Thomas Cardin

I cannot really write anything more than what I wrote in my previous reviews of The Final Warden and target="_top">City of Thunder.

Yes, the books have their problems with typos and grammar (although it was a lot better in this book, compared to the previous two). Yes, it might in some places be a bit "generic" (although in very few places, and in large parts less than the average fantasy book). But yes, it is also an interesting world which has wonderful characters, and although the book gave less of a "warm and fuzzy" feeling than the previous one, it is still well worth a read.

It also features a brilliant ending which sets the stage for a lot of possible sequels while also giving closure to the story. Thomas, THANK YOU. There are few things worse than a series ending in a cliffhanger, and you managed to tie up every single thread of the storyline in a brilliant fashion.

The characters are largely acting rational, using their abilities to the fullest extent instead of waiting for a dramatically appropriate moment to show off, and still managing to show off regardless. Other authors, please use this series as an example on how to introduce special powers and have them used logically, without breaking the tension.

This book is no five star book by my criteria. That does not mean that it is bad. Many books I liked a lot are rated four stars, and I really, really liked this book. Please do not take my four stars as a reason not to read the series; read it, if you are into high / epic fantasy. It was an interesting contrast after reading dark fantasy almost exclusively for more than a year, and has re-ignited my interest in the subgenre.

I am looking forward to future works in the world of Vorallon.… (plus d'informations)

There are books where I am happy that I am not a professional book reviewer, and this is one of them.

Objectively speaking, the book would probably be around four stars. It has a well-written story, wonderful characters and an interesting world, but it has no surprising, unique feature that would distinguish it from most of the other fantasy books. It has a few problems with typos, grammar and punctuation, coming from a lack of editor, which can be expected from an independent book (and which I marked this time and will send to the author to be fixed. Hooray for eBooks).

Now, I have said several times that I do not always rate my books objectively. Usually, this leads to me giving only four stars to a book, even though I objectively can't find anything wrong with it. It is only fair that this should work the other way around as well.

I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it very much, and it is one of the few books that really managed to evoke some feelings in me while reading it. Most books only manage dislike / hate towards some characters and / or revulsion at what is happening, but this book actually gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling for a big part of the story, which I cannot define or explain. It might be that I am just plain weird, but even then, what do I care why I liked a book, as long as I liked it, right?

I could write a lot more about the book, about the lore of the world and the gods, about how much I love the characters of Lorace and Iris and all the others, about how I absolutely adore the fact that Lorace always experiments with his powers, finding out what he can do as soon as possible instead of waiting for a dire situation to discover a new way to use them, but it is hard to name the things I liked most without giving spoilers, so I can only reiterate what I said in my Review for the previous book: The book is good, not very expensive, part of the kindle lending library, and if you for some reason don't like it, it only takes about 3 hours to finish.… (plus d'informations)

I guess it is mean to compare this book with the "Triple-A" titles in Fantasy, since they are usually written over several years with the help of editors and assistants, while this is an "independent" book written by one guy, but I cannot really help it.

I was actually surprised how much the story pulled me in. In the beginning, I was expecting a piece of "generic" fantasy with perhaps one cool idea to distinguish it from the other fantasy books. I also expected it to be predictable in large parts. Well, I'm glad to say that both fears were unfounded. The story is interesting and well written, and while it objectively cannot hold up against the likes of Sanderson's [b:The Way of Kings|7235533|The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316131688s/7235533.jpg|8134945] (my reference in High / Epic Fantasy against which all others are measured) it was still very enjoyable to read.

The characters are interesting, and while some of the "usual" Fantasy tricks of lost memories and mysterious abilities are employed, I still found it refreshing that Lorace (the hero of the book) always immediately began testing out what he could do with his abilities (something which I personally would always do with a cool new magic skill I just found out I posessed, and something I want to scream to do at all the fantasy characters who only ever find new ways to use their skills in the most dire of situations).

The lore of the book is also well written, and explains enough to make us understand what is going on while still leaving enough mystery for us to wonder about. The same goes for the magic, or the gifts, as they are called here.

A special commendation needs to be given for the fact that this eBook is not only available on amazon.de, but also part of the currently rather lacking lineup of eBooks in amazon.de's Kindle Lending Library. Thomas, thank you! I was beginning to think that I would never be able to make use of that library.

Now, to mention the one thing I found rather irritating: I found several typos and grammatically questionable sentences in the book. I understand that Thomas is an independent author, but some of the worse ones should have been found by any decent spell check program, be it Word, OpenOffice Writer or the integrated Spell Check of Scrivener. It's a small thing, but I found it irritating. Sadly, I neglected to mark them in my ebook, so I cannot report them to the author (sorry, Thomas). I promise to do this for the next part of the series, which I will begin to read now.

4 of 5 stars, but don't let that discourage you. I still recommend this book, and it is neither expensive nor does it take too long to read. I am always in favour of helping new authors earn some money from their hard work.… (plus d'informations)

This is a book of beginnings. On the world of Vorallon, Lorace awakes with amnesia. In the Final Warden, we follow Lorace as he journeys to recover his memories and begins his quest set forth by the Lady of Destiny.

There are a whole multitude of characters, quests, gods, and destinies. At times, this can be somewhat overwhelming; however, the author does an excellent job of weaving a coherent and compelling story by focusing primarily on Lorace and using his quest/destiny as the central/primary story pivot.

No matter which group of characters the story is traveling with at the time, the narrative is descriptive and detailed allowing the reader to become immersed in the atmosphere of the world.

Definitely an entertaining read!… (plus d'informations)