So far, one chapter exists of The story of squad 13. The question this review seeks to answer is whether that chapter will convince you to want to read another.
For a story to warrant continuation, it needs a hook. Squad 13 has a hook, squad 13 is Captain Hook. The author paints you a picture of a seedy, underbelly world where addiction and abuse are rife, but he doesn't just tell you, the author allows you to discover it for yourself. The author illustrates dependence, hopelessness, brutality and callous disregard for the lives of a character's loved ones or even their own all without wasting a word. No omniscient narrator need take the time to explain what the world is like, it unfurls within the story as the author intends it to. You may find yourself confused for a moment, but hold on because you're experiencing the world with the characters.
The chapter has action, lots of action. Great action. Detailed yet succinct. At no point do you feel words are wasted while describing the action sequences. Indeed, if anything it creates another mystery, the operation of the artificers. How do their powers work? One with a game controller, another with a phone, perhaps? Another still by conjuring weapons from the air. As much as you can with the written word, we see the powers displayed, but we're not told how they work. Don't take that as a criticism, but rather as an observation of the mystery of the powers in this world being used as yet another hook.
So the story is good? Yes, so far, definitely. It takes, however, more than a good story to make a good novel. The writing has to be proficient, here is where this story suffers, but only slightly. On the whole, the story is well written. There are, however, grammatical errors, and perhaps a logical error to two, that serve to distract from the unfolding story. Normally I don't care much for grammatical errors. A missed comma, or 10 might be sloppy. but it doesn't seriously hinder enjoyment or understanding, so know when I talk about grammatical errors, the ones I speak of are of a serious nature. I did notice some serious grammatical errors, but luckily, not so many to seriously impact on my enjoyment of the story.
So, as we established, the question this review seeks to answer is whether this chapter inspires one to want to read more, the answer is a resounding yes. You'll find yourself hooked and reeled in by the unfolding world of The story of Squad 13
