Member Reviews
The story starts out down in the dumps. Preston has a shit diagnosis of MS at a young age, a crush he’s to scared to act on, fixated interest in military history and a mother that is leaning hard into Christian faith as a crutch.
Preston is dropped into another world, and promptly into a battle. He also seems to have arrived sans his shitty MS problem. Interesting weaponry that took some googling on my part. Seems like a video game immersion at first but is not.
A case of mistaken identity due to brain swapping. Fun and intriguing.
I really appreciated how unique and different this book was! The world building was a little intense at times, but it was easier to swallow since the main character was experiencing this new world too. Speaking of the MC, Preston definitely grew on me. He seemed naïve and in need of growing up at first, but his character arc throughout the story was very well done. By the end I was smiling at his sense of humor and rooting for his journey as he asked faith filled questions and gave intelligent military strategy in a world he knew nothing about at first. While the military aspects did go over my head at times I still appreciated the attention to detail the authors provided.
Tabby's storyline was also super intriguing to me - I'm definitely interested to see how her character progresses in subsequent books. I also loved when all the POVs came together and am looking forward to seeing how they'll work together going forward!
I found "The Respian Man" to be a delightful read. Its intriguing storyline, blending humor and adventure seamlessly, kept me thoroughly engaged. The world-building is truly remarkable, with added depth from its philosophical themes. The characters are convincingly portrayed and easy to connect with, enhancing the immersive experience. While at times the pace felt a touch fast for my liking, I believe a more narrative-driven approach could have strengthened the narrative. Nevertheless, it serves as a compelling introduction to what promises to be an impressive series.
Imagine if you could live hundreds of years, be physically healed by oxygen surrounding you or have time periodically stop-freezing your environment but you remain mobile and aware. The catch is you leave everyone and everything you know behind you. Would you do it? What if you haven't a choice?
THE RESPIAN MAN is a science fiction/fantasy novel that takes the reader to another world, where it seems miracles can occur. Preston is out in the woods checking on his treehouse when he looses hid compass, ends up in a cave and finally finds himself viewing a battle. Of course, he has always been interested in historic battles, being physically limited. As he is walking around observing everything, chaos erupts around him and he awakens in an infirmary. Soon he finds himself within the inner circles of the war itself. I enjoyed reading the story and finding the added imagery of men and women being virtually the same while retaining a few differences interesting. At times the story does drag on but it is worth reading. I didn't care for the ending as it wasn't really an ending to me, merely a cliffhanger for the next book. Also, I appreciated having some explanations at the end of the story. If you like science fiction and fantasy, mixed with a little reality you should read this.
While I feel this would easily reach its target audience, I was bored. There is definitely potential lying in the pages, it just lacked oomph for me.