Men, Elves, and Dwarves are struggling to rebuild their land of Nostraterra after the Great Wars. Currently, the Elven and Dwarven connections to a plot to murder the prince Alfrahil. His brother Daerahil has also been blamed, but he denies a connection. Mergin, the First Minister, ignores clues that the attacks may have been related to Elves or Dwarves. Now, Alfrahil must fight to avoid being murdered and to find out who wants him dead.
I have to admit, I have recently discovered that high fantasy novels are really difficult for me to read. I usually end up forgetting characters and backtracking just to figure out what is going on, which takes me out of the reading experience. Nevertheless, I am happy to say that this didn’t occur very often with this novel. I was always able to keep up with the gist of what was going on and allow myself to become lost in the worldbuilding of this novel.
I have to admit, the first couple of chapters with the backstory were a bit difficult to get through. I found myself wondering how this would connect to the main plot. However, after this, the main plot does begin, and the plot pace picks right up into the meat of the novel.
My favorite part of this novel was definitely seeing the mystery piece itself together. Rather than everything being known and simply watching the characters be confused, I was trying to solve it with them. I hope that the other novels in this series have the same upbeat and interactive writing style and the same sort of fast-paced plot.
I recommend this books to fans of high fantasy novels with in-depth backstories, 3-dimensional characters, and an exciting plot.
I received this book for free and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 4/5
