The Short:
The Sword in the Stars
The Dark Sea Annals #1
By: Wayne Thomas
Batson
5/5 Stars (And possibly on the favorites shelf)
What: A former
assassin sees the chance to redeem himself by finding the prophesied savior of
Myriad.
Recommended to those
who like: Fantasy, Darker stories, Christian
The Long:
It’s probably no secret to any of
you that I’m a fan of Wayne Thomas Batson. I’ve reviewed many of his books on
the blog, such as Dreamtreaders and Isle of Swords. I love the stories he writes—they’re filled
with adventure, a touch of Christianity, and a look deep into the heart. He
also introduced me to one of my favorite Christian bands, called Theocracy,
which blends some hard-hitting theology with power metal. (AKA, it’s probably
not what you’re hearing on your local Christian radio station. However, if you’re
willing to try something different, I’d recommend “Hide in the Fairytale”, “30
Pieces of Silver”, or “Theocracy” as starter songs).
*Clears throat awkwardly*.
Anyways, I was supposed to be talking about The
Sword in the Stars, which tells the tale of Alastair Coldhollow. He’s
certainly not the person you’d expect the First One to choose for finding the
redeemer of Myriad. He’s a former captain of the Wolfguard—the most elite group
of killers in all of Myriad—and he’s addicted to the most vile drink ever concocted.
Nevertheless, he’s sure that he’s been chosen to find the promised Halfainin.
But even if he does find the Halfainin, will the kingdoms of Myriad be able to
survive the storm of invaders that are bearing down from without and the
treachery within their own ranks?
The resulting story is a dark one—I
would only recommend it to mature teens and up for fantasy violence and just
overall creepiness of the story. However, the darkness contrasts nicely with
the light of the First One’s promises.
It would be really easy for such a
clear-cut good vs. evil story to become preachy or predictable. However, Mr. Batson
does a wonderful job of making sure that even the good guys have their believable
flaws.
While some plot elements were
predictable, there were also some nice twists to the story. I can’t think of a
point past about 50 pages in where I didn’t want to keep reading or was tempted
to put the book down.
The worldbuilding was perhaps the
crown of the story—it even avoided falling into the dragons, elves, and dwarves
trap that fantasy tends to wedge itself into. A job well done!
The Bottom Line: Excellent worldbuilding, good characters, and a quick
plot combine for a fantasy story that would be a nice pick for more mature
readers.
This looks like a really intriguing adventure! I'll have to check it out :) Great review!
ReplyDeleteEllie | On the Other Side of Reality
Glad I found something intriguing for you! Let me know what you think, if you ever get around to it!
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