Kashif Ross

Spencer Colt carries the barcode of the god Apollo, making him one of the most powerful Gladiators in the world. But such power comes with a price – in particular a destiny to face off against Helios, the tyrant of the east coast.

In this future America, the country has been split by devastating war. A war so destructive that the gods themselves acted to end the conflict. Now wars are fought between gladiators – beings enhanced by the gods and demigods – but not everyone plays by the rules and Helios is plotting to expand his empire by any means necessary

While leaves Spencer with a hard destiny to live up to, complete with a father with high expectations but no time for him and woefully inadequate training and a complicate love triangle between himself, Hannah who he’s always loved, Michelle who he’s often fought and Angie who everyone thinks he should be with due to prophecy.

And then there’s Kode – empowered by the mask of Tartarus and caught in numerous, horrendous acts – is he an enemy or an ally?

The further we go, the more the plots and secrets are unveiled – and the greater the stakes become.

For a long time in this book, I’m flailing without really knowing what’s going on. There isn’t enough world building or character background for me to truly grasp what is happening and why. Even after the 70% mark, when there’s a huge amount of information dumped in there, I’m still guessing and extrapolating more than anything. I’m not sure how the barcodes (which appear to be tattoos and they appear to be born with) give them powers or how much power or what power they give. I’m not sure if there’s a difference based on which god you’re imbued with or whether 2 people imbued with the same god have the same powers. I’m not sure of the power difference between gods and demigods since we see 2 demigods who are more feared and powerful than most gods.

I’m not sure about the writer. Not sure of the relevance of the position of the tattoos. I don’t know why Spencer’s tattoos were bound not sure why the arena and gladiator system exists – I have a vague idea, but I’m not sure. I think it was an alternative to war – but then we go and have a war anyway. Not sure where liminal beings come in at all or where they fit, not sure what dropping into Hades even means – and I’m not especially sure as to the technology and their acronyms that are thrown around a lot to my growing confusion.

And it’s the same with the character interactions. We start the book with a huge rift between Spencer and his dad – but I never quite got why that’s there. Or the relation between Spencer and Michelle and Hannah. We also have Spencer being the moodiest, arsiest angst monster we’ve ever seen – and again I’m not sure why this is. Without a good reason why for the surly teenager act, I was left with Spencer feeling pretty unlikeable to say the least.

There are also a huge number of characters that, despite the large amount of character interaction for the beginning of the book, I had real trouble keeping track of – which was especially hard when one was imperilled. The only characters that felt significant to me were Spencer, Michelle and Kode – so when, for example, Kode’s brother showed up or Spencer’s grandfather, I had to stop to double check who this person actually was. The problem is, menace and even death to some of these people were supposed to be a source of tension in the plot (or at least a source of angst for Spencer) and I didn’t know enough about them to care about their fate.

Read More… (mehr)

Author: Kashif Ross
Published By: K.R.
Age Recommend: Adult(Language)
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Raven Rating: 4
Blog Review For: GMTA
Review:

"Barcode: The Legend of Appollo" by Kashif Ross was a really thrilling read especially if you like Gods, demigods and mortals. These 'Barcodes' have been established to stop the war and to regulate the population...thus giving these gladiators a much stronger power. This story is set in the future from California. You must be ready for this read (I wasn't) because it is very violent and gory(bloody) novel.... A lots of fighting (Demigods fighting gods). I guess I should have picked that up from the book cover.

Now, after saying all that I did find the novel grabbing in how the the author was able to keep my attention of just what was going on at that time. I found myself wanting to keep reading. There are many twist and turns but if you are able to stick with it you will find it a pretty good read. "Barcode" will keep you on the edge of your seat due to the fact that there was so much going on.

Now for the characters....I find them really different in that each had their own story that seemed to be twisted and frustrating. To name some of the characters.... and there are many.....Michelle, Spence, Moreno, Vincent, Angie, Kode, Selena, Payne, Arnold, Hannah, Dennis, Monte, Hayley, Blake, Patrick, Professor Gonzales, Arnold, Kwan, Talib, Arnold, Pastor Gordon, Eli, Casey, Eve, Helios and the list still goes on. The author did well with all these characters.... how he was able to use some many of them was really something! I don't want to give anything away so you will have to read "Barcode" for yourself. However, a few characters I will say really made the novel very interesting... there is Spencer who is not a nice person at times ... I am still not sure just how I felt about him. Then there is Kode(dreadlocks) who wears the Tartarus mask... for he could hold your attention because you never knew what he was going to do next....and later he kills.... Michelle was a demigoddess ... a no none sense person...well enough said ... and then their was Hannah... who was a full goddess...All I will say is that she can work your nerves. ...... Was there love between Spencer, Michelle and Hannah? I will just say it gets very interesting at this point. Weren't Michelle and Hannah friends?

"Barcode" is full of imagination with lots of details and explanations ...with the gladiator fights that made it seem that you were actually there. I don't think you will find one plot because there seens to be several of them.

I believe the author did a splendid job with "Barcode"..and what about that ending? You will have to simply pick up thiss thrilling read to find out just how this novel ends. WoW! I would definitely recommend this book if you are in for a fantastic read.… (mehr)

......................I was shocked mute for a moment there.

The verdict is still out on this novel; and I have a feeling I will be revising this review repeatedly. I mean that in a good way…I’m torn between Epic, 5, and 4.5 hearts! After an interview with the author, I was thrilled to hear he was an Anime fan and drew inspiration from a popular show when writing this novel. My household watches Anime religiously via Anime Network, Adult Swim and online. No, I take that back.... there are certain shows we watch. Any who, I expected to see some paying homage to Bleach. I definitely saw a little of InuYasha similarities in the initial portrayal of Michelle and Spencer’s relationship. One thing that was definitely original was the Greek Mythology intertwined with futuristic technology.

My husband believes the author should transfer this into a graphic novel. I have to agree…I would love to reread this in comic form!
I’m so temped to go on my usual tangent of rambling, but I’m afraid I may say too much, so I’m trying terribly hard to restrain myself.
Whatever you do, don’t read the synopsis and take it at face value. Whoever wrote that needs a serious beat down. This story was so much more then that….OMG! I am so swoon emotional right now when I think of my dear Spencer….

*clearing my throat*

What that hell am I saying. Spencer was very sarcastic and kind of a jerk...so why did I still find him charming? Excellent writing skills I guess! This story has a way of drawing you in and wooing the reader into submission.

There was romance in this story, if you want to call it that. More like some high school guys wet dream, that will never come to fruitation. Yes! I’m a hater! I know! But I found it so hard to believe Spencer was getting the lady’s with his less then charming personality in spite of some chemical reaction. I hated him…I loved him..and it went back and forth like that throughout my reading this. There was one mysterious character however that I never liked…then it’s like he’s thrown at you like he’s Luke ?!?!?! I don’t think so Dark Vader!

I’m sure I’ve terribly confused you by now, but give me time to short through my emotions and I’ll get back on track.

Umm, the gladiator style fight scenes in this book were off the chain. Seriously, the battles were epic. I could visually imagine each play by play. I found myself having many excited spasms startling people on the train. (Good thing I have no qualms about looking like a crazy person…lol…JK!) Oh and there was drama as well. With the way this book ended, I may result to stalking to be the first to see the next installment. I recommend this book to Anime Fans, science fiction and action lovers.… (mehr)