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A review by justjonsbooks
Rightful King by Michael Rudin
2.0
I’ve had this very short book free on Kindle for a long time but wanted to check it out since Black Ops 2 is one of my favourite video games. It was a basic but interesting enough backstory for the Raul Menendez’ character, which helps us to understand his past and motives at bit better.
It briefly covers his family and his upbringing then how his life suddenly changed after a tragic earthquake. Memories of the daily struggles, the fight for survival and most importantly the heartache he faced while trying to care for a loved one with whatever supplies he could scavenge from the streets. These factors in his past are what drive him to seek his own form of vengeance and justice against those who turned a blind eye and never sent aid. There are a couple cool moments where the violence he inflicts mirrors the pain and struggles he and his loved one went through.
However the reason for my low rating is firstly down to the fact that I didn’t really like the writing. I’m not sure how to explain it properly but something about it felt weird like the writer was inexperienced and trying too hard to be poetic or edgy. I sometimes had to double read a line to make sure I read it properly and if it actually made sense. If anything I was glad the book was so short because I simply didn’t enjoy the act of reading it.
Also the story overall didn’t really amount to anything exciting that would make me want to play the game again. I expected the first part to be about his past (which it was) but I hoped the second part would be more focused on how he gained his power and reputation, what his plans are and simply tie into the game more in the near ‘present’ time. We get a tiny amount from just before he’s about to do a speech but then there’s just even more details and memories from his past. Then it ends before anything cool really happens.
Ultimately it sets up the back story of the character but doesn’t really link with or set up the story of the game at all. But even though I didn’t like the writing, it would have been interesting to see a full sized novel surrounding this character. Anyways this review was way longer than it needed to be for such a short book. Plus I’ve basically just told the whole story, so it probably saves you having to read it at all!
It briefly covers his family and his upbringing then how his life suddenly changed after a tragic earthquake. Memories of the daily struggles, the fight for survival and most importantly the heartache he faced while trying to care for a loved one with whatever supplies he could scavenge from the streets. These factors in his past are what drive him to seek his own form of vengeance and justice against those who turned a blind eye and never sent aid. There are a couple cool moments where the violence he inflicts mirrors the pain and struggles he and his loved one went through.
However the reason for my low rating is firstly down to the fact that I didn’t really like the writing. I’m not sure how to explain it properly but something about it felt weird like the writer was inexperienced and trying too hard to be poetic or edgy. I sometimes had to double read a line to make sure I read it properly and if it actually made sense. If anything I was glad the book was so short because I simply didn’t enjoy the act of reading it.
Also the story overall didn’t really amount to anything exciting that would make me want to play the game again. I expected the first part to be about his past (which it was) but I hoped the second part would be more focused on how he gained his power and reputation, what his plans are and simply tie into the game more in the near ‘present’ time. We get a tiny amount from just before he’s about to do a speech but then there’s just even more details and memories from his past. Then it ends before anything cool really happens.
Ultimately it sets up the back story of the character but doesn’t really link with or set up the story of the game at all. But even though I didn’t like the writing, it would have been interesting to see a full sized novel surrounding this character. Anyways this review was way longer than it needed to be for such a short book. Plus I’ve basically just told the whole story, so it probably saves you having to read it at all!