What do you think?
Rate this book
The Forbidden #1
The Forbidden Warriors
Mastoperia: A hidden continent with four factions divided and suspicious of each other, with a history of unresolved wars, each grounding themselves in their own unique culture, and magical power.
The Forbidden Warriors: The only force powerful enough to keep the factions from destroying one another. The secret to their power is a mystery, but the only way to hold on to it is by passing the power to a new generation every two and a half centuries.
As that time has arrived, each faction must offer a candidate to become the next generation of the Forbidden Warriors, but only one can be the leader. In a race for that leadership position, four candidates and their teams travel across a world mysterious to them, to hunt artifacts they know nothing about. The mission is not easy, their goals are not aligned, and the truth is far bigger than they could have imagined. A challenge none were ready for.
Will they choose their own interests, their factions’ or defy all that they know for the sake of their world.
The Forbidden Warriors: The only force powerful enough to keep the factions from destroying one another. The secret to their power is a mystery, but the only way to hold on to it is by passing the power to a new generation every two and a half centuries.
As that time has arrived, each faction must offer a candidate to become the next generation of the Forbidden Warriors, but only one can be the leader. In a race for that leadership position, four candidates and their teams travel across a world mysterious to them, to hunt artifacts they know nothing about. The mission is not easy, their goals are not aligned, and the truth is far bigger than they could have imagined. A challenge none were ready for.
Will they choose their own interests, their factions’ or defy all that they know for the sake of their world.
- GenresFantasy
368 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 15, 2019
19 people want to read
About the author
Moud Adel
20 books23 followersMoud Adel is an Egyptian author who lives in France. His mother tongue is Arabic, and his daily language is French. Yet, he insists on writing his fantasy stories in English, using Arabic only when writing poems. When asked about why he doesn’t write in Arabic, which has come up a few times, his answer is always the same because he can express himself better in English. However, on separate occasions, he can also be found debating the beauty of the Arabic language and how rich with words it is. He claims that every emotion can be better described in Arabic for the sole reason that his birth language has more word variations that touch on every feeling.
Confronted by his contradiction, Moud claims that both answers are correct. He says that his home language, while indeed rich with words, is better suited for reaching into his own heart. That when it comes to fantasy, Arabic becomes more of a cliché and makes his words feel more like satire. And since he loves fantasy with every ounce in his soul, he will accept only what does it justice.
Confronted by his contradiction, Moud claims that both answers are correct. He says that his home language, while indeed rich with words, is better suited for reaching into his own heart. That when it comes to fantasy, Arabic becomes more of a cliché and makes his words feel more like satire. And since he loves fantasy with every ounce in his soul, he will accept only what does it justice.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 22, 2020
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I want to thank Moud Adel for this gift, and for putting such tremendous trust in me. I’ll try to make this review as thorough as I can.
The short version is, I did have a good time reading this book, and slid through it more easily than many others I’ve read. But while I did have a good read, I’m also mourning the purely fantastic book it could have been, with some more edits. A few years ago, I read a self-published book by a certain cyborg, that I declared “a draft of a decent YA novel.” This experience was similar, except the potential book was fantastic.
Writing:
Since this is an indie-book, the writing and editing will probably be the thing most potential readers are concerned about, so I'll start here. While this book does not have a problem with typos or grammatical errors, there were several problems with tenses. For example:
"Lundaris portrayed self-doubt, fear and even weakness, but when challenged, they are the toughest..."
I think it should be "they *were* the toughest."
This type of error occurred often, but as mentioned, I don't recall any other grammatical issues.
Descriptions were very awkward at times. When we first meet a character, descriptions are often too much at once, and then not enough mentioned for the rest of the book. I often had to flip back to the earlier pages to double check who was who. Descriptions were also lacking in some important scenes, or scenery, when the book rushed through some important moments. The most important physical objects, the artifacts, don't seem to get much if any descriptions at all. It's possible they're described earlier in the book, and my goldfish memory forgot; but by the time the last "artifact" was in someone's hand, I didn't know if he was holding a glowing crystal or a tin coffee pot or a candy-cane or what. Maybe some people don't need frequent reminding of what a character or McGuffin looks like, but I'm one of the readers that does. Descriptions work best when sprinkled smoothly throughout the story, IMO.
