A Paleolithic Fable: An Anki Legacies High Fantasy for Young Adults by S. Shane Thomas

A Paleolithic Fable: An Anki Legacies High Fantasy for Young Adults Reviews

• 
  Leenna Naidoo

  I received an Advanced Reader Copy.
  
  I was expecting an action-packed adventure with some fun characters. That’s what I got with a whole lot more. Once introduced to all seven main characters and the setting, I could not stop reading this book.
  
  A Paleolithic Fable has a believable interaction of ancient peoples, a rich cast of engaging characters, and draws equally on ancient myths and science to weave an adventurous satisfying tale.
  I was pleasantly surprised to find the beginning of the book reminding me of one of my favourite movies, 10,000 BC.
  
  Each main characters points of view and motivations are explored. Action scenes are fast-paced and engaging, while the plot, familiar in certain respects, has a few twists up its sleeve. Female characters are strong and well-drawn, as a young characters.
  The villains are truly villainous, while their minions surprising in their humanity.
  
  S Shane Thomas has taken an epic and reduced it to its essence for this time-poor reader, without losing any of the story.
  I loved the philosophical and spiritual questions debated by and explored by the characters. What makes a human different from other animals and creatures? Can different species be the same at heart spiritually, and what would draw them together?
  I also loved that the characters which needed it the most found redemption, and that the most unlikely heroes still win through.
  
  But what I loved the most was how familiar mythical beings and their origins were briefly touched upon, and that it was done in a fun manner, which I didn’t mind at all.
  
  At first, without all the main characters being named, it was a little difficult to keep track of all the characters I should care about. Fortunately, this problem is quickly resolved, and what should have been a weakness is turned into a strength when the characters adjust to their names.
  
  I actually wanted it be longer! While all my questions were answered and all the threads wound up tied up in the end, I would happily have spent another few thousand words with my, by then, favourite characters. I immediately started reading LARC Transmissions, a collection of flash and short fiction set in the same universe to get a sense of what the paleolithic characters had started.
  
  I Recommend to: lovers of 10 000 BC and Stargate, readers looking for a solid adventure, animal and ancient history lovers.
• 
  Ducky

  S. Shane Thomas wrote an unusual book. It didn't follow many of the normal tropes. I remember seeing that he calls it both a Science Fiction and Epic Fantasy story and I couldn't see how that could be true. However, he managed to pull it off. It had some of my favorite fantasy elements of someone from one world traveling by some means to another very different world and having to gather companions to save the day. The difference in this book was that Bobby, the main character, traveled no via magic but via a time traveling 3D printer. I don't want to say more about that and spoil the book, but all the characters were interesting and they all grew and developed over the course of the story. It was really a rather engrossing story and I'm glad I picked it up.
• 
  Neil Carstairs

  It’s a strange thing that it took the naming of characters in this book for them to achieve self-awareness and that was the same time I found myself being drawn into the story. This came at around the 20% mark, and I’m not sure if the author intended this. Up until that point, the main characters were called by their ‘tribal’ names or physical characteristics; Mother Icehunter, Firebringer, Swapper, Ebu Gogo, One-Eye to name some. It caused a curious mish-mash of pov switches from chapter to chapter as each character was introduced and their physical traits explained. Into all this came the Skinchanger. A man from the far future sent back to stop time-travelling aliens from wiping out the human race at the dawn of pre-history.
  
  The aliens recruit Ghostkin warriors, human cannibals who have been preying upon the other humans, to aid them. The Skinchanger, Bobby, recruits a rag-tag band of humans to fight back. Think the Magnificent Seven in Pre-history and you get the idea. It’s a fairly fast moving story, the pov jumps are well-handled and the different characters all have their own voices to show the author has paid attention to their development.
  
  The opening scenes of the book were a little confusing. I wasn’t sure if it came as a direct continuation of a previous novel, and although it forms part of the author's LARC1 universe I’m still no wiser but the mix of magic, science and fantasy carried me nicely to the final confrontation. A blend that the author has obviously spent time building into his world. Overall it worked very well.
  
