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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How to start this review….?
I purchased this book nearly a year ago with all the intentions of reading it as soon as I got it.
For a number of reason this hasn’t happened and I’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to pick this up.
Enter is the Oasis Discord with their buddy reads…light blub moment…this is the perfect opportunity, so I switched my April TBR around and jumped straight in.
Let’s start by looking at a little back story to the main story.
Kell Kressia is a hero, or is he? When Kell was only 17 he set out with a band of hero’s to venture into the Frozen North and defeat the monster(s) lurking there.
Now to the main story, Fast forward 10 years and Kell is living a quite farmer’s life, that is until the weather starts to turn again and a summons from King Bledsoe thrusts Kell back into the action.
We follow the story mainly through the eyes of our protagonist Kell, but there are plenty of chapters allocated to the “heavenly” Revered Mother. On top of these two main POVs we receive the odd chapter from some side characters like Gerren and Princes Sigrid. Which was great as I love to see a story from many perspectives.
The main focus of this story is Kell’s long dangerous journey to the Frozen North to see who or what is causing the shifting weather.
Upon his journey he is joined by a ragtag band including a ambitious fame hunting young man, a bard, an Alfár (Willow) and a mad islander king, all with their own reasons for going on this dangerous journey. Which you will have to read the book to find out!!
Together they have to navigate the extreme weather, wild array of monsters to make it to their final destination.
This journey story was really fun to follow with each character bringing a different element to the party.
We get to see each character going through some tough times and see how each person one of them manage the changing landscapes and many challenges they will face along the way.
Stephen has managed to bring to page a great band of characters, all who are unique with different back stories. My favourite was Alfár, if she doesn’t like a question she just ignores you. This felt like a lot of people I know!!!
My one issue with this book was up until the final 25% I was really struggling to see where the story was heading. At no point was I thinking this would cause me to DNF this book, absolutely not, I was enjoying the book very much. Was my impatience to get to the end of the story causing this, maybe, was this me missing key plot trends, most likely.
Either way, if someone asks me about this book, I will still recommend it as it’s still a great book!
What Stephen did do for me though was he satisfyingly tied up a lot of my lingering questions/guesses I gathered in my head during the first 3/4 of this book. I suspect this may be the same for some people, I will say though, stick with it as the ending has a great pay off and sets up really well for book 2 - The Warrior.
The pacing of this book was pretty steady throughout the first half but really ramps up as our would be hero’s journey towards the Frozen North comes to its conclusion.
If you like a journey stories with lot of action, horrible monsters and religious intrigue, this is definitely the book for you.
I’m really excited to see where Stephen take the story in the next book - The Warrior!!
7.5/10 ⭐️ Rating
I purchased this book nearly a year ago with all the intentions of reading it as soon as I got it.
For a number of reason this hasn’t happened and I’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to pick this up.
Enter is the Oasis Discord with their buddy reads…light blub moment…this is the perfect opportunity, so I switched my April TBR around and jumped straight in.
Let’s start by looking at a little back story to the main story.
Kell Kressia is a hero, or is he? When Kell was only 17 he set out with a band of hero’s to venture into the Frozen North and defeat the monster(s) lurking there.
Now to the main story, Fast forward 10 years and Kell is living a quite farmer’s life, that is until the weather starts to turn again and a summons from King Bledsoe thrusts Kell back into the action.
We follow the story mainly through the eyes of our protagonist Kell, but there are plenty of chapters allocated to the “heavenly” Revered Mother. On top of these two main POVs we receive the odd chapter from some side characters like Gerren and Princes Sigrid. Which was great as I love to see a story from many perspectives.
The main focus of this story is Kell’s long dangerous journey to the Frozen North to see who or what is causing the shifting weather.
Upon his journey he is joined by a ragtag band including a ambitious fame hunting young man, a bard, an Alfár (Willow) and a mad islander king, all with their own reasons for going on this dangerous journey. Which you will have to read the book to find out!!
Together they have to navigate the extreme weather, wild array of monsters to make it to their final destination.
This journey story was really fun to follow with each character bringing a different element to the party.
