Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
B&H Books (2009), Paperback, 400 pages
Description
"Bury me standing. I must be buried standing." Powers, the follow-up to John Olson's Shade ("a must-read for those who enjoy Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti" --Publishers Weekly), introduces a sheltered Gypsy girl named Mariutza. Her grandfather utters a mysterious last request before dying in her arms after being shot by ten cloaked men. Those same men die before her eyes, but strange powers continue to pursue Mari through the swamps of southern Louisiana where she has always hidden from "the Badness." The whole world seems to join in the chase--helicopters, soldiers, government agents, and the police are all trying to kill her. Mari's only hope of survival is to find Jaazaniah the Prophet, the mythical hero of her grandfather's bedtime stories. But she has never been outside the swamp or known other humans besides her grandfather and one teacher. How can this lone girl survive the bewildering world of men long enough to find a prophet who might not even exist?… (more)
Media reviews
Library thing
I found this slow to start and hard to get into. For the first 100 pages or so nothing seemed to be happening then all of sudden the pace got fast and almost confusing.
User reviews
LibraryThing member crazybatcow
The book is pretty much just one big chase scene (that crosses through several environments). Something happens, a character runs, something else happens, another character runs. The 2 meet up and run. They come across another character or two or three, and then they all run together.
What are they
It would appear as though there is supposed to be a romantic thread between these main characters... it's more like a 12 year old who has a crush on her phys-ed teacher.
Is there a mystery in here? I suppose that was the intention... but it's solved by a vision from God. The entire story, in fact, is predetermined by God's will (even one of the main characters states at the end that the whole story turned out the way it was meant to turn out).
I guess it's a 2nd book in a series, but there's no indication of this within the story. There's no reference to anything that might have happened prior to this story, and it concludes as if there is not another book in the series. Maybe this book would make more sense if I had read the first, who knows.
As an aside: in other reviews I see some reference to "vampires"... there is no reference, mention, hint or suggestion of anything vampire-like in this novel. The word is never used, and we are never told who (or what) the Badness are so I have no idea what this vampire reference could be to - it wasn't in the book I just read.
What are they
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running from? The Badness. What or why or how is the Badness? Nobody tells the reader... the badness is just bad and the characters are just good so they run from the bad. For 350 pages, they run. And in all this running I guess there's not enough time for character development: the main female character is insecure and immature and the only tension has a false ring as she spends all her time "hiding her face from him in shame". The main male character spends 90% of the novel chasing after a treasure that everyone knows is "valueless" in the usual sense of the word and thinking everyone else is after this treasure too. It would appear as though there is supposed to be a romantic thread between these main characters... it's more like a 12 year old who has a crush on her phys-ed teacher.
Is there a mystery in here? I suppose that was the intention... but it's solved by a vision from God. The entire story, in fact, is predetermined by God's will (even one of the main characters states at the end that the whole story turned out the way it was meant to turn out).
I guess it's a 2nd book in a series, but there's no indication of this within the story. There's no reference to anything that might have happened prior to this story, and it concludes as if there is not another book in the series. Maybe this book would make more sense if I had read the first, who knows.
As an aside: in other reviews I see some reference to "vampires"... there is no reference, mention, hint or suggestion of anything vampire-like in this novel. The word is never used, and we are never told who (or what) the Badness are so I have no idea what this vampire reference could be to - it wasn't in the book I just read.
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LibraryThing member hayleyscomet
For the first half of this book, I kept reading because I was morbidly curious to see just how much more terrible the novel could get. But it turns out there is a limit to morbid curiosity, and that's about 215 pages into a 400 page novel.
I'll spare you 215 pages of horrible writing to tell you
There are two main characters, Mariutza (Mari) and Jaazaniah (Jazz). Thankfully, you will never get them confused, because in case you failed to notice the section titles which inform you which character is the focus of that particular section, the very first sentence in the section will also start with their name. It's not redundant, it's just making sure you don't forget.
Mari grew up in a swamp (if only Olson knew what a swamp was like) with her grandfather, and alternates between crying for no apparent reason and running away from psychic shadow monsters she calls "the Badness." There is a lot of gratuitous rolling around and jumping into bodies of water to escape the Badness, but it never seems to matter if she gets dirty or wet.
Jazz is a musician in New Orleans, who started having visions and having people try to kill him, and then he received a mysterious letter from his long-dead grandfather. He jumped to the most obvious explanation--clearly, his grandfather left buried treasure for him, and everyone else is just trying to get their hands on it. (Jazz does not seem to be the brightest crayon in the box...)
All that our two main characters do for 200 pages is run around aimlessly, trying to escape a vague threat that they can sense psychically, and incessantly ask the question, "What's going on?" The characters seem just as frustrated as the reader for Olson's lack of having any little bit of exposition at all. The running around not knowing what is going on is punctuated by awkward flirting between the two characters. Because, you know, what else are you going to do when you're trying to avoid getting shot? As out of place and painfully uncomfortable as this flirting is, it does provide the most humorous of lines in the entire novel. My favorite by far is when Mari says to Jazz, after he has shaken her hand for the first time, and then asks her what she was thinking. (Of course, this is in the middle of discussing buried treasure and fleeing the city.) "That I... like your hand? I think it's big and warm and feels like a pool of loveliness?"
There you have it--you don't have to read the first half of the book. If you want to know what happens in the other 145 pages, I suppose you'll have to read them--because I sure won't be. But, who am I to judge? Who knows... you might just find the second half is a pool of loveliness.
I'll spare you 215 pages of horrible writing to tell you
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everything that has happened:There are two main characters, Mariutza (Mari) and Jaazaniah (Jazz). Thankfully, you will never get them confused, because in case you failed to notice the section titles which inform you which character is the focus of that particular section, the very first sentence in the section will also start with their name. It's not redundant, it's just making sure you don't forget.
Mari grew up in a swamp (if only Olson knew what a swamp was like) with her grandfather, and alternates between crying for no apparent reason and running away from psychic shadow monsters she calls "the Badness." There is a lot of gratuitous rolling around and jumping into bodies of water to escape the Badness, but it never seems to matter if she gets dirty or wet.
Jazz is a musician in New Orleans, who started having visions and having people try to kill him, and then he received a mysterious letter from his long-dead grandfather. He jumped to the most obvious explanation--clearly, his grandfather left buried treasure for him, and everyone else is just trying to get their hands on it. (Jazz does not seem to be the brightest crayon in the box...)
