Swords & sorcery/epic fantasy novella with romantic elements, and a good solid read. It's set in a medieval European type of world, happily reminiscent of classic DragonLance, but the characters are more far-flung, bringing Oriental and other flavors to the mix, preventing this world from being just the same old-same old.
The plotline's classic S&S, with a group of champions off on a world-saving adventure. The problem's ultimate solution, however, is more clever than the genre's usual tropes. Love the use of logical reasoning to bring down the bad guy, and the teamwork from the characters. That's nicely done.
I would like to see more world-building, although that would have been hard to do well in this short of an introductory book. The tendency would have been toward info dumps, and so I can see why the author chose not to go that route. But several of the mage's spells came out of left field, with no warning given that she could do stuff like that; even a conversation where she comes across as coy and mysterious could have deepened our expectations of her capabilities. And there are a number of proofing errors, fewer in front but increasing toward the book's end. If that changes, I'll update this review, but unless you're a fully fledged grammar Nazi, it shouldn't bother you. So let's call this one a solid four stars.
Blurb:
No Goblin has been able to unite the warring tribes in more than one hundred years. Yet more and more evidence suggests a new Goblin King is gathering the tribes in the east for a war on the Seven Kingdoms of Man.
Eight heroes gather to face this new threat, one champion from each of the Seven Kingdoms and their guide through the wilds of the east. Farion Quin, Knight Captain of Lorest, is far from being the strongest, or fastest, or most experienced of the group, and he fears he may be the loose thread that unravels this secret quest.
But soon enough the hordes of Goblins are upon them and there is no more room for fear, for to fail means death and the fall of the Seven Kingdoms.
Cheers,
Gunnar
The plotline's classic S&S, with a group of champions off on a world-saving adventure. The problem's ultimate solution, however, is more clever than the genre's usual tropes. Love the use of logical reasoning to bring down the bad guy, and the teamwork from the characters. That's nicely done.
I would like to see more world-building, although that would have been hard to do well in this short of an introductory book. The tendency would have been toward info dumps, and so I can see why the author chose not to go that route. But several of the mage's spells came out of left field, with no warning given that she could do stuff like that; even a conversation where she comes across as coy and mysterious could have deepened our expectations of her capabilities. And there are a number of proofing errors, fewer in front but increasing toward the book's end. If that changes, I'll update this review, but unless you're a fully fledged grammar Nazi, it shouldn't bother you. So let's call this one a solid four stars.
Blurb:
No Goblin has been able to unite the warring tribes in more than one hundred years. Yet more and more evidence suggests a new Goblin King is gathering the tribes in the east for a war on the Seven Kingdoms of Man.
Eight heroes gather to face this new threat, one champion from each of the Seven Kingdoms and their guide through the wilds of the east. Farion Quin, Knight Captain of Lorest, is far from being the strongest, or fastest, or most experienced of the group, and he fears he may be the loose thread that unravels this secret quest.
But soon enough the hordes of Goblins are upon them and there is no more room for fear, for to fail means death and the fall of the Seven Kingdoms.
Cheers,
Gunnar
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