Review: Trent Foster & the Council of 10
- Andrew C McDonald
- Apr 18, 2019
- 3 min read
ROUSING/QUIRKY/CAMPY SPACE ADVENTURE AT ITS BEST
I have just finished reading Trent Foster and the Council of 10. To tell the truth, I’m a tad flabbergasted. This story presents as a rousing, campy style, space adventure. It’s full of people with all kinds of quirks; aliens of various ilk; spaceships, wormholes; and beings of unimaginable power. At its heart, though, it is a morality tale about each person taking responsibility for their own life. It is also a treatise about the duality of nature and existence: There is no light without dark, no good without evil… Those who attempt to extinguish evil and dark may find themselves destroying goodness and light.
In this story the universe is watched over by a council of 10 beings of almost limitless power. These beings are responsible for keeping the universe safe and in balance. To this end they have a corps of sentinels – powerful beings from the corners of the universe who are tasked with the daily job of policing the universe. My thoughts on this ran almost immediately to the Green Lantern Corps from DC comics. It seems very similar except no rings or lanterns. However, the sentinel corps of this novel is much more akin to the corps created by the evil-corrupted Yellow Lantern Sinestro. It seems that some of the worst purveyors of atrocity in the universe are the sentinels who are supposed to be keeping it safe. The first event of the book is a sentinel destroying an entire populated planet.
As for the Council of 10: Unfortunately, as with so many in the past, they have been corrupted by their power. The council has come up with a plan that defies the very nature of their reason for existence. For this plan, they need Trent Foster. The plan would involve remaking the entire universe in a new pattern of their personal design- eliminating all they deem bad. Yeah, we’ve seen that before.
Trent Foster, a human being who works at a fitness center, was raised an orphan, never knowing who his parents were or where he came from. His youth was difficult, moving from foster home to foster home – always being rejected for one reason or another. Even his name is because nobody knew what it actually should be. Trent has demons of his own to fight. In his daily life Trent Foster seems bright, capable, and helpful. He is a positive influence on almost everyone he meets. However, he has his own problems which haven’t been dealt with effectively and he uses helping others to try to suppress his own inner demons. Trent Foster, though, is no normal human being. He is actually a being of almost supreme power yet to be tapped. As his power is unlocked after a tragedy, he undergoes an unbelievable journey that is just fun to experience. It is one of personal growth and heroic effort.
Apartments are blown up; lots of things explode; dogs are saved; aliens rampage; matter is created; matter is destroyed. But what matters is the journey wherein Trent learns about overcoming his past, and growing into a powerful being that takes a hold of and accepts responsibility for his own destiny.
I won’t tell you how the story ends… I will let you find out for yourself. Suffice to say, it is very personal to the author and the lessons learned are as profound as the journey to the end was fun.
My only issue with the book, other than the power levels displayed seemed almost ridiculously cosmic in some ways and possibly too convenient, was that the book would benefit from a good editing. There is a fair amount of incorrect word usage that would have been caught by a professional. That is the reason I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5. Still, that did not detract from the story enough to be a true problem. I highly recommend this book for those who love quirky space adventure with lots of power displays and explosions. Even more so if you like a good moral lesson thrown in for good measure.
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