All that our two main characters do for 200 pages is run around aimlessly, trying to escape a vague threat that they can sense psychically, and incessantly ask the question, "What's going on?" The characters seem just as frustrated as the reader for Olson's lack of having any little bit of exposition at all. The running around not knowing what is going on is punctuated by awkward flirting between the two characters. Because, you know, what else are you going to do when you're trying to avoid getting shot? As out of place and painfully uncomfortable as this flirting is, it does provide the most humorous of lines in the entire novel. My favorite by far is when Mari says to Jazz, after he has shaken her hand for the first time, and then asks her what she was thinking. (Of course, this is in the middle of discussing buried treasure and fleeing the city.) "That I... like your hand? I think it's big and warm and feels like a pool of loveliness?"
There you have it--you don't have to read the first half of the book. If you want to know what happens in the other 145 pages, I suppose you'll have to read them--because I sure won't be. But, who am I to judge? Who knows... you might just find the second half is a pool of loveliness.
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LibraryThing member paolasp
I was really excited to read this book since description of it for the Early Reviewers made it seem like it was going to be an exciting gypsy, magic romp.
I was very disappointed. I found the main male character, Jazz, to be annoying, arrogant and one dimensional. Mari had the potential to be
I have admit that I didn't care for the Christian slant of it all. Also the other characters just seemed flat and the plot got boring half way through.
I made myself finish reading it because I had to review it but it was hard. I definitely would not want to read the book before it or anything in the series after it.
I was very disappointed. I found the main male character, Jazz, to be annoying, arrogant and one dimensional. Mari had the potential to be
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interesting with her interpretation of modern things like soda and beds. But then I started getting annoyed at her superstitious fears & her relationship with Jazz. I have admit that I didn't care for the Christian slant of it all. Also the other characters just seemed flat and the plot got boring half way through.
I made myself finish reading it because I had to review it but it was hard. I definitely would not want to read the book before it or anything in the series after it.
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LibraryThing member AprilFollies
I had conflicting reactions to this book, so let's start with the good. The publisher's note that came with it talked about it as being of a timely style, due to the release of the Twilight movies. This is an insult to Powers; it's better writing and less cliched than Twilight can boast. In fact,
In brief, the story follows the heroine, Mariutza, raised by a Gypsy grandfather (and local prophet) in traditions that include Biblical studies, how to escape or fight off trained soldiers, and Louisiana bayou life. When the grandfather is killed by an attack of the "walking dead", Mari must follow the instructions he left for just such an eventuality, including escaping the walking dead, and inexplicably hostile military and police forces. Her orders include finding the hero-prophet "Jaazaniah", who is currently playing jazz in New Orleans, unaware of his ordained destiny. Destiny comes calling in the form of highly inconvenient waking visions, which are followed by attacks from - guess what - the walking dead, and inexplicably hostile military and police forces. The rest of the story involves Mari finding Jazz, both of them finding allies, and Jazz finding God and the solution to all their problems, more or less in that order.
The combination of elements is pretty intriguing in the beginning, as it departs from the usual cliches of the urban fantasy genre. As we go along, though, that seems mostly because it mixes in cliches from the conspiracy-thriller genre and the christian inspirational genre. This could make up a tasty Louisiana gumbo, and is in fact not a bad start, but it would need to go several steps further to achieve true originality.
The hero Jazz is believably flawed, but it's a bit disappointing (to me, at least) to find that his Hero's Journey turns mostly into an ongoing come-to-Jesus message. Mari already has God in her life, which is disappointingly expressed as her being a self-doubting, childish figure with killer kung-fu moves. The Dark Forces have no apparent goal or motivation other than to be evil, and therefore provide the threat against which the heroes must hurl themselves. The magic is reduced to the simple concept of "pray a lot".
Other characters tend toward the two-dimensional; Jazz is repeatedly helped by a woman who wants excitement in her life, only to be abandoned by her when it gets too exciting. Then repeat that behavior several times, and that's pretty much all there is to the character. A voodoo practitioner appears and disappears after one scene, leaving the reader to go, "what was THAT about?" An FBI agent who has mixed feelings about being involved in the inexplicably hostile pursuit is a stock character from, e.g., "The Fugitive". The resolution is, by the end, pretty predictable and something of a deus ex magica.
After all that negativity, let me come back to say that the book does have some entertaining and promising elements. The author made some effort to culturally flavor the aforementioned gumbo, with research into Gypsy parlance and bayou life, among other things. The characters show flashes of depth from time to time, as they refer to their various backgrounds. The plot is actually rather neatly twisted around the concept of prophecy, and the writing style is colorful and flows naturally enough to hold the reader's interest. I suspect, though, that those looking for a good fantasy read may be startled to encounter the Christian inspirational elements. If you're looking for a modern-world Christian fantasy/conspiracy novel, this might just be your cup of tea, or bowl of gumbo.
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the comparison is very misleading. Powers is something of a blend of urban fantasy (voodoo priestesses and Gypsy magic in a modern setting) and Christian storytelling, with elements of mystery and thriller mixed in for good measure. My overall impression is rather similar to how I feel about Christian rock; the music may be in a similar style, but the message is not really meant for those not already "on the inside". In brief, the story follows the heroine, Mariutza, raised by a Gypsy grandfather (and local prophet) in traditions that include Biblical studies, how to escape or fight off trained soldiers, and Louisiana bayou life. When the grandfather is killed by an attack of the "walking dead", Mari must follow the instructions he left for just such an eventuality, including escaping the walking dead, and inexplicably hostile military and police forces. Her orders include finding the hero-prophet "Jaazaniah", who is currently playing jazz in New Orleans, unaware of his ordained destiny. Destiny comes calling in the form of highly inconvenient waking visions, which are followed by attacks from - guess what - the walking dead, and inexplicably hostile military and police forces. The rest of the story involves Mari finding Jazz, both of them finding allies, and Jazz finding God and the solution to all their problems, more or less in that order.
The combination of elements is pretty intriguing in the beginning, as it departs from the usual cliches of the urban fantasy genre. As we go along, though, that seems mostly because it mixes in cliches from the conspiracy-thriller genre and the christian inspirational genre. This could make up a tasty Louisiana gumbo, and is in fact not a bad start, but it would need to go several steps further to achieve true originality.
