David N. Alderman

Nathan Pierce has a lot in common with the Broken Lands. In spite of how much damage has been done to the world thanks to Legion and the president, there is still sunlight and love within Nathan. Sure, he struggles with the sunlight, but it's still there and can remain there as long as he has enough faith in himself and those he loves.

As thus, it's only fitting that Exodus, the last book in the Black Earth series, begins with Nathan reflecting in the Broken Lands about the many people who have already departed either from this world or from his life before continuing his journey against Legion.

Sitting in the Broken Lands playground, watching the sun set with Ginger, is one of Nathan's last moments of peace.

Soon after, Nathan and Daisy's Rebellion find a woman who is part of Legion, a woman willing to help Nathan and betray Legion in the process. Unfortunately, her very presence causes more members of Legion to arrive, and things can only get worse when more members of Legion join the fray.

In a dark realm far from where Nathan and Daisy's Rebellion ran into trouble, Cynthia Sin Ruin sits atop a throne as the princess of the Black Cathedral, the mysterious Ryn her king. She doesn't know exactly why Ryn asked her to be the princess or what exactly she's supposed to do, but she has mixed feelings about the Black Cathedral. Sometimes she's anxious and afraid; other times, she loves the power, and she loves the power even more when Ryn gives her the one thing she loves most - sex slaves. Her battle is within. Will she lose herself to her sex addiction and the darkness involved in being the princess of the Dark Cathedral?

Back on Earth and inside the high tech SilverTech facility, Mr. Silver is still dealing with the assassin who has been trying to kill him for a while. Even more, he has to prepare to leave for Anaisha along with the selective group of people being sent to Anaisha with his special airships, but that won't be so easy with an assassin as successful as Mira deadset on taking his life.

Of course, as the case with all the books in David Alderman's Black Earth series, there are more plots than just the point of view (POV) ones. Ericka Shane, Heather, Pearl, President Stone, Evanescence, Olivia, Absolute, Marigold, Ryn, Chaos, Legion...they all play a considerable role in the plot. All of the sub-plots intertwine, but this time around there aren't as many sub-plots to keep up with.

For the most part, I really liked Exodus. The descriptions, especially the descriptions for battle scenes with Legion, were wonderful. I loved the character development for Nathan, Heather, Cynthia, and Ericka. I enjoyed reminiscing about how certain characters were in the first book and marveling at what they became. Since I knew that the Black Earth series would lead to David's Expired Reality series, I didn't expect a happy-go-lucky movie ending where the main protagonists would somehow defeat the antagonists in the nick of time and save earth moments before it could fall apart. I don't want to spoil the ending, of course, but my expectations about the ending were true.

There were some things I didn't like, but I'll cover that below, in my review of the entire Black Earth series.

Black Earth Series

I've read and reviewed all four books in the Black Earth series. This is the first book series where I've reviewed all the books. That in itself makes me very happy. It's been quite the ride, but I enjoyed reading the series as much as I enjoyed talking to the author.

Characters have grown, some more than others, and much has changed. Many have joined the tale and disappeared. The conflicts became tougher in each book, the stakes higher. David Alderman outdid himself in each book with his great writing and immense imagination.

With each book, the number of sub-plots grew smaller and smaller. That's a good thing! However, there's a bad side to that downsizing. By the last book, I couldn't shake off the feeling that seemingly important plot points that carried on through multiple books didn't really get a proper ending.

I'm okay with the fact that some of the major plot points weren't resolved since David makes it very clear that the story continues in the Expired Reality series, but I felt like there were one or two sub-plots that could've been resolved. For instance, it bothered me that the origin of Cynthia's book wasn't really explained. I also didn't like that her pregnancy often seemed like an after thought. When her pregnancy first happened, it played a vital point in the plot, but, by the last book, it seemed like a build-up with no 'up.'

I'm not really a fan of ratings. The numbers usually seem arbitrary to me, but I feel the need to rate Black Earth.

4.5/5

If you think you'd enjoy Edgy Christian Speculative Fiction, this is definitely the book for you. There are demons, aliens, sci-fi technology, angels, battles, and much, much more. Even better, the series is mainly about hope, faith, love, and willpower. I hope you enjoy the series and meeting the author as much as I did!… (meer)

From page one, my heart broke for Pearl, an immortal who is trying to kill herself so she can go to heaven to be with her father.
No matter what she does, she can't die.

Nathan has just graduated and his parents don't bother coming to the ceremony. On top of that, his girlfriend is more interested
in flirting with another guy than congratulating him.

Heather is in love with Nathan but has never said anything to him because of his girlfriend. Trying to deal with the emotions of a
tragic car accident that left a baby dead, she goes off to a church youth camp. Missing Nathan isn't helping her feel any better.

Although Cynthia (Sin) has made a name for herself in school by sleeping around, it's hard not to feel compassion for her when
she is raped at a bar. The fact that she has a dominating, abusive mother, makes her life even more tragic.

Although I loved the plot and found the characters well rounded and believable, I do have a few cautions as far as the Christian
content. There is quite a bit of sexual content. The story line for Sin revolves around her having sex with many boys, but to
include women also, was more than I could take.

I also realize that Mr. Silver is a bad guy, so kidnapping and making sexual slaves out of women is believable, but it seemed overkill.
I got tired of reading the word "crotch".

Also disappointing was the story line for Sin. I would have liked to have seen her evolve more, and truly regret her actions. It felt like
she started to regret them a little, but never truly asked God to forgive her.

