L.K. Evans's Blog, page 22

My Review of War of the Wildlands

War of the Wildlands by Lana Axe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As usual, my disclaimers:

1. I received this book free in exchange for an honest review.
2. Reading is subjective. This is merely my opinion, and, for me, 3 stars is a good thing, not bad. Three means I enjoyed the book and I didn't struggle to get through it.

I won’t go into my usual likes and dislikes sections. They’ll just run together. My main complaint about the book is that it felt rushed. The characters are different from one another in their motivation and voice, which is great because there are quite a few of them. With that said, because the book felt rushed, I don’t think they were developed as well as they could have been. I think I read in another review that the reviewer wished this would have been lengthened to two or three books and I couldn’t agree more. There was plenty of ‘action’ and the story moved quickly, which again is great. But the scenes themselves felt rushed through, lacking some of the sensory inputs and details that would have immersed me completely. Some sections I was pulled into the story beautifully. For instance, the interactions between the king and prince are possibly the strongest scenes, in my opinion. The battles scenes were the weakest for me because, as I said, they felt rushed. However, Ms. Axe's descriptions of the forests are very nice.

I think my favorite character is Aelryk, the prince. I found myself more interested in him than the other characters. I won’t spoil it, but I think it’s because he was pulled in two directions. Inner turmoil is my fav in characters. Yori was my least favorite, probably because his story didn’t seem to fit into the book. I made no real connection with him and the main story (other than a few coincidental meetings that didn’t really lead to anything major). I honestly felt like his was a set up to maybe a second book in the series, but I don’t know that there will be one.

I found that time moved oddly in this book. One day the prince is in the castle, then he’s fighting in the Wildlands, then he’s back at the castle. There’s no mention to travel times and there’s no map so it made it feel like it all happened in a day. Possible, but improbable. Marching an army takes time, then the attack, then the march back. It’s another reason the book felt rushed. Of course, this could just be my personal preference. I need to know, even if it’s just a sentence or a sense of time, how they got from point A to point B. Though I’m not a map follower when I read, I do look at them before I start so I can get a feel for distances and where stuff is. Without either in this book, I found myself floating through what felt like a really really long day.

There were some unfortunate info dumps that were all the more apparent because the tenses switched between present and past. I easily made it through them, although I think the information could have been woven nicely into the story itself. Again, perhaps if it were longer.

So in conclusion, this was a good read, fast and short, but left me wanting a more in-depth book. I guess that ‘but’ in and of itself is a good thing.

View all my reviews

My Review of The Lost Book of Anggird

The Lost Book of Anggird by Kyra Halland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, let me just start by saying that it's rare for me to give out four stars. The only way to wrangle one out of me is to give me a great character. And I found one in Roric. Also, I received this book free in exchange for an honest review. Now, on to the review.

Let's start with what I struggled with:

First, the hardest part for me in this book was identifying the time period. Honestly, I couldn't tell if it was a middle age or a victorian type culture. The word 'fantasy; usually puts me in the mind set of Dungeon and Dragons, LOTR and so on. So I went in to this book with that firmly planted in my mind. Of course, it quickly went out the door…then came back…then left. I think others might ease into this better than I if they walk in with no preconceived notions, and by no means should it deter you in considering this book. Despite my struggle, the story carried me well past it.

Secondly, I felt I lost a little of my favorite character in the middle of book. Granted, he was faced with situations that forced him outside the norm, but his voice changed and I found myself desperately missing the character's tone I had started out with. But, I was so caught up in his life that the detour did not take away from my enjoyment while reading.

Thirdly, the beginning was a little slow for me. Once it picked up, it was great. But be prepared for a little day to day. It was needed character building though and is what made me fall in love with Roric. So it was worth it in the end.

Annndddd…that's about all the bad I have. Now onto the interesting.

___________________________

SPOILER ALERT (skip this paragraph if you won't want to know):

This had a very 'V for Vendetta' type feel surrounding the government. "We live like this because we've had peace" type brainwashing and they live almost in their own world, separate from the others. This wasn't a good or bad thing for me. I like the movie so I hopped right on the cruise ship and enjoyed the ride. But while reading, I couldn't help but picture the chancellor's face.

___________________________

DONE WITH SPOILER.

And now what I liked:

What I loved abut this book was Roric. His story was so moving to me that I was in love with him by the first chapter. None of what he did was out of character for him or came at me from left field. He was true to himself through the entire book; meaning, what happened to him in his early life and what he had made of his new one drove his every decision. I found him to be well thought out and developed brilliantly. The other characters were not as strong, but they all had a good sense of who they were.

Despite this being labeled as Romantic Fantasy, I did not feel the book was bogged down by the love story. The plot and the love story were woven effortlessly together. I will say, as I say in all my reviews about the love story in a book, it was rather quick. The only reason I did not add this to my 'bad' section was because the first quarter of the book seemed to take a long time, making it feel as if more time had passed and the love had organically grown. Looking back, it hadn't been very long at all. But like I said, it didn't feel rushed so I was able to digest it better than most romantic relationships.

All in all, I can say I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed this book.

View all my reviews

Review of Blood Song by Anthony Ryan

I'm just going to say that this book is in my top three favorites of all time. I love love loved it! A must read for any fant Blood Song by Anthony Ryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow...wow. I absolutely loved this story. I couldn't put it down. I cried and I laughed, which I haven't done in a book in a long time. There's something extremely compelling to me about Sorna. He's got a quiet resolve and his character is not forced upon the reader. He comes alive effortlessly on his own and I find him captivating.
I'm sure if I reread and reread this book a hundred times I could walk away with some criticism. But I'm am content to deliberately not seek any. I put this book down feeling like I was gifted a great story and I have no need or reason to criticize it.
All I can humbly say is: Thank you, Anthony Ryan.

View all my reviews

Book Review for Homeland by R.A. Salvatore

Homeland by R.A. Salvatore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overall, I liked this book. I loved the main character and was rooting for him the entire time. The world is well developed and pulled me right in. Looking back, some of the creatures and places were barely described, yet I somehow walked away with a clear picture in my head. If you like detailed descriptions, going into every characteristic of someone/thing, then be warned. You will not find it here, but I doubt you'll miss it. The story will make you forget you're missing all those details.
So as I've mentioned, the world and characters were great. Now the not so great. It's not written in closed POV. So one paragraph you're in the mind of one character and the next you've switched. I think this would have been so awesome if the POV shifts were separated by a chapter or some formal break. It kept throwing me out of the story and sometimes I felt like i was being hand-fed the story. This is the sole reason I rated this as 4 instead of 5 stars.
With all that said, I would recommend this book to anyone that likes fantasy.

View all my reviews

Website

Well, it's finally happened. I've got a website. Whoohoo! I think I can manage it too. I'm not the most technically minded person, but this wasn't a half bad experience. I'm still learning, and I hope to grow this into a fun, interactive site. Now, however, I've got some major writing to do. Book two isn't going to finish itself.

Keepers of Arden Review

Check out the review of Keepers of Arden on the Fiery Fantasy blog: http://fiery-fantasy-book-reviews.blo...

Upcoming Interview

Keep an eye out for my interview on the website 50 A Year. It will be posted on the 18th of September! If you haven't visited this website, www.50ayear.com, I highly recommend it. She has a post on the popular 50 Shades series that is sure to give you a chuckle.