This wasn't bad, but seemed to bear the marks of a young and inexperienced writer, which this author is. Plenty of action; I was drawn to purchase the book when I read that on the cover. Some occasional descriptions that I enjoyed. But a lot of the prose was so-so, and a lot of the dialogue sounded stuffy. ( )

Reviewed by Carrie Spellman for TeensReadToo.com

Technically, neither of the Starcross brothers should have survived the massacre that night. The night the magician, Dale, interrupted a dark ritual, and the monsters destroyed the town. Had it not been for Wren Tident and his pregnant wife, Lori, no one would have been there to save baby Corin from the monster who devoured his parents. His older brother, Cade, is left for dead in the tower of flames that was the Starcross home.

Fast-forward some sixteen years.

Wren Tident is a single father. After having tragically lost his wife, he has given up adventures. He's intent only on the safety and welfare of his daughter, Kayla. Kayla finds him to be overbearing and overprotective, but distant. She's heard stories of her father from before she was born, and she has a hard time believing that the daring, exciting, almost carefree Wren Tident could be the same man she lives with.

Dale has become a bit of a recluse. With the exception of the training of his apprentice, Adriel. Dale and Wren have had very little communication since they parted ways many years ago. While they were close friends once, Wren now prefers the lack of contact.

Corin lives in the countryside, where he was raised by an uncle. He has lived, to this point, a simple and relatively quiet existence. Despite being an orphan and a cripple (one leg is permanently lame thanks to the events of the night he lost his parents) he is a curious and generally cheerful young man.

They are all being hunted.

Survival requires Wren to re-enter the dangerous lifestyle he abandoned for the sake of his daughter. And he'll have to drag Kayla in, too, not that she requires much convincing. It means that old friends, turned enemies, will have to reconnect. It means danger and loss and sacrifice and faith in each other at the darkest of moments. To save themselves, and the world around them, they will have to face the darkness that has taken over the boy who was left for dead. And Cade Starcross does not intend to lose.

Such completely absorbing fantasy that you won't want to come up for air. And when you've finished, you'll want to go back and read it again to see what you might have missed. Thankfully, this is intended to be only the first book. What I'd really like to read, though, is the story of the time in between. There is a big chunk of time missing between the prologue and the beginning of this piece of the story. That was the only thing I found lacking in this book. I want to know how and why everyone got to where the story starts. I guess I just liked these people, the world they live in, and their story so much that I want to know more about all of it! ( )

Interesting first work from a college sophomore written in the style of Brooks and Eddings . The future seems promising for this author. I will definitely pick up his second book if one comes out. The story wraps up quickly at the end, but even the best of fantasy authors have been accused of this issue. Looking forward to future writings. ( )

Decent debut novel. ( )