Most of the time I was able to keep up with the jumping around from character to character but a few times I got lost. I also found some
inconsistencies like Sin taking a pregnatency test when she'd just been rapped the day before. A test won't show anything for a month.

Over all I would highly recommend this book, and for only .99 you can't go wrong.… (meer)

*Giveaway Bonus*

If you enjoy the review below and would like to win the Black Earth Double Pack (End of the Innocence and The Broken Daisy, the first two books in the Black Earth series), all you have to do is comment on the post (http://www.readers-den.com/2012/03/black-earth-broken-daisy-by-david-n.html)by March 17, 2012.

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Book two of the Black Earth series, The Broken Daisy, starts with Nathan Pierce and Cynthia "Sin" Ruin hanging low in the same hotel room book 1 ends in. Daisy, Nathan's sister, is being held captive by a 'man dressed in red' courtesy of President Amanda Stone's orders. Because Daisy and Nathan faked the barcodes everyone has to wear, Amanda wants to murder Daisy as a warning to the American public of what will happen to them if they don't obey.

While Nathan paces around, trying to figure out how he and Cynthia can best escape from the hotel and find his sister, Cynthia is asleep after crying herself into exhaustion. Daisy would've never been captured had her mother, Theresa Ruin, not betrayed them. Cynthia was only able to rescue Nathan. Now she has no mom, no father, and no friends. Nothing but the big bag with belongings she can't let go of.

The odds are against them, what with the world falling apart and many groups after Nathan's life, but that doesn't stop Nathan and Cynthia from making a run for it and starting their journey.

The Broken Daisy essentially has five main storylines, five main subplots, that all come together to show just how immense the story as a whole is.

1.) Nathan wants to rescue his sister, find his soul mate Pearl, and learn his purpose.

2.) President Amanda Stone, who is working with Legion and the devil, wants to become a dictator. However, journalist Ericka Shane and her partner are determined to reveal a recording to the world that will help the citizens of America rally against her. Fortunately, she has the help of a mysterious man named Absolute.

3.) Jasper and Hush, two powerful wedges from the now destroyed Rhodenine, have seen Legion and Evanescence destroy two worlds before earth. Their goal is to help the humans on earth by stopping Legion and Evanescence for good.

4.) The Vector group and the Time Protection Society (TPS) are against each other. Vector is the only agency that knows about the TPS and the only agency that can stop them. Joseph, an agent who works side-by-side with Heather (Nathan's best friend), represents the Vector side of the story, as well as a more corrupt lady named Sarah. Theresa Ruin, Cynthia's corrupt mom, represents the TPS side of the story, as well as a kind man named Macayle.

Time alteration plays an important part in how Nathan's journey came to be. When I realized time alteration was involved, I really fell for The Broken Daisy, but I also have a weak spot for stories that mess with the time space continuum.

5.) SilverTech industries is ran by a megalomaniac who is obsessed with Hush and constantly sending people after her to bring her back to him (in book one, she was practically his slave). Mr. Silver's main goal is to have enough ships created to send a number of (selected) humans to a planet called Anaisha when earth is destroyed, a planet he plans to be the God of.

There are more than five subplots, but mentioning them all could make for a very long review. When I reviewed End of the Innocence, book one, I mentioned that the story sometimes feels like it has one too many POVs. It's still true in book two; when reading this novel, it's important to keep track of the characters and storylines as best as you can. However, in The Broken Daisy, I felt it was more genius than overwhelming. In a series about the world falling apart, it only makes sense that there would be so many layers adding to the downfall.

My favorite characters are Ericka Shane, Macalay, and Joseph. So many adults in this story who have power are corrupt. I not only really like these characters because they're kind and ambitious in spite of being adults with power, but because their personalities really sat well with me. Ericka was my favorite character in book one. I was glad to see more of her.

I liked Evanescence least, mostly due to the fact that everything about her reminds me of a stereotypical evil witch. And I wasn't quite sure how to feel about Griffin. His storyline and his characterization was definitely interesting, but it also...confused me until the readers are later shown what makes him so special. Nathan and the teens are definitely characterized well. Sometimes you love them; sometimes, not so much. That's fine. In fact, I think that's how it should be. Shades of grey make them very realistic.

Religion plays a much higher role in this book than it did in the first, since almost every main protagonist struggles with their belief in God. Still, I never get the feeling that religion is stuffed down my throat or that it interrupts the excitement of the story overall. However, if you'll be reading this story mostly for the sci-fi, apocalyptic aspects, be aware that God and the devil plays a considerably large part in this series.

Only a few plot aspects confused me: Griffin's storyline and the affect he seems to have on other characters; how time passes in general. Does book one and two only span two days? I'm not really sure. Even though Nathan kept saying only one day had passed, I had a hard time wrapping my mind around which times they slept were just a short nap or which times they slept were overnight. Plus, time may have passed differently in other POVs; smaller subplots, like Jennifer's time traveler subplot or Olivia's psychic/time traveler (?) subplot. Maybe it's because they won't really get explained until book 3, but I couldn't quite grasp their overall purpose.

In all, though, I really liked Black Earth: The Broken Daisy. Time travel, aliens, demons, psychics, betrayal, romance (oh man, the romance drama in this story is intense), mysteries, secret organizations, evil witches, hellhounds, battles, Legion (I LOVED how creepy Legion was. That fight with a Legion-possessed human in Walmart made my day)...there is so much to this wild story that's worth the ride. I think David deserves much more attention and success for this series.… (meer)