Wattpad Must-Read Stories by Filipino Authors

20. CHAMPIONS (The Lost Chronicles of Eden, #1) [Published] by KarrenRenzSena

Author's Own Blurb:

Gabriel didn't know what hit him. One moment, he was staring at his lovely date, and the next, she was pulling out a gun and shooting random men on the street.

The first, she shot in the head. He had a black suit on, as if he just came from a meeting. There was a calamari vendor who was dipping squid rings on a batter before frying it. She shot him in the chest. Without batting an eye, she cocked her gun and shot in the guts a Fine Arts student crossing the street.

He stared aghast at his date, who calmly tucked her gun back into her bag as if she did nothing out of the ordinary. 'Oh, yeah. I shoot random men while sipping on a hot cup of overpriced coffee. Just felt like it, you know? Oh, would you like some more sugar on your latte?'

Gabriel shook his head to clear his mind off the crazy thought. He swallowed the huge lump in his throat and gaped at Selina. "What the heck?!" he screamed when he was able to find his voice.

Selina turned to Gabriel and smiled. "You saw that? Good. You're the seventh Candidate. Come with me."

With that, Gabriel gets thrown into a wild adventure involving Guardians (who are neither angels nor spirits) and their never-ending war against the demons that ravage all the Worlds-both visible and invisible.

As he journeys with newfound, if albeit weird and cranky allies, he learns more about himself, his elusive past, his destiny and ultimately finds out what it means to be a true Champion-and maybe find love in the process, too.

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O 'di ba? Kung hindi ka pa nahugot sa blurb pa lang I don't know what will.

Ito ang kauna-unahang pagkakataon that I will 'review' a published book. Ang isa kong book na na-review, it was published after I did my review. And honestly, nahihiya akong gumawa nitong review na ito kasi malamang, this work has been reviewed a hundred times over. So, ano pa ang maitutulong ko dito, 'di ba? However, I would be remiss if I don't write about this story here samantalang I totally enjoyed (and is still enjoying this dahil maraming bonus chapters si Ms. Karren na pinopost) it.

I heard of this work from lunatrix, who is a writer herself. Pinag-uusapan namin ang mga fantasy stories written by Filipinos and this work came up. Thankies a lotties talaga kay lunatrix kasi Champions is my type of book talaga. Fantasy ang genre. Hindi umiikot sa pag-ibig ang buong kuwento. And there is plenty of humor.

This work reminds me of my favorite urban fantasy series of all time, the Kate Daniels series by the awesome duo with the pseudonym Ilona Andrews. They are on the same genre din, urban fantasy. Pero, while Ilona Andrews works are geared towards an adult audience, itong Champions is for teens and young adults. Obvious sa choice of characters pa lang. Pero humor-wise and action-wise, they have similar feels kahit magkaiba ng topic. However, in my humble opinion, Ms. Karren wins over them kasi mag-isa niya lang in-achieve ang kuwentong ito while Ilona Andrews stories are written by a married couple (Gordon and Ilona). It only took Ms. Karren's one beautiful mind to gift the world with Champions while it took a partnership to build Kate Daniels.

I wouldn't go into the technicalities of this story. I'm sure others who are more qualified than I have done so already. Magmumukha lang akong blabberer. Also, I don't think I have to go into the details of why you should read this. This has been published and is a fast-selling book already. Although, hindi lahat ng napa-publish at tumitiba sa kita are great, this one is! Para lang itong Heneral Luna. Puwedeng ipanglaban internationally.

What I would like to do then is to say thank you to Ms. Karren for bringing the Champions to life for us readers na uhaw para sa mga ganitong kuwento. Marami pong salamat for making Filipino-oriented fantasy cool again. Maraming salamat for showing us, me particularly, that an urban fantasy could actually work in the Philippine context. Akala ko dati pang-manga (Naruto-style) lang ang mga ganitong kuwento or sa streets of Chicago (where Kate Daniels is set) lang ito bagay. Akala ko dati I'll be weirded out magbasa ng mga ganitong kuwento na sa Pilipinas ang setting. I was such a snob! Thank you for proving me wrong on all accounts.

I'm so looking forward to the next book and to the little snippets and behind the scenes of our champions (the Andrews couple do the same for their series and it amps the excitement of the readers for the next installment of their books).