I received this galley in consideration for an honest review.
Riders by Veronica Rossi Series: Riders #1
Published by Tor on February 16, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Goodreads
Nothing but death can keep eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.
While recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen—Conquest, Famine, and Death—are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.
They fail.
Now—bound, bloodied, and drugged—Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he’s fallen for—not to mention all of humankind—he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.
But will anyone believe him?
Riders starts with an interrogation and then flashes back to the beginning, as Gideon is trying to get himself out of a situation that seems both hopeless and bizarre. Right away, I was intrigued as to what he was doing and what exactly his bracelet meant. In a storytelling technique that was both in the past and the present, we read about the formation of a strange team whose job it is to save the world. Gideon’s identity as War ties into the book of Revelations, and his job, initially, is to gather the other horsemen and find out exactly what they are supposed to be doing. There is a good balance of word building and action, and I thought the non-linear storytelling method worked well with helping achieving that balance.
The Book of Revelation is such an interesting basis for the mythology of Riders. Whether it is taken in the idealist or futurist view, it is certainly dramatic and, as a seed for a story, it works really well. Gideon is our narrator and his background and brushes with death are similar to the other horsemen. Darryn, their leader/interpreter brings her own air of mystery. The horsemen have powers inside of them and a quest, but much of the book is their coming to grips with who they are. Since everyone has had a death experience, there is a darkness to each of them that I kind of liked. It is a dark story, after all, and perhaps it was the idea that the darkness that was in them called to the darkness they were fighting that appealed to me. All in all, I am really looking forward to reading more. I want to know more about all of the characters, their backgrounds, and what exactly they are going to do to save the world. I can tell you that Riders was such a great foundation for a series that is just going to keep getting better and better.
I’ve been curious about Riders, but not too sure what to expect. I loved Veronica’s UtNS series, so I hope to continue the author love with this series 🙂 Great review, Kate.
Seems like some people are enjoying this and others aren’t. I really liked her first series but the description of this one just doesn’t appeal to me. I’m not rushing to read this, but if people seem to like future books, then maybe I’ll give it a try.
Jen @ YA Romantics
so so so excited to read this one. I hope to have it coming up soon. Its hard to find that balance between world building and story telling. I love fantasies but they can easily get away from me if its not balanced well. So I am glad to see this one is. I love mythology books too. Can’t wait.
You should love this one!
I’ve been curious about this book, and yet I haven’t seen too much about it (which is surprising, since it is Veronica Rossi) I really do want to check this one out, and your review has me more excited to read it, I love mythology based stories, so I can see this one being up my alley! Thanks for the review 🙂
I must admit that I’m quite curious about Riders! I like the base concept of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse for this story; that part already intrigues me. I’m quite pleased to see a positive review for this one, as I’ve mostly seen not-so-great ones; it gives me hope that I might enjoy it when I do wind up reading it!
I really loved Veronica Rossi’s Under the Never Sky series. Like really loved it. I have Riders on my to be read list, but to be honest, it sounds really different to anything I’ve ever read before and the types of books I usually like to read. I will definitely give it a go, becuase you know, it’s Veronica Rossi, but I really hope it pleasantly surprises me!
Jordon @ Simply Adrift