Review: Memories of Tomorrow by Noah Isaacs

Blurb:

For years, Aerym has felt that he was cursed, as if his very being was wrong. Some say that seeing isn’t always believing, but for Aerym, however, nothing could be farther from the truth. Fated to a life of catastrophe and ruin, the visions that plague Aerym's sleep always realize themselves, even when they depict his loved ones dying gruesome deaths before his eyes.

Now, years after he watched everyone and everything he had ever known burn to ash, Aerym finds himself with his sole remaining companion, Jasper. Lost and without purpose, they bide their time until the inevitable comes; when Aerym is warned of their imminent demise... Yet even now he doubts if he's strong enough to combat what's to come.

With little hope left for him and his friend, Aerym resigns to go far to the south, to the lands where magic is as common as war. To where he might get answers, and, if he's lucky, strength enough to gain control of his own life.

Memories and prophecies guide them on their path to salvation, but the past lies, and the future speaks only in tragedies.

Is it truly a blessing to know what's coming even if you're powerless to stop it?

Review:

So… a review for a novel from a member on the review team… I have a few of those out by now. This was a solid start of what will probably be a long series, and the writing from Noah Isaacs is definitely going to get more polished with time, since this is his debut novel. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Does it have its flaws? Yes, and every debut novel has them, especially in the indie scene. Does it make me want to go back for more because of the plot or to see the writing get better and better? Yes. 

Without further ado, if I went to a street corner and tried selling this novel to passersby, I’d try to start with these sentence:

“Aerym can foresee someone’s death. One day, in the search for a way to earn money, he and his friends end up with more than they can chew. Care for more?”,

all while staring at the passerby who stopped to pick up a pamphlet or a book. Now, if they’re still there… I’d continue with the rest of my spiel. So sit back, take a sip of water, and enjoy the rest of my thoughts on this book.

To start this off, we have the characters of Aerym and Jasper. Aerym is our youthful protagonist for this novel, and he’s a character with growing pains. Able to see someone's demise before it happens, he questions his own capabilities as a friend to Jasper, what with their roles as day workers/thieves in the city. He is quiet, cautious and anxious at first, but by the end of the book, he’s grown out of that, somewhat. Meanwhile, we have Jasper, the theater kid of the two. Running his mouth. He is more or less the same throughout the book, with some minor changes in behaviour.

From there, we have the plot, or story line of the book. It begins with Aerym and Jasper looking for work, shenanigans happen in between, with Aerym and Jasper slowly going from just looking for work to running for their lives. The end is good, with a set up for the next book. As for the shenanigans in between, there are many. So many. It works well, all things considered.

After that, we have the world building. Since I’ve learned that Noah Isaacs is a D&D game master, the well built world makes sense. And the map design is great. I liked the variety of factions that are all after something, and Aerym being part of that, but not the central focus. It’s more like Aerym just falls into the chaos of a secret war. So nice main character interaction with the factions of the world.

The only thing I’d have to critique would be dialogue, but it’s rather minor all things considered. Plus, it’s my own opinion on it, so if you want to build your own, go read it.

As always, thank you for reading my rather late review, and I hope I’ve helped nudge you towards your next read, and if not, don’t fret, there’s more here on the site. From myself, sadly not much lately, but that should change soon. Now, if you’re up for an adventure, I have here a random link to a review on the site for you to read as well. It might lead you to another great read.

Wherever you are, have a good morning, good noon and afternoon, good evening, and good night!