Three Seeds – Gabriel Madison
August 19, 2009
Urban Fantasy
290 pages, paperback
eTreasures Publishing
Book provided by the author
I love to read books when I know absolutely nothing about the plot – well let me rephrase. I love to read books where I know nothing about the plot, and the book actually turns out to be good. Three Seeds definitely fit the bill. This book is different – I wouldn’t necessarily call it a romance book. Urban Fantasy with a slight romance feel. But, the story was good and it was definitely a change of pace for me.
Rose has been living a quiet life in a small southern town for three years. The last three years are important to her because that is all she remembers. Previously, she awoke in a hospital bed with absolutely no memory of her life. The only constant in her life the past three years has been David. He tells her he pulled her damaged body out of a car accident that fateful day and they have developed something of a friendship. David never divulges details of his life, but he is kind and Rose enjoys eating out with him every once in a while although David is constantly on alert, looking around. What Rose doesn’t know is David is protecting her from unthinkable horrors.
A huge cold front moves across much of the United States, and snow blankets the ground in every southern town. Rose loves snow, and has been wishing for it as a matter of fact. She can’t enjoy it for long as her quiet life gets turned completely upside down. A group of men pull up to her house and try to kill her. While she barricades herself in a room, the violence is suddenly quiet. David is there to save the day.
David quickly rushes Rose out to safety. Everything Rose thought about the world she lives in is about to come crashing down. There are big players in the world, some not even of this world, that want her dead. Others will lay down their lives for her. She must find out what is so special that these beings will risk everything they have to save her or hunt her down.
What Rose doesn’t know (and what I wish I knew more towards the beginning of the book) is that she has three seeds, or souls inside of her. There are three ancient races – a Host is born with a Seed inside of them. On the Host’s twentieth birthday, the Seed comes to life, stripping away the Host’s previous memories. Rose is different, in that, she has all three Seeds inside of her. That has never happened before and people are scared – they don’t know what kind of power she will be able to wield. David is sort of a policeman of the Seeds, he takes them out if they go rogue. However, he abandoned his position when he met Rose and people are after him too.
When I finished Three Seeds, I really liked it but felt like I was on information overload. First I loved the character of David – I would have loved to read about David more. A very quiet, reserved hero who is deadly with a gun. He has a quiet air of confidence and you never quite know what is going on inside his head.
Rose acted way too rational when the world comes crumbling down around her. People are literally getting their heads ripped off and she running for her life, and she keeps it together pretty well. After David explains who she is, where she came from and after she lights someone on fire just by getting angry, she asks David – “There was never a car accident was there?” Rose! All signs point to NO. At some points I wanted Davide and Rose to take center stage more – push all of the supporting characters to the side.
Also, one thing this story really could have benefitted from is a glossary. When I read books with glossaries, I rarely read them – but if this book would have had one I would have utilized it and had a much better understanding of what was going on. There are four main groups – The Seeds, The Hunters, The Guardians and the Shadow Government. A good explanation of what those entities are was not really given until more than two-thirds through the book. Besides being four main groups, there were several characters each belonging to each group and after awhile, I felt like I needed to create a flowchart to keep everyone straight. It is much more fun to read and get lost in the story, then constantly rereading trying to remember how everyone is connected.
That being said, this is a very interesting and unique story, one that had me thinking about it for days afterwards. Although the story wraps up the main arc well, I still wanted more. I want to know more about the “new” world, one that I think Gabriel Madison could write several sequels to and still have a story to write. The surface of this unique and complex world he has created was barely skimmed. I would love for him to go more into the beginning and how these groups came to exist.
Three Seeds lays the foundation for a unique and complex world and I hope we get to see more of Rose and David in the future.
Rating: 3 stars
Gabriel Madison’s Website
Gabriel Madison on Goodreads
**Be sure to stop by later today for a guest post from Gabriel Madison and a chance to win Three Seeds**
Hi Mandi,
That sure sounds like a complex world, I do love it when an author really creates.
Could be something for me
You did a very thorough review, which I love. I remember when I went looking for some information on this book, there wasn't much to be found. Great job, thanks!
Hm. Sounds like a complex and deep story. Also sounds pretty crowded inside Rose with all those souls roaming around.
Blodeuedd – It really is a great world..I would love to learn more about it.
Fantasy Dreamer – Thanks:)
KB – Yes, Rose has quite a few things going on with her to say the least.
Lovely interview – I love stories with convoluted plot and if this book is going to a second book – just having the ground work is nice…
I'll be keeping this one in mind…I'm not a fan of the cover though..
E.H>
Hi Mandi!
Great honest review. I might take a peek at this one. I love good world building, but it sounds like a bit more is need, which is always the problem authors run into when creating their worlds. How much is too much and when is it not enough?
I bet the next book takes some of this into account.
Dottie :)
I love the cover, but I'm not sure this storyline is something that would work for me.