The Balance of Power: The Zone War, Book 2 [Paperback]

Terry Cloutier (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Terry Cloutier lives in a small town in Eastern Ontario, Canada with his wife, Denise. The Balance of Power is the second book in The Zone War Trilogy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse-Indigo (October 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595467210
• ISBN-13: 978-0595467211
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,962,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid addition to the trilogy and the fantasy genre, April 16, 2008

By 

Andrew Gray "Beezer Review" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Balance of Power: The Zone War, Book 2 (Paperback)

The Balance of Power by Terry Cloutier is the second novel in the Zone War trilogy. The first book is titled The Demon Inside (The Zone War, Book 1) and the third book, which is slated to be released in late 2008 or early 2009, is tentatively titled The Master Eye. Much like the first novel, The Balance of Power follows the same formula of combining a traditional fantasy environment with a mixture of some modern day scenes. Being that I had already read the previous book, I knew going into this book what to expect and it made the experience that much more enjoyable.

The plot of this novel picks up right where the Demon Inside left off. Edward now knows the dangers he faces in the Zone. The next step of his journey is laid out for him. He knows, for the most part what he has to do, but not yet sure how he can accomplish those goals. A few of the sub plots that were present in the first novel return in this novel as well. Such as facings ones inner demons and dealing with adversity. There is also the sub plot of a certain assassin stalking his prey and wondering not only what he is, but who is next. As I write this section of the review, I was first a little confused with what else to write. Then I realized that what this book seems to be lacking in plot it more than makes up for with character development. This flip is different than the first book which seemed to focus more on plot than character development.

The characters in this book are a familiar cast. Both versions of Edward are back, Eddie being the young version of course. My personal favorite character makes a return, Taagaa. And we also see the return of other favorites; Jasmiine, Doogren, and Quint. If you are a fan of character development you will really enjoy this book. For starters Mr. Cloutier begins to give the reader a hint of how the characters mesh between the `real life' scenes and the `fantasy' scenes. It almost has a Wizard of Oz type feel to it at times. That, in and of itself was rather interesting, however, it goes beyond that. The `flashback' scenes that were present in the first book are more numerous in this novel and longer. This allows Eddie's character to really grab the reader and show the reader that yes, Eddie did suffer tremendous trauma, but also the many other things that Eddie went through as a child. These scenes directly impact Edward in the fantasy realm, because he needs to conquer the demons from his past. While I thought the characters were well written in the first book, I am even more impressed with the depth they have after book two. They are really fleshed out and the tiny pieces are slowly starting to fall into place.

A couple criticisms I have about this novel:

1 - I would have liked to see a little more balance between the characters and the plot. It felt as though the actually plot was eased back some and the characters were full throttle. It was an odd little thing. Kind of like when a singer is singing a note just ahead of the tempo of a song. It feels a little different. That's what I liken this to.

2 - Please note, this is a personal bias thing and it may not apply to others. One of the things I liked about Eddie in the first book was that so little was written about him, his scenes were short and his words were few, but he made a big impact. The less is more adage. However, in this novel it seemed that Eddie really dominated things. To the point that there is a lot of disclosure about Eddie. I am left wondering if, as a reader, I needed to know everything I still know for it to be as impactful.

What I really enjoyed about this novel.

1 - The character development. I can't say it enough, they have become much more fleshed out. I know this is a direct dissonance with my last item above, but it needs to be said. I especially liked the carryover between the two worlds. Things are starting to fit together into the nice jigsaw puzzle that Mr. Cloutier is laying out masterfully.

2 - The prose of this novel has that familiar feel to it. While I enjoyed the prose of the first novel, the prose in this one seems more refined and tighter. Mr. Cloutier is saying the same thing, but with fewer words. It is very obvious that he learned a few lessons from the first novel and is putting them into play in this one. It is fun to watch a writer progress like this.

3 - The richness of the world. We were afforded glimpses of it in the first book, but with this one we are shown so much more. I would have liked a few smaller details about the world, but by and large, it was much more fleshed out and detailed. It certainly adds a sense of size and scope to the world that I didn't have before.

I again struggled with just what to rate this novel. I once again decided on a four out of five mostly because of the lessening of the plot and the full throttle character development discord. I think if they were equal everything would have meshed together better and felt more satisfying. I do not want to take anything away from this novel though. It was a joy to read, and the characters are simply fantastic. If you are a fan of cliff-hanger endings you will love the ending. If you despise cliff-hanger ending then you may want to wait until book three is released and just read them together. I, for one, am eagerly awaiting the third, and final, book to this trilogy. But more than that, I am awaiting what other works Mr. Cloutier will produce down the road. This is a book I will most certainly be recommending to other fantasy readers, and non fantasy readers for that matter. I can not wait to see what the future holds for this series, and author.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than the first, June 13, 2008

By 

Amy Paul "AmyP" (Knoxville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Balance of Power: The Zone War, Book 2 (Paperback)

In the Balance of Power, we get a continuation of the story of Edward Fox, the Creator of the Zone. This book used the first as a springboard and careened directly into a whirlwind of activity. I liked that in this book we found out even more about the characters in the Zone and about their relationship to Edward's past. I felt like this book brought things together nicely and set up a nice transition to the finale of the trilogy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The balance of Pwoer, May 9, 2008

By 

Robert D. Johnson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Balance of Power: The Zone War, Book 2 (Paperback)

Good sequal to the first book. I keep wanting to read further ti find out what happens