Review: The Threat Below (Brathius History #1) by Jason Latshaw

Three hundred years ago, something terrifying arose and pushed humanity to the brink of extinction. Now, a small remnant – the ancestors of the few survivors who were able to escape the massacre below – lives above the clouds, on the top of a Mountain. 

When they discover that their water supply is being poisoned Down Below, an expedition, including seventeen year-old girl Icelyn Brathius, must descend and face the monsters, the Threat Below, that wiped out civilization centuries ago. 

Icelyn quickly learns that all is not what it seems as she uncovers secrets hundreds of years old and struggles to stay alive in a world where no human is fit to survive.

Isis' Review:

dystopian     1 star   

I would like to thank Word Slinger Publicity for a copy of this book to review. Though I received this book for free, that has no impact upon the honesty of my review. 

First off, let me say I'd seen no prior reviews of this book, and my only knowledge of it came from the jacket teaser. I came to this story with no preconceived ideas beyond those which the blurb provided - dystopian, adventure, obstacles to overcome, personal growth, possible romance. And it provided the dystopian future, but the closest it came for me in the obstacles to overcome area where the characters themselves. Most specifically the main protagonist, Icelyn Brathius. 

Icelyn is the daughter of the ruler of the remnants of humanity, or roughly 100 or so souls. Now part of her attitude isn't her fault, as she's grown up privileged in a very classist society. Of course she comes from the ruling class, those prized for their mental abilities, known as the Cognates. The Veritas are those who prize the physical; they are also the second-class citizens in this last little pocket of humanity. That's the ways it's always been and the way it'll always be. At least Icelyn thinks so, when she can be bothered to think of it at all. 

Sadly Icelyn is so beyond self-absorbed that it was a true struggle for me to read this book. She gets into situations that are prime opportunities for her to learn and grow as a person, yet she never does. She can see flaws in others, yet she never recognizes those same flaws in herself. She is narrow minded, and does not even contemplate change in herself. If any change is to happen it should be for her benefit. Even later in the book when it appears she's changing, she isn't really. It's still all about her. 

Her father, the Chief Cognate and ruler of all humans, is a weak man with no ruling abilities and less spine. But he descends from Sean Brathius, the man who saved the pitiful few humans from the Threatbelow. And as such he is automatically the ruler, as his father before him, and his daughter after him. There has never been a time when a Brathius was not the ruler of the Kith, or remaining people. But it would seem that others see the truth of this error, even if they make no move to change it. 

There are two teenaged boys that are also protagonists - Adorane and Torrain. Torrain is Icelyn's betrothed, and has been for many years. And though she treats him horribly he still wants to win her affection. Even levelheaded, smart Adorane is enamored of Icelyn. They were best friends when young, before their social class began separating them. Even after both are betrothed to others of their own class they remain friends, and though Adorane hides it well, he too carries a torch for Icy (one of his pet nicknames for her). So though I'd like to care about one, or both, these characters, I can't get past their blindness to Icelyn's unending list of massive flaws. If the story centered around either of the boys I might have found more enjoyment in it, for they both undergo personal challenges and come out the better for them. They both grow and mature, and yet their constant devotion to Icelyn is inexplicable to me, leaving me unable to fathom their characters as being remotely grounded in reality. 

Strangely enough the characters that I did empathize with were the Anahgwins. As the truth of their history unfolds it reveals them to be the harmed victims, not humanity. They are no different than all the other species that we tried to alter, tame, or eradicate. Well, they are different in two ways - one being that we weren't able to eradicate them at all. In fact, truth be told, humans are the cause of all their own problems - as always. So as a story with a moral to be learned, this one most certainly has one. I'm not sure how many readers feel as I do, siding with the so-called antagonists, but for me their story is the one I wanted more of. 

As we learn the truth behind the Threat Belows and their relationship to humanity we begin to see history repeat itself, with the same deadly consequences. That is assuming you were able to make it through roughly the first 375-400 pages of non-stop annoyance. The only real action and growth takes place in the final quarter or less of the book. Getting to that point was almost physically painful for me. I hated Icelyn so much I wanted nothing to do with her story; but I'd agreed to write a review and kept holding out hope that something would click and the story would change. And though it eventually did gain some action and potentially emotional scenes for me it was a case of to little, far to late. Yet I see from the other reviews (when I grabbed the teaser to include in this review) that I am in a very small minority, with many others simply loving this book. More power to those who enjoyed it... another great example of that old adage, "to each their own." Suffice to say I will most emphatically not be reading the sequel.

First I lived in Delaware. Then in Pennsylvania. Then Delaware again. Then Maryland. Now I live in California.

Sometimes I’m sad that there’s no real unexplored space left on Earth and half hope they find another planet like Earth so I can check it out.

I have always enjoyed writing. (All writers say that but it’s true with me and they’re all probably lying.) Even when I’m not writing, I am, just without a pen or a keyboard. That’s why there’s sometimes a blank look on my face.

I have an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA.

I was almost kidnapped when I was in the third grade and (according to the police there) pressed in the sex slave trade in Egypt. My life would have been very different had that happened. For instance, my first sentence on this page would have had Egypt after Pennsylvania and I probably wouldn’t have gotten around to living in Maryland and California.

Once when I was only a child I tried to give a homeless man in Baltimore a pound of fudge that I had just spent all my money on, and he swore at me and threw the beloved candy away. I still think about that sometimes.

Sometimes people comment that I’m smarter than they initially thought I was.

The first girl I kissed told me that I was cuter from farther away. (Immediately after we kissed.)

Sometimes I make people laugh, and then do the same thing that made them laugh and it makes them angry instead.

Basically, I am a human range of unmet expectations, from the good kind to the very bad kind.

I think I spent most of my childhood exploring a creek at the bottom of a hill, and even now I feel a surge of uncontainable excitement when I’m about to turn over a submerged stone and see what lives below.

I’ve been in a rock band (actually, 3 of them) and the most recent one was quite good. Everyone should be in at least one rock band at some point in their life.

I’ve never hit a game-winning shot in basketball, but my son has hit 2 and he’s not even 13 yet. That’s better.

I enjoy believing in Bigfoot, Nessie, Chupacabra, the Jersey Devil and all manner of cryptozoological creatures because the world is more fun that way, but in my quieter more honest moments I’ll admit that I’m afraid that maybe they are just made up.

I am afraid of three things: Serial killers, Alien Abductions, and Sharks. I heard a radio show about an entity called the Hat Man the other night, and he is trying his hardest to join the club.