The story did not seem to suffer from major plot holes or inconsistencies. But, it could still have used more plot editing. As mentioned, some important moments tended to feel rushed through. Others felt like they should have been in other parts of the story. Near the end of the book, we get a segment of childhood flashbacks (oddly, the only section with named chapters), that I feel would have made more sense either earlier in the book, or spread throughout.
Finally, there is some odd spacing between paragraphs. This did not affect my reading experience, but it could be a waste for the author, if it costs more to print more pages. (I honestly don't know how that works, at this point.) On a computer screen, you absolutely want spaces between paragraphs; but for the hard copy, they really aren't necessary.
Story:
This book puts a twist on the quest trope, by turning it into an organized, multiplayer challenge. The book has the feel of a multiplayer video game, one of the ones with the detailed and vibrant graphics. I don't personally play video games, but I enjoy watching others play them, and I've familiarized myself with some of the big ones by reading the novelizations.
Unexpected twists lead to vastly rising stakes. Unlike most quest based fantasies, this one does not make it immediately clear who the real villains are. I'm not saying the revelation will blow you away; but my point is, it's not like most quest stories, where the ultimate villain and goal are known from the get-go.
I do wish more had come from the characters traveling to "the outside world." Mastoperia is a magically concealed continent, and its citizens are usually not allowed to leave their own factions, much less the continent. Yet, being in the other continents doesn't have much effect on the story. There's no major culture-shock, and no one from the outside world gets involved in the story.
Finally, the ending of the book feels abrupt, and very confusing. I understand this is a series, but even for a cliffhanger, this wasn't quite enough.
Characters:
I love ensemble casts. This book had a ton of literal players, and I don't recall disliking any of them. I also don't recall anyone feeling like a stereotype or a cliche, either. I was certainly the most attached to Evailen and Yasmina, and was really affected by what happened to them. I must also say that this male author writes female characters very well; at no point did any of them seem to be trying to make a statement about their gender, and I love that. On the whole, the characters are one of this book's good points.
There were a lot of them though. While a huge rotating cast can work for some stories, I feel like this one should have kept its focus on the four main team leaders, with other characters getting POV only when necessary.
Finally, I absolutely love the names this author has come up with. Enyo, Naradia, Yasmina...they're all so beautiful and unique.
Magic System:
The world and societies this author created is the other best thing about the book. Maybe some of these ideas have been done in video games, which as mentioned I don’t play; but they’re certainly not common in the fantasy books and movies I’ve experienced before.
My favorite, by far, were the Majestics--magical animal companions stored in their owner's tattoos. While I appreciate the book's aversion to purple prose, I do wish we'd gotten a more clear description of what it actually looked like when these animals manifested, and how it felt for their owner. One of my favorite parts of the book involves two Majestics rescuing their master while she's unconscious, which made me very curious as to how much autonomy they have. Even as it was though, this was one of my favorite concepts for animal companions, and I enjoyed reading about how the Majestics worked.
The magic seeds that Evailen's faction wear on their bodies were also a really interesting concept, with different seeds regulating different parts of their personality. And the faction that saw into the future was also really interesting, when we learned how they shift through possible timelines, and what their limitations are.
World Building:
While the magic system is intriguing, I really wish the actual settings had been better developed. Throughout the book, I did get a sense of a vibrant and colorful fantasy world, with some sci-fi level technology--a very cool blend. And I like that they have pop culture and rap music in this world.
