I was given an ARC copy by the author to write an honest review when I was done reading it. The story follows two main characters, and Mr. Keene keeps both POVs interesting, seemingly without effort. This is my first encounter with Christopher’s writing, I didn’t know what to expect and was thoroughly entertained and impressed. This story is rich in history and plot. Some moments are foreshadowed obviously, and the pay off was worth every second of the build up. Others moments are foreshadowed but hidden like a ninja to be revealed at some precise critical moment and bam your hit with the reveal like a throwing star out of no where.
Fans of Brandon Sanderson will have trouble not comparing the build up and eventual Sanderlanche to what I am going to dub the Keenado. Those unfamiliar with Sanderson’s writing style might end up with two new favorite authors if they find themselves loving the last third of the book. Thus being an intense, edge of your seat discovery, after payoff, after epic moments of closure and literary satisfaction I have yet to find accomplished by any other author that wasn’t an actual student of Mr. Sanderson.
Here there be dragons and adult Pokemon (monsters name Melkai). The first few chapters had a Monster Hunters vibe and the book eventually becomes Game of Thrones, if there were only two thrones and without the scenes tailor made for HBO’s adult viewers. This is not a negative.
A protective wall put in place almost 500 years ago is weakening and the monsters are about to take over if the two main characters can’t come together and save both their respective homelands. Again, the author did his homework and crafted a wonderful backstory and at one point included a history book one of the main characters read from, and had me hoping that one day he would release a complete version of it for his fans to dive deeper in this epic new world. I don’t know if there will be a second book, but if there is one planned I hope we don’t have to wait 500 years to see it come to fruition.