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First an outcast, now a hero.
But her fight rages on.
Kira, the yellow-eyed demon slayer who fiercely protected her kingdom—and the crown prince—has been proclaimed the Dragon Musado of the prophecy. With the defeated the evil shaman.
But it wasn’t enough.
Hansong is in chaos. The Demon Lord’s minions have infiltrated the city, treason is brewing among the military ranks, and Kira is buried by the overwhelming loss of her parents. She’s also plagued by the annoying feelings that blossom whenever she’s around Jaewon. But she is determined that nothing will stop her from finding the second treasure needed to fulfill the Dragon King’s prophecy. Not even the army of half-breed demons hot on their trail. If only she could learn to trust others…
Her father always said one person can change the world. Will it be Kira?
But her fight rages on.
Kira, the yellow-eyed demon slayer who fiercely protected her kingdom—and the crown prince—has been proclaimed the Dragon Musado of the prophecy. With the defeated the evil shaman.
But it wasn’t enough.
Hansong is in chaos. The Demon Lord’s minions have infiltrated the city, treason is brewing among the military ranks, and Kira is buried by the overwhelming loss of her parents. She’s also plagued by the annoying feelings that blossom whenever she’s around Jaewon. But she is determined that nothing will stop her from finding the second treasure needed to fulfill the Dragon King’s prophecy. Not even the army of half-breed demons hot on their trail. If only she could learn to trust others…
Her father always said one person can change the world. Will it be Kira?
327 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 2013
About the author
Ellen Oh
23 books1,064 followers*Hi friends! I'm not often on Goodreads so if you want to keep up with me, the best place to do so is on instagram! I'm at elloecho!
Ellen Oh is a former adjunct college instructor and lawyer with an insatiable curiosity for ancient Asian history. She loves K-pop, K-dramas, and eating good food that someone else cooks for her. She is fueled by Diet Coke. Ellen is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity in children’s literature. Originally from New York City, Ellen lives in Rockville, Maryland, with her husband, three children, two dogs, and has yet to satisfy her quest for a decent bagel.
Ellen Oh is a former adjunct college instructor and lawyer with an insatiable curiosity for ancient Asian history. She loves K-pop, K-dramas, and eating good food that someone else cooks for her. She is fueled by Diet Coke. Ellen is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity in children’s literature. Originally from New York City, Ellen lives in Rockville, Maryland, with her husband, three children, two dogs, and has yet to satisfy her quest for a decent bagel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
March 15, 2014
This book was terrible. Let's not mince words. It is so poorly written I wonder how its editors thought it was permissible to publish in its current state. If an editor had taken out the multitudinous repetitions of "Kira felt _____" that riddle this book through and through (sometimes on the same page!), the book would probably be 20% shorter, but still not any better.
If you disliked the first book, DO NOT READ THIS ONE, because every problem that was present in the first one (wooden/cardboard/paper-thin characters, Everything is Told, Not Shown, meandering "plot", unclear direction, "epic action" scenes that are glossed over in half a page of vague summary, every character being exactly what they appear to be i.e. shady characters are evil and characters Kira likes are inherently good, etc.) is here, only 2x worse.
Honestly, I'm not even sure what happened throughout the latter 2/3 of the book because it was so pointless. I can summarize (without spoilers) what happens in this book: Kira goes on a Quest for a Magic Dagger and is attacked by demons. That's pretty much it. There is no character arc or development and that's pretty much literally all the plot there is.
Oh, there's some attempt to throw politics into the story in the beginning, and Jaewon has a very token bit of plot thrown in, but Jaewon might as well not have been in this book for all that he does. In fact, you know what? I think he does nothing. He's just there and reacts to a couple of things. He's barely in it and has absolutely no character or personality at all.
Which latter describes EVERYONE IN THIS DAMN BOOK. None of them are distinguishable from anyone else beyond these traits: Kira is the Demon Slayer, Kwan is Kira's Protective Brother, Taejo is the Earnest Boy, Brother Woojin is the Wise Monk, Jindo is a Dog. But if you're thinking right now that they're stereotypes, BOY are you wrong--stereotypes have more presence and character than these guys do. There were times when I literally could not tell who was talking because they all sound exactly the same: the dialogue is oddly stilted and characters state the obvious incredibly obviously.