The idea of a magical hidden continent is intriguing, but didn't really go anywhere. A big deal is made of the Mastoperians traveling to “the outside world,” but almost nothing comes from that. They don’t seem to interact much with anyone from the outside world, and I don’t recall any major culture shocks that come from it. I also had some confusion as to what the “outside world” actually was. For a while I thought it was our world, but the map and story imply that all locations are fictional, but the outside world resembles ours more than Mastoperia, for some reason. I feel like more should have come from this plot-point. Like an outsider joining one of the teams, or challenging their beliefs, or something.
The glass city of Delphia was also extremely intriguing, and I wish it had been more developed. It's a city of tall glass towers, where everyone travels by bridges between them, and almost no one goes to the ground level. Kawan was born and raised in this city, and is now for the first time, going to visit the mysterious and off-limits ground level. In fairness, this was probably meant to just be his transition from his home to the outside world. But I would love to see more of Delphia.
Art:
I think Christina P. Myrvold did a smashing job with the cover art. It's indistinguishable from a traditionally published book. Some have complained that the cover doesn't do the book justice; I somewhat agree, feeling it should be more vibrant. But that may lie with the printing house, and may well be nothing anyone else has control over. In any case, I think it's fine.
The symbols that mark each chapter are also very cool, and aptly convey the blend of traditional fantasy and alternate-history tech.
Conclusion:
I cannot begin to imagine the time, money, energy, money, resources, and money that went into getting this book finished and published. So I feel horrible pointing out that some much needed edits seem to have been missed. As it is, it's a fine read, but you can clearly tell it's a self-published book; I don't feel it had to be that way. More edits could have made it amazing. Since this is the first of a series, I'm optimistic for the future books.
I want to thank Moud Adel for this gift, and for putting such tremendous trust in me. I’ll try to make this review as thorough as I can.
The short version is, I did have a good time reading this book, and slid through it more easily than many others I’ve read. But while I did have a good read, I’m also mourning the purely fantastic book it could have been, with some more edits. A few years ago, I read a self-published book by a certain cyborg, that I declared “a draft of a decent YA novel.” This experience was similar, except the potential book was fantastic.
Writing:
Since this is an indie-book, the writing and editing will probably be the thing most potential readers are concerned about, so I'll start here. While this book does not have a problem with typos or grammatical errors, there were several problems with tenses. For example:
"Lundaris portrayed self-doubt, fear and even weakness, but when challenged, they are the toughest..."
I think it should be "they *were* the toughest."
This type of error occurred often, but as mentioned, I don't recall any other grammatical issues.
Descriptions were very awkward at times. When we first meet a character, descriptions are often too much at once, and then not enough mentioned for the rest of the book. I often had to flip back to the earlier pages to double check who was who. Descriptions were also lacking in some important scenes, or scenery, when the book rushed through some important moments. The most important physical objects, the artifacts, don't seem to get much if any descriptions at all. It's possible they're described earlier in the book, and my goldfish memory forgot; but by the time the last "artifact" was in someone's hand, I didn't know if he was holding a glowing crystal or a tin coffee pot or a candy-cane or what. Maybe some people don't need frequent reminding of what a character or McGuffin looks like, but I'm one of the readers that does. Descriptions work best when sprinkled smoothly throughout the story, IMO.
The story did not seem to suffer from major plot holes or inconsistencies. But, it could still have used more plot editing. As mentioned, some important moments tended to feel rushed through. Others felt like they should have been in other parts of the story. Near the end of the book, we get a segment of childhood flashbacks (oddly, the only section with named chapters), that I feel would have made more sense either earlier in the book, or spread throughout.
Finally, there is some odd spacing between paragraphs. This did not affect my reading experience, but it could be a waste for the author, if it costs more to print more pages. (I honestly don't know how that works, at this point.) On a computer screen, you absolutely want spaces between paragraphs; but for the hard copy, they really aren't necessary.
Story:
This book puts a twist on the quest trope, by turning it into an organized, multiplayer challenge. The book has the feel of a multiplayer video game, one of the ones with the detailed and vibrant graphics. I don't personally play video games, but I enjoy watching others play them, and I've familiarized myself with some of the big ones by reading the novelizations.
