A high fantasy saga in six poems. For adults and young adults. Crafted to be enjoyed by readers who do not normally read poetry, but do enjoy fantasies such as Eragon, The Lord of the Rings, and the sagas of Norse legend.
Each poem builds upon the last to weave a tapestry of magic, dark creatures, and romance.
After reading through the first poem in a separate book (The Quest for Elena the Fair), I really wanted to read the rest of the poems. As soon as I began to read the second poem, Wizards' Conflict, I was disappointed because the writing and characters were, in my opinion, much better in the first poem. The witty and flowing writing just wasn't there. Thankfully, the disappointment did not last long because the rest of the poems soon made up for it (except for the fifth poem, The Glowering, which I wasn't really fond of).
My pet peeve with the poems probably has to do with how most of the relationships play out. Characters who have just met are suddenly in love and married a couple of pages forward. This was frankly very absurd because it was happening to pretty much everyone. The only relationships I could really believe in was Keshena and Draig's (because she raised the dragon from birth) and Dara and Finn's (because they're twins). I guess this is also the reason why the third poem, Keshena's Destiny, is my favorite among all the rest. I liked the concept of the girl with a telepathic dragon, but it also had the right mix of everything I was looking forward to when I first started reading this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
(I received this book as part of the 'read...review...repeat' offer from Grey Hart Press).
I have to say, I'm not a big poetry fan. I read a couple that a friend of mine wrote, but that was it. However, I kept coming back and looking at this particular book. I was drawn to the idea of fantasy poems, each telling a story.
I have to say, my favourite out of the poems was definitely the first one. I did like the way each of the poems were connected together, but a lot of the relationships in the other poems seemed almost tacked on. I'm really not a fan of instant love.
I liked the inclusion of dragons. I've always loved dragons in stories and I liked the two poems that focused around Draig and Keshena.
I liked Finn and Dara's poem, but although the foreshadowing worked really well, it detracted from what happened to have the wolf-version.
I'm glad I read this book, because the poems in it were well done and did really well at telling the story. I was still able to enjoy it, even though I'm not a great poetry reader, so I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys poems that tell stories.
A great saga. Each narrative fits into an overall story arc. The verse itself is wonderfully written and the world it is used to describe is rich. There is enough here to imagine the world the story is set in to be vast and sprawling, with many stories of great deeds and tales to be taken from it.
It is certainly a book to read in one sitting. This is when I got the most enjoyment out of it. Although reading the tales individually has its charm, it really comes into its own when read cover to cover.
Tolkien is certainly a inspiration for these poems, and that is not a bad thing.