Ted the superlame.

This book is set in two dimensions? I question that as they really don't seem to be different dimensions at all. Different planets, or alternate realities maybe. But for the sake of argument two of the group end up on the planet, in the dimension where the light and dark souled are from. Both groups are then trying to find a way to open a portal, with one obviously trying to get back to earth and the other to try and find a way to rescue them. At the same time the group on earth is dealing with being wanted by the law that has been set against them by the senator once known as Adam. Ted at the same time is trying to deal with the fact he is trapped on the home world of the people that most want him dead.

Overall the book is going to be okay for teens and young adults. The romance is a little bit sickening at times, and more so as the boys seem to act like girls rather than boys, what with their emotions and weepy eyes. My problems with the book though are much as they were with the first three books that I read in the omnibus edition.

The first problem is the fact either of the authors has made Ted so lame and ineffective. He is supposed to be your hero, but spends most of the time being saved by a fully human girl and his protector who at least has super strength as an excuse. In the first two books Ted's powers worked unless directly used as an attack on a dark soul that saw it coming, and they could deflect it with ease. However, all of a sudden from book three and book four if a dark soul is looking at Ted NONE of his powers work, not even his internal ones. Or I assume they don't work, as he hasn't seemed to bother using them since book one to aid his fighting ability. This just makes no sense for a book about a super hero to have his enemies completely take away all his powers if they happen to be looking in his direction. He would survive about five minutes in reality.

THe other annoyance was the direction the book has with dealing with boys and girls. The boys are always the weak ones needing the help, throwing up, getting dizzy or failing in a fight. The girls are like the uber warriors, which is fine in the case of Erica as she is centuries old and trained, but not with our basketball player who has no martial training at all. Seeing her jump into a crowd of twenty soldiers with Erica and beat up just as many is just ridiculous writing. Trained soldiers with a ten to one advantage don't get beat up by a seventeen year old basketball player with no combat training. There is also the rather demeaning and condescending way the girls talk to the boys at times that grates. If it was done in reverse you'd have feminists screaming blue murder about sexism.

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