Unexpected twists lead to vastly rising stakes. Unlike most quest based fantasies, this one does not make it immediately clear who the real villains are. I'm not saying the revelation will blow you away; but my point is, it's not like most quest stories, where the ultimate villain and goal are known from the get-go.
I do wish more had come from the characters traveling to "the outside world." Mastoperia is a magically concealed continent, and its citizens are usually not allowed to leave their own factions, much less the continent. Yet, being in the other continents doesn't have much effect on the story. There's no major culture-shock, and no one from the outside world gets involved in the story.
Finally, the ending of the book feels abrupt, and very confusing. I understand this is a series, but even for a cliffhanger, this wasn't quite enough.
Characters:
I love ensemble casts. This book had a ton of literal players, and I don't recall disliking any of them. I also don't recall anyone feeling like a stereotype or a cliche, either. I was certainly the most attached to Evailen and Yasmina, and was really affected by what happened to them. I must also say that this male author writes female characters very well; at no point did any of them seem to be trying to make a statement about their gender, and I love that. On the whole, the characters are one of this book's good points.
There were a lot of them though. While a huge rotating cast can work for some stories, I feel like this one should have kept its focus on the four main team leaders, with other characters getting POV only when necessary.
Finally, I absolutely love the names this author has come up with. Enyo, Naradia, Yasmina...they're all so beautiful and unique.
Magic System:
The world and societies this author created is the other best thing about the book. Maybe some of these ideas have been done in video games, which as mentioned I don’t play; but they’re certainly not common in the fantasy books and movies I’ve experienced before.
My favorite, by far, were the Majestics--magical animal companions stored in their owner's tattoos. While I appreciate the book's aversion to purple prose, I do wish we'd gotten a more clear description of what it actually looked like when these animals manifested, and how it felt for their owner. One of my favorite parts of the book involves two Majestics rescuing their master while she's unconscious, which made me very curious as to how much autonomy they have. Even as it was though, this was one of my favorite concepts for animal companions, and I enjoyed reading about how the Majestics worked.
The magic seeds that Evailen's faction wear on their bodies were also a really interesting concept, with different seeds regulating different parts of their personality. And the faction that saw into the future was also really interesting, when we learned how they shift through possible timelines, and what their limitations are.
World Building:
While the magic system is intriguing, I really wish the actual settings had been better developed. Throughout the book, I did get a sense of a vibrant and colorful fantasy world, with some sci-fi level technology--a very cool blend. And I like that they have pop culture and rap music in this world.
The idea of a magical hidden continent is intriguing, but didn't really go anywhere. A big deal is made of the Mastoperians traveling to “the outside world,” but almost nothing comes from that. They don’t seem to interact much with anyone from the outside world, and I don’t recall any major culture shocks that come from it. I also had some confusion as to what the “outside world” actually was. For a while I thought it was our world, but the map and story imply that all locations are fictional, but the outside world resembles ours more than Mastoperia, for some reason. I feel like more should have come from this plot-point. Like an outsider joining one of the teams, or challenging their beliefs, or something.
The glass city of Delphia was also extremely intriguing, and I wish it had been more developed. It's a city of tall glass towers, where everyone travels by bridges between them, and almost no one goes to the ground level. Kawan was born and raised in this city, and is now for the first time, going to visit the mysterious and off-limits ground level. In fairness, this was probably meant to just be his transition from his home to the outside world. But I would love to see more of Delphia.
Art:
I think Christina P. Myrvold did a smashing job with the cover art. It's indistinguishable from a traditionally published book. Some have complained that the cover doesn't do the book justice; I somewhat agree, feeling it should be more vibrant. But that may lie with the printing house, and may well be nothing anyone else has control over. In any case, I think it's fine.
The symbols that mark each chapter are also very cool, and aptly convey the blend of traditional fantasy and alternate-history tech.
