The Bearer’s Burden by Chad Queen (Book Review & Intl Giveaway)

I received a free copy of this book, thanks to Encoded Press and NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinions on the book.

Book Blurb:

Cade Elegy’s mind is tearing itself apart, crowded with the phantoms of the dead, and he must carry the burdens they could not.

This bond lends him their experience and allows him to bend the laws of the physical world — a power he desperately needs if he is to discover the truth of what happened to his missing family.

The trail has gone cold, but he is given one last chance when he is recruited by a princess to solve a murder. They soon uncover proof that their war with the Wraiths, a hostile alien race dominating their planet, never really ended.

Together with the princess, an overzealous archaeologist, and an ancient computer intelligence, Cade must stop the Wraiths before they annihilate the last remaining cities of Chalice and before the phantoms he bears destroy what’s left of his mind.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Tags: Adult Fiction, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Dystopian, Friendship, Romance
Publication date: May 8th 2018

My Thoughts:

Phew!

Now that was one heck of a ride.

The Bearer’s Burden, a debut novel by Chad Queen, is an explosive Sci-Fi adventure about one guy’s road to avenging his love ones while struggling to rein in his own demons.

Cade Elegy is a reckless, but compassionate, guy hell-bent on making the Wraiths pay for taking away his beloved wife and children. Burdened with grief, the multiple phantoms vying for space in his head and feeling like a fraud, Cade is spiralling out of control.

Enter the princess, headstrong and soft-hearted but lacking experience in the harsh world outside of the castle walls. She gives Cade no choice but to help her in her own quest to get to the bottom of her Uncle’s death.

I liked that the characters were flawed and the author took his time in allowing them to grow. The story ebbed and flowed throughout with action and short spates of passive activity. Towards the end of the book the fights increased with great feverishness that you get sucked in turning page after page you almost forget to come up for air. This is a risky thing for an author, in my opinion, as readers may feel fatigue from all the action. I also enjoyed the encoding aspect of the story, it’s basically like a superpower. Queen made it all the more fun by setting limits to what you can do with it, too.

However, one thing I did not like was the author’s proclivity for using ‘Hells’ and ‘rubbed his/her chin’ for a bunch of characters. It’s quite likely that the author’s own mannerisms bled into his characters.

(Here’s a song that I think fits perfectly with the book!)

Aside from these minor issues, The Bearer’s Burden keeps you on the edge of your seat because, despite its overall formulaic storyline and bits of cheesiness, it keeps you wavering with uncertainty as to whether any of the characters you love will make it out alive. And even though you expect something bad to happen after the short respite of peace, it still manages to surprise you. Packed with intense action scenes straight out of a blockbuster movie and poignant scenes involving the phantoms, I find it hard to believe this is Chad Queen’s first novel!

Parental Guidance: 12+
Violence – Medium
Sex – None
Religion – Some. No preaching
Profanity – Some, but mild

Should You Get This Book?:

Get it if:

• You live for stories teeming with action
• You enjoy books with world-building(this one is on a medium level)
• You love adventurous stories
• You like villains who are not entirely black-and-white

Don’t get it if:

• You want a good amount of romance
• You’re looking for a simple story

Grab this now on: Amazon | Goodreads

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