The hero Jazz is believably flawed, but it's a bit disappointing (to me, at least) to find that his Hero's Journey turns mostly into an ongoing come-to-Jesus message. Mari already has God in her life, which is disappointingly expressed as her being a self-doubting, childish figure with killer kung-fu moves. The Dark Forces have no apparent goal or motivation other than to be evil, and therefore provide the threat against which the heroes must hurl themselves. The magic is reduced to the simple concept of "pray a lot".
Other characters tend toward the two-dimensional; Jazz is repeatedly helped by a woman who wants excitement in her life, only to be abandoned by her when it gets too exciting. Then repeat that behavior several times, and that's pretty much all there is to the character. A voodoo practitioner appears and disappears after one scene, leaving the reader to go, "what was THAT about?" An FBI agent who has mixed feelings about being involved in the inexplicably hostile pursuit is a stock character from, e.g., "The Fugitive". The resolution is, by the end, pretty predictable and something of a deus ex magica.
After all that negativity, let me come back to say that the book does have some entertaining and promising elements. The author made some effort to culturally flavor the aforementioned gumbo, with research into Gypsy parlance and bayou life, among other things. The characters show flashes of depth from time to time, as they refer to their various backgrounds. The plot is actually rather neatly twisted around the concept of prophecy, and the writing style is colorful and flows naturally enough to hold the reader's interest. I suspect, though, that those looking for a good fantasy read may be startled to encounter the Christian inspirational elements. If you're looking for a modern-world Christian fantasy/conspiracy novel, this might just be your cup of tea, or bowl of gumbo.
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LibraryThing member rebeccaslibrary
This book was awful. I had to put it down several times over many months before coming back to it to try and finish it. When I was finished, I tried to sell it at several used book stores, and they wisely refused it.
In this science fiction story, split between the swamps and cities of Louisiana, a
The characterization was horrid. Mariutza is innocent to the point of being pathetic, while at the same time readers are supposed to believe that she is a highly skilled and trained soldier who can protect Jazz. Jazz is little more than a caricature of a shallow, greedy, insecure, drunk musician. And the vague antagonistic force, the Badness, is able to recruit/brainwash unlimited numbers of people to chase after the main characters, but is never really explained well or believably.
I would not recommend this book to anybody.
In this science fiction story, split between the swamps and cities of Louisiana, a
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painfully sheltered gypsy girl, Mariutza, must try to solve an ages old mystery her dying grandfather left her. She must seek Jaazaniah, the Prophet, to help. Jazz, as he calls himself, is a musician who experiences puzzling visions. He does not know himself to be a profit, and he doesn't understand why Mariutza wants his help when she finds him. Jazz receives a mysterious inheritance letter, and he and Mariutza must figure it out, all the while running from an evil force called "the Badness". The characterization was horrid. Mariutza is innocent to the point of being pathetic, while at the same time readers are supposed to believe that she is a highly skilled and trained soldier who can protect Jazz. Jazz is little more than a caricature of a shallow, greedy, insecure, drunk musician. And the vague antagonistic force, the Badness, is able to recruit/brainwash unlimited numbers of people to chase after the main characters, but is never really explained well or believably.
I would not recommend this book to anybody.
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LibraryThing member Eruantien
I actually forgot I requested this from the Early Reviewers program, so it was a nice surprise when it arrived. I was interested going into it in seeing how Christian fiction would handle vampires. I still don't know, because there aren't really any vampires in this story. Still, it's probably one
Powers is the story of two people, Mariutza, a young gypsy girl living in the swamps near New Orleans, and Jazz, a musician plying his craft in the bars of New Orleans. Mari has never left the swamps and only known two people in her entire life, so she's in for a major culture shock when she's forced to flee the swamps after her grandfather's murder. His dying words send her on a quest to find Jazz, who is fleeing from mysterious cloaked men and suffering from visions. After the two unite, they meet more members of their gypsy clan, The Standing, and try to unravel the mystery of Jazz's inheritance while staying one step ahead of the evil pursuing them.
I'll be honest. While Olson has a nice command of language and the book is fairly well-written in that regard, the plot and the characterization is a bit thin. Mari is sweet, but her cluelessness is a tad bit overdone and Jazz made me want to smack him frequently. The characters from the previous book Shade aren't very well used and almost seem there just to confirm this is actually a sequel. There's also a religious conversion that really didn't work for me and a romance that seems tacked on at best and creepy to boot. Most annoying of all, we never really find out what The Badness is. Apparently the shimulo are the demon-possessed walking dead, but The Badness is left unexplained as is its effects. That said, it's nice to read a Christian book were the preaching is low-key and the focus is mostly on the action. The idea of a secret group of psychic-ninja gypsies is pretty cool too.
In short, there's a lot of good stuff to be found in Powers, but it's a little rough around the edges. With some work, it could be really great, but as it is, it's no Ted Dekker.
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of the better Christian fantasy novels I've read recently.Powers is the story of two people, Mariutza, a young gypsy girl living in the swamps near New Orleans, and Jazz, a musician plying his craft in the bars of New Orleans. Mari has never left the swamps and only known two people in her entire life, so she's in for a major culture shock when she's forced to flee the swamps after her grandfather's murder. His dying words send her on a quest to find Jazz, who is fleeing from mysterious cloaked men and suffering from visions. After the two unite, they meet more members of their gypsy clan, The Standing, and try to unravel the mystery of Jazz's inheritance while staying one step ahead of the evil pursuing them.
I'll be honest. While Olson has a nice command of language and the book is fairly well-written in that regard, the plot and the characterization is a bit thin. Mari is sweet, but her cluelessness is a tad bit overdone and Jazz made me want to smack him frequently. The characters from the previous book Shade aren't very well used and almost seem there just to confirm this is actually a sequel. There's also a religious conversion that really didn't work for me and a romance that seems tacked on at best and creepy to boot. Most annoying of all, we never really find out what The Badness is. Apparently the shimulo are the demon-possessed walking dead, but The Badness is left unexplained as is its effects. That said, it's nice to read a Christian book were the preaching is low-key and the focus is mostly on the action. The idea of a secret group of psychic-ninja gypsies is pretty cool too.
In short, there's a lot of good stuff to be found in Powers, but it's a little rough around the edges. With some work, it could be really great, but as it is, it's no Ted Dekker.
