A good book, if you're into the classic fantasy group trope. You've got your warrior, your bard, your mage, your thief, your healer, and your paladin.

Despite relying on an overused, outdated trope, the author did an excellent job of worldbuilding, and making the characters seem alive.

Unfortunately good worldbuilding and story will only get you so far.

The book suffered from unrealistic actions (a person fighting with a sword immediately after breaking a rib & collarbone for example), and from the main character being somewhat of a Gary Sue.

Definitely worth checking out & reading once. Doubt I'll ever do a reread though. ( )

Pros: great characters, interesting world, quick read, action packed

Cons: lots of repetition, characters are a little too perfect

Prince Martris Drayke’s is forced to flee his home country when his half brother forcibly takes the crown. On his journey north to his uncle’s court, Martris discovers that his formerly minimal magical powers have expanded, allowing him to interact with spirits in ways he couldn’t before. Is he the heir to his grandmother’s Summoner magic? And if so, will this magic help him defeat the blood magician working with his brother?

I read this book when it first came out in 2007 and loved it unreservedly. So it was interesting, rereading it for review, to see how many ‘debut author’ flaws I noticed this time around. The good guys are all a little too perfect. The bad guys have no redeeming qualities and are a bit cookie cutter. There’s a lot of repetition in the writing, both with information being relayed several times, as well as sentences that reiterate what was just written. One important plot advancement was told by off the cuff exposition, rather than in a shown scene. Several common tropes show up…

But those are all nitpicky points. Apparently years of reviewing have made me quite critical, which is both good and bad.

This book is a real joy to read. The prose flows, and though the book is quite thick, the pages pass quickly. I was actually shocked at how fast I whipped through it.

I love the characters. Martris (Tris) really grows and develops as a person. I liked that we see his magic progress, but that his quick escalation of powers is explained. I liked that magic had limits and there were consequences for its overuse.

Kiara is another character I simply adored. She’s got a competence without the passion to prove herself that plague so many ‘strong’ female characters. She is what she is because she’s worked hard, practiced, and because her kingdom expects its men and women to be able to protect it. I also liked that the narrative pointed out how Tris admired her skills without the need to test her or put her down to raise himself up.

Vahanian is a traditional rogue with a heart of gold, but he’s given more back story than usual, and cries at one point in the book. This is a humanizing not generally seen with tough fighters, and I appreciated it.

The part of the world we see is a collection of small kingdoms. Some different customs are mentioned, though not many. The real point of interest with the world building is the vayash moru - vampires. They don’t play a big role, but it’s cool to see them in traditional fantasy. I also enjoyed the Goddess, whose different aspects were worshipped in different countries.

There’s a lot of action and the characters face a number of different dangers, which kept the book feeling fresh and exciting.

It’s an older title, but one well worth picking up. ( )

Fairly predictable fantasy tale but the characterizations make it very enjoyable. ( )

Once again they give an exceptionally beautiful cover to the most boring, poorly written novels in the history of storytelling. There was a wonderful fiesty girl who wanted to be a Princess Falconer, but no let's have three male protagonists who think of nothing but swords and swords. One of those is a euphemism. Will you learn your lesson Sterling and stop going for books that have nice covers. ( )

It's hard to find anything to say about these books. They are pretty much a cookie cutter fantasy story from start to finish. I read a lot of fantasy, it is my go to genre alongside Sci-fi, and I feel like I've seen everything in this book a hundred times but better.

That is why I gave it 2 stars..."it's ok". ( )