I did struggle at the start of this with the story being very heavy going.

I was please I persevered as the story improved the further into I went.

The characters were all well developed and it ended up an entertaining Science Fiction story.

The Betrayal of Ka by Shea R. Oliver.
The Transprophetics Book 1.
Condemned. Judged. Sentenced. Can you forgive yourself for your past, or are you forever damned? Sent to Earth to kill, Ka must define who he really is. As the spaceship secretly lands on Earth, Ka’s mission is clear: find and kill Transprophetics. His shipmates think of him as a killer. On his home planet of Koranth, he is considered a murderer. Haunted in his dreams by the boy whose life he stole, Ka struggles to define who he really is. A girl in a temple in Thailand. A boy kidnapped in Mexico. Both can do the impossible. Both can move objects with their minds. These two Transprophetics pose grave risks to the Donovackia Corporation as it plans its invasion of Earth. With a blade in his hand, Ka’s decision to kill, or not, will reverberate across the galaxy.
Really enjoyable read. Love anything with telekinesis. 5*.

Humans are all over the universe. And unbeknownst to Earthlings, some of them (the ones from Koranth and Zoranth, the dominant planets) are planning to invade the Earth and use it as a resources well. "The Betrayal of Ka" develops this, not particularly original, idea in a three-pronged story-line, where we have a mixture of adventure, mystery, everyday life conundrums, and political/economic thrills.

On one corner we have Kadamba, a human sent to prison for killing a child in one of those far away worlds, probably the better developed character, with some gravitas and a nice arc. On the second we have some Earthlings, in particular the brothers Dylan and Bjorn, whose story line is not so good, but is also enjoyable and is well balanced with Kadamba's one. On the third one we have some military types, in a story line that feels a little bit like filler and whose purpose in the big picture is, for now, a little bit of a mystery. They are not particularly interesting characters, and it took me a while to start to be able to take the Colonel from the Captain. On the last corner, we have the owner of one of those alien corporations who use portals to go from one world to another (someone has watched too many sci-fi shows) and conquer them to use them for their own purposes. The owner being one of those people with mental powers, and being in a relationship with one of the Ministers of the government of Koranth and Zoranth, a Minister with her own secret motivations and desire for power.

Does it sound convoluted? It is. A tiny little bit. Because, if the story had centered just on Kadamba and maybe the Earth children, it would probably have had a better balance. The military and corporations story lines feel like fodder, and the characters are a little bit boring, in particular the owner of the corporation. Also, some of Kadamba's adventures are stretched a little bit thin, and the Earthlings story takes a while to make any kind of sense (even though in the end it messes quite well with the rest of the plot).

The worst that could be said is that the book is not particularly original: humans are not only on Earth but all over the universe; there are portals for fast transportation from A to B planet; there are some secrets to stretch (I mean, develop) the story in future volumes; there are humans with powers. This point one that I didn't quite agree with.

Being so big a part of the story, it's a pity that the 'transprophetics' side quest feels like kind of an afterthought, with the powers of those humans poorly developed and their impact on the story not very well thought of. It feels like someone wants superhumans in their story just for the sake of it. It could be that the idea is better developed in future volumes, but, for now, it doesn't feel like there is a particular reason for them to be there.

"The Betrayal of Ka" is an entertaining book, with an easy to read plot and some good points, but it lacks something to make it stand from the pack.

Ka lives with his family on a planet far from earth. Ka decides to sell drugs — a big mistake on his part. A young boy buys it, tries it and dies. The boy will haunt him for a long time. The police arrest him, is judged guilty and mistreated at prison. A politician interferes and gets him pick in her rehab program which is to train him to be a soldier. Training to be a soldier is easier than being in prison even though he has no friends. Politics are involved as this planet is governed by a corporation that ends up being only one person (Tomar) governing instead of several persons from several planets. There is greed In Tomar that has him wanting to invade earth as long as there are no Transprophetics on earth. He sends a spaceship that sends six people to inspect earth for readiness to be invaded. The six people will gather information and samples back to their planet in a spaceship that can’t accommodate the six people so they will remain on earth. They look human so that will not be a problem. Will Ka do his duty on the planet earth?

The book is science fiction with some very dark events. It isn’t horror but just the things that can happen when one is judged by a mistake and never forgiven. It is a complex novel that gave me a lot to think about what I would do or not do in his place.

The Betrayal of Ka is about the spread of a galactic empire as it seeks out habitable planets throughout the galaxy to exploit. It is about the politics and machinations of factions maneuvering for position and perhaps dominance. Their ascendance has happened as a result of Transprophetics who hold the potential to cause an evolutionary leap for humankind on whatever planet they arise.

The novel is also about Ka, and his humanity. Branded as a murderer of the worst kind and sent to earth as a bodyguard and trained killer to hunt and eliminate any Transprophetics he may find, this novel is really about his choices and his inner struggle with his demons and what he discovers about his race and himself. It is this human element that drives the story and propels it forward. While the political intrigue can be dry and a bit of a slog to get through, once the pieces are in place and the journey is made to earth, the story picks up speed and the game is on.

I want to start with saying I found the parts about Ka truly mindblowing. They are raw, and since I think in pictures, I truly kind of hated him in the first chapters, to feel sorry for him later, and delight in seeing him grow during the rest of the story. These parts of the book would have gotten 5 stars from me.

Then why only three stars? It is the duality of this book. The other parts would often have gotten only 1 star had they stood alone. There were some okay parts in those not about Ka, but especially at the start there was such a huge amount of dry, bland infodump that had the book not started with a part that was written much better before it, I had put it down. The hope it would get better drove me to reading on. It did get better. And worse again. And better. And ...

The good parts of this book are so great they are worth the read. Do prepare yourself for a political and historical infodump, and dry and boring parts between the good parts though.