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LibraryThing member s_webb
I should begin by stating that I didn't -- or couldn't -- actually finish POWERS, by John B. Olson. After reading almost 300 pages of confusing narrative and underdeveloped characters, I couldn't waste any more time to finish the novel.
All that happened during the first 300 pages of the novel was
I asked for this book so that my high-school students would have something to read for pleasure.
...But, needless to say, I will not be recommending this to any of them.
All that happened during the first 300 pages of the novel was
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the two protagonists running from "the Badness," although we have no idea what that is. Maybe we find out in the end...but at this point, I've lost interest. In addition, I feel no connection with either of the characters and do not empathize with their situation.I asked for this book so that my high-school students would have something to read for pleasure.
...But, needless to say, I will not be recommending this to any of them.
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LibraryThing member tardis
Powers, sequel to Shade (which I have not read), is the beginning of the story of Mariutza (Mari), raised in the swamps of Louisiana, and Jaazaniah (Jazz), a musician who is also a prophet. Mari has been trained all her life by her grandfather to fight the “Badness” but kept isolated and
When Mari’s grandfather is killed, she must venture out of the swamps to find Jazz (whom she has never met before although her grandfather had a painting of him in their wagon), discover her grandfather’s legacy, and defeat (or at least elude) the Badness. Along the way, Jazz and Mari pick up companions (society girl Hollis, plus Hailey and Melchi from Shade and FBI agent Daniel Groves) and fight the Badness, which has local law enforcement on its side.
It is not necessary to read Shade before Powers, although it might have enriched it a bit since the main characters from Shade do show up in Powers. This is a fast-paced book which is pretty easy to read. It starts off strong, but the plot loses coherence by mid-book and the climax is a really unbelievable Deus Ex Machina, with emphasis on the Deus.
The characters are pretty one-dimensional. Mari is an irritating combination of cluelessness and Buffy in a pretty doe-eyed gypsy package, Jazz is the angry man, the role of the FBI agent, Groves, is not clear or especially necessary to the story (the chapter where he visited the fortune-teller in the swamp didn’t end up meaning anything in the context of the story), Hollis sticks with them for no apparent reason, despite the fact that they keep ditching her and she’s scared out of her mind at least half the time, and there’s a lot of tramping through bushes and praying to be concealed from the eyes of the Badness. Which works. The praying, I mean. The book? Not so much.
Received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program.
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ignorant of people and society. Jazz knows nothing of his heritage. They are members of “The Standing” a mysterious group of whose heritage links them and places them as God’s champions against the Badness. Or something like that.When Mari’s grandfather is killed, she must venture out of the swamps to find Jazz (whom she has never met before although her grandfather had a painting of him in their wagon), discover her grandfather’s legacy, and defeat (or at least elude) the Badness. Along the way, Jazz and Mari pick up companions (society girl Hollis, plus Hailey and Melchi from Shade and FBI agent Daniel Groves) and fight the Badness, which has local law enforcement on its side.
It is not necessary to read Shade before Powers, although it might have enriched it a bit since the main characters from Shade do show up in Powers. This is a fast-paced book which is pretty easy to read. It starts off strong, but the plot loses coherence by mid-book and the climax is a really unbelievable Deus Ex Machina, with emphasis on the Deus.
The characters are pretty one-dimensional. Mari is an irritating combination of cluelessness and Buffy in a pretty doe-eyed gypsy package, Jazz is the angry man, the role of the FBI agent, Groves, is not clear or especially necessary to the story (the chapter where he visited the fortune-teller in the swamp didn’t end up meaning anything in the context of the story), Hollis sticks with them for no apparent reason, despite the fact that they keep ditching her and she’s scared out of her mind at least half the time, and there’s a lot of tramping through bushes and praying to be concealed from the eyes of the Badness. Which works. The praying, I mean. The book? Not so much.
Received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program.
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LibraryThing member morgaine0000
I don't like to leave books unfinished, so I made several attempts over the past couple months to get into this book. However, it never happened for me. I read the first 100 pages or so, and I found it disappointing. It didn't make much sense, and I never found myself caring about the characters.
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This story seemed very disjointed and never grabbed my attention. I do not recommend this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member westielrm
Christan fiction, with its good vs. evil theme, is a genre that I am inclined to have an interest in and enjoy. Unfortunately, Powers was disappointing. As a sequel, it may have been helpful if I had started with the first book, Shade, although the publisher maintains that is not necessary.
In general, I am very willing to suspend disbelief in reading fiction, especially fantasy, but the description of how good triumphed over evil was so lacking that I thought it rather pointless.
For those who really love this genre (or I suppose the vampire genre, with which the publisher draws parallels), this book is fine for passing the time. But for my time, I would rather read something like Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series.
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Nonetheless, I spent the first 100 or so pages of chases in the woods/swamps/city completely confused and only gradually caught on. The book became more enjoyable after the various characters came together; however, character development suffered greatly, presumably to save room for all the chase scenes. And such scenes were monotonous; I found myself counting the number of times certain verbs (e.g., "dodged") were used instead of paying attention to the story.In general, I am very willing to suspend disbelief in reading fiction, especially fantasy, but the description of how good triumphed over evil was so lacking that I thought it rather pointless.
For those who really love this genre (or I suppose the vampire genre, with which the publisher draws parallels), this book is fine for passing the time. But for my time, I would rather read something like Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series.
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LibraryThing member jdyork74
I generally enjoy books of fantasy and those written about unusual powers so I thought this would be an excellent introduction to a new author. I tried to get engaged with the characters and storyline but found it difficult to follow. The storyline switches from character and time and takes too
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much concentration for an light read (which is why I read books in this genre.) Sorry, I can't really recommend this title very highly. Show Less
LibraryThing member horomnizon
Having snagged an early reader's copy, I first read the Shade book and then wondered if I really wanted to read Powers. I'm not going to summarize the story - several other people have already done this. This second book with Melchi and his 'Standing' versus the 'Mulo' - whatever the heck they are
An example of things that bothered me: Mari has been sheltered and seems quite intimidated by Jazz, whom she believes to be a great prophet although he denies even believing in God at first. Most of the time she looks at the ground and refuses to question anything he says...until suddenly she's commanding him to pray for protection and is very bold and quite out of character, I thought.