For example on page 219: Kira asks where someone is, and the response is, "'He's not far from here. He's by a small pond, sitting on a rock. You can't miss him.'"
Who the hell talks like that? A normal person would say, "He's over there, you can't miss him" or "He's over by the pond."
You might think this is a small quibble, but much of the book consists of stupid unimportant detail appended to the story, as if details about size and shape and color make up for things like tension, emotion, plot, development, worldbuilding, etc.
Take a look at this bit on page 127:
"Kira took with her a hot kettle as well as several buckets of water. By adding some hot water to the cold, she was able to bathe herself with lukewarm water."
REALLY I NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT'S HOW YOU MAKE LUKEWARM WATER OMG.
But wait, there's more! Also p. 127:
"As she lathered her face with the soap's fresh essence of ginseng, honey, and soybean oil, her senses were awakened from the dulled effects of her headache."
Weird grammar, poor phrasing, and unnecessary detail. A three-for-one! ALL OF THE BOOK IS LIKE THIS.
As for Kira, I'm going to experiment and flip to random pages and see how many of them contain blatant statements about Kira's feelings. Here we go:
p. 255 "Kira was horrified. Seeing her dokkaebis destroyed felt personal to her."
p. 8
p. 56 "Kira could see how difficult and stressful the situation was for Kyoung."
p. 145
p. 80 "Without seeing Taejo before her, she was unnerved and worried."
I'm going to stop now. You get the idea.
Ugh, everything in this book is so bad. I don't even exactly understand WTF happened in the end.
The action scenes were simultaneously glossed over, summarized, and unclear--and by "action" I mean ALL action, from fight scenes to traveling around in a scene. Half the time I wasn't sure exactly where Kira was or who she was with because of that whole lack of description thing. They are frequently attacked throughout the book and I was never sure how many people were left in their group despite there being repeated instances of the book saying that sooooo many people died oh noes.
I think Kira was supposed to be having a romance with Jaewon but I'm not really sure--they kind of had romancey times in the last book (however poorly-written the scenes were) but in this one, as mentioned before, he's barely in it despite being physically present for 90% of it. Chew on that thought for a while.
Even the Korean setting (or perhaps especially the Korean setting) fails to be a highlight of the book. It's set in a version of ancient Korea, okay, I can tell that because of the names and titles and language and some of the descriptions of food and court. But most of the descriptions read like snippets from Encyclopedia's Digest or Wikipedia-esque one-liners about floor heating systems or the eating habits of mythical creatures. While I felt like the first book had actual research backing it, I feel like the second book has much less, as if, having already established a land and culture, the book didn't feel the need to elaborate upon or revisit anything. In other words, the first book felt like it had work put into research while the second book feels lazy.
I just...I can't...I mean, as bad as the first book was, I didn't shelve it on my Crime Against Literature Shelf. But Warrior is SO, so bad, that it deserves a place on there. And I will not waste my time reading the third book. I expected Warrior to be mediocre at best and terrible at worst, but this undercut even those low expectations. Ugh.
If you disliked the first book, DO NOT READ THIS ONE, because every problem that was present in the first one (wooden/cardboard/paper-thin characters, Everything is Told, Not Shown, meandering "plot", unclear direction, "epic action" scenes that are glossed over in half a page of vague summary, every character being exactly what they appear to be i.e. shady characters are evil and characters Kira likes are inherently good, etc.) is here, only 2x worse.
Honestly, I'm not even sure what happened throughout the latter 2/3 of the book because it was so pointless. I can summarize (without spoilers) what happens in this book: Kira goes on a Quest for a Magic Dagger and is attacked by demons. That's pretty much it. There is no character arc or development and that's pretty much literally all the plot there is.
Oh, there's some attempt to throw politics into the story in the beginning, and Jaewon has a very token bit of plot thrown in, but Jaewon might as well not have been in this book for all that he does. In fact, you know what? I think he does nothing. He's just there and reacts to a couple of things. He's barely in it and has absolutely no character or personality at all.
