Eclipse: The Girl Who Saved the World by George Phillies.

Have you ever read a book (or watched a TV show or movie for that matter) that wasn't quite what you expected, but loved it anyway? I mean, it was a really good story, well paced, well written and thoroughly entertaining, but it didn't quite scan the way you thought it would? To the point where you'd read or watch it again but you're still kind of feeling like it's not quite in the genre you expected? I find myself at that point with Eclipse: The Girl Who Saved the World (The Shining Sea Book 1) by George Phillies. Don't get me wrong. I loved the book. It's just that...

Well...

I went into this expecting a Young Adult novel. And, to my complete, absolute and totally non-shocking sense of rightness, the main character and most of the important side characters are indeed teenagers. Some of their problems are things only teenagers would have to deal with. It's totally believable if you don't hold the fact that they have superhero powers against them  They are the main storyline of the book and they're all well-formed and entertaining people. It's just that well...

Eclipse has enough political intrigue and side drama to make a good Harry Turtledove or David Weber novel. Being a fan of both writers, I mean that as a compliment. I don't want to give too much away here because that's not what I do, but there are some damn good reasons for the intrigue and political feuding at the highest levels. It makes all kinds of sense and honestly the book wouldn't work without it, but it just doesn't feel YA to me.

Now that I'm done whining like a punk...

Yeah, it was a good book. I seriously enjoyed Eclipse. I've always loved international intrigue. Eclipse mixes in some alternate history as well and that's something I've always enjoyed. The point of historical departure of this one seems to be too deep in the past for me to find out what it would be precisely, but I am well aware that there are several polities here that did not exist either simultaneously or at all. I really enjoyed trying to figure out who went where though and if if you have a sense of world history well enough developed to pass a sixth grade history class you'll get the joke.

Phillies has a rather unique take on superheroic powers as well. It almost has a LitRPG feel to it. The way he talks about levels of powers and summoning power really feels almost like a game. It's something that anyone who has played any type of video game or tabletop RPG should find both enjoyable and easy to follow, but without feeling derivative and boring. I've never seen it done quite this way and I like it.

There are many action sequences in Eclipse and they are well thought out, well written, entertaining and internally consistent.  I want to see this thing on film. Well, I mean, not if I have to pay for all of the special effects myself, but I'd totally buy a ticket or two. I might even splurge on some popcorn, and maybe a DVD after it hit. Granted, I've got a fairly decent imagination, but some of these scenes are so well described and planned that I could see them in my head when I was reading the book. And if I'm left wanting to throw plasma bolts myself, well, what geek has never wanted to throw a plasma bolt? Or fly through space? Or teleport sans benefit of Mr. Scott? (Note: That's not a slam against Scotty. I'm a proud Scots-Irish lad and I love that guy.)

Our heroine is the titular Eclipse. I like this girl. At age thirteen she is one of the best educated, most intelligent heroes I've ever read. If the history she knows doesn't match ours that's because she comes from a different dimension and the history there _is_ different. She speaks several languages and collects books so rare that it makes a nerd like me jealous. Not only that but she manages to put her book collection together herself without assistance from any adults. She is caring, daring and brave. In short, she's the kind of girl I'd like my daughters to be with the added benefit of having having superpowers. Don't misunderstand: It would be cool to see Riley or Sealy take off  and fly outside the atmosphere under her own power, I just know it'll never happen.

Phillies spent a lot of time building the world I was whining about earlier and he did a fine job of it. The world is almost recognizeable. The United States is almost recognizeable. The differences are real enough to keep things interesting and to avoid confusion. He didn't do things by half. I truly enjoyed the geopolitical rivalries and the way things broke down. I think this might be part of what I mentioned earlier though.

A lot of modern day Americans (as in a HUGE supermajority) and especially younger Americans,  don't know much about history. I mean that seriously. They don't know American History. They don't know World History. They've been taught that Military History doesn't matter and they have no chance at all to understand the intersection of the three. That much having been said, the political stances taken by the US in Eclipse are much closer to what you would have expected out of the US in 1900 than in 2020. I worry that a lot of what made me enjoy Eclipse so much is going to make it hard for its intended audience to find it believable.

Having said that, I'd urge anyone over the age of probably twenty-five to check this thing out. I haven't conducted any surveys, but I'd be surprised if that didn't include the vast majority of my audience. So check this one out. I did. I'll be picking up the sequels as well. There are at least two of them that I know of.

Bottom Line: 4.5 out of 5 Namestones

Eclipse: The Girl Who Saved the World (The Shining Sea Book 1)
George Phillies
Self Published, 2018

Eclipse: The Girl Who Saved the World (The Shining Sea Book 1) is available for purchase at the following link. If you click it and buy literally anything at Amazon I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you.