Titus Fogg by Aaron J. Piper (Wyrd; 1)

The Synopsis:

Titus Fogg hates magic, and with good reason. Born into a murderous family of cruel and powerful casters in modern Massachusetts, magic has contributed to every bad thing that has happened to him since birth. After finally managing to banish the most likely evil (but definitely dirty-minded) entity called Shade from his body to the sidelines as his shadow, Titus has the chance to have a normal, magic free, high school life. But, when Tess Roe, his classmate, neighbor and model of justice at their school realizes she can see the creatures Titus calls the Wyrd too, Titus must return to the world of the strange to help her. Soon Titus’s dark past comes to light as he must prove that he isn’t responsible for the death of one of Tess’s friends, and the theft of a magical book that could lead to the destruction of Arkham.

I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

Um, excuse me as I try to remember how to breathe.

I don’t know whether to cry, shout, horrah, or just lock myself into my room with an endless supply of chocolate until book 2 comes out. It has been a very long (very. long.) time since a book has hit me quite this hard with a plot twist. I don’t even know where to begin with this review.

I suppose we could start with Titus. Ohmygoodness. The dynamics of his personality, struggles, past & future, powers, and humanness…it was flawless. He was so well created, and his actions are so well defined that I’m almost speechless. He battles with so much more than the supernatural, he battles with himself and his destiny. And he loses to himself time and time again. Until Tess.

Now Tess, is so much more than a side character, she is just as much a main character as Titus is. And she is just as dynamic and unique as Titus is. Tess and Titus are a dynamic duo that works better together than apart. Tess brings out of Titus what is missing in his fighting–empathy. She shows him what it means to be truly human.

The story is absolutely phenomenal. It’s breathtaking. It’s exhilarating. It will make you laugh, hold your breath, and frankly I even slammed it against the desk once. Titus Fogg is everything a reader is looking for in fantasy.

I do need to mention for young readers that it can get dark and creepy at times. There is a lot of use of magic that requires sacrifices (some of which result in human blood sacrifices), as well as quite a bit of blood and guts. There is only mild cursing however Titus substitutes the “f word” with a different word in an ancient language that could easily be pronounced the same. There is no sexual content other than Shade’s sexual remarks regarding women and some crude jokes.

Overall though, I am anxiously awaiting the next book to continue Titus and Tess’s story and I am giving Titus Fogg an easy 5 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to fantasy lovers above 14 years of age.