Myriad problems plague ‘Exodus Gate’
“The Exodus Gate” by Stephen Zimmer is set in a parallel world very similar, but a little more extreme, than our current one.
Benedict Darwin is the host of a late-night radio show that features everything paranormal. He’s kind of the Art Bell of this alternate world. After the terrorist events of 7/4 the government has become more intrusive, with cameras and GPS systems marking everyone’s movements. Benedict resents the invasion, but little does he know that some of the conspiracy theories he’s heard over time could in fact be true.
Though not a fan of the cameras, Benedict isn’t against all technology, and he manages to get his hands on the latest virtual reality simulator. As he plays the game, he enters a new realm, one filled with giant wolf creatures, dragons, angels and demons.
Benedict becomes a bit obsessed with the game, which he soon finds out isn’t a game at all. The device actually is a portal to a different time, taking Benedict back to before the Great Flood. Benedict finds himself right in the middle of a battle between the powers of good and evil.
“The Exodus Gate” is a little bit fantasy, a little bit adventure and a little bit biblical, with God, the devil, Noah and others all represented, though under different names.
The story itself is imaginative and the characters intriguing. The writing is a bit slow, but the biggest flaw of the book is in the editing.
First, at more than 500 pages, I’d say this book is at the very least 100 pages too long. Cutting out chapters that seem only to be there to set up a sequel would move the action along at a quicker pace.
Second, as far as the characters go, they all seem to have glowing or piercing blue eyes, making me think I was reading “Dune” or something. Also, many of the names begin with A or R: Arianna, An-Ki, Adonai, Annika, Aaliyah, Allyson, Azazel, Alena, Arundinel, Raymond, Rowan, Randall, Raziel, Rofacale, Rimmon. Most of these characters are secondary, making it even more confusing and hard to keep track of who is who.
Lastly, not only is the book riddled with typos, but many of the word choices are poor. Writers should take care when choosing words not commonly used when speaking. The word "myriad" must appear in the book at least 20 times, and it wasn’t always used correctly. The word "ominous" makes numerous appearances as well as "malevolent." This type of redundancy distracts readers and eventually becomes comical. I began circling myriad every time I saw it.
“The Exodus Gate” is the author’s first full-length novel as well as the first release of new small press publisher Seventh Star Press. It’s supposed to be Book One in the Rising Dawn Saga. Here’s hoping they get a more heavy-handed editor for Book Two.
