LitPick Review
Immortal Warriors by Julian Rosado-Machain is a three part story about the immortal heroes and citizens of Ridyani “the Jewel of the East", an ancient abandoned human city that is now inhabited by animals of all species. The city of Ridyani is protected by Immortal Warriors Radji the Just, a brown monkey and Erdai the Knight of a Thousand Eyes, a peacock. Under the protection and watchful eyes of the immortal warriors and the Inner Circle, Ridayni is a refuge for animals of all species to live in peace. The shades, a group of cats, watch over the city and the citizens at night, and the warriors keep the peace for the citizens day and night. Barganush the Ravenger, an elephant with an army of thousands of rats, mice, ferrets, wild dogs, boars, and other animals, has vowed to invade Ridyani and take the city over for his horde of followers as he has done to many cities. Will the Immortal Warriors and Inner Circle be able to stand against Barganush and his horde?
Opinion:
Immortal Warriors is a unique and creative story with the age old good vs evil theme. The names of and types of the animals can be confusing to keep straight at first because they are introduced all at once, but once the story starts to unfold, it is easier to follow along. The main characters come to life with the story, are well developed, and evoke emotion from the reader. One finds themselves rooting for the citizens of Ridyani, not just in the battle for their city, but for their personal triumphs. Courage, wit, sacrifice, and morality are strong character traits for the inhabitants of Ridyani as they live and fight for others above themselves, a wonderful trait for any creature to have. The members of Barganush’s horde also have strong character traits, however, they are traits of evil. Selfishness, deception, and destruction fuel the horde, and the author did a fantastic job of making the members of the horde incredibly unappealing.
Another admirable theme throughout the story is teamwork. Not only as an illustration of the characters desire to put others first, it is also a way of life for the members of Ridyani and the refugees they host. Whether on a mission out of the city for reconnaissance or to accomplish daily tasks, the characters have great ability to trust and rely on each other.
The settings are varied in the story and are all well done. From the city of Ridyani to the jungles, orchard, cliffs, and rivers, the author has done a great job at giving the reader a vision of the settings. The creativity and wit of the characters in navigating the rivers full of crocodiles and the cliffs that would be certain death is also very well done, adding to the depth of the settings.
The story itself is very entertaining, but the editing, however, is a little lack luster. That being said, it did not detract from the story too much, and younger readers would probably not even notice some of the errors. Immortal Warriors is worth a read for anyone.
