Rebecca Gomez Farrell

This is the first part of a duology. I have already read part two.

I liked this book very much. Big parts of it are a quest. Having Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings as my favorite literature, I enjoyed that.
The characters are quite convincing, they are very different from each other, which makes for a nice reading. My favorite character was Vesperi, who is obviously having trouble to be nice to other people. There is horror in the book, and sadness, and faith. A big faith in what people can mean to each other.
The end was quite satisfying to me.… (mer)

I got this book from Meerman Press, asking me to read and review the book.
First of all, I have to confess I have been in a rollercoaster of emotions lately. I cannot concentrate very well. Then you should know, that English is not my native language. And last but not least: I have not read part one yet.
So I think it is no wonder, that I did not always understand what the book was about. The author tells us regularly what happened in part one and she tells it in a good way: no spoilers, but just what you need to know.
I liked the style of the book, with the different protagonists, and I liked the characters. The story about the two countries, reunited after a too long time, was sad. A good idea to reunite these two countries in a way by the marriage of the king from the one country with a gentlewoman from the other country. The plot was smart and well chosen.
But, as I had trouble understanding it I give it three stars, not four.
And I am going to read part one.… (mer)

Did not finish.

What do you do when you have saved the day? Go out and save the day again. Meh.

The writing style - clunky and mildly pretentious - distracts from the plot, the world building comes across as incoherent, and the story was boring to the point I didn’t care about the characters. It reads like the author’s first language is not English, and could use the services of a good editor. I still have no sense of the various communities in the world; the differences seem to be physical as well as social, but the author appears to be bending over backwards to avoid being accused of covert racism, so it’s all very vague.

For what it’s worth, the story appears to be more wandering around piecing together an ancient prophecy while being menaced by attacks of magical beasts from a different dimension. It was OK in the first book as there was only one menace, but here there are multiple menaces and it was hard to keep them straight. Add in what seems to be the start of a theomachy, and the story goes downhill.

I was well pleased to drop out and read some John Wyndham short stories and start a new Lindsey Davis. I don’t think I’ll go back to this one; it’s too much work for so little enjoyment.… (mer)