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Kindle Edition Digital Ebook Purchas Details
  • 02/2022
  • 978-1-7779901-3-8 B09RWWD7HF
  • 339 pages
  • $$0.99
Paperback Details
  • 02/2022
  • 978-1-7779901-0-7 1777990106
  • 289 pages
  • $17.99
Hardcover Details
  • 02/2022
  • 978-1-7779901-6-9 1777990165
  • 288 pages
  • $27.99
Kallen Samuels
Author, Illustrator
Leviticus: An alternate timeline scifi thriller (Dictates of the Servators Book 1)

Young Adult; Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror; (Market)

In a high-tech antediluvian timeline riddled with thin spaces where kin worlds of the multiverse touch, a savant named Leviticus Radix and his fellow graduate students have developed technology that garners the unwanted attention of mysterious opposing factions. To make matters worse, he’s manifesting abilities that haven’t been seen in 1700 years. One ancient order wants to enslave him, the other says he’s the chosen one who will save the world.

“A book for fans of the Dune series—this action packed good vs evil story will draw you in."

Reviews
Samuels’ ambitious and exciting debut follows Leviticus Radix, a promising student at the Denmount Court of Learning—a school in the alternate timeline that this story takes place—specializing in pattern recognition, as two competing organizations attempt to recruit him. The Servators, a group following “the Maker’s Way” that believes in a prophesied coming flood, attempt to rescue Leviticus from recruitment by the Breachers, a group that seeks to cause chaos and suffering and to drive humanity away from “the Maker’s Way.” Simultaneously, we follow Nico and Kayla, people working on behalf of the Servators to hold the Breachers at bay, and Selica and Kade, slaves for the Breachers. The reader is left on the edge of their seat as they watch conflicts unfold between the Servators and the Breachers.

All of the characters are well fleshed out, fascinating to learn more about, and delightful to follow, from leads like Leviticus to adversaries like Decar Tosh, every character feels vividly realized, with unique personalities and narrative-driving backstories, their motivations driving this tale and rooting it in feeling. We see a sincere portrayal of Leviticus as a chosen one, a trope so often overused in sci-fi and fantasy but that here, buoyed by Samuels’s thoughtful characterization, feels fresh and engrossing.

That commitment to character, though, at times impedes narrative momentum, though readers who prefer to get to know a cast deeply will already be invested in the fates of Leviticus and co. even before things speed up around the story’s midpoint. From there, the action is plentiful. Whether following Leviticus as he practices his pattern recognition skills, Nico as he investigates clues relating to a message left by his father, Kayla as she attempts to find redemption after a fatal mistake, or Kade and Selica as they desperately try to find an escape from the Breachers, the stakes are consistently high, the cast compelling, and the story electrifying.

Takeaway: Character-rich and action-packed, this sci-fi adventure smartly balances prophecies, tech, and conflict.

Great for fans of: Trenton Lee Stewart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society, R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

goodreads

This is a fantastic sci-fi with heart and characters dealing with moral dilemmas. The worldbuilding and technology is imaginative and complex, and at the same time feeling plausible. I could clearly picture everything and felt a part of the story. The overall feeling of the book, with the technology combined with a religion factor sort of reminded me of Dune, while being wholly its own story and world. I could feel other sci-fi influences, but it retains a level of uniqueness that made me not want to put this book down, I always needed to read at least one more chapter! The cast of characters was well balanced, and the multiple POVs were handled superbly, every time I started to wonder what was going on with a particular character, it would switch to that POV within a few pages. There were fantastic breadcrumbs which were so great when they were paid off, I love when I discover something at the same time or slightly before a character, it's like an exciting morsel I delight in finding. I can also feel there are more breadcrumbs that are laid out for the next books, but they aren't quite so big that they were needed to be paid off in this book. I find that's a really difficult balance to achieve. It's a thoroughly entertaining read and am already started on Book 2 of the series. 

LibraryThing

My aunt says: never consider yourself lucky, rather think of yourself as blessed. Well, I guess I was blessed to have had the chance to pick up this book. It totes moral opinions without getting saccharine. Like the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the message underlies the story without overwhelming it. It is so refreshing to read something that doesn’t glorify fringe ideas while still maintaining an openness to change. Violence is frowned upon, but the characters are no push-overs.
The story features bright young people who are—well, young. They make mistakes because of overenthusiasm, jealousy, fear, and the universal feeling of being “different”—they are oblivious to the “real” world they live in until champions of both good and evil try to involve them in their individual agendas. The story unfolds as these young people develop under the guidance (or pressure) from the adults who surround them.
The story reads on several levels which is excellent for evolving readers. I was held to the very last sentence and was disappointed when it ended.

Readers Favorite

Kallen Samuels' Leviticus: Dictates of the Servators, Book 1 is a well-crafted fantasy and sci-fi story set in an antediluvian time. New hi-tech inventions have emerged, and more are in the works. The story begins when Leviticus Radix, Nico Callan, Kade Brixton, and Kayla Vantos are graduate students at the prestigious Denmount Court of Learning. Leviticus, the principal character, is a brilliant and gifted computational engineering student with an extraordinary analytical mind, who immediately senses anything unfamiliar in a familiar pattern. Nico is Leviticus' best friend and a business major. Kade is an excellent computer engineering student and is a team member of an exciting new hi-tech project developed by Leviticus. Kayla is a surveillance major. The four students are in their last year at the Court when, dramatically and unexpectedly, their lives are disrupted. Two ancient organizations --the Servators and the Breachers -- both see Leviticus' new project as a potentially powerful invention. The pace, the drama, and the tension rise considerably as the four young people each find themselves in challenging and often perilous situations, very different from their student days.I particularly liked Kallen Samuels' Leviticus for its remarkable characters, their transformative journeys, and the complexity of the world in which they live. I loved the backstory of the city of Denmount, the Court of Learning itself, its history, and other very intriguing details which give the overall story considerable depth and complexity. I think giving each of the four characters their own space in the story made their subsequent interactions with each other more realistic. Part of the title of this novel refers to the Servators. I liked the approach of revealing more about the Servators through specific characters and situations. The Servators are a force for good, and I felt that their ethics and tenets - of humility, forgiveness, redemption, and hope - are conveyed realistically through the challenges and difficulties faced by the characters. The Breachers, on the other hand, are a destructive force. I think the story's villains are compelling, and their greed for power and wealth comes through in a powerful and thought-provoking way. I enjoyed reading Leviticus very much with its extraordinary characters and a compelling, multilayered storyline of good vs. evil.

News
12/09/2022
Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree

Leviticus was recently awarded the Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion

Formats
Kindle Edition Digital Ebook Purchas Details
  • 02/2022
  • 978-1-7779901-3-8 B09RWWD7HF
  • 339 pages
  • $$0.99
Paperback Details
  • 02/2022
  • 978-1-7779901-0-7 1777990106
  • 289 pages
  • $17.99
Hardcover Details
  • 02/2022
  • 978-1-7779901-6-9 1777990165
  • 288 pages
  • $27.99
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