The novel “Astral Alignment” by Randall Sharpe was published for the first time in 2022. It’s the first book in the Astral Alignment series.
Clover Fields wakes up in an unfamiliar place, with no memory of her own. She finds her name on the driver’s license she carries, but even her body seems strange to her due to certain inhuman characteristics. She can defend herself from strange creatures because she carries a weapon unknown to the people who live in the area and find her. She discovers she has strange powers and ends up becoming a sort of priestess of the community.
Darien Weever is trying to recover a manuscript that could be very dangerous in the wrong hands, but he ends up in a situation far more complex than he imagined. Josiah is taken by his father thousands of miles from his home for reasons he doesn’t understand. His father tells him he has special powers, which explains some of his strange experiences, but he finds it difficult to accept that his mother withheld such important information about their family from him.
“Astral Alignment” begins a series that blends different genres. It includes various settings, which have traits that sometimes are distinctly science fiction, and sometimes more typical of fantasy. There are also moments that are definitely dark fantasy or horror. Randall Sharpe chose the narrative elements he felt were suitable for the various parts of the story, so genre labels are limiting.
This was described as a novel in two parts because one part is set on the Earth as we know it, while the other is set on a world inhabited by humans but also by strange creatures that hunt them. They may seem like two completely separate stories, but the author gradually starts including details that suggest the existence of a bigger story, also giving meaning to the title.
Clover Fields is the protagonist of the part set in the other world. Through her point of view, the reader slowly discovers its characteristics. From what she has with her, it’s clear that she comes from the Earth we know, but she has no memory of it and must learn what she can about her past life by reading the history of messages stored on the smartphone she carried with her.
The stories of protagonists like Clover and Josiah are very different, but both are also about discovering themselves and their powers. The author also uses these progressive discoveries to provide insights into the world Clover has ended up in and the strange events the two of them witness in both worlds.
This novel is relatively short but includes a lot of events and the development of the important characters. This can make the various subplots a bit difficult to follow, but at the same time, it makes the stories engaging. It’s certainly a story that requires proper attention due to its complexity, but from this early in the series, I feel it’s worth it because it quickly starts revealing its narrative richness.
“Astral Alignment” doesn’t have a real ending, as it ends with important events in both worlds. Few answers are provided, and virtually all the significant parts of the story remain open-ended because the subplots will continue in the next books. It can be considered a great prologue to a story that will develop into an already-long series. I recommend it to readers who appreciate genre blends that are developed over the course of several books. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
