Glory (The Legend of Glory #1) by Devin O'Branagan

Posted by Guest Reviewer Melanie
Published Date: May 22nd, 2011
Finished Date: February 2nd, 2012
Source: For Review
Format: Kindle
Pages: 220

The Blurb from Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Glory Templeton's blood holds the cure for a deadly pandemic-plague, and she embarks on a quest to save humanity. When evil forces conspire to stop her, three supernatural beings are assigned to be her guardians. Forbidden love, ancient secret societies, mysterious astronomical monuments, witches, angels, vampires, and demons all contribute to the high adventure that tests the character of this remarkable young woman. The legend of Glory begins. . .

The Review: We join Glory on her journey as she becomes the only person able to cure the Pan-plague sweeping through the world. An immense number of people are dying through the infection and it is of vital importance that Glory finds the scientists that have gone into hiding after the death of a colleague and the kidnapping of another who happens to be Glory’s mother Kate. Her only clue is to seek out Father Michael at a local church who then informs her that there is more to the world than she thinks. Because of the severity of the situation and that she is being hunted by the corporation her mother works for, she is assigned bodyguards/protectors by the powers that be, Kaia, Zane and Dominic form the unlikely gang, along with Glory and her dog- Hallie – they set off on their mission to save humanity. Not only are they up against the corporation and evil, they all have a serious amount of baggage and issues that they need to deal with. It leads Glory to wonder if the powers that be are nuts to have put the hope of human kind in the hands of four angst ridden teens and a dog.

Hopefully I won’t give too much away about the characters here because that was part of the allure, getting to know them and finding out what makes them tick. Glory is your average 17 year old girl, living in a farming town, easy life etc. when events that are out of her control turn her life upside down, she turns out to be man-kinds only hope. She doesn’t want to do this, she’d rather dwell on her grief and pain but instead ‘pulls on her big girl panties’ and gets on with it. She is really quite admirable in her attitude to her predicament, with her determination and thinking she deals with things incredibly well considering her situation and I would like to think that if I were in her shoes that I would be the same. It’s a shame that the same can’t be said for her rationality regarding men which leads us onto the brooding men, Zane- the Cowboy and Dominic- the reluctant hero who would give any emo a run for their money. She is drawn to both in totally different ways and that leads them all to places they do & don’t want to go. Last but not least is Kaia, I really liked her too, she is a great character, best friend material and just pretty awesome. All of the characters are great, even the dog and you will empathise with them all as they go through this journey and their own personal journeys. They are well written, the dialogue and the relationships between them are good. Just, all round likeable characters that even though we have only just gotten to know them are still capable of making you feel like they have so much more to give.

So, this was a really good read. I liked the storyline and how the paranormal element was brought in and mixed with a touch of religion so that what you thought was going to be a cut and dried ‘run & chase’ book, turned into something different. I also liked how the plot wasn’t all about Glory, yes it centred on her but each of the characters had their own part and their own personal issues to deal with too, it really makes you have some deep thoughts about your own place in the world and what you would do in Glory’s position. Some real life touches were brought into the mix too, personally I had never heard of the ‘monument’ so when I finished the book, I looked it up and it is in fact real –quite bizarre & mysterious- but real and now it has me curious and I need to know more about it (yes, I know I’m being cryptic but I’m trying not to give anything away and you will understand when you read it) I loved how its message and the organisation it supposedly represents were weaved into the plot. The thing that got me thinking also is that the main scenario could very well happen and the way corporations are these days, would we put it past them to do something like this in the name of ‘humanity’? This was a really good enjoyable, thought provoking book that has still got me thinking about it as I write this, the day after reading and I will definitely be continuing to read the next books as they come out.