Original review posted Thursday, May 9, 2013

Description: On the planet Kelanni, life is cheap.

With the aid of the fearsome “Keltar” enforcers,
in their flying cloaks, a ruthless invader is forcing the native people to mine
the colloquially named “lodestone” – a substance from another universe with
infinitely destructive power.

The only ones who can stop him are a tiny girl with fiery disposition, a
former Keltar, a failed revolutionary, a musician and the mysterious creature,
Boxx, who seems to speak only in riddles.

Review 4 of 5 Stars

Having just come off reading a favorite series I was a little hesitant to start this book. I had just had a fabulous reading experience and didn’t want that to affect my review of the next book I read by an as yet unknown to me author, but I’d been curious about this one and it had been hanging around on my Kindle for a while so off I went to a new world.

I must say that I was more than pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed it.  It was little dark in places, but I still consider it a fun read.  There was action and there were tender moments, but mostly there was a good ensemble cast of characters that carried it off. There were some rough patches so it gets a 4, but that just means that I really liked it instead of loving it because there were moments where things seemed a little too familiar, but heroes do need adventure and obstacles to overcome and there are only so many. I’ll happily read the next book in the series and who knows by the second or third book I may love it. The characters were interesting as was the overall story and all in all it was a good adventure.

The Kelanni are not human which is very obvious from the start of the book, but before long you’re involved in the book, its characters and the flow of the story, easily forgetting this mundane detail until one of them swishes their tail or something. The Keltar are a menacing lot, but every adventure needs a bad guy to overcome. And then there’s Boxx. I’m curious about Boxx who is a strange little character indeed, but it’s obvious that finding out more about this character will come later in the series. I liked the varied uses for the lodestones throughout the story and how the story hinged around them in  its own way, without that detail being the only focus. On the whole it’s a tale of friendship, hardship, adventure and the personal journeys we make where we may come out the other end as better people.  The world building for the Kelanni civilization was pretty well done and I readily admit that I enjoyed my journey with these characters as they set out to save the people of their world. I’m hoping the next book in the series is as good if not better.