The Battle Within [Paperback]

Travis Klingaman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Travis L. Klingaman is a promising young writer with an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He has based much of the current novel on his education, experiences, and in-depth historical and architectural research. He currently lives in Wisconsin, where he is working on his second novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 406 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (June 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595446620
• ISBN-13: 978-0595446629
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,064,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Only Battle Here Is Staying Interested, September 21, 2007

By 

Lonnie E. Holder "The Review's the Thing" (Columbus, Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Battle Within (Paperback)

This book suffers from several problems, probably the greatest of which is the lack of editing. I realized after reading this book that most of what came before page 224 was purely background that was not directly related to the story of Steven Brouschard. As I continued to read the book after page 224, I discovered that everything the author wrote about Marcus Rutherford in the first 200+ pages was excessive detail for the purpose that Marcus served in the life of Steven Brouschard. My recommendation: If you are going to read this book, begin with page 224. If you really want to understand what happened in excruciating detail to Marcus Rutherford, you can read the other 223 pages later.

Editing also contributed to lack of focus in the story. Klingaman kept promising mystery and enlightenment, but never really followed through. Klingaman created a fascinating concept in chapter 44, but the concept disappears until the end of the book. A good editor would have had Klingaman capitalize on the concept initiated in chapter 44, chopped most or all of what came before, and beefed up Marcus's influence on Steven.

I was also disappointed in the character of Steven Brouschard. Brouschard seems like he is on the verge of becoming superior to all the characters around him, but instead he becomes paranoid, cynical and judgmental. Once again, editing could have refined Brouschard's character and created a character head and shoulders better than those around him.

The book also had period smatterings of typographical or grammatical errors, which made for occasional increased difficulty reading.

You may be wondering what the book is about. Well, after having read all 398 pages, I guess my answer is that I am not sure. The book has at least two main stories. However, the Marcus story stands on its own and Steven's story stands on its own. Steven's story is about a young man whose life has yet to acquire a purpose, and Steven obtains a purpose; sort of a mid-life crisis for a twenty-something.

I must admit that I was a bit perturbed that a twenty-something person with Steven's supposed intelligence had no goals in life, and was reaching a mid-life crisis. Steven's mid-life crisis was egocentric self-indulgence that a kick in the butt would have solved, but apparently no one was there to do it for Steven, except Marcus, indirectly.

I had a hard time reading this book. The story failed to capture my interest until chapter 44. After chapter 44 I did get interested and was hoping to find out more about the mysterious red stone. Unfortunately, the red stone disappeared into the murk until late in the book, and my desire to learn more about the red stone was thwarted. Klingaman's ending was supposed to be awe-inspiring or chilling or something, but I only felt relief that I was finished with the book.

I think Klingaman has potential as a writer, but he needs a good editor and more practice. I am unable to recommend this book to any particular audience.

This review is based on a copy of the book provided to me by the author.

Good luck!