Hey guys, it's been awhile, probably cause I don't read, but today I'm gonna talk about a book that interested me - Zodiac by Romina Russel. This book is first in a series of three, though I have not read the other two books, nor have I done much research about it, but I hope that more books will keep coming.
Before I begin my review on this book, it is best for you to known a little about the background on it. From what I gather, the Zodiac is like a Solar System, where the Houses are like Planets, and their Sun is called Helios. Each House is different, some even may have two or more planets surrounding them, I believe at some point in the book, it even mention that House Aries has a miniature sun. Every House has a Guardian, in which the people of that House believes in, that their Guardian will protect them all. In the Zodiac Galaxy, there are many myths and legends, myths about a Thirteen House, myths on how humans came to the Zodiac Galaxy. If you're curious on what these myths are, you can either pick up on the series or read about it on this website - http://zodiacbooks.com/ - you know, after you finish reading my review on this book that is. So without further-ado, let's begin my review.
Zodiac is about a tale of the Thirteen House, in which Rho -the main character- is on a mission to save the Zodiac from it. Rho was just a normal teenage girl studying on Elara - Cancer's bigest & largest moon-, when suddenly, a violent blast strikes all four moons of Cancer, sending its ocean planet off-kilter and killing thousands of citizens - including its beloved Guardian, Mother Origene. Rho was then sent to Ocean 6 which is -I think- a space station, along with her friends, Nishiko, Deke & Kai. Rho was then made the new Guardian of Cancer, and everyone even her Guide and Member of the Royal Guard, Mathias, supports it, everyone except herself, but she trust in Mother Origene and the stars.
Lately, Rho had seen a vision about a bad omen, some dark cloud that surrounds certain planets and moons. However, whenever she were to bring it up, no one believed her since she never used an Astralator, - a device that blocks out your imagination when reading the stars - but yet they say that she was a natural even without an Astralator, and yet they don't believe her vision on the dark cloud. So Rho stop believing herself too, but Nishiko - a Sagittarius & Rho's best friend - believed her omen and said that she predicted the fall of Thebe - one of Cancer's moon - and that was enough to convince her. Rho then saw a vision where Virgo and Gemini are being surrounded by the dark cloud, which Rho presume is Dark Matter. She then encountered Ochus, - who seems to be the Guardian of the Thirteen House, Ophiuchus - who threatens to kill Rho if she mention him to anyone again. However, she still tried to warn the others, so now Ochus is after her but he can only reach her through the Psy Network. Rho then told her Advisers that she has to go warn Virgo & Gemini on the incoming threat, and she wishes to go alone, just in case Ochus appears. However, Mathias manage to go with Rho, despite many protests.
They then went on broad a bullet-ship to fly to House Gemini. Rho thought of bringing Ochus, to show she left Cancer, but failed. When suddenly Hysan - a Librian Rho met during her ceremony - showed up and mention that the bullet-ship was his ship, Nox. Rho told about Ochus to Hysan and he believed her, he wanted to warn his House but Rho said that they needed to get to Virgo & Gemini first since they're the ones in danger, Hysan finally agreed. They went to warn Gemini but failed, instead they brought along Cassy - one of the Twin Caaseum - Gemini's Guardians - in hoping, while on their journey, manage to convince him. They then went to Libra, since Hysan couldn't wait, and warn Lord Neith, forunately he had already heard about Ochus through Nishiko. - who Rho asked to spread the news about Ochus to the other Houses - Then they found out that Lord Neith was a robot and Hysan was the true Guardian of Libra. - which no one knew - After that they set of for Virgo, Rho tried to convince Empress Moira - Virgo's Guardian - but Moira did something she shouldn't have done to tried to prove that Rho was wrong. Virgo then fell and Moira was in a coma, but before she passed out, she told Rho to go to Aries and warn the Planetary Plenum. - The Plenum rotates from House to House each year and is now at Aries - They went back to Nox with an injured Hysan and Cassy is nowhere to be found, Cassy then showed up and immediately left through an escape pod, he stole the black opal Mother Origene had gave Rho.
They set off for the Plenum, there, they warned the Ambassadors of each House but no one believed her. It wasn't until the fall of Gemini that Rubidum - the other Twin Caaseum - believe Rho. She manage to convince everyone in the Plenum that Rho was right. Rho was then made leader while the other Houses give their share on ships, weaponry, men, etc. However, Rho wasn't exactly happy, she wanted to warn them, no lead them, and even if they say she's the leader, the other Houses never let her work on their plan, leaving Rho to do nothing. Then came the the final battle, they set their sights on the Thirteen House, pass House Pisces.
If you want to know what happens next, read it for yourselves, I promise you won't regret it, plus I left some other details out, like Rho's family and Hysan being an orphan, and much more. Anyways, my thoughts on this book, well, I love it, this was my second novel that I have read in my entire life and it's amazing, I'm getting my dad to buy the second book which is call Wandering Star: a Zodiac Novel, I can't wait X3. I'll probably be reviewing that book too. So thanks for reading and until my next book, bye!
Written by Vernise Lee
Year 7 Gentleness