And, while she doesn't give him the Jesus speech like Hailey gave Melchi in Shade, she practically acts it out, seemingly sacrificing herself to keep the bad guys away from the rest of the group. Also, Jazz's obsessing over his grandfather's "treasure" gets old really quickly, as he keeps leading the others into trouble in search of it. I found it obvious from the very beginning that the treasure wasn't going to be gold or anything valuable in that way.
So, while I was interested enough in the story to see where it ended up, even though I thought that was pretty obvious from the beginning (and I was basically right), I wouldn't say it's a good book, IMO. If there are more in the series, I'll skip them.
It's looking like this is a book/author/series that people either love or don't. I don't.
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(demons? undead? zombies? vampires?), is much more blatantly Christian Fiction than Shade was (until close to the end). I did not find it all that intriguing - I could easily sit it down and not read anything for a day or two. Although, I was interested enough that I did still want to finish reading it. An example of things that bothered me: Mari has been sheltered and seems quite intimidated by Jazz, whom she believes to be a great prophet although he denies even believing in God at first. Most of the time she looks at the ground and refuses to question anything he says...until suddenly she's commanding him to pray for protection and is very bold and quite out of character, I thought.
And, while she doesn't give him the Jesus speech like Hailey gave Melchi in Shade, she practically acts it out, seemingly sacrificing herself to keep the bad guys away from the rest of the group. Also, Jazz's obsessing over his grandfather's "treasure" gets old really quickly, as he keeps leading the others into trouble in search of it. I found it obvious from the very beginning that the treasure wasn't going to be gold or anything valuable in that way.
So, while I was interested enough in the story to see where it ended up, even though I thought that was pretty obvious from the beginning (and I was basically right), I wouldn't say it's a good book, IMO. If there are more in the series, I'll skip them.
It's looking like this is a book/author/series that people either love or don't. I don't.
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LibraryThing member bhall
For the most part, I enjoyed this book. It was full of action from the get go, only stopping occasionally to give us and the characters a breather.
I was slightly confused at a few parts, probably because I hadn't read the first book, but largely, this book worked well as a stand-alone.
It takes
If I have any real complaints about the book they are:
Mari, the main female character is borderline stupid. Shes smart in her own way, but being raised in a swamp, secluded by everything leaves her with a grade school education at best and no social skills what so ever. And her aversion to entering a building that borders on terror is just flat out stupid. For one, she has absolutely no issues with riding in a vehicle.
Jazz just found out his grandfather and the man that raised Mari died yet he feels no sadness for himself or her. In fact, the only thing he is focused on throughout the entire book is a treasure and constantly puts everyones lives at risk time and time again for this treasure, despite there being only the filmiest logical leap getting him to the fact that they're may be a treasure.
Even worse, and possibly even the creepiest part of this book is that Jazz and Mari fall in love. Sure, she's beautiful, the books points that out over and over, but shes still the mental equivalent to a 10 year old.
All in all, I I had to do it all over, I'd probably read it again. There is enough action to make the book enjoyable and despite the lack of character development, the book is well written and very easy to read.
I was slightly confused at a few parts, probably because I hadn't read the first book, but largely, this book worked well as a stand-alone.
It takes
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place in a world of shady characters, intrigue, and mysticism where no one is safe from the "Badness", a mysterious malevolent group of people hell bent on killing the Standing (for reasons never really explained).If I have any real complaints about the book they are:
Mari, the main female character is borderline stupid. Shes smart in her own way, but being raised in a swamp, secluded by everything leaves her with a grade school education at best and no social skills what so ever. And her aversion to entering a building that borders on terror is just flat out stupid. For one, she has absolutely no issues with riding in a vehicle.
Jazz just found out his grandfather and the man that raised Mari died yet he feels no sadness for himself or her. In fact, the only thing he is focused on throughout the entire book is a treasure and constantly puts everyones lives at risk time and time again for this treasure, despite there being only the filmiest logical leap getting him to the fact that they're may be a treasure.
Even worse, and possibly even the creepiest part of this book is that Jazz and Mari fall in love. Sure, she's beautiful, the books points that out over and over, but shes still the mental equivalent to a 10 year old.
All in all, I I had to do it all over, I'd probably read it again. There is enough action to make the book enjoyable and despite the lack of character development, the book is well written and very easy to read.
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LibraryThing member booboo433333
This was a very hard book to get into to.To tell the truth i never finished it,i found it very confusing and not worth reading the rest.I do not recomend this book at all.
LibraryThing member seraphitta
First things first: this is book 2. There's another that comes before it that I have not read. That having been said, I commend the author on making this approachable at least. I didn't experience any real bouts of confusion. I think you can easily read this without having read the first.
This book
I wanted to know about Mariutza and what her grandfather had set into motion. The pacing was good, the characters were capable of attracting me and keep me turning pages, but this dissolves quite fast. I believe by page 100ish it simmers down to a more generic boy-meets-beautiful-foreign-girl-and-they-fight-monsters.
Speaking of beauty, I was rather put off by the character of Mari. She grew up in the swamps and has no knowledge of the city, which makes for amazing potential but this is never explored. Instead, we focus on how Mari manages to make everyone fall in love with her using her innocent wide eyes and drop-dead gorgeous looks despite rolling around in mud. And I mean everyone. Frankly, it comes off Mary Sue-ish. The fact that everyone remarks upon it constantly gets even more tiresome.
In addition, she is entirely dependent on...well, everyone. She can fight like a comic book hero and run fast (while still looking like a goddess) but that is about it. She is pretty and can fight (on occasion). I learned nothing beyond this during the course of the book. She doesn't grow at all. There is no internal movement. Mari starts off more self-conscious than King's Carrie and ends up...the same. She apologizes constantly and second guesses everything.
The secondary characters are actually far more sympathetic, but they're not fleshed out here. Maybe they were in the first book, I can't tell you.
I don't mind the religious overtones, my only complaint (other than the above) is that everything lines up and falls into place far too fast and far too neatly in the end and sometimes in ways that don't really make sense. Issues were raised that were then abandoned in favor of the teenage, puppy romance between Mari and Jazz. A case of does-he/does-she. It feels rushed to be honest, and the epilogue feels entirely unnecessary, except to once again hammer down how amazingly beautiful Mari is.
