the next one. I think I will fall back on all that I read in this one and use that to look forward to. Harry Potter meets The da Vinci Code with a just a touch of James bond in this new series by this film producer.

Will West grew up in the strangest of family situations. Granted, he is not the only kid who grew up with his family moving from place to place, but his family seems to be filled with secrets. His father is a master scientist at a a unveristy. They have recently settled into life in California. Everything changes, though, when Will mistakenly does incredibly well on a standardized test Harry Potter meets The da Vinci Code with a just a touch of James bond in this new series by this film producer. Everything changes, though, when Will mistakenly does incredibly well on a standardized test.

Representatives from am exclusive private school to offer him a scholarship just as everything with his parents seems to explode. They seem to be almost possessed as they join forces with a group of guys in black hats who are out to bring Will in. Fortunately, the school is offering a full scholarship and is willing to bring him in during the current semester.

Upon arriving, he finds himself joined with a group of suite mates who quickly become his friends. The more they come together, the more they learn that the situation with Will is not just his problem. They each seem to have found their way to compass on scholarship after acing the same test.

They also each seem to have unique powers. They also start to realize the campus bullies might also be tight to a dark and ancient secret that is tied to a mysterious Medieval society with ties to demonology. Besides his friends, Will finds support from a taxi driver who seems willing to do anything for adventure, a guardian angel, and some of the school's mysterious teachers as he takes on the forces of ultimate evil and demons that have almost alien-like qualities.

The book is full of adventure and seems almost written to make the perfect film. At pages, it really doesn't feel like it drags as the story moves along fairly quickly. There are only a few periods where the pacing of the story slows, but the book is anything but boring. I am definitely looking forward to reading the sequel, which will be called Alliance Not an easy book to rate. I was tempted to give it either a 2 or a 4 star rating. The quality of writing and, at the end, the pleasure of reading the book merited a 4.

However, the plotting reminded me so much of E. Here we have various powers cropping up in these kids at opportune times, saving them from the bad guys, combined with completely oblivious adult Not an easy book to rate. Here we have various powers cropping up in these kids at opportune times, saving them from the bad guys, combined with completely oblivious adults could anyone be so clueless?

I compromised on a 3. I certainly enjoyed the book, and even stayed up late to finish it. I can ignore logical inconsistencies for the sake of the plot, but there are so very many here that I could not justify a 4 star rating. Still, a fun read which I would recommend to most any age group, and will also look forward to the second. I will also admit to being tired really, really tired of endless series, and world encompassing conspiracies which are plotted to be impossible to overcome.

This is probably the worst book I've read in a long time. I just don't even know what I read or why in the world I finished it. Let's start with the good things about this book: Ok, now on with the bad things: Will was so glaringly average that I had absolutely nothing invested in him. I honestly would not have cared if he died. He Oh my GOD. He was raised to fly under the radar and not draw attention to himself, and that resulted in just an unbelievable boring dude. Will has four roommates at the school, and not a single one of them was remotely interesting. Again, if all of them died, I wouldn't have cared at all.

I listened to this as an audiobook, and while the narrator was OK doing Will's voice and just the general narration, he made the book almost unbearable to listen to with the idiotic "accent" he gave other characters. Nick was from Boston, so he gave him an over-the-top Bostonian accent that did nothing but grate my nerves. He got an over-the-top Southern accent that actually does not exist.

It was just a bunch of Foghorn Leghorn bullshit. It's the accent that anyone who has never actually heard a Southern accent will try to do. If Nick's accent grated my nerves, A. Oh, and let's not forget Nondo's Mexican accent. The accent, plus the writing, kind of came across as a little racist. At the top of a list of things that would NEVER happen would be a random taxi driver, happily married with kids, would drop everything and go out of his way to help smuggle Will out of town.

And even if that did happen, the idea that he would stay in contact with Will and do reconnaissance work for him at Will's house is absolutely preposterous. Look, I love fantasy and science fiction and all of that, and I have no problem suspending my belief in order to enjoy a story. This book was seemed like it took all of the leftovers pieces that didn't work in other books and combined them in order to try to make something out of it.

It did not work. The story was so convoluted, with so many elements, that the entire thing was just a disjointed mess. I kind of still don't even know how it all fit together. It was just the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. It was just stupid. I am both impressed and embarrassed with myself for actually finishing this book. I don't think I have ever read a book that made me give it a review such as this, but there you go.

It was just an absolute train wreck and a complete waste of my time. View all 3 comments. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Darkness Ascending by James A. Hillebrecht

To ask other readers questions about Darkness Ascending , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. I am so glad to have read the trilogy, which gave me many beautiful hours. As in the first two books great characters and the plot was absolutely thrilling. I especially liked the course of the development of the Juggernaut, or that there was at least a development which I would never have thought in the first two parts.

I am fully satisfied with the dissolution and the end of the third volume, but also sad that there are no more books left. Here also the recommendation: Carol J Baer rated it it was amazing Jun 06, Mike rated it really liked it Jun 21, John Francis rated it it was amazing Jan 02, Eric Coupe rated it really liked it Sep 25, Janluisi rated it it was amazing Aug 13, Joseph Brickett rated it really liked it Dec 25, Robert Crabtree rated it really liked it Oct 03, G rated it liked it Jan 17, Katelynd Bucher rated it it was amazing Feb 19, Olivia Reagan rated it really liked it Mar 29, Jonathan rated it really liked it Jan 11, Alli rated it it was amazing Jun 28, Paul marked it as to-read Oct 30, Kelly marked it as to-read Apr 08, Carol marked it as to-read Apr 27, Amadeus marked it as to-read May 02, Christina Browne marked it as to-read Dec 05, Randy Harmelink marked it as to-read May 31, Kristian marked it as to-read Jun 01, Ian Donnelly marked it as to-read Feb 06, Beatriz Almeida marked it as to-read Feb 23, Arin marked it as to-read Nov 20, Madalina Peter marked it as to-read Jun 24, Consuela marked it as to-read Dec 04, Goguno marked it as to-read Apr 10, Igrowastreesgrow marked it as to-read Jun 29, Deanna marked it as to-read May 27, Shannon Sawyer Allen marked it as to-read May 31, Hope added it Jun 02,

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