The Missing Spirit
- P.J. Maia
- Series: Eternity Departs (Book 1)
- Paperback: 424 pages
- Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 1, 2019)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 172109363X
- ISBN-13: 978-1721093632
- Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
“The Missing Spirit” begins at a point when Devine society has become highly sophisticated, while the wild peoples of the outside world still struggle to make fire, hunt down woolly giants, and survive a grueling Ice Age.
Living in LUMEN, the heart of the Devine civilization, KEANA MILFORT is a fifteen-year-old girl, who has always looked different. Her faded ebony skin and honey-colored hair and eyes serve as painful reminders of her unknown heritage.
Only now, at the brink of adulthood, something else has made her stand out: everyone her age has received an invitation to try out for LUMEN ACADEMY. Everyone, except for her. The coming-of-age event is the moment when young people discover whether they will receive supernatural abilities of their own or be dismissed and forced to join the much-reviled category of REGULAR people.
Frustrated at her missing invitation, the young girl can’t come to terms with a harrowing fate as a regular and decides to take matters into her own hands. But if Keana manages to unearth her forbidden heritage, the Devine may have to make sacrifices in order to protect their powers, their privilege and their immortality. Even if it means sacrificing her life.
My Thoughts
The Missing Spirit grabbed my attention. The story follows Keana Milfort, a fifteen-year-old girl, and her friends and takes readers back to the ice age where immortal Gods rule over man and beast and Radiocarbon dating isn't yet thought of.
Putting aside the physiological needs like water, air, safety, etc., an interesting factor addressed early on was that the desire to belong is primal and that not belonging would relegate Keana to a life of hard labor devoid of privacy and with no special abilities or access to the outside world.
So, if her unusual appearance alone didn't make her feel like an outsider, her lack of invitation to the Lumen Academy surely would.
Into this eclectic mix that we come to know as Keana's life, we witness talk of adoption and heritage, scrypaintings and unfunerals along with alcoholic concoctions and woolly mammoth rides.
As someone who grew up watching Land of the Lost and enjoys getting away to do fossil hunting every now and then, I appreciated this ice age story. The world-building was unique and the detailing captivating.
I was impressed by the 'When' and 'Where' denoted in the chapter introductions and quite fond of the artwork. The Lumen Tribune was impressive as well.
This story resembled a fragmented novel with segments strong on character recognition and dialogue.
This book was provided by the generosity of publicist Lucas Jones.
About the Author
Paulo José Maia was born in 1986, in Campo Grande, Brazil, to an engineer mother, a businessman father and a very imaginative older brother. As a child, he was fascinated with languages and fantastic tales. He was a fluent English speaker by the age of 15, before moving to the United States as an exchange student. None of his new American classmates were able to pronounce his name, so they nicknamed him P.J. Under the influence of his English teacher in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, P.J. joined his high school’s Writers’ Guild. He would later get a degree in Radio & TV Media at the Armando Álvares Penteado Foundation in Sao Paulo and then move to New York City, where he learned screenwriting at NYU and kicked off a career as a TV news producer. P.J. has been going back and forth between hemispheres and bubbling up adventures in his mind ever since.
About the Author
Paulo José Maia was born in 1986, in Campo Grande, Brazil, to an engineer mother, a businessman father and a very imaginative older brother. As a child, he was fascinated with languages and fantastic tales. He was a fluent English speaker by the age of 15, before moving to the United States as an exchange student. None of his new American classmates were able to pronounce his name, so they nicknamed him P.J. Under the influence of his English teacher in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, P.J. joined his high school’s Writers’ Guild. He would later get a degree in Radio & TV Media at the Armando Álvares Penteado Foundation in Sao Paulo and then move to New York City, where he learned screenwriting at NYU and kicked off a career as a TV news producer. P.J. has been going back and forth between hemispheres and bubbling up adventures in his mind ever since.