Which latter describes EVERYONE IN THIS DAMN BOOK. None of them are distinguishable from anyone else beyond these traits: Kira is the Demon Slayer, Kwan is Kira's Protective Brother, Taejo is the Earnest Boy, Brother Woojin is the Wise Monk, Jindo is a Dog. But if you're thinking right now that they're stereotypes, BOY are you wrong--stereotypes have more presence and character than these guys do. There were times when I literally could not tell who was talking because they all sound exactly the same: the dialogue is oddly stilted and characters state the obvious incredibly obviously.
For example on page 219: Kira asks where someone is, and the response is, "'He's not far from here. He's by a small pond, sitting on a rock. You can't miss him.'"
Who the hell talks like that? A normal person would say, "He's over there, you can't miss him" or "He's over by the pond."
You might think this is a small quibble, but much of the book consists of stupid unimportant detail appended to the story, as if details about size and shape and color make up for things like tension, emotion, plot, development, worldbuilding, etc.
Take a look at this bit on page 127:
"Kira took with her a hot kettle as well as several buckets of water. By adding some hot water to the cold, she was able to bathe herself with lukewarm water."
REALLY I NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT'S HOW YOU MAKE LUKEWARM WATER OMG.
But wait, there's more! Also p. 127:
"As she lathered her face with the soap's fresh essence of ginseng, honey, and soybean oil, her senses were awakened from the dulled effects of her headache."
Weird grammar, poor phrasing, and unnecessary detail. A three-for-one! ALL OF THE BOOK IS LIKE THIS.
As for Kira, I'm going to experiment and flip to random pages and see how many of them contain blatant statements about Kira's feelings. Here we go:
p. 255 "Kira was horrified. Seeing her dokkaebis destroyed felt personal to her."
p. 8
p. 56 "Kira could see how difficult and stressful the situation was for Kyoung."
p. 145
p. 80 "Without seeing Taejo before her, she was unnerved and worried."
I'm going to stop now. You get the idea.
Ugh, everything in this book is so bad. I don't even exactly understand WTF happened in the end.
The action scenes were simultaneously glossed over, summarized, and unclear--and by "action" I mean ALL action, from fight scenes to traveling around in a scene. Half the time I wasn't sure exactly where Kira was or who she was with because of that whole lack of description thing. They are frequently attacked throughout the book and I was never sure how many people were left in their group despite there being repeated instances of the book saying that sooooo many people died oh noes.
I think Kira was supposed to be having a romance with Jaewon but I'm not really sure--they kind of had romancey times in the last book (however poorly-written the scenes were) but in this one, as mentioned before, he's barely in it despite being physically present for 90% of it. Chew on that thought for a while.
Even the Korean setting (or perhaps especially the Korean setting) fails to be a highlight of the book. It's set in a version of ancient Korea, okay, I can tell that because of the names and titles and language and some of the descriptions of food and court. But most of the descriptions read like snippets from Encyclopedia's Digest or Wikipedia-esque one-liners about floor heating systems or the eating habits of mythical creatures. While I felt like the first book had actual research backing it, I feel like the second book has much less, as if, having already established a land and culture, the book didn't feel the need to elaborate upon or revisit anything. In other words, the first book felt like it had work put into research while the second book feels lazy.
I just...I can't...I mean, as bad as the first book was, I didn't shelve it on my Crime Against Literature Shelf. But Warrior is SO, so bad, that it deserves a place on there. And I will not waste my time reading the third book. I expected Warrior to be mediocre at best and terrible at worst, but this undercut even those low expectations. Ugh.
April 26, 2015
Warrior was everything I was hoping for and more. Ellen kept me engaged and riveted with her cast of unforgettable characters and creatures, enchanting fantasy world, and plenty of action that had me shouting at the pages. Kira is by far one of my favorite female characters ever, that's partly due the fact that I can relate to her a bit, I guess. As Kira and her friends journey to find the second of the Dragon King's treasures, they have to deal with the threat of a war, tons of crazy and fierce demons who want to kill them, and Kira herself is waging an internal battle with the Demon Lord. The pacing was steady and Ellen killed it with those action scenes. You seriously can't be bored with this book.
