Original review posted Saturday, May 26, 2012

Description: Years have passed since the overthrow of the monarchy by the Brotherhood of Warlocks and they rule Piaxia in peaceful accord. But now forces are at work to disrupt this rule from outside the Brotherhood as well as within! In the border town of Rok, a young warlock acolyte, Tarlok and his older brother, Savan, captain of the guard, become embroiled in the machinations of dominance. While in the capital city, Tessia, the daughter of Piaxia’s most influential merchant, begins a journey of survival. Follow the three as their paths intertwine, with members of the Brotherhood in pursuit and the powerful merchant’s guild manipulating the populace for their own ends.

Review 3 of 5 Stars

The author requested that I review this book. I really enjoy a good fantasy and the description sounded pretty good so I sat down to read it. Overall it was a decent story. Not epic and sweeping, but not bad either and I didn’t have to struggle to finish it. The writing was good and the story flowed along. All things considered the writing was not the problem (and that is a compliment). I believe the overall problem was that the author played it a little too safe in the story and I really didn’t feel that the characters were explored enough. Several of the characters had great promise to invest the reader in their struggle, but never quite hit the depth that drives emotion. As far as characters go Tarlok was my favorite, but at times even he seemed a little flat in his responses. For me, this type of story should be a valiant struggle against the adverse force that is causing trouble to make you really feel for the characters and get caught up in their struggle to right wrongs. There were moments when I was truly intrigued and couldn’t wait to get back to the story. However, everything worked out a little too neatly, what should have been major battles were won too easily, everyone’s plans worked out just as they had hoped and what should have seemed like insurmountable odds kind of fizzled due to the ease with which those odds were overcome and the predictability of the outcomes. There was no moment when you felt that the good guys might really lose the day and I think that’s an integral piece for this type of story. Note that I’m not discouraging readers from this book. If you enjoy a good general fantasy story then you’ll probably enjoy this, but don’t expect to be holding your breath for the conclusion. I think with some additional skill honing with regard to plot and characterization along with a dash of risk taking we might see some really good things from this author.