Saturday, July 16, 2016

Anamatus by Derrick Tribble: Book Review...



Author: Derrick Tribble
Book: Anamatus
Genre: Science-fiction/fantasy/Young Adult/Christian
Pages: 433
Age range: 15 and up
A few mature themes such as mentions of alcohol, sexual sin, and a teen pregnancy. Also a few death scenes.   

In a world of extraordinary talents, she uses hers to create a monster. On Biersheva, a colony world populated by God’s people, extraordinary talents have emerged. Everyone has something they excel at, but a few are blessed with “noble talents,” supernatural abilities intended for helping others and glorifying God. Karina has one of these noble talents -- she can shape animals out of organic matter and animate them, giving them will and purpose. But pride and fear prompt her to reach beyond her God-given talent and animate a bronze statue. Her sin unleashes a monster, and she must put it to death before it destroys everything she loves.

About the author:
Derrick Tribble, also known as “That Author Guy,” lives in the foothills of California, where the air is clear and fresh, and the trees are big. Derrick is the author of the Wanderers in Time trilogy, a Young-Adult Christian Science Fiction series which begins with Servants & Thieves. He shares his home with his wife and two children, and two strange cats. When not writing, he can occasionally be found working or playing the drums.

My Review
I enjoyed Derrick Tribble's, Wanderers in Time series and was honored to be a pre-reader for his newest tale, Anamatus.

The message in this tale showed the ugliness of sin, our selfish desires and the consequences of what could happen when we go against God’s purpose for our lives. In one way or another we all have been guilty of this. I really appreciated the heart of this tale and it's not one you will easily forget.


Karina, who you follow in her words, was a character that honestly grows on you. In the beginning you kind of don’t like her, she is selfish and pretty immature, but as you go on her adventure she becomes an unforgettable character that might go down as one of your favorites.

Anamatus is an original tale, set in a new futuristic world that feels very western… I don’t want to call it Steampunk, because it doesn’t quite fit that genre, but it has that fun feeling. I REALLY liked it.

The monster of the story was pretty well done. Living in the Sierra Nevada mountain's, a fear of mine while traveling in the forest is running into a ferocious mountain lion. This bronze puma was indeed fearsome and a good picture of sin. A lot of times your sin doesn't just effect you, but also those around you, which was clearly, sadly, and lovingly shown in this tale.

Being a Believer I know we all have been given special talents by God... some of us are artist, some of us our amazing sports players,, and some us are extremely good at school. These are just a few examples. Some of us waste our talents on futile things and some of us bless others with them and use them for God's glory. I liked that Anamatus showed glory for God and in the end how He holds all of our stories. Even when we go astray His story is always the ending whether we choose that or not!


As for the cover art and something I enjoy, is that it actually fits the story! It is sentimental and can be found on page 105. Maybe it will give you a smile, as it did me.

All in all I enjoyed this tale and would highly recommend it, especially to teenagers. We live in such a selfish world and if only we would let love, true love guild us...


A few cons… every book has them. ;-)
I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending. Not that it was horrible… far from it! I just had a few questions unanswered.  Perhaps we will have a sequel in the future or maybe we should choose to answer those questions in our own imagination.  Also, there were a lot of different classes that I felt and took as being different kinds of Christians… not sure if this was the author’s purpose or not... maybe I'm overthinking.  A few personal things said by some characters I would disagree with... I'll leave that for the reader to decide. Because like our world there are indeed different kinds of believers and at times we see things differently. Some of those things really don't matter, while others greatly do!


Some of Karina's lovely rabbits. ;-)
You can purchase Anamatus here...

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