Domination
by Jon S. Lewis is the third and final book in the C.H.A.O.S.
trilogy. The story revolves around sixteen-year-old Colt McAlister,
the grandson of the legendary Phantom Flyer, and his fellow cadets who
are training to stop an alien invasion
of Earth. Domination wraps up the storyline, bringing to an end this
particular adventure. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see another
trilogy or two following the further adventures of Colt and his friends.
As
the third book in a trilogy, Domination serves its function well. All
the major characters are brought together, including Oz, Grampa,
Danielle, Lily, Pierce, and Koenig, with a few surprises still in
store. Additionally, the invasion of Earth by the Thule is wrapped up
in a satisfying manner. I was pleased with the conclusion; however, it
did seem a little rushed.
Lewis’s
writing style is clean and fast-paced. There is very little down time
in the story, which makes this ideal for a teenager, particularly
middle-school aged boys. The chapters are short, the characters are
pretty well drawn and believable, although they are closer to the hero
ideal than a typical teenager.
My
biggest fault with this book, and the series as a whole, is that there
is just too much stuff shoved into such a short series. There are so
many good, clever, and interesting ideas that they aren’t fully
explored, which often results in a rushed feeling. For instance, Colt
is involved in a semi-romantic relationship with Lily that started in
the first book. Because there is so much going on with the alien
invasion plot, after the first book the relationship begins to seem
tacked on and extra to the plot. Also, Colt uses his Christian faith to
encourage himself in his battle, but his Christianity is barely
referred to until this point. Additionally, several of the characters’
motivations are only explained in brief, and this makes it seem like the
story is missing depth.
Don’t
get me wrong, I enjoyed the series and found it entertaining. I just
believe that the first book did such a good job of introduction and
set-up of the concepts, that Lewis could have added more, either pages
or books. I would like to have seen the world of C.H.A.O.S. more fully
realized.
I
read an early copy in ebook form and there were multiple formatting
issues that were often very distracting and caused problems in following
who was speaking. Hopefully this gets resolved when the final copy is
published.
That
said, I would recommend Domination, as well as Invasion and Alienation,
to readers who like their books with aliens, adventures, heroics, and
teenage protagonists. I’d also highly recommend them to teenage
readers, especially reluctant readers.
I received a review copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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