Catching Hell (Part One) by Marc Watson

'Catching Hell is the first part of a sci-fi/fantasy epic about two friends separated on their quest to avenge their destroyed home. Aryu, who has wings, and Johan have their home destroyed by a mechanical army thought extinct. Now separated, Aryu learns that he must also deal with Nixon Ash, a phoenix-man sworn to kill owners of the Shi Kaze, a weapon Aryu recently found. Meanwhile Johan and his tactical mind adventure to a distant, advanced city to find a way to defeat their enemy and reunite with his best friend. 



One goes into the world of the fantastic and mystical, while the other goes to the technological. Each are worlds they were raised to fear, but now must face to defeat their common enemy.'

Aryu has been shunned since he could remember. he grew up being hated and feared by children and adult alike. H e wants nothing more to prove his worth in front of his village council and given the respect he deserves. Johan bears the shame of his predecessor in his shoulder. something which is passed down to him from his father. The fact is he wants to dislodge that shame off his shoulders too. But suddenly their hometown is destroyed in an attack by the people who dwelled in old magic and their village is reduced to dust. There is nothing for them there. Now with a new power rising and the arrival of machines which can destroy a village to dust in mere nanosecond they need to figure out their true self fast. And the big question is are they brave enough and courageous enough to stop it? How far will someone go to stop this madness? And can it even be stopped? Or is it the end of the world as they knew it.

Written from the perspective of various characters, mostly Nix, Aryu and Johan this story is a beautiful mix of science fiction, fantasy,magic and action along with adventure. One can even call it a bildungsroman. It has lots of action packed scenes and adventures along with mystery which keeps the readers always guessing the next incident. It has a quality which keeps them almost on edge and turning the pages quickly. It is also fast paced. Normally I don't enjoy sci-fi. It seems a bit childish to me at times as in most cases the world building and the story line is too shabby and confusing. But in this case I would not say the story line is confusing, although it is not perfect it isn't too bad either. The characters are quite lovely and realistic. I especially liked Nix and Aryu a lot. The author had also tried making this story very descriptive  which I'm sure is because he wanted the readers to help imagine the landscapes better. Though it gets tedious at times it is not that terrible,in fact it aids the imagination multiple times.

Overall I'll give this story 3/5 points.

Happy reading!