Interesting premise and strong start, but it falls apart. I think the author started with one really cool scene in mind and tried to expand from there, but it didn't carry through. The material is there for a great story, but the execution is lacking, as is character development. Even as part of a series it should be able to stand on its own in that regard. But it does not.
This book
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actually started off quite strong. I wanted to know about Mariutza and what her grandfather had set into motion. The pacing was good, the characters were capable of attracting me and keep me turning pages, but this dissolves quite fast. I believe by page 100ish it simmers down to a more generic boy-meets-beautiful-foreign-girl-and-they-fight-monsters.
Speaking of beauty, I was rather put off by the character of Mari. She grew up in the swamps and has no knowledge of the city, which makes for amazing potential but this is never explored. Instead, we focus on how Mari manages to make everyone fall in love with her using her innocent wide eyes and drop-dead gorgeous looks despite rolling around in mud. And I mean everyone. Frankly, it comes off Mary Sue-ish. The fact that everyone remarks upon it constantly gets even more tiresome.
In addition, she is entirely dependent on...well, everyone. She can fight like a comic book hero and run fast (while still looking like a goddess) but that is about it. She is pretty and can fight (on occasion). I learned nothing beyond this during the course of the book. She doesn't grow at all. There is no internal movement. Mari starts off more self-conscious than King's Carrie and ends up...the same. She apologizes constantly and second guesses everything.
The secondary characters are actually far more sympathetic, but they're not fleshed out here. Maybe they were in the first book, I can't tell you.
I don't mind the religious overtones, my only complaint (other than the above) is that everything lines up and falls into place far too fast and far too neatly in the end and sometimes in ways that don't really make sense. Issues were raised that were then abandoned in favor of the teenage, puppy romance between Mari and Jazz. A case of does-he/does-she. It feels rushed to be honest, and the epilogue feels entirely unnecessary, except to once again hammer down how amazingly beautiful Mari is.
Interesting premise and strong start, but it falls apart. I think the author started with one really cool scene in mind and tried to expand from there, but it didn't carry through. The material is there for a great story, but the execution is lacking, as is character development. Even as part of a series it should be able to stand on its own in that regard. But it does not.
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LibraryThing member nareshe
Powers, by John B. Olson, is a book I picked up because I’m interested in Gypsy culture, and on that I have to say that the author did do his research…but, unfortunately, the things that would have made this novel really interesting for me were dropped relatively quickly. The female
This being a work of Christian fiction, it follows one of the central conflicts of the Christian mythos—man brought kicking and screaming to the faith. Unfortunately, because it takes Jazz most of the book to realize that the people around him are telling him the truth and he’s not crazy, it makes him out to be obstinate for no really good reason. The climax revolves around surrendering to a higher power, which I found to be unsatisfying.
Give it a miss.
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protagonist, Mari, is impossibly naïve and tends to vacillate between lacking agency and having agency but doing rather silly things with it. The male protagonist, Jazz, I found very flat and uninteresting. This being a work of Christian fiction, it follows one of the central conflicts of the Christian mythos—man brought kicking and screaming to the faith. Unfortunately, because it takes Jazz most of the book to realize that the people around him are telling him the truth and he’s not crazy, it makes him out to be obstinate for no really good reason. The climax revolves around surrendering to a higher power, which I found to be unsatisfying.
Give it a miss.
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LibraryThing member madamlibbytellsall
"Powers" is supposed to be a Christian Suspense novel. The press release that came with the book gives the impression that the publisher is trying to reach out to Twilight fans. That and the description's I found on web of the autor's first book in this series "Shade" are the only indications I had
Olson doesn't seem to have any working knowledge of vampires or any other "occult" beings. Things like a reference to a scream sounding like a "castrated banshee" had me shaking my head. But I guess if Myers can make vampires sparkle, then Olson can make banshees male.
The story starts with Mariutza (a name that reminds me of Gomez and Fester Addams' dance from "The Addams Family" movie) disobeying her grandfather to spy on the road that runs through the swamp where she lives. The bad guys (AKA: "The Badness") find her and as a result her grandfather dies and she's left to burn all his worldly posessions (it's a gypsy thing) and seek out Jaazaniah the Prophet. I'm not sure why. She doesn't seem to know why other than she's been taught that this is her destiny and she's not supposed to question her destiny. She's also not allowed to go into buildings or "The Badness" will get her or her soul is forfit or something.
There's a lot of running back and forth between New Orleans, the woods and the swamp. She and the people she meets up with are chased by the police, the FBI, and helicopters full of "The Badness". It all ends up seeming like a lot of busy work. All the characters were so shallowly developed I didn't care if they got caught or not. A story with characters you don't give a fig about and a wimpy enemy does not a suspense novel make. It sure as heck doesn't a vampire novel make.
An author's bio I found says Olson used to work as a Bio-Chemist before he gave it up to run a Chrisitan ministry. I can only conclude this book was written to reinforce whatever message his ministry advocates. It certainly wasn't written to entertain.
Olson is going to have to do a lot better than this lackluster offering if he hopes to cross over into any other readership than Christian. Don't bother with this one.
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that this was supposed to be a vampire novel. After reading it I can only conclude that it isn't possible for a book to be all these things at the same time. Olson doesn't seem to have any working knowledge of vampires or any other "occult" beings. Things like a reference to a scream sounding like a "castrated banshee" had me shaking my head. But I guess if Myers can make vampires sparkle, then Olson can make banshees male.
The story starts with Mariutza (a name that reminds me of Gomez and Fester Addams' dance from "The Addams Family" movie) disobeying her grandfather to spy on the road that runs through the swamp where she lives. The bad guys (AKA: "The Badness") find her and as a result her grandfather dies and she's left to burn all his worldly posessions (it's a gypsy thing) and seek out Jaazaniah the Prophet. I'm not sure why. She doesn't seem to know why other than she's been taught that this is her destiny and she's not supposed to question her destiny. She's also not allowed to go into buildings or "The Badness" will get her or her soul is forfit or something.
There's a lot of running back and forth between New Orleans, the woods and the swamp. She and the people she meets up with are chased by the police, the FBI, and helicopters full of "The Badness". It all ends up seeming like a lot of busy work. All the characters were so shallowly developed I didn't care if they got caught or not. A story with characters you don't give a fig about and a wimpy enemy does not a suspense novel make. It sure as heck doesn't a vampire novel make.
