I enjoyed this book a lot . I would have liked a little more background on the Raven Master but otherwise felt very entertained . Action , adventure , mystery , and compassion , it had it all .
I’ll start by saying that I’ve been in the mood for a quest book for some time. I like it when characters explore new places. Makes for an entertaining read. This book was free of political intrigue, haughty nobles, and scheming merchants. And the cover art is stunning. It’s right up my alley. However...
Unfortunately, this wasn’t as in depth as I like my quest books. I read in another review that this book felt like a lot of “tell” and very little “show.” Sadly, they were right. What could have been amazing scenes were dry and over in a few paragraphs. While on the other hand, there were pages of reflection. What kept me going were some scenes that were done well and an overall curiosity raised by the pages of musings.
I would love to see this book have more detail and less internal ramblings by Lianna. I think the length would have been fine if I was more immersed in the story. As it was, I was reading more of Lianna’s repeating feelings, curiosities, and sensations, which made the book slow when it had all the potential to be crazy fun. I’d have rather been subtly reminded of her emotions and given a more detailed fight scene, firing at all my 5 senses. While the musings did raise story questions, they seemed to drag on forever and were very flat. However, they made me curious and I wanted to figure out what was going to happen. There was a bigger picture that was coming into play as they went about their main goal. Like I said, it made me curious and Steenbeeke did a great job giving us hints here and there that built up a deeper plot.
Nestled in all these words is a neat story. I really wish it would have been more in depth; maybe some banter between the characters, a friendly talk around the camp fire, more sensory input. Instead, it felt very business like. The dialog was long and never really moved outside of two characters bouncing ideas off each other in a very distant manner towards one another. Shame.
The bad guys in this were done quite well, I must say. Our PoV’s with them were short and to the point and added good depth to the story. I usually grow bored when we hop over to evil guys, but these were over before I even got a chance to think about boredom.
Overall, it was short book and had a good storyline. For me, it just didn’t have all those fun details I want in a quest book. Also, the writing did feel repetitive at times and with all the repeated musings, it kinda wore down on me towards the end. But there’s some good scenes in there and, as I said, a good story.
Super story well worth the time to read. a kindle Free read. this author is or should say was new to me, as I will be getting the rest of this series and any others he has. The story moved a long quickly action was excellent, the Characters were well developed and blended perfectly with each other, and with the story line. Brenor comes wounded to Lianna's village and finds help from her and he lover, When the trouble following catches up and kills Dreyan her lover they flee into the forbidden lands to complete the quest Brenor is on. The tale flows smoothly threw battles and hardships. Though a stand alone book, it will leave you looking for the rest of the series to find out what happens next. Get it ad enjoy the begining of a New Author with a gift for story telling, Thank you Jeroen Steenbeeke for a new series to read and many others I hope.
I really enjoyed reading this novel. It has very good description of the all action and the definition of the characters is nearly perfect. I read this through in one reading. The interaction between the good and bad guys is crisp and easily pictured. I am very glad I read this and I am looking forward to continuing journey. Thank you for a fine novel, it was magic.
A interesting tale of a journey to save the world, with time travel. People with powerful capabilities. Tightly written, great well developed characters.