The Marvelous Effect

The Marvelous Effect is a best-selling science fiction novel by Troy CLE. It was published in May 2007^{[citation needed]}. It is the first book in the Marvelous World series.

The novel tells the story of 13 year-old Louis Proof, an African-American native to East Orange, NJ who is a CLE. (Celestial Like Entity) , and how a race of CEs (Celestial Entites) called the "eNoli" (E-No-Lie) led by Galonius, try to drive the world into chaos. Louis's best friend, Brandon, his younger cousin Lacey, and the iLone (Ee-Lo-Ney) Timmothy, team together to free the world from Galonius's influence, as Louis masters his CLE abilities.

The story is heavily action driven being influenced by on the author's love of video games and action films. Surprisingly, the book rests upon a foundation of classical literature and the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and David Hume.

Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

Death and destruction reign in this first novel that reads like a shooter video game written by a hip-hop aficionado. A prologue sets up the scenario with the escape of the evil eNoli from the Marvelous World. Louis L. Proof, a regular all-American kid living in suburban New Jersey, is dragged from his everyday life to battle these invaders from the world of Midlandia. From the start, the action is fast, the suspense constant and the story always entertaining. It doesn't hurt that the young characters-Louis, his cousin Angela and his wise-cracking friend Brandon-are likable and well-developed, as are their Midlandian allies. The evil invaders don't fare so well, being both cartoonish and predictable. Narrative techniques include an omniscient narrator, bold-faced comments and pep talks, letters and flashbacks. A complex mix of fantasy and science fiction will appeal strongly to adventure fans, gamers and reluctant readers. The combination of ambitious narrative, some overly explicit violent episodes and a few vulgarities will require maturity on the part of readers. (Fantasy. 11-13)

School Library Journal

Fantasy fiction with African-American protagonists is hard enough to come by, so it’s a joy to discover a book that fills the need with flair. Louis Proof is racing RC cars in an underground amusement park when he glimpses a pair of ethereal beings. Soon after, he falls into a coma and awakens three months later to a world turned upside down. Surreal events have become commonplace, several parents and teachers are now unusually permissive, and the teen has been granted phenomenal powers. Eventually a stranger named Timothy explains that Louis is about to become a CLE–“a Celestial-like Entity.” He has been recruited for an Earthbound extension of the eternal conflict between two races at the center of the universe: the virtuous iLone and the evil eNoli. Louis needs to prevent an escaped eNoli named Galonious from “liberating” humanity from the effects of empathy and conscience. While Galonious inspires a great deal of unsettling behavior (Louis’s best friend steals pornography; physical abuse, murder, and suicide are also mentioned), things never get too dark, and the author forgoes a traditional “black-and-white” approach to the conflict by examining the complex interplay of the positive and negative forces in the characters’ lives. The narration has the free-flowing, engrossing rhythm of oral storytelling, punctuated by poetic interludes that comment (sometimes ironically) on the action. A worthy addition to modern-age magic tales such as Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series (Hyperion/Miramax).–Christi Voth Esterle, Parker Library, CO

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