We get to see each character going through some tough times and see how each person one of them manage the changing landscapes and many challenges they will face along the way.
Stephen has managed to bring to page a great band of characters, all who are unique with different back stories. My favourite was Alfár, if she doesn’t like a question she just ignores you. This felt like a lot of people I know!!!
My one issue with this book was up until the final 25% I was really struggling to see where the story was heading. At no point was I thinking this would cause me to DNF this book, absolutely not, I was enjoying the book very much. Was my impatience to get to the end of the story causing this, maybe, was this me missing key plot trends, most likely.
Either way, if someone asks me about this book, I will still recommend it as it’s still a great book!
What Stephen did do for me though was he satisfyingly tied up a lot of my lingering questions/guesses I gathered in my head during the first 3/4 of this book. I suspect this may be the same for some people, I will say though, stick with it as the ending has a great pay off and sets up really well for book 2 - The Warrior.
The pacing of this book was pretty steady throughout the first half but really ramps up as our would be hero’s journey towards the Frozen North comes to its conclusion.
If you like a journey stories with lot of action, horrible monsters and religious intrigue, this is definitely the book for you.
I’m really excited to see where Stephen take the story in the next book - The Warrior!!
7.5/10 ⭐️ Rating
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pretty chill overall, it picks up in the second half. It’s all about reluctant and very enthusiastic heroes, I liked seeing the variation a lot
But I do wish that we got to know certain characters more in a drawn out type of way. What annoyed me is that there would be little info dumps about some characters here and there that contributed to their development but then it was like they completely disappeared.
But it’s worth the read and seeing everything fall neatly into place
But I do wish that we got to know certain characters more in a drawn out type of way. What annoyed me is that there would be little info dumps about some characters here and there that contributed to their development but then it was like they completely disappeared.
But it’s worth the read and seeing everything fall neatly into place
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This book isn't perfect. The prose isn't polished and in some places the plot drags. And the combat scenes all felt far too long to me. HOWEVER
The concepts in this book combined with the characters kept me riveted once I hit the 40% mark. It's obvious that the author has close experience with being an army veteran from the way he writes Kell Kressia, sole survivor of a heroic quest that left him physically and emotionally scarred. It's also fairly apparent that he does NOT like the Christian church, but hey, neither do I. This book is compelling and a good read. I truly wasn't sure where sequels would go from here, despite some threads dropped that could be picked up later...and then the ending line hit. The perfect ending to a book, honestly. Not exactly a cliffhanger but also a complete WHAT moment that leaves you very intruiged for the next book(s).
The concepts in this book combined with the characters kept me riveted once I hit the 40% mark. It's obvious that the author has close experience with being an army veteran from the way he writes Kell Kressia, sole survivor of a heroic quest that left him physically and emotionally scarred. It's also fairly apparent that he does NOT like the Christian church, but hey, neither do I. This book is compelling and a good read. I truly wasn't sure where sequels would go from here, despite some threads dropped that could be picked up later...and then the ending line hit. The perfect ending to a book, honestly. Not exactly a cliffhanger but also a complete WHAT moment that leaves you very intruiged for the next book(s).
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If a motley crew going on a dangerous quest is your thing, you’ll love this novel.
The story follows Kell Kresia, more a reluctant hero than a coward. He’s a bit of a celebrity in the Five Kingdoms, as a great hero. When the danger he faced a decade earlier is threatening to return, he must once again journey to the Frozen North and face his nightmares.
There’s just one problem. He really doesn’t want to. I absolutely loved Kell and every single one of his ragtag band. I lagged a bit around the middle of this book as it became repetitive, but the ending had me glued to the page.
The story follows Kell Kresia, more a reluctant hero than a coward. He’s a bit of a celebrity in the Five Kingdoms, as a great hero. When the danger he faced a decade earlier is threatening to return, he must once again journey to the Frozen North and face his nightmares.
There’s just one problem. He really doesn’t want to. I absolutely loved Kell and every single one of his ragtag band. I lagged a bit around the middle of this book as it became repetitive, but the ending had me glued to the page.