Ecliptic tells the story of teenage twins Izie and Sam, in the year 2035. Mysterious signs suddenly appear on their arms one day in June, and they grow to learn that they have special powers and an extremely important role to play in the impending doom that is the end of the world. In the past, 12 Celestial beings were sent to Earth to live as humans, reawakening after each life span until they were needed, with little to no knowledge of who they really are. These 12 beings represented the 12 signs of zodiac, and now, Izie and Sam are sucked into a world that they don't remember or recognise. Grouping together with half of the Guardians (the Celestial beings from the zodiac), Izie and Sam are thrown into a war they didn't realise was all around them. The Guardians are split down the middle, half want to save the humans of Earth from the end of the world, and half just want to let it happen so they can return home to their planets.
When I read the description for this novel, I was very intrigued. I thought the concept was a very cool idea and I was excited to read it. For the most part, I really enjoyed it. The characters all had very different, unique characteristics and I grew to like some and hate others. They were 'real' enough in that they made mistakes, fell in love, laughed and joked, cried and died. But having said that, there were just so many characters. Being that there are 12 signs of the Zodiac, and each Guardian had at least one (if not two) 'Keepers' (people who were like...their side kicks), that's a lot of people to keep a track of. I often found myself stopping and thinking 'wait, who?'. It was only until I got to the very end of the book, that I discovered Lunardi has written a character list of who's who and what their zodiac signs and powers are. If you read this, note that that is there. You might need it.
In regards to plot, I really enjoyed the main story line, and thought the overall concept was a very cool one. However there were quite a few mistakes, which was a little bit distracting from the story, but that's something that probably just needs tweaking here and there. Something else that I found a bit distracting (and at times, very confusing) was the point of view. The books starts off with a prologue, which introduces the reader to Daniel, and is written in third person. Then it jumps to Thomas, also in third person. Chapter one begins the novel how I thought it would continue, with Izie's character, in first person, but it didn't continue like that at all. Throughout the book, it changes between Izie's first person voice, and other chapters or sections in third person. This would be semi okay in itself, but in the parts when it was third person, there wasn't a clear point of view. It was very much third person omniscient, in that even the reader knew what each character in scene was thinking, feeling etc. This made for some very confusing reading at times, and I think that the overall story line would have flowed better (for me anyway) if there were at least sections dedicated to one character, rather than Izie's chapters/sections and then everyone else's all in one. I hope that makes sense.
However, it was a very good story, and despite it taking me a little while to get through it (due to the things I've just mentioned) I really did enjoy it. If you're looking for a fantasy/supernatural sort of story with a bit of romance, almost alien-like creatures, and a whole lot of star constellations, and an epic battle, give Ecliptic a go. I'm giving it a
3 stars.
Thank you to Sara Lunardi, who sent me this copy for an honest review.
Image from Good Reads.
