The Balance of Power: The Zone War, Book 2 by Terry Cloutier

Balance of Power: The Zone War, Book 2by Anonymous

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May 02, 2008: The Balance of Power by Terry Cloutier is the second novel in the Zone War trilogy. The first book is titled The Demon Inside 'The Zone War, Book 1' and the third book, which is slated to be released in late 2008 or early 2009, is tentatively titled The Master Eye. Much like the first novel, The Balance of Power follows the same formula of combining a traditional fantasy environment with a mixture of some modern day scenes. Being that I had already read the previous book, I knew going into this book what to expect and it made the experience that much more enjoyable. The plot of this novel picks up right where the Demon Inside left off. Edward now knows the dangers he faces in the Zone. The next step of his journey is laid out for him. He knows, for the most part what he has to do, but not yet sure how he can accomplish those goals. A few of the sub plots that were present in the first novel return in this novel as well. Such as facings ones inner demons and dealing with adversity. There is also the sub plot of a certain assassin stalking his prey and wondering not only what he is, but who is next. As I write this section of the review, I was first a little confused with what else to write. Then I realized that what this book seems to be lacking in plot it more than makes up for with character development. This flip is different than the first book which seemed to focus more on plot than character development. The characters in this book are a familiar cast. Both versions of Edward are back, Eddie being the young version of course. My personal favorite character makes a return, Taagaa. And we also see the return of other favorites Jasmiine, Doogren, and Quint. If you are a fan of character development you will really enjoy this book. For starters Mr. Cloutier begins to give the reader a hint of how the characters mesh between the 'real life' scenes and the 'fantasy' scenes. It almost has a Wizard of Oz type feel to it at times. That, in and of itself was rather interesting, however, it goes beyond that. The 'flashback' scenes that were present in the first book are more numerous in this novel and longer. This allows Eddie's character to really grab the reader and show the reader that yes, Eddie did suffer tremendous trauma, but also the many other things that Eddie went through as a child. These scenes directly impact Edward in the fantasy realm, because he needs to conquer the demons from his past. While I thought the characters were well written in the first book, I am even more impressed with the depth they have after book two. They are really fleshed out and the tiny pieces are slowly starting to fall into place. A couple criticisms I have about this novel: 1 - I would have liked to see a little more balance between the characters and the plot. It felt as though the actually plot was eased back some and the characters were full throttle. It was an odd little thing. Kind of like when a singer is singing a note just ahead of the tempo of a song. It feels a little different. That's what I liken this to. 2 - Please note, this is a personal bias thing and it may not apply to others. One of the things I liked about Eddie in the first book was that so little was written about him, his scenes were short and his words were few, but he made a big impact. The less is more adage. However, in this novel it seemed that Eddie really dominated things. To the point that there is a lot of disclosure about Eddie. I...