First Line: “The Granite was cold and rough against the gray-cloaked man’s palms.”
One Word Review: Terrific
Book Synopsis: “Young heroine Karigan hardly has time to regret being expelled from school (for dueling) before finding herself committed to the desperate errand of a murdered Green Rider. The Riders are an elite messenger corps using both horses and magic; the message is a terrible warning. Bad things from bad places are invading this fantasyland, their presence being only part of a devious, sorcery-aided human struggle for the throne. Karigan's wild ride is beset by a variety of enemies, but aided by her own developing talents plus certain strange allies. These include the tormented ghost of the dead Green Rider himself--still pierced by and trying to resist the chief villain's black arrows that ensnare the soul. Delivering the message to a suspicious court is only half Karigan's job: can it be interpreted in time?” -GoodReads
My Review:
For some reason I wasn’t that excited about starting this book. I don’t know if it was the cover or the fact that I couldn’t find any reviews that mentioned any kind of romance in the story. I know that is a lame reason not to read a book, but I just can’t help but love a good romance in my books. Despite the lack of romance I actually ended up really liking this book. I thought Karigan was an amazing, spunky girl. She is not the type to take no for an answer and she never gives up. Whether she is facing a gigantic scorpion, being kidnapped, stabbed, stalked, or in battle she continues to fight and keep her wits about her. She never came across as unbelievable strong or super-human, she was just believable. I thought the world building was well done, strong plot, and great character development. The book was action packed and poor Karigan never had a moment’s peace! This is the first in a series and all I can say is that the others have quite a lot to live up to.
There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like about the story. However, there were a couple things that I thought were missing. Like most fantasy novels we have our “hero” who has to complete some kind of quest. They meet all sorts of friends and foes along the way and eventually have to face off with the ultimate “bad guy”. This book has all of that, what it was missing, at least throughout the first half is the friendly companions who travel with our hero. Sure, Karigan has friends that help her along the way and towards the end she is no longer alone, but there wasn’t any constant companion(s) and I missed that. Like I mentioned before there wasn’t any real clear romantic lead for Karigan, although there is something hinted at towards the end, there wasn’t anything to make my heart twitter. I’m hoping that is something to look forward to in the next books.
While reading I couldn’t help thinking about other fantasy books that were similar. If you like Mystic & Rider, Star of the Morning, or The Naming, then you will probably enjoy this book.
Reading Order:
Book One: Green Rider
Book Two: First Rider’s Call
Book Three: The High King’s Tomb
Book Four: n/a
Other Reviews:
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ReplyDeleteAnd definitely holding contests, getting on twitter, etc. is a great way to get followers. That, and just keep updating.
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