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A review by ragne
Land of Shadows by Jeff Gunzel
3.0
Not really sure if I liked it. I didn't expect much when I started reading it, but at the beginning, I was drawn in to the story. The language and the story fascinated me. However, it soon became predictable. I've read the story before. Man is born to save humankind, brought up by a man who turns out to not be his father. He's even a shy blacksmith, which just gave me the Wheel of Time-feeling way too much.
The first character we meet, a mercenary, is interesting, but we don't see him much during the rest of the book. The other characters are sort of bland. I didn't get get any feeling for them. The dialogues and other character interaction, just feels forced and hurried. There's just no time to get that sort of relationship in that short a time. Especially with that beginning. And the queen? My God! that's just not a probable character at all!
However, at times, the writing is brilliant. It's just that it's brilliant when it's got nothing to do with the characters, or when there's fighting scenes. And, of course, the spelling mistakes and the sometimes horrible grammar takes something away from that.
This was a free Kindle-edition, and I'm not sure I will bother to spend money on, or read at all, the next books. It's sad, because I think the author could have written a really good book. If he'd just taken the time to let the readers get to know the characters and the world, and if everything would happen in a more probable period of time.
The first character we meet, a mercenary, is interesting, but we don't see him much during the rest of the book. The other characters are sort of bland. I didn't get get any feeling for them. The dialogues and other character interaction, just feels forced and hurried. There's just no time to get that sort of relationship in that short a time. Especially with that beginning. And the queen? My God! that's just not a probable character at all!
However, at times, the writing is brilliant. It's just that it's brilliant when it's got nothing to do with the characters, or when there's fighting scenes. And, of course, the spelling mistakes and the sometimes horrible grammar takes something away from that.
This was a free Kindle-edition, and I'm not sure I will bother to spend money on, or read at all, the next books. It's sad, because I think the author could have written a really good book. If he'd just taken the time to let the readers get to know the characters and the world, and if everything would happen in a more probable period of time.