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I stumbled upon these two authors, Mark Gelineau and Joe King, at the Silicon Valley ComicCon a few weeks ago. They had a table set up with about a dozen bite-sized mini books on display. I got to chatting with them and decided to buy two of the books. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much, but I thought the covers were really pretty and I wanted to support these guys. Was I in for a surprise when I read them and was blown away!
Here are the descriptions from GoodReads:
A Reaper Of Stone:
A Lady is dead. Her noble line ended. And the King’s Reaper has come to reclaim her land and her home. In the marches of Aedaron, only one thing is for certain. All keeps of the old world must fall.Elinor struggles to find her place in the new world. She once dreamed of great things. Of becoming a hero in the ways of the old world. But now she is a Reaper. And her duty is clear. Destroy the old. Herald the new.
Faith And Moonlight:
Roan and Kay are orphans.A fire destroys their old life, but they have one chance to enter the School of Faith. They are given one month to pass the entry trials, but as Roan excels and Kay fails, their devotion to each other is put to the test.
They swore they would face everything together, but when the stakes are losing the life they’ve always dreamed of, what will they do to stay together?
What won’t they do?
My Review:
Both books are related but emphasize different parts of the story. I would say that each book is like a chapter in a regular novel. In fact, if I were to criticize anything about this, I would say that the books are too short. I wish each book was longer so I would be able to lose myself in this exciting universe!Universe-building:
There are wonderful creatures and powerful forces at play in this world. Giant monsters called rendworms stalk the open fields in A Reaper Of Stone. Stray off a path, make too much noise and Bam! You are dinner for these giant earthworms! The mythology of this setting is that the first great warriors, called The Ascended, called on The Shepard of Tree and Stone and pledged themselves to serve. They were rewarded and were able to draw on the power of the earth to become fierce combatants. I thought all of these elements were fun and original.Faith And Moonlight tells the story of two teens entering the Academy to become great warriors. There are different schools that students are affiliated with (not unlike the school "house" system of Harry Potter). But this school is all about becoming a powerful soldier. So it is NOT cute in any way. These kids are competitive and fight each other for respect.
Kay and Roan must find a way to "pierce the veil", or tap in to the magic that only some will be able to do. What if one can do it, but not the other? Will Kay and Roan stick together or have to go their separate ways? There is so much tension in this book as we see how hard it might be to expect life to go in one direction, only to see it take a different path.
I loved these two books, and will try and find copies of all of these books as soon as possible.
Rating:
Release Dates:
A Reaper Of Stone: September 18th, 2015
Faith And Moonlight: December 15th, 2015
Source: Bought by me at Silicon Valley ComicCon
Format: Paperback books
Recommendation: This series will quickly become addictive if you are a fan of fantasy! Find them and read them!
Visit their website for more about their books:
A Reaper Of Stone:
Faith And Moonlight:
I love how you came to discover these books! It's a lot of fun being pleasantly surprised by books :D These books sound pretty intriguing in their plot and world-building! Great review!
ReplyDeleteThank you. If you have a kindle, I think it would be easy to find these books on Amazon. They are almost like sections of a book. I need to get the whole set and finish it.
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