Reluctant Gods IV - Aysel

The Prequel

Fiction - Supernatural
235 Pages
Reviewed on 10/14/2014
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

I was born in Connecticut, educated as a mechanical engineer in Massachusetts, and moved to Ohio for a job in a Fortune 200 company. I've since left the safety of that career, having been in multiple manufacturing roles, including: engineering manager, plant manager, and an acquisition captain, as well as an internal consultant for numerous manufacturing plants on Lean methodology. I have now set about consulting part time and writing the rest of the time.

I was always a maverick as a child, and an adult, and was never quite able to draw inside the lines or follow certain rules. I did however, figure out how to fit into acceptable society and not be a pink monkey. This, and the engineering training I had, taught me to question everything, and never automatically believe in anything. Consequently, I was always a handful for anyone I reported to. Once they knew me though, they pretty much let me run free with the reservation, "If anyone asks if I knew about this, I didn't." - since the things I did usually didn't fit into the nice neat corporate boxes or standards, but were effective at getting the job done.

This personality trait, possibly due to playing with mercury as a child, influences my writing to be somewhat different than others. My hopes are that it will make reading more entertaining for you, with a fresh approach to viewing the world around us, by removing the usual paradigms and blinders we impose on ourselves through our culture's influences.

I've done some pretty dumb things while learning about writing as a career. The first thing is, how darn hard it can be, and I've taken classes, and read several books on writing. The second is how easy it is to make a mistake, such as over-write a good file with a draft copy and promote it to 35,000 people. Yikes. That was a nightmare. I'm much more careful now.

If you are someone that doesn't always feel you fit in all the time, and sees things somewhat differently than most, or looks at things and says, 'What if?' then you might like my work.

If you like a more lighthearted group of somewhat irreverent characters, you might like my Reluctant Gods Series. If you've been in business and know some cold and cruel characters, you might like Dr. Roland Vandergrift in 'Power, Control, Conformance.'

If you are a person who is set in their ways and beliefs and can only see things a certain way, you might not like any of my work.

I hope you enjoy what I've done. If you don't like it, remember you can always return it, though I've had few returns so far. Remember, I did warn you.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Melinda Hills for Readers' Favorite

Some surprises have more impact than others and what Aysel learns about her life and ‘family’ couldn’t be more of a bombshell! Reluctant Gods IV – Aysel - The Prequel by A.J. Aaron begins the story of Aysel, the sheltered ‘daughter’ of the immortal Varick, friend to the Archangels. As Aysel learns of her purpose in life and her abilities as a god, she is helped by a friend, Emily, who is also on the path to achieving immortality. Reluctantly, Aysel takes on the responsibilities of her position which include accepting things that she had been taught were evil in her strict Catholic upbringing. She is virtually forced into action since she is unable to inhibit Emily’s gung-ho approach to using all the powers that have been granted to her. This prequel sets the stage for the original three volumes of the Reluctant Gods story by explaining the relationship between the Archangels and gods and allows Aysel to take advantage of her new-found abilities to help protect the life and future of Sevilen, the next ‘Designated One’.

A.J. Aaron combines his talent for story telling with mysticism, Christian theology, reincarnation, ancient beliefs, scientific theories and fantasy to create a place for immortals in the modern world. Lively action and serious moral issues join deep thought and lighthearted fun in this prequel volume to the Reluctant Gods trilogy. Reluctant Gods IV – Aysel - The Prequel explains the origins of the characters that inhabit the pages of the other books and provides the reader with an understanding of the variety of beliefs and backgrounds that pertain to the supernatural forces at work. It is a great story on its own but even better for readers who can’t get enough of these amazing characters.