An author's bio I found says Olson used to work as a Bio-Chemist before he gave it up to run a Chrisitan ministry. I can only conclude this book was written to reinforce whatever message his ministry advocates. It certainly wasn't written to entertain.
Olson is going to have to do a lot better than this lackluster offering if he hopes to cross over into any other readership than Christian. Don't bother with this one.
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LibraryThing member abitbookish
I severly disliked this book. It felt phony, forced and I found it extremely frustrating. For the first few chapters quite frankly I wasn't sure if one of the main characters was a human- like being, a rabbit, or another such small animal. Perhaps that was the authors intent, to heighten the
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intrigue. I will admit I was intrigued for a page or two, but that intrigue quickly changed over to confusion and then frustration. How can a prophet like Jazz be a prophet of God, if he doen't believe in God? That's just one of many unrealistic aspects of these characters and this book in general. Would a supposed vision of God leave you confused, convulsing on the ground? Do you have to constantly run from the enemy if you name the name of Christ? Maybe sci-fi fans would like this, but this was just not for me. If I hadn't agreed to reading it as an Early Reviewer there is no way I would have finished it, or would have gotten past the third chapter. Personally, I felt like there was much more dark in this book than light, sadly. Show Less
LibraryThing member TedWitham
A key clause in the contract between novelist and reader is that the novelist agrees to create a coherent world. The reason for this is because the rewards of reading a novel are essentially concerned with the revelation of character through action. We as readers must be able to predict the
According to the literary historian George Stein,” Far more than any other genre, the novel suggests extreme contingency, an ad hoc response to each particular narrative occasion, to the hazards of psychological, social, spatial circumstance in which the narrative is set." (After Babel, 456).
In every scene in a novel, the character desires something and a barrier is set up to prevent the characters wants being met. John, for example, wants to go to London, to be with his dying father. His neighbour calls him to request his help in rescuing his dog trapped beneath a heavy wardrobe which has fallen on it. The novel proceeds from the choice John makes: if he ignores his neighbour to attend to his dying father, we will understand that his character is more concerned with relationships; if he rushes to his neighbour's help, we the reader will judge him on his willingness to help where he could make a difference.
The nature of the barrier must be consistent with the rest of the novel's world. If John can help because a second pair of hands is needed, or because he has the right crowbar, or because of his skills as a dog-whisperer, then we as reader will accept these: they are all coherent contingencies. If. However, the barrier set up to thwart the character’s motivation is inconsistent with the novel’s world, then the novel's enjoyment will be taken away. For example, if John has to choose whether or not to go to London because a cloud full of angels is blocking the road, we will be unable to evaluate the quality of his choosing.
This was the nature of the difficulty I had in reading Powers. The supernatural elements were arbitrarily introduced into the story firstly through dreams and visions, and I had no way of judging how these "powers", fitted into either the Gypsy world of Mari or the music world of Jazz, the two main characters. This left me wondering whether the focus of the novel was primarily a physical thriller, with supernatural and natural baddies ranged against the true prophet and his fellow believers, or whether it was a novel about Jazz and Mari and their romantic relationship.
I enjoyed the storytelling, particularly the grimy forest world of the Gypsies and Mari’s naivety as she ventures for the first time into the world of the city folk. However, because I was confused as to whether Mari and Jazz were physically hurt by machine guns and attack rifles, I never knew whether to suffer along with them or not.
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effectiveness in this novel's world of the actions by the main characters.According to the literary historian George Stein,” Far more than any other genre, the novel suggests extreme contingency, an ad hoc response to each particular narrative occasion, to the hazards of psychological, social, spatial circumstance in which the narrative is set." (After Babel, 456).
In every scene in a novel, the character desires something and a barrier is set up to prevent the characters wants being met. John, for example, wants to go to London, to be with his dying father. His neighbour calls him to request his help in rescuing his dog trapped beneath a heavy wardrobe which has fallen on it. The novel proceeds from the choice John makes: if he ignores his neighbour to attend to his dying father, we will understand that his character is more concerned with relationships; if he rushes to his neighbour's help, we the reader will judge him on his willingness to help where he could make a difference.
The nature of the barrier must be consistent with the rest of the novel's world. If John can help because a second pair of hands is needed, or because he has the right crowbar, or because of his skills as a dog-whisperer, then we as reader will accept these: they are all coherent contingencies. If. However, the barrier set up to thwart the character’s motivation is inconsistent with the novel’s world, then the novel's enjoyment will be taken away. For example, if John has to choose whether or not to go to London because a cloud full of angels is blocking the road, we will be unable to evaluate the quality of his choosing.
This was the nature of the difficulty I had in reading Powers. The supernatural elements were arbitrarily introduced into the story firstly through dreams and visions, and I had no way of judging how these "powers", fitted into either the Gypsy world of Mari or the music world of Jazz, the two main characters. This left me wondering whether the focus of the novel was primarily a physical thriller, with supernatural and natural baddies ranged against the true prophet and his fellow believers, or whether it was a novel about Jazz and Mari and their romantic relationship.
I enjoyed the storytelling, particularly the grimy forest world of the Gypsies and Mari’s naivety as she ventures for the first time into the world of the city folk. However, because I was confused as to whether Mari and Jazz were physically hurt by machine guns and attack rifles, I never knew whether to suffer along with them or not.
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LibraryThing member Dgmknzgrl
I received this book through the Early Reviews. The premise of the story is interesting, but the development of the storyline and the characters is not great. The first quarter of the book is spent with the characters running after things, running toward things, running from things, running through
The naiveté of the main girl character (Mari) gets a little annoying as her and the main male character (Jazz) constantly misunderstand one another and you just want to shake them both and say 'take five minutes to explain your bloody stories to each other before you start running, whirling, twirling and falling again!"
Anyhow, I'm about 3/4 of the way through the book and still there is no background information about who or what exactly the people with the 'powers' are, and who or why the bad people are after them. I'm finding it slightly irritating to be constantly drawn into the back and forth conversations that repeatedly reinforce the fact that no one knows what is going on, but I'm going to keep going and finish the book in the hopes that in the end, they do figure it out.
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things and not understanding why they keep experiencing dream-like images that constantly send them whirling, twirling, falling, spinning, and reeling between very brief bits of dialouge or background story. The naiveté of the main girl character (Mari) gets a little annoying as her and the main male character (Jazz) constantly misunderstand one another and you just want to shake them both and say 'take five minutes to explain your bloody stories to each other before you start running, whirling, twirling and falling again!"
