Kevis Hendrickson

Reviewed by Carla Trueheart for Readers' Favorite

The Grey Elk by Kevis Hendrickson is a short story that includes elves and dwarves and reads like a tale or fable. The story tells the tale of Naran Jasar, a healer who has a specific connection with animals. In his journeys, Naran comes across a cow who no longer gives milk, but after Naran gives the cow some herbs, the cow gives milk thus pleasing its owner. Naran’s healer abilities endear him to a community that does not particularly seem to like his kind, and soon, he meets a beautiful woman and marries her. After marriage and a daughter, Naran moves his family to an area with dwarves, but because the prince dwarf is dying of disease, Naran must step in to create a special potion. The short story concludes soon after that, keeping the reader engaged as the stakes get higher.

Author Kevis Hendrickson has a distinct, flowing writing style that harkens back to old-world fables or bedtime stories. The Grey Elk is a short read, but the author still manages to make the story cohesive and the characters easy to envision. Because the story is short, the ending does sneak up on the reader, but it is nonetheless satisfying. I especially enjoyed the magical elements and the specific items used to make the potion for the prince. I look forward to reading more short stories from Kevis Hendrickson, and I would recommend the story as a bedtime read for children, to short story fans, and to those who enjoy stories of animals, elves, and dwarves. Readers who enjoy magic and fairytales will appreciate the book as well and should be able to finish it in minutes.… (plus d'informations)

At just under 200 pages, this is a good fast paced read that is a promising start to the Rogue Hunter series. However, for those who may find them offensive, it does include LGBT relationship scenarios and, with this in mind some readers may want to avoid it.

As befits the beginning of a series of short books that mesh together as they progress, there is little or almost no character development in this piece. The main protagonist is an ‘anti-hero’ type of strong female, but as to why she is this way, I couldn’t seem to find in my reading through this book. It was not just the main character that seemed to lack any colour, most of them were so flat that if they weren’t mentioned for a couple of pages the reader could easily forget about them and what role they were playing in the whole storyline. A great step forward for this book, and I’m not sure if the Author is intending to do this as the series progresses, would be to develop the characters more by giving them more of a back story that the reader can relate to and, in time, possibly come to care about them. As it reads at the moment, the characters just appear, and we are left wondering what is to come. I also felt that the sex scene in the book was a little gratuitous and did take away from the story at that point.

Having said this though the book does take place in the grand sweeping arena of outer space, which allows the reader’s imagination to run rampant and fill in the descriptive blanks with any manner of alien life forms; the Author also has taken a great deal of time to include a lot of detail to aid the imagination on its journey. The action is definitely fast paced and keeps the pages turning, especially once you reach the main part of the plot, and this made up for the lack of development in the novellas characters and kept me reading to the end. Unlike so many e-books out in the market-place currently, there was ample evidence that time and care had been taken when editing this one, as it was not filled with grammatical and proofreading problems; a lot of readers find these irksome to say the least so it was a pleasant change to read one that was so error-free.

I would highly recommend this book to readers of lighter science fiction, and also those who enjoy the Star Wars series.

Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2013/10/14/review-rogue-hunter-inquest-rogue-hunter-1...



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
… (plus d'informations)

At just under 200 pages, this is a good fast paced read that is a promising start to the Rogue Hunter series. However, for those who may find them offensive, it does include LGBT relationship scenarios and, with this in mind some readers may want to avoid it.

As befits the beginning of a series of short books that mesh together as they progress, there is little or almost no character development in this piece. The main protagonist is an ‘anti-hero’ type of strong female, but as to why she is this way, I couldn’t seem to find in my reading through this book. It was not just the main character that seemed to lack any colour, most of them were so flat that if they weren’t mentioned for a couple of pages the reader could easily forget about them and what role they were playing in the whole storyline. A great step forward for this book, and I’m not sure if the Author is intending to do this as the series progresses, would be to develop the characters more by giving them more of a back story that the reader can relate to and, in time, possibly come to care about them. As it reads at the moment, the characters just appear, and we are left wondering what is to come. I also felt that the sex scene in the book was a little gratuitous and did take away from the story at that point.

Having said this though the book does take place in the grand sweeping arena of outer space, which allows the reader’s imagination to run rampant and fill in the descriptive blanks with any manner of alien life forms; the Author also has taken a great deal of time to include a lot of detail to aid the imagination on its journey. The action is definitely fast paced and keeps the pages turning, especially once you reach the main part of the plot, and this made up for the lack of development in the novellas characters and kept me reading to the end. Unlike so many e-books out in the market-place currently, there was ample evidence that time and care had been taken when editing this one, as it was not filled with grammatical and proofreading problems; a lot of readers find these irksome to say the least so it was a pleasant change to read one that was so error-free.

I would highly recommend this book to readers of lighter science fiction, and also those who enjoy the Star Wars series.

Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2013/10/14/review-rogue-hunter-inquest-rogue-hunter-1...



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
… (plus d'informations)

The author calls this story a 'parable' and that's a correct description because in the wanderings of the main character and the challenges he faces in his life, we see the development of a moral message that is concluded in the outcome of the story. It's a bit like an Aesop's fable.
What captivated my interest most was the author's use of an 'old' language style. It's almost poetic. He uses words and construction that make this short story sound and feel as if it were written at the time it may have taken place (that is, a long time ago). That must have been pretty hard to pull off.… (plus d'informations)