  KU download Feb/Mar 2017
• 
  Debbie

  He had lived through some strange events but now he was going to travel to the stoneages to try and stop some dangerous invaders who are going to eliminate humans before they civilized the land. This is a fantasy quest story about a man name Bobby and his misfit of odd people he meets along the way, each have a strength,abilities, and powers. The story is very adventures and lot's of fighting and I love each character in the story and what they had to go through in their life. I love the cover and the sketches of each character in the book (I had to get out my dictionary to figure out what some of the words meant). I recommend this book. And to the author S Shane Thomas thank you for picking me in the giveaway.
• 
  Charles McCormack

  Book review A Paleolithic Fable
  
  I was given a free version of this book so that I could review it.
  I hesitated to write this review because it isn’t positive. Yet, I laud the young author for his love of writing and hope he continues to develop his craft because he has some very good ideas.
  
  I looked forward to reading a Paleolithic Fable but walked away disappointed having found it an effortful read. From the beginning, it left me confused and experiencing the need to re-read sections to see what I had missed given explanatory gaps in the narrative or sentences that simply didn’t seem to make sense. Such gaps in the cohesion of the story made it difficult to settle into the flow of the read, requiring effort (something I hate as a reader) to make leaps of understanding, if not faith, on the part of this reader. For example, even though Paleolithic Fable opened with an inventive idea—a part-man entity being constructed by a 3D fabrication machine touted as the means of time travel given he could be sent via electronic burst—it didn’t explain how the machine itself had gotten 70, 000 years into the past. There were also numerous name changes in the characters, leading to my having to struggle, sometimes failing, to remember who was who.
  Then there was the problem with the writing. The author seemed more interested in setting down his various ideas on paper, than in bringing them to life. There was little character development or care given to finding just the right word. Nor, did I come across a well-crafted sentence that in itself was a joy to read or that would transport the reader beyond himself. The result was the choppy two-dimensional feel of a comic strip (which perhaps was the intent) than the multi-dimensional feel of coming to identify with a living breathing entity one would hope for in a novel. Consequently, there was nary a character with whom I could empathize, so I cared little about their stories or their fates. Along the way of this read, I did enjoy the author’s creative use of some words like “thinkiest” that were original and helped convey the sense of the character who lacking modern man’s mental capacities was struggling to process his thoughts. Nevertheless, for the most part, what I had expected to be a runaway summer read—given other reviews—fell short of this hope.
  
• 
  Brian Michaud

  A Paleolithic Fable was an entertaining read. It had a Guardians of the Galaxy kind of feel, but in reverse.
  
  A human travels back to the time of cavemen to stop an evil race of creatures from destroying the world. Along the way, our futuristic hero, Bobby, meets a hodgepodge group of early humans. Each has his/her own special power that contributes to the group: strength. adaptability, soul walking, control of mana (one’s essence), and grandfather memories.
  
  A mixture of fact and fiction, A Paleolithic Fable takes the reader on a journey into both a past that was and a past that could have been. As I read, I found myself looking up information on prehistoric times, creatures, and peoples that Thomas referenced.
  
  S Shane Thomas creates a world with multiple tendrils that allows for many other adventures for the characters and their histories and futures.
  
  My one critique was that I did not feel as connected to the characters as I would have liked. The story was told in multiple perspectives, and, though it helped me gain a greater understanding of the characters backgrounds and personalities, I did not feel myself drawn to any one character in particular. This may be just my own hang up because I have not read many books that are set up this way.
  
  All in all, a great read by a talented author.
• 
  Debbie

  story is set in the stone ages and it's about one man travels back in time and is trying to stop two Anki from stopping humans from civilized. With the help of misfits they join the fight to keep the dangerous Anni. If you love Fantasy, historical, magical then you will love this book,, like I did. The author S Shane Thomas is very descriptive of each character you meet in the story.
• 
  Amy Shannon

  Engaging!
  
  It's one of those sci-fi books that remind you of others, as there is a mix of other sci-fi or fantasy tones to this story. It's still its own story, and that lends to Thomas' talent for penning a good story. What could be more fun than superhero characters, good versus evil, and the risk of the end of humanity? This is one to read, especially for fans of sci-fi and superheroes. We all need a superhero now and then. I do have to add that the action/fight scenes are very well written, and those are not always easy scenes to write, and to get it right. Thomas did.