Bookworm Speaks!- Zodiac by Romina Russel

Bookworm Speaks!

Zodiac by Romina Russel

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The Story: Rhoma Grace is a 16-year-old student from House Cancer with an unusual way of reading the stars. While her classmates use measurements to make accurate astrological predictions, Rho can’t solve for ‘x’ to save her life—so instead, she looks up at the night sky and makes up stories.

When a violent blast strikes the moons of Cancer, sending its ocean planet off-kilter and killing thousands of citizens—including its beloved Guardian—Rho is more surprised than anyone when she is named the House’s new leader. But, a true Cancrian who loves her home fiercely and will protect her people no matter what, Rho accepts.

Then, when more Houses fall victim to freak weather catastrophes, Rho starts seeing a pattern in the stars. She suspects Ophiuchus—the exiled 13th Guardian of Zodiac legend—has returned to exact his revenge across the Galaxy. Now Rho—along with Hysan Dax, a young envoy from House Libra, and Mathias, her guide and a member of her Royal Guard—must travel through the Zodiac to warn the other Guardians.

But who will believe anything this young novice says? Whom can Rho trust in a universe defined by differences? And how can she convince twelve worlds to unite as one Zodiac?

The Good: The most astonishing thing about this book is the world-building. An ad on a website was what initially drove Bookworm to this tome and he immediately got sucked into the immense galaxy that Romina Russell has constructed. In this world, settlers from Earth journeyed to an colonized a new solar system. Every constellation in the Greek Zodiac has created its own society around a planet or planets and the peoples that inhabit them have developed distinct culture, Aeries, Sagittarius, Capricorn etc. The House Cancer for example is a water planet and its people are known for their compassion. 

The whole book has been described as a combination between high fantasy and Science Fiction and the author does a good job of weaving the two elements together. The world is a clearly based on technology, with spacecraft and holograms being commonplace, but there are many fantastical elements as well. Physic communication and using astrology to predict the future are used as a foundation of this society and even the technology feels like magic. 

The best part of this world-building is how we are shown a great deal of it and how it is explained through Rho’s narrative. The worst part of many speculative fiction novels is how we are shown all of these maps and cities and references to other parts of the world and very little of it is shown and we are forced to rely on supplementary materials. On that note: The Books website which offers such materials is very well designed. It would have been nice to have some pictures though. Anyway…we actually have motive to travel to such worlds and they are described to the reader. 

Rho is a very realistic character being a teenager which is very hard to nail down. Her fear, inexperience, and struggles feel very authentic. The author does a good job of making her seem like a realistic teenager. She is worried about school and her family and plays drums in a band (Something tells the Worm that is based on the authors own experience). This adds a touch of realism that makes her seem all the more real. The book takes her on an emotional roller coasters and the wear and tear definitely shows in her mind, half the time she’s on the verge of tears, not understanding what is going on. This is a very good example of the writer’s skill as nerves of steel seem to be the norm among the genre. 

Finally…the Villian: Ophiuchus is very much in the vein of Sauron from Lord of The Rings. He is more a force, a phenomenon more than a face, especially near the beginning. While Rho and he do talk to each other several times, the way he is presented makes seem all the more sinister and his use of natural disasters, makes the other houses skepticism understandable. The fact that the disasters he causes have long lasting consequences adds a touch of realism to the plot. 

The Flaws: This book is a definitely a young adult novel, a genre that has enjoyed immense popularity in the 21st century, and unfortunately this books comes with a multitude of the flaws that come with the genre. 

The Love Triangle is a compelling trope if used correctly and it tends to sputter in several places during the books. The truth of the matter is that the conflict between Rho, Hysan, and Matthias is ridden with cliches and Rho’s internal monologues get old very fast. 

Perhaps this is a symptom of Bookworm simply getting older, but the teenage protagonist is not a very compelling character. She is quite young and gets swept up in events beyond her control. A perk of adulthood is gaining the experience and maturity in order to take charge of life situations. Rho does not really do this for the majority of the story. She is a very reactive character and not proactive. Many times, while reading the book, annoyance was the emotion that was conjured up in regards to Rho instead of encouragement. 

According to the summary, the plot goes through many twists and turns. This can make for a very exciting read but if the author is not careful it can make the plot very confusing. Near the end, the whole things starts falling apart and frankly moves too fast and leaves the reader struggling to keep up. To be frank, Bookworm may need to go back and reread the last third in order to get a better idea of how things all went wrong for Rho. 

Final Verdict: The ending was a little contrived but Bookworm is looking forward to the sequel. 

Four out of Five Stars

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