Stories that are actually carefully encoded life lessons or have been created to share some kind of unconscious inner truth with their readers aren’t exactly a new phenomenon. In fact, if you’re a fan of Joseph Campbell and his dissection of mythology A Hero with a Thousand Faces, or the smash-and-grab distillation of Campbell’s best ideas that screenwriting gurus and life coaches like to call ‘The Hero’s Journey’ (aka “My girlfriend’s just left me… what would Luke Skywalker do?”) you’ll already know that reading a story in the hope it will reveal an adventurous new pathway in your life has been quite a popular sport since George Lucas unleashed Star Wars on our unsuspecting bell-bottomed psyches (yes, we were there when Star Wars opened and that’s what we were wearing… don’t tell anybody). Of course the reality is far less romantic but deep down we still like to believe a destiny awaits that sets us apart from the crowd, and we’re all hoping to read the book that imparts the secrets that no-one else gets.
Which brings us to The Lightwatch Chronicles: The Guardians, book one in a series that the publishers claim is “The Lord of the Rings meets Star Wars – a fascinating read that will make you question the nature of reality” and, as if to back up their words, they’ve added a back cover photo of author J.H. Tepley looking enigmatic and Jedi-like, with another inside photo of her looking suspiciously like Rey. J.H. seems to come with all the credentials for a warrior guru and has apparently spent more than 19 years travelling the world learning the mind-empowering techniques of the East and West. She is also the founder of ARIYA, a self-mastery movement for warriors in spirit, and The Lightwatch Chronicles seems to be a key to releasing our warrior self or, as the PR describes it, “a powerful self-discovery guide written in the form of a novel.”
We wanted to like this, we really did, because those kind of lofty ambitions should be celebrated if the author can pull them off. Unfortunately, though, this story about a group of four warriors who escape to Earth after their home has been destroyed by a malevolent alien power, disguise themselves as a rock band, fend off more vicious alien attacks, and eventually discover their untapped inner strength by learning to unlock the powers of their minds – a journey the reader is also supposed to undergo in parallel with the young heroes – is way too derivative, pretentious and clunkily written to recommend. Which is a shame, because there is undoubtedly some valuable life-affirming advice within these pages and we feel kind of miserly giving such a negative review to a project that obviously has its heart in the right place. But here’s the lesson we were left with when we finished The Lightwatch Chronicles: it doesn’t matter how deep and meaningful your message is, if you don’t make your story interesting your readers will be looking for enlightenment somewhere else.
THE LIGHTWATCH CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIANS / AUTHOR: J.H. TEPLEY / PUBLISHER: FILAMENT PUBLISHING / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
