A good fantasy offering which should be enjoyed by readers who liked Edding's Malloreon/Belgariad or Jordan's Wheel of Time, with better portrayal of females than the latter and a fairly intriguing magic system.

Note that I am not invoking them here as the pinnacle of Fantasy (which indeed they are not, at least for my tastes), but as examples of stories that can be read and enjoyed by a very broad audience including quite young readers assuming they are not afraid of long books with a fairly staid pacing. Generally optimistic, with virtuous protagonists and quite obviously villainous villains who are evil just because, rather than the grittier and more ambiguous fare that has become common and sometime decried in the genre over the last couple decades.

This black and white morality and attendant relative lack of suspense was however the major flaw in my eye. There's the dastardly irredeemable puppy-kicking villains, the good heroes, and anything in between seems more or less destined to be freed/swayed/won over by the latter.

Some editing oversights here and there, not that many but frequent enough that I couldn't just forget them.
The version reviewed here was the one offered in celebration by the author on the Green Dragon discussion group, revised but about to be worked on by a traditional publisher, so this is most likely no longer relevant in any newer and more polished version of the work. ( )

Progeny is one of those books you see made into a movie. It's a story that captures the reader and doesn't let them go, not even at the final page. If you enjoyed the Chronicles of Narnia or the works of Paolini then you will most definitely enjoy Progeny. As YA Fantasy novels go, this is one of those that leaves me impressed and wanting for more. You can tell that R.T. Kaelin took his time to develop his story and characters to give them dimension and bring them to life.

A quality I find that good authors share is the ability to make their stories come alive, where it becomes so real to them they offer the reader more to explore outside of their book (i.e. J.K. Rowling writing "Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them or J.R. Tolkein's Middle Earth). Kaelin does exactly this. Not only has he written a hefty book full of depth and plot, but from exploring his website and receiving sources from him myself, I see that he has taken his story and breathed life into it.

So if you couldn't tell, I loved this book. I loved the magic, the drama, the characters, the twists and the mystery. It has all of those elements in one. Usually when I start a book I have to keep telling myself, "just get through the first few chapters, they always get better after that." Not here. I loved that you hit the ground running on the very first page. As you travel through the story with the main characters, you find yourself searching for answers along with them, turning the pages so you can journey onto the next moment with them.

5 stars, and I can't wait to read the next installment! ( )

A little over 2 years ago I finished reading the first edition of Progeny. I was very impressed with the story, I loved it. The book did however need a bit of editing to smooth out the telling and tighten things up. I just recently finished the 2nd edition and I must say the rewrite did wonders! I've read plenty of books from big publishers that don't come close to this story or it's telling. I hope to get to read the 2nd book in the series soon.

Kenders and Nikalys are on their way to the lake to cool down on this hot day in the middle of summer when they witness the impossible, a huge water creature is unleashed on their hometown and destroys it and everything in it, leaving them orphans. Being the only survivors of a magical attack in a country that has outlawed magic of any kind.

What they don't know is that they were the target of the attack. A prophecy was spoken hundreds of years earlier about them being crucial in the fight between good and evil, and evil doesn't want them to fulfill their destiny. Life has not only dealt them remorse, they have been given a large helping of danger as well. ( )

Progeny is the first chapter in what could easily become one of the great high fantasy stories of our time. Plainly said, Progeny is just a lot of fun! This novel sets up a backdrop for a much greater tale than is portrayed in the book – this is not to say the picture painted by this book is not great in and of itself! I can easily see this series becoming a trilogy, tetralogy or more.

Terrene, the world in which this story takes place, is rife with elves, men, halflings, giants, orcs, demons, etc. – all the goodies and baddies that make up high fantasy. They all have their own racial tendencies already familiar to the reader, but the author has not locked his individual characters into these pre-established racial roles. For instance, one of the main bad guys is what I would equate to a “high elf” – a race almost always portrayed as the embodiment of goodness – and he is a real baddie!

The world that has been created by Kaelin feels very “clean” to me. There is a highly ordered calendar complete with evenly spaced lunar cycles and seasons. An established pantheon of gods and goddesses walks the world it shares with its followers – remaining withdrawn from society for the most part, but acting in ways unseen until after the effects of its transgressions have passed. Add to this, a logical and beautiful magic system based off of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series and made original by the author, you have a clean canvas for great works of art to be produced.

The story itself is written very well – especially considering this is the author’s own first novel. Sure there are some minor grammatical errors not caught before publishing, however these are few and he does not even have an established publishing house proofing his work before it goes to release. Kaelin is a self published, Indie author! Considering this I give the author a lot of credit for doing such a good job with both the writing and editing before it got to my hands!

Multiple plotlines intertwine to develop a rich story that is both enjoyable and quick reading. It was fun to see how the different characters came together and I appreciated the lack of “soap opera tactics” I find in so many books (i.e. characters somehow neglecting to share crucial details with their companions to further a specific bizarre story line that otherwise would have fallen apart before progressing far enough to matter). Instead, Kaelin builds the story in a manner with which real people might react if they were put in a similar situation.

All of the characters have their own unique personalities that you will fall in love with and they remain true to their idiosyncrasies throughout the book. You really get a feeling you know a character soon after he or she is introduced to you. You will find yourself associating with their different aspects as the plots develop and come to a harmonious conclusion.

I am pleased to give this book five stars and I look forward to the next novel in what I anticipate will be a series on the same level as the Wheel of Time series, The Inheritance Cycle, and the Shannara series.

I really enjoyed this fantasy read. I'm intrigued as to what we will find out about the history of the "white lions" in the next edition.

I liked the way the main family group of Nikalys, Kenders and Jak interact together. Having Nundle and Broedi around as the "gandalfs" to help them develop over the early stages of their powers and journey worked for me. I will follow this series and look forward to the next book coming out. ( )