Stories from the Circle: Apprentice Book

Although originally published as three separate paperback books, Goodreads Giveaway winners receive all three under one hardcover. This was beneficial to me because I disliked the middle one so much I never would have finished it had it been a stand alone volume.

The premise of what is promised to become a nine book series is that a select few people on eight different planets are born into each generation. These few Caretakers will develop the ability to leave one body behind and transfer to the corresponding body on each of the other planets. They are part of a combined effort to preserve life and prevent destruction. Each starts as an apprentice with a guide to help them along the way.

By starting the adventure with human characters, living on the Earth we know, and with the action taking place in recent years, we are given a foundation that's comfortable and relaxing. Real brand names, highway numbers and cities allow you to identify with the characters immediately without getting bogged down by descriptions of the locations. At one point the protagonist (Miles Dean) starts to go into a mom and pop diner that would have required many adjectives to create. Clean or dirty, bright or dingy, fragrant or stale. But for reasons important to the plot he suddenly feels drawn to a Dairy Queen. The reader has most likely been there, so no time is wasted reading about how it looks or smells. I've always been turned off by authors who can't say, "A man walked in" without dragging it out for three pages describing clothes, hair, mannerisms, etc.

We're eased into the supernatural aspects of the story when Miles is dreaming. We get a brief glimpse of some of the alien worlds and the creatures that inhabit them, but not too much at once. And that's the strong point of Jared's style. The dreams end quickly and you're brought back to Earth and a trip to Denny's or the hardware store in a red and white Ford F-150. I didn't feel fatigued at the end of every chapter from having to learn too many alien names or having to take too much alien terrain in one gulp. That soon changes as each of the subsequent books take place on a different planet.

In book 2, The Story From Riesa, the main character has left his human body and the Miles Dean personality on Earth while his "mind's eye" has been transferred to the body of Habberzol, who lives on the planet Riesa. Riesa is a world plagued with disease clouds, molds, and mobile plants that all contribute to an endless variety of illnesses in the humanoid inhabitants. It's Habberzol's task in this incarnation to travel around trying to find a cure for one of the diseases. There is nothing pleasant about this book. Drugs, disease, death, rotting corpses, rival city states who's doctors refuse to work together all serve to make this part of the series frustrating and depressing. I would have stopped here if the first volume hadn't been so promising. I knew the third one had to be better.

Habberzol eventually completes his task and we move on to book 3, The Story From Oxinopses. This time the traveling Caretaker is called "Shields" and exists as a parasite inhabiting the bodies of larger creatures. This book is much more fun than the previous volume, the parasites immediately exhibit a sense of humor! The plight of the Caretakers continues - defeat the "Breakers" who are driven to destruction and death while helping to empower the "Creators" who would prefer to perpetuate society. This time around its all about educating the younger parasites and teaching them to play a strategy game similar to chess. Our hero, Miles/Habberzol/Shields is gaining more skill as we move from book to book and planet to planet. As he gets better at accomplishing his tasks the story becomes more fun to read.

I'm looking forward to The Story From Joriana, the fourth book which has yet to be released. I hear that this planet has highly advanced technology, something that we sci-fi fans can never get enough of!

My thanks to Jared Aragona for becoming a Goodreads author and offering this giveaway.