Reviewed by Saifunnissa Hassam for Readers' Favorite

Kallen Samuels' Leviticus: Dictates of the Servators, Book 1 is a well-crafted Christian fantasy and sci-fi story set in an antediluvian time. New hi-tech inventions have emerged, and more are in the works. The story begins when Leviticus Radix, Nico Callan, Kade Brixton, and Kayla Vantos are graduate students at the prestigious Denmount Court of Learning. Leviticus, the principal character, is a brilliant and gifted computational engineering student with an extraordinary analytical mind, who immediately senses anything unfamiliar in a familiar pattern. Nico is Leviticus' best friend and a business major. Kade is an excellent computer engineering student and is a team member of an exciting new hi-tech project developed by Leviticus. Kayla is a surveillance major. The four students are in their last year at the Court when, dramatically and unexpectedly, their lives are disrupted. Two ancient organizations --the Servators and the Breachers -- both see Leviticus' new project as a potentially powerful invention. The pace, the drama, and the tension rise considerably as the four young people each find themselves in challenging and often perilous situations, very different from their student days.

I particularly liked Kallen Samuels' Leviticus for its remarkable characters, their transformative journeys, and the complexity of the world in which they live. I loved the backstory of the city of Denmount, the Court of Learning itself, its history, and other very intriguing details which give the overall story considerable depth and complexity. I think giving each of the four characters their own space in the story made their subsequent interactions with each other more realistic. Part of the title of this novel refers to the Servators. I liked the approach of revealing more about the Servators through specific characters and situations. The Servators are a force for good, and I felt that their ethics and tenets - of humility, forgiveness, redemption, and hope - are conveyed realistically through the challenges and difficulties faced by the characters. The Breachers, on the other hand, are a destructive force. I think the story's villains are compelling, and their greed for power and wealth comes through in a powerful and thought-provoking way. I enjoyed reading Leviticus very much with its extraordinary characters and a compelling, multilayered storyline of good vs. evil.