Conclusion:
I cannot begin to imagine the time, money, energy, money, resources, and money that went into getting this book finished and published. So I feel horrible pointing out that some much needed edits seem to have been missed. As it is, it's a fine read, but you can clearly tell it's a self-published book; I don't feel it had to be that way. More edits could have made it amazing. Since this is the first of a series, I'm optimistic for the future books.
November 24, 2019
*3.5
I really liked where this first installment of the series took us! It was easy for me to jump into the world because I had read the 2 prequel novels. Even if I hadn’t, the author described it fairly well giving you an understanding of the environment and the multiple magic systems involved.
I liked the team based quest aspect to the storyline. It reminded me of the Hunger Games in the sense that they are all competing (and can’t stop even if there is a loss of life) to be the first team to collect the most artifacts. There was danger involved and the artifacts were not that easy to get which made it very interesting.
The team dynamic was well done as well. One thing I would note is that I did get a bit confused at times due to there being 16 different perspectives that you are following and trying to learn about. I think it would have been better if it focused on say 6 of them at the most so it would be easier to remember who is who. They also have names that start with the first same letter so that added an extra layer of confusion to it.
The romantic part of it felt like it spurred out of know where a little bit. I think that the relationships between existing faction members were more genuine and I think that it was a start to what could be a relationship but more work needed to be put into the dialogue between the two of them and I think it needed a little more build-up than just umping right into it.
Overall, it was a great first installment to this series and I am definitely invested reading all of them. The ending of this one was quite the cliffhanger so I need to know what happens next and will be waiting with anticipation for that next book to come out!
I really liked where this first installment of the series took us! It was easy for me to jump into the world because I had read the 2 prequel novels. Even if I hadn’t, the author described it fairly well giving you an understanding of the environment and the multiple magic systems involved.
I liked the team based quest aspect to the storyline. It reminded me of the Hunger Games in the sense that they are all competing (and can’t stop even if there is a loss of life) to be the first team to collect the most artifacts. There was danger involved and the artifacts were not that easy to get which made it very interesting.
The team dynamic was well done as well. One thing I would note is that I did get a bit confused at times due to there being 16 different perspectives that you are following and trying to learn about. I think it would have been better if it focused on say 6 of them at the most so it would be easier to remember who is who. They also have names that start with the first same letter so that added an extra layer of confusion to it.
The romantic part of it felt like it spurred out of know where a little bit. I think that the relationships between existing faction members were more genuine and I think that it was a start to what could be a relationship but more work needed to be put into the dialogue between the two of them and I think it needed a little more build-up than just umping right into it.
Overall, it was a great first installment to this series and I am definitely invested reading all of them. The ending of this one was quite the cliffhanger so I need to know what happens next and will be waiting with anticipation for that next book to come out!
November 23, 2019
When I first saw the cover for this one, I wasn’t immediately sucked in. I think that the cover actually downplays the action and adventure that awaits in this story.
Kalita is the current leader of Mastoperia, a hidden continent that is divided into four different factions: Delphia, Lunar, Averett, and Kala. The time has come for a new leader and her three lead warriors to be chosen. Four warriors (Evailen, Jihave, Rondai, and Kawan) were nominated from their respective factions. The leader will be chosen from one of these four and the other three will become the new lead warriors.
In order to determine who will become the next leader, Evailen, Jihave, Rondai, and Kawan are tasked with locating artifacts that have been hidden outside of Mastoperia. Each of the four leaders will have a team with three others to help carry out the mission. The warrior who collects the most artifacts will become the next leader. The catch? All bets are off when a team is pursuing an artifact. They can use whatever means necessary to win including killing others.
First off, the world building in this book is incredible. I loved that the inhabitants of the four different factions possess different magical abilities. This definitely reminded me a lot of Divergent meets Hunger Games meets Harry Potter.