One of the things that keeps me chugging through these books is Kira. As with how I felt in Prophecy, I love how tough and "un-girly" she is, yet you also get to see softer sides of her pop up throughout the book. There were a couple scenes in the book that totally made me giggle because Kira was forced to step out of her comfort zone and experience a few things that "normal" girls would. I think she handled each obstacle she faced well, and with her own little twist to it that I really enjoyed. I don't want to give anything away, but there's a scene later on in the book where there's a bit of tension between some of the men in Kira's life that I found particularly entertaining and Kira's thoughts on it definitely cracked me up. Also, I really admire Kira's dedication and loyalty to her cousin, the crowned prince. Their friendship is so genuine and sincere, it just makes me smile. Like I said before, I also loved the relationship she has with her brothers. You only get to see one of them more so than the other in this book, but I loved their moments together with Kira.
Aside from Kira, the fantasy world itself was just plain awesome. Ellen dives in deeper into the terrain and creatures of this world and they are all pretty spectacular. Let me just say that I seriously want a dokkaebi of my own! You see a bunch of menacing demons that I couldn't even begin to describe, and a couple mythological creatures, such as dragons and flying horses, that were captivating in their own right. There is just the tiniest touch of romance in here, but otherwise, it's all fantasy and action and I love it!
Ellen Oh, you've done it again! I am even more in love with this series and I can't wait for Book 3, to see how it all ends. I have to say, that ending was a bit sad (and you definitely tugged at my heart a couple times throughout the book in general), but all kinds of awesome. Ellen still manages to write just the right amount of story and scenery to get her point across and paint a vivid image without it being overkill and that's exactly what I needed. If you enjoyed the first book, Prophecy, you'll definitely want to pick up Warrior and devour it like I did!
One of the things that keeps me chugging through these books is Kira. As with how I felt in Prophecy, I love how tough and "un-girly" she is, yet you also get to see softer sides of her pop up throughout the book. There were a couple scenes in the book that totally made me giggle because Kira was forced to step out of her comfort zone and experience a few things that "normal" girls would. I think she handled each obstacle she faced well, and with her own little twist to it that I really enjoyed. I don't want to give anything away, but there's a scene later on in the book where there's a bit of tension between some of the men in Kira's life that I found particularly entertaining and Kira's thoughts on it definitely cracked me up. Also, I really admire Kira's dedication and loyalty to her cousin, the crowned prince. Their friendship is so genuine and sincere, it just makes me smile. Like I said before, I also loved the relationship she has with her brothers. You only get to see one of them more so than the other in this book, but I loved their moments together with Kira.
Aside from Kira, the fantasy world itself was just plain awesome. Ellen dives in deeper into the terrain and creatures of this world and they are all pretty spectacular. Let me just say that I seriously want a dokkaebi of my own! You see a bunch of menacing demons that I couldn't even begin to describe, and a couple mythological creatures, such as dragons and flying horses, that were captivating in their own right. There is just the tiniest touch of romance in here, but otherwise, it's all fantasy and action and I love it!
Ellen Oh, you've done it again! I am even more in love with this series and I can't wait for Book 3, to see how it all ends. I have to say, that ending was a bit sad (and you definitely tugged at my heart a couple times throughout the book in general), but all kinds of awesome. Ellen still manages to write just the right amount of story and scenery to get her point across and paint a vivid image without it being overkill and that's exactly what I needed. If you enjoyed the first book, Prophecy, you'll definitely want to pick up Warrior and devour it like I did!
December 28, 2013
This review is entirely spoiler free, even if you haven't read book one, Prophecy.
Warrior is, simply put, incredible! With so much more action and tension between the characters, it's impossible not to love this book. Ellen Oh has done it once again!
I loved Prophecy, but wow, Warrior blew it out of the water! With Kira's circumstances shifted due to the end of Prophecy, her life has changed, but with this changed life comes more responsibilities and more betrayal. Chaos rules over Hansong, and Kira has to mature even more in this sequel. I didn't even think it was possible for Kira to become more kick-butt and awesome than she was before, but Oh definitely pushed Kira to her boundaries, and I really appreciated that! You know the dreaded Sequel Syndrome (when a sequel doesn't live up to expectations made because the first book was so epic)? It passed completely over this series' head. Warrior is easily one of my favorite sequels of all time!
Ellen Oh is a master of action scenes. Seriously, every page will have you in its clutches until the very end - I didn't ever want to put this book down. Right from page one, action flies off the page, and believe me when I say that the action never stopped (and we can't stop, and we won't stop). Treason lurks everywhere Kira looks, and she's got a team of