Cosmo Digital

Author: Louise Cooper
Page Count: 294 pages
Review originally written 4-6-2003

I bought this book last summer from The Bookworm because it looked to be interesting. I read the first few pages as soon as I bought it, but never progressed any further than that. Months later, after seeing it on my bookshelves, I decided that since I own it, I might as well read it too.

It seems to be a pretty general fantasy series, although it does contain some interesting points. Although the very beginning of the fook is focused on the mysterious tower (a concept which has been used many times before), the majority of the book revolves around a Pandora's Box theme, in which Indigo has released a number of demons from inside this chest, and must now go about destroying them. While reading it, I couldn't help but think of the television series Brimstone in which demons escape from Hell and a man has to destroy them all, although it was set in modern day society, as opposed to this unreal fantasy world.

One thing I found interesting was that this world, although not explicitly stated, is supposed to be a future version of Earth after the majority of those on it were destroyed for their insensitivity to the plight of the Earth. This is one of those times where I can see a great deal of the author's beliefs were expressed, as nature was a very large theme in this work.

This future Earth plotline has been used before too, most notably in Terry Brooks' Shannara series, although with much different effect. With Brooks, there is much less focus on the distant past, whose inhabitants were destroyed by conventional means (a great war, probably involving nuclear weapons) rather than unreal means as shown in this book (the Earth itself rising up and destroying everyone). Brooks' series is also a much more conventional fantasy, dealing with the usual magickal quest, the unknown hero, the mystical sword, the various fantasy races, etc...

Overall this book was an interesting read, even if it did not really stand out among all the other books in the genre. I had originally thought this to be the first book in a trilogy, and was therefore suprised to discover it was comprised of seven books. Although I have since looked at a few bookstores, I have not found any of the subsequent installments. If I do eventually come upon them, however, I will make sure to read them.

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