I loved the team based quest. However, at first, I found it difficult to follow who was on whose team due to the sheer amount of characters that were are introduced to. In addition to the four warriors competing for the leadership title, each one is in charge of three more members. The story does alternate between the 16 different characters. It’s tough at first, but with patience, it definitely all comes together pretty seamlessly.
At first, I didn’t really gravitate towards any one character in particular since I was still trying to orient myself with everyone and their abilities. However, it became clear that Rondai and Evailen were the front runners of the story about half way through. I loved watching these two fall for each other because they come from two different factions, and interfaction relationships is highly frowned upon. I also enjoyed all of the characters slowly shedding their preconceived notions about other factions in order to not only work together as a team but to also trust each other as well.
Overall, I think this is a fantastic introduction to the series. If you love a good quest sprinkled with magic and betrayal then you definitely need to give this one a try.
Thank you to the author and Breakeven Books for the tour invitation and providing an ebook for review. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
Kalita is the current leader of Mastoperia, a hidden continent that is divided into four different factions: Delphia, Lunar, Averett, and Kala. The time has come for a new leader and her three lead warriors to be chosen. Four warriors (Evailen, Jihave, Rondai, and Kawan) were nominated from their respective factions. The leader will be chosen from one of these four and the other three will become the new lead warriors.
In order to determine who will become the next leader, Evailen, Jihave, Rondai, and Kawan are tasked with locating artifacts that have been hidden outside of Mastoperia. Each of the four leaders will have a team with three others to help carry out the mission. The warrior who collects the most artifacts will become the next leader. The catch? All bets are off when a team is pursuing an artifact. They can use whatever means necessary to win including killing others.
First off, the world building in this book is incredible. I loved that the inhabitants of the four different factions possess different magical abilities. This definitely reminded me a lot of Divergent meets Hunger Games meets Harry Potter.
I loved the team based quest. However, at first, I found it difficult to follow who was on whose team due to the sheer amount of characters that were are introduced to. In addition to the four warriors competing for the leadership title, each one is in charge of three more members. The story does alternate between the 16 different characters. It’s tough at first, but with patience, it definitely all comes together pretty seamlessly.
At first, I didn’t really gravitate towards any one character in particular since I was still trying to orient myself with everyone and their abilities. However, it became clear that Rondai and Evailen were the front runners of the story about half way through. I loved watching these two fall for each other because they come from two different factions, and interfaction relationships is highly frowned upon. I also enjoyed all of the characters slowly shedding their preconceived notions about other factions in order to not only work together as a team but to also trust each other as well.
Overall, I think this is a fantastic introduction to the series. If you love a good quest sprinkled with magic and betrayal then you definitely need to give this one a try.
Thank you to the author and Breakeven Books for the tour invitation and providing an ebook for review. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
November 12, 2019
Simply amazing book. Action, adventure, mayhem, death and a few plot twists. It's an emotional ride from beginning to end, but one that I am so glad that I took. You meet 4 young people who are picked by their local factions to try to be the next ruler of Mastoperia, their continent. Each of them is asked to pick 3 people to join them on their quest. And from there, you're on the rollercoaster ride with them as they navigate each other, their own faction as well as that of the others and the challenges they face to become the next ruler. Moud makes sure there are characters that you connect with as well as creating a world you want to visit, but feels familiar as well. The different magical systems of each faction (or technology in some cases) were really great to explore. If I had my choice I'd be very tattooed! I am saddened by some that are lost along the way, surprised at others and I really can't wait to see what comes during the journeys of those who are left. Again, simply amazing book!
April 28, 2020
The review can also be found on my blog: https://phanniethegingerbookworm.word...
DISCLAIMER: A review copy of this book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own!
What I liked
First of all I appreciated the fact, that the chapters were so short. Which means that the book didn‘t take all my time to finish it. I prefer shorter chapters to longer ones because a) I can easily take breaks and b) the books is much more fast-paced which you know is my cup of tea. Longer chapters are a pain in my … (you know what I mean!) because I hate to stop reading in the middle of the chapter so thank you, Moud Adel for having short chapters in The Forbidden Warriors.
