Memories of Chronosalis

By: Ceara Comeau

Narrated by: Elaine J. Sepani

It's one thing to read about heroes saving worlds in far-off galaxies, but to become one is an entirely different story.

Sixteen-year-old Amber Oak wanted nothing more than to stay in her own world of music and solitude. But the inhabitants of Galaseya, a Utopian planet rooted in the past, had other ideas in mind. According to them, only she wielded the power to stop the dark forces threatening their home.

At first, Amber sympathized with the planet but saw no reason to involve herself in the affairs of something outside her world. But the stakes have risen when she discovers Galaseya is not only the world that has been invading her dreams, but also the place from where her estranged family originated.

With this new knowledge, questions began to surface and secrets of Amber's life come to light, causing her to second-guess everything she knows.

©2018 Ceara Comeau (P)2019 Ceara Comeau

Good

Some parts of the story felt disjointed and there were a lot of times where I went, “wait, where did that come from?” There were parts where the story jumped from one direction to another, confusing me as to what was going on and how it led up to that. One example being someone’s death in the end which seemed to happen out of the blue. I still have no idea why he died or what it was that Amber supposedly did to bring back the balance. Also, thinking of a 16 year old girl as having the maturity and quick thinking which Amber displays is rather implausible, particularly her ability to strategize in war like situations when, as it seems, she’s never been in particularly violent situations all her like.
Then again, it’s a fantasy novel, so plausibility kind of left the building before the story started. As far content (the story and plot lines) and the layout (the character, world, scenery, etc. descriptions) goes, I was very impressed. As someone who loves exploring fantasy and has my own fictional world dancing around my head, I was impressed with the variety, imagination, and uniqueness of the worlds, their creatures, the powers, and the plot. Amber might be following the typical ‘chosen one’ trope, but she’s not the typical hero. She’s neither dark and dangerous nor talented and wise. There’s no mystery about her personally, and rather than keeping secrets, it is emphasized how those often cause rifts and distrust between people. Rather than being the typical childish teen who can’t handle the fact that people lied/kept things from her to protect her, she accepts it and moves on. I did find it odd how everyone’s ready to easily accept someone just because they’re blood relations. I have estranged family as well as family that I just never had any kind of relationship (familial or otherwise) with, and can say that just because we share common ancestry, doesn’t mean that cares any kind of love or even connection with it. But again, this is fantasy, not rl, so it doesn’t need to hold to all the nuances of rl.
Over all, I really liked how Amber’s character went through everything and grew through the book. I think the book could definitely use more help, like more editing and stuff, but it was pretty good and kept my interest through most of it.