Anyhow, I'm about 3/4 of the way through the book and still there is no background information about who or what exactly the people with the 'powers' are, and who or why the bad people are after them. I'm finding it slightly irritating to be constantly drawn into the back and forth conversations that repeatedly reinforce the fact that no one knows what is going on, but I'm going to keep going and finish the book in the hopes that in the end, they do figure it out.
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LibraryThing member scrumble
When I first picked up this book, I honestly thought it would be yet another terrible, derivative fantasy novel. In many ways it was. The characters were a little flat and the romance story threaded through the novel was peppered with obligatory self doubt and angst, but the actual premise was
Some of the religious allusions were a little grating, and the end of the novel was quite frankly disappointing. I also unfortunately lost interest about two thirds of the way through the book and had to force myself to finish reading it, which is never a good sign. However, if you are a fan of the fantasy genre, this book might be right up your street.
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fairly interesting. Mari is a naive gypsy girl, thrust into the world following the death of her grandfather. She finds Jazz, a hard up but deeply talented musician who discovers that his grandfather has left him a "treasure". Turns out Mari's grandfather isn't actually her biological grandfather, paving the way for romance (how convenient). Mari's origins are never really explained properly however, and it feels like it would have been much easier to have the pair cousins and dispense with the romantic aspects entirely. Racing against evil, the pair unravel the mystery left by the gypsy grandfather. Some of the religious allusions were a little grating, and the end of the novel was quite frankly disappointing. I also unfortunately lost interest about two thirds of the way through the book and had to force myself to finish reading it, which is never a good sign. However, if you are a fan of the fantasy genre, this book might be right up your street.
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LibraryThing member Lila_Gustavus
I just couldn't make myself like this book even though I really, really tried. For the first half of the story I wasn't quite sure what it was all about, the action and plot felt all over the place and by the second half I just didn't care all that much. Even though I am a fan of Christian
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thrillers, this one was just not good for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member guy-montag
It's weird. It's simplistic, perhaps aimed at younger readers. It's weird. It's a quick read. It's weird. See a bit of a theme here?
Nice book, but lacking in skill. The ideas, themes, images are interesting, but they're never fleshed out beyond the barest mention.
Crazy, psychic gypsies living
Raised by wolves, er, by a crazy, psychic old gypsy, a young girl tries to escape the forces chasing her. Having as much contact with modern civilization as Tarzan, her confusion at wandering into New Orleans matches my own when it comes to the plot. Meeting a nice boy who also suffers from similar psychic visions, she tries to explain her crazy to him, and struggles not to drool over him. They make friends along the way and manage to elude a mysterious, mystical, malevolent evil that has possessed the FBI, the police, but has a surprisingly hard time at finding anything beyond its own feet. Perhaps it's a highly malevolent, but also highly incompetent evil force? Who knows.
All that said, it's an interesting read, incredibly confusing at times, suffering from terrible character development, but likable nonetheless.
Nice book, but lacking in skill. The ideas, themes, images are interesting, but they're never fleshed out beyond the barest mention.
Crazy, psychic gypsies living
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deep on the bayou are chased by 'The Badness'. It wants them dead with a vengeance. What it is, how it works, why it wants what it wants - none of this is ever explained. It's frustrating at times. Raised by wolves, er, by a crazy, psychic old gypsy, a young girl tries to escape the forces chasing her. Having as much contact with modern civilization as Tarzan, her confusion at wandering into New Orleans matches my own when it comes to the plot. Meeting a nice boy who also suffers from similar psychic visions, she tries to explain her crazy to him, and struggles not to drool over him. They make friends along the way and manage to elude a mysterious, mystical, malevolent evil that has possessed the FBI, the police, but has a surprisingly hard time at finding anything beyond its own feet. Perhaps it's a highly malevolent, but also highly incompetent evil force? Who knows.
All that said, it's an interesting read, incredibly confusing at times, suffering from terrible character development, but likable nonetheless.
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LibraryThing member Nurse451
"Powers" was the first Christian fiction book I’ve ever read, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. I had an extremely difficult time getting into the book, especially through the first 100 pages. I wasn't fond the characters from the very beginning, and the plot was confusing. I found myself
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having to go back and read previous chapters again just to try and understand what was going on. I attempted to finish the last 200 pages, but was not successful. Show Less
LibraryThing member bkbarons
I think this book was misrepresented. I expected fantasy book, bringing in supernatural powers, possibly occultism, but really, this was a christian fiction book. Realizing that part way through was off-putting. I dont think that I would have picked it up if I realized what it was.
But I continued
And what the heck was the significance of the guitar. Jazz seems to think that is the MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER. and i refuse to believe that it is just so he can strum some Dave Matthews on the street corner.
Anyway, unless you are a Christian Fiction fan, I would not recommend. If you are, I actually would.
But I continued
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to read it anyway. I didnt hate it, but it really didnt do much for me. Perhaps if I had read the prequel some of the "Standing" concepts would have made more sense. We never really learned why the Standing were being hunted - just becuase? That isnt enough of a reason for me. The two main characters, Mari and Jazz were both pretty weak and whiny. I think my favorite character was actually the girl that we werent supposed to really like, Hollis, though she too seemed completely unrealistic. "Hey - there's a terrorist cell, let me help them! Ooh, this girl I dont know got shot! Let me break the law and get a doctor over here that i pretend I'll sleep with for free medical care!"And what the heck was the significance of the guitar. Jazz seems to think that is the MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER. and i refuse to believe that it is just so he can strum some Dave Matthews on the street corner.
Anyway, unless you are a Christian Fiction fan, I would not recommend. If you are, I actually would.
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2009-12-01
Physical description
400 p.; 8.3 inches
ISBN
0805447350 / 9780805447354
Local notes
Mariutza (gypsy girl and heroine) was raised in an isolated world in Louisiana, with no experience of the modern world. After her grandfather dies from 'the Badness,' she must go into the city to find the prophet Jaazaniah. She finds Jazz (musician and reluctant hero) who thinks she is insane until he starts having troubling visions.
I found the lyrical writing style enjoyable, but couldn't get into the characters and plot.
I found the lyrical writing style enjoyable, but couldn't get into the characters and plot.