Genre: Epic Fantasy
Description:
Rowen was kicked out of his knight’s training only to find himself
alone on the road. Several strange encounters later, which are too much to be
just coincidences, and Rowen is looking to lead an army of gang members,
knights and citizens against an army fortified with a ghoulish demon they call
Nightmare and sorceresses. Rowen must rely on the people he meets along his
quest to aid him and save the city of Lyos from crumbling.
Author:
Michael Meyerhofer also writes poetry, publishing five poetry chap
books, and has won awards for his work. He enjoys weight lighting, medieval
weapons and history. Meyerhofer current teaches at Ball State University. You
can learn more about him at his website.
Appraisal:
In his acknowledgements, Meyerhofer refers to himself as a boyhood
Tolkein fan. It’s obvious from reading Wytchfire
where his inspirations came from by using multiple races that have to band
together to fight a strong foe.
While the inspiration is there, Meyerhofer is able to make his own
world using a rich history, reluctant heroes and a few surprises along the way.
The book is the first of a trilogy and is set up that way. There isn’t
a huge cliffhanger at the end, but more of the end of one battle while we know
the rest of the war is ready to rage on.
Wytchfire may
start off a bit slow, but the action picks up fairly quickly with Meyerhofer
not dawdling too long to give the reader background information. He’s able to
blend it into the story while continuing with the current action.
One of my favorite parts was the distinction of two strong female
characters. They held their own against anyone who confronted them and were
layered characters. My only gripe is that they are both, of course, easy on the
eyes, which has to be noted by the men looking at them. It’s nice when I read a
story where the men and women are described similarly without bringing beauty
up when it comes to the women and not even mentioning that aspect when it comes
to male characters.
However, Wytchfire is a
great read for those who love epic fantasies – as I do. It certainly filled its
role and feels like the start of a great adventure.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
Wytchfire is book
1 of Michael Meyerhofer’s, The Dragonkin Trilogy. Wytchfire was also a nominee in the Fantasy category for B&P
2015 Readers' Choice Awards.
Original review posted July 3, 2014
Format/Typo
Issues:
None.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: Sooz
Approximate word count: 115,000-120,000 words
No comments:
Post a Comment