The Centurion: The Balance of the Soul War

The Centurion: The Balance of the Soul War
 by Sean Patrick Little

ISBN 0-595-43263-8

Published March 20 2007 by iUniverse

A note: as this book has just recently gone out of print, it seems a little moot to be writing a review. However, reading it I am so impressed by the story and the writing that it was painful not to write at least something about it, in the hopes that there might be a reprinting someday and that it will receive the attention it deserves.

Jerald C. McIntire was supposed to die in a grenade explosion in World War II. But after watching his comrades die while he walks away practically unscathed, Jerald realizes something is dreadfully wrong: He no longer needs to eat or drink, he can’t sleep, he has almost no emotions and never ages. When his question is answered twenty years later by a woman who introduces herself as Death’s assistant Death, Jerry is told that is a freakish anomaly: the only man ever born without a soul. As such he is a valuable piece in the ongoing Soul War between Heaven and Hell, unbound by the laws of good and evil and therefore able to serve as the Master’s Centurion—an agent of God, bestowed with the name Jericho. But when an ancient Hittite dragon god begins to prowl the streets of New York City, preying on angelus and demonata alike, Jericho might have finally met his match.

 Once again I must state that this novel does not get nearly the attention it deserves. A deeply layered plot, a journey into the loaded realms of religious lore and an emotionless protagonist could have added up to a novel not worth the paper it was printed on, but Little pulls it off with more talent and flair than I’ve seen in many of today’s popular adult novels. Angels were humanized, demons not all bad and God a character rather than a plot device.

Yes, the human characters were more than a little cliched. And yes, the dialogue is more comic book than serious adult fiction. But this novel seems to be less about its setting or its characters, and more about its wonderful and remarkably original story, one that is refreshing in today’s cookie cutter world. Above all of that, it’s a piece of real storytelling, something I didn’t realize how much I’d missed reading until I read this book.

My only serious complaint was the way minor characters seemed to buzz in and out of the story like some kind of annoying moth to the flame, distracting from the true protagonists and the plot—a little streamlining would have been nice—but even that doesn’t quite succeed in marring what is truly an exceptional piece of offbeat science fiction. Forget Dan Brown—try picking up The Centurion and you won’t be disappointed.

The Final Verdict: A little wordy and a little too detailed, but a far above average piece of science fiction that shouldn’t be missed by fans of the genre or anyone who likes a good story. Four out of five stars.

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This book was given to me by the author in exchange for a review on this blog. In no way other than the receipt of the book was I paid or subsidized by the author, publisher or Amazon.com. (See Disclosure in Accordance with FTC Guidelines)