Front Cover
Synopsis
The Alliance of Summerhall has stood for a thousand years. Forged out of the blood and fire of the last Great War it has brought a level of peace and prosperity to the kingdoms of Midia never before seen. Now that peace is being threatened. Ambitions, old hatreds and suspicions seek to weaken it from within just as rumors abound of the return of the ancient enemy.
My Opinion
I'll admit the front cover isn't awe inspiring but I was intrigued by the blurb. The book is quite expensive, costing £4.66 but you certainly get your money's worth in terms of the sheer amount of pages you get, 666 pages in total (I'm not sure if the author intended to have that certain number).
The book is told through two principal characters, Coran, a young knight, and Katelyn, a princess. There is other POV's mixed in as well but the main focus is on those two.
The beginning of the book is slow, with not a lot going on. Instead the author has taken his time in setting up the foundation for his characters and world building.
In terms of the storyline, the book is not unique and it's your typical fantasy novel with a young knight acting as the hero and a princess (who can use a sword of course) as the romantic interest. I could guess within the first few chapters at what was going to happen next, although saying that there was the odd twist that I didn't see coming.
The book is clearly aimed at young adults to teens but does switch to more mature scenes.
The author has a clear talent at character and world building and it was pretty easy to picture in my mind what was happening, however the book is at times described too well. I felt the author, at the detriment to the story, went into too much depth. So much so that I started to gloss over parts that described how a bed was made or how the furniture were arranged in a particular room.
As I mentioned at the start, the book is long, and personally I felt it was too long and the author could have easily shaved off at least 100 pages without it impacting the storyline.
Some other points I made whilst reading the book:
*Brilliant at describing emotions. Felt at times that the author was a female and I’m not saying that in derogatory terms but in praise as I find women authors connect/empathise better with their characters.
*There was the odd typo, e.g missing a " or a letter. Nothing too major and I’m probably being pedantic.
*A bit abrupt in that all of a sudden the main character is special. No real hint of it until WHAM! there’s a prophecy about him and he's the chosen one.
Conclusion
All in all this is a well written book and would definitely appeal to readers who are looking for the standard, run-of-the-mill fantasy where good triumphs over evil.
If you’re looking for something edgy, more contempory or something a bit more distinctive, then this book probably isn’t for you.
If you’re looking for something edgy, more contempory or something a bit more distinctive, then this book probably isn’t for you.
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