It was pretty easy to get into this book. The writing style was easy and the world building was pretty amazing. The Forbidden Warriors is an amazing and unique book that you should read!
What I didn‘t like
The multiple POVS kind of messed with me during the whole reading experience. Usually I don‘t have problems with multiple POVs but here we probably had a bit too many.
November 10, 2019
*3.5 stars
Moud Adel has crafted an epic adventure in the first book in his Forbidden series. The continent of Mastoperia is made up of 5 factions, a divided people with a history of unresolved wars. So, there are Forbidden Warriors who look over these factions to keep the peace. Every 250 years, a new generation of warriors steps up, one from each faction. The new 5 have been chosen, but in order to determine who will be the leader, they must venture out to the 4 continents surrounding Mastoperia (a mission that is usually forbidden) to find 4 artifacts. Whoever collects the most will be the new leader. But what lies ahead for these contenders is a challenge they never anticipated.
At first glance, this book was not appealing to me. I didn't like the cover and when I read the first page of the first chapter and saw the phrase, "the sun vaporized my fluids," I cringed. (Side note: The author is from Egypt and currently living in France. When I realized this, I was then able to understand there may have been a language barrier when translating to English, resulting in weird words and phrases.) I wasn't sure I was going to like .... or finish ... this book. However, I found myself rather enjoying my time reading it. It's nothing phenomenal by any means, but it's a good story, nonetheless.
I did find myself having trouble keeping up with all of the different characters, their powers, and what faction they belonged to ... but that could have just been a me problem. I also didn't feel completely able to connect with the characters. There was some back story, but it took a while for those to show in the book. I found myself liking Evailen and Rondai by the end (which I think is what's expected).
Of course there was the quest of discovering and claiming each artifact. I quite enjoyed the first artifact encounter; however, I feel that the remaining 3 encounters felt less developed and rushed. Good concepts. Just could have been a little bit better executed.
Lastly, I will say that despite the negatives, overall I enjoyed reading this book. The ending has a cliff hanger, leaving you anticipating the next installment! If you like fantasy, magical elements, dystopian fiction, and I'd even say Indiana Jones ... then, I think this might be your book.
*I was contacted by Breakeven Books on Instagram to participate in a book tour for this novel. I received a free e-book ARC in exchange for my participation in the tour.
Moud Adel has crafted an epic adventure in the first book in his Forbidden series. The continent of Mastoperia is made up of 5 factions, a divided people with a history of unresolved wars. So, there are Forbidden Warriors who look over these factions to keep the peace. Every 250 years, a new generation of warriors steps up, one from each faction. The new 5 have been chosen, but in order to determine who will be the leader, they must venture out to the 4 continents surrounding Mastoperia (a mission that is usually forbidden) to find 4 artifacts. Whoever collects the most will be the new leader. But what lies ahead for these contenders is a challenge they never anticipated.
At first glance, this book was not appealing to me. I didn't like the cover and when I read the first page of the first chapter and saw the phrase, "the sun vaporized my fluids," I cringed. (Side note: The author is from Egypt and currently living in France. When I realized this, I was then able to understand there may have been a language barrier when translating to English, resulting in weird words and phrases.) I wasn't sure I was going to like .... or finish ... this book. However, I found myself rather enjoying my time reading it. It's nothing phenomenal by any means, but it's a good story, nonetheless.
I did find myself having trouble keeping up with all of the different characters, their powers, and what faction they belonged to ... but that could have just been a me problem. I also didn't feel completely able to connect with the characters. There was some back story, but it took a while for those to show in the book. I found myself liking Evailen and Rondai by the end (which I think is what's expected).
Of course there was the quest of discovering and claiming each artifact. I quite enjoyed the first artifact encounter; however, I feel that the remaining 3 encounters felt less developed and rushed. Good concepts. Just could have been a little bit better executed.
Lastly, I will say that despite the negatives, overall I enjoyed reading this book. The ending has a cliff hanger, leaving you anticipating the next installment! If you like fantasy, magical elements, dystopian fiction, and I'd even say Indiana Jones ... then, I think this might be your book.
*I was contacted by Breakeven Books on Instagram to participate in a book tour for this novel. I received a free e-book ARC in exchange for my participation in the tour.
December 15, 2019
This is an interesting series.
I really liked the premise of the book. A group of four people from different factions are brought together for a competition. One of them will become the ruler of Mastoperia and the others will be their guards. They are each able to bring four people from their homelands. However, the twist is that their teams end up being a mix of people from each different faction. Then, they each have to work together with their opponents from different factions to win the position of ruler.
There was a ton of world building in this story. I think the world would have made more sense if it had been described slowly. There was lots of information all at once, without the world really being described. There were also a lot of characters to keep track of, and I got them mixed up a lot. If there was more of an introduction to all of them at the beginning, I would have been able to get to know them more.
I liked this story.
Thank you Breakeven Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really liked the premise of the book. A group of four people from different factions are brought together for a competition. One of them will become the ruler of Mastoperia and the others will be their guards. They are each able to bring four people from their homelands. However, the twist is that their teams end up being a mix of people from each different faction. Then, they each have to work together with their opponents from different factions to win the position of ruler.
There was a ton of world building in this story. I think the world would have made more sense if it had been described slowly. There was lots of information all at once, without the world really being described. There were also a lot of characters to keep track of, and I got them mixed up a lot. If there was more of an introduction to all of them at the beginning, I would have been able to get to know them more.
I liked this story.
Thank you Breakeven Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
March 6, 2020
Amazing series! I just finished reading this book and I couldn't wait to buy the next one! I had previously read the other 2 books of the series and can say this is the kind of book that sucks you in completely, with its story, plots and characters. The writing and the editing can use some improvement (language that sounds a bit unnatural even though correct, descriptions that are too factual, some relevant moments that are not detailed enough) and the way the story is structured and presented doesn't have the best flow but the world of Mastoperia will draw you in nonetheless and you'll be left craving for more.
February 19, 2020
Dare u to figure this book out with all its exciting twists and turns...
Loved getting to know this new characters with very distinct personalities as they themselfs learn about each other. They creat a strong bond where before their was only an inherited mistrust and misunderstanding about each others fractions. So curious if this strong bond will lead to a change for their whole fraction system. Excited to read more ^_^
Loved getting to know this new characters with very distinct personalities as they themselfs learn about each other. They creat a strong bond where before their was only an inherited mistrust and misunderstanding about each others fractions. So curious if this strong bond will lead to a change for their whole fraction system. Excited to read more ^_^
January 26, 2020
Wow! The prior novellas in this series leading up to Book One didn't prepare me for all the twists, turns, and discoveries. And the ending...? You will not see it coming.
The story itself is just part of what made this book so fun to read. In The Forbidden Warriors you'll also find a diverse cast of characters, all of them so fascinating that you'll have a hard time choosing who to root for. I know I did.
And I can't wait to read the next in the series.
The story itself is just part of what made this book so fun to read. In The Forbidden Warriors you'll also find a diverse cast of characters, all of them so fascinating that you'll have a hard time choosing who to root for. I know I did.
And I can't wait to read the next in the series.
February 17, 2021
The prior novellas in this series leading up to Book One didn't prepare me for all the twists, turns, and discoveries. And the ending...? You will NOT see it coming.
The story itself is just part of what made this book so fun to read. In The Forbidden Warriors you'll also find a diverse cast of characters, all of them so fascinating that you'll have a hard time choosing who to root for. I know I did.
The story itself is just part of what made this book so fun to read. In The Forbidden Warriors you'll also find a diverse cast of characters, all of them so fascinating that you'll have a hard time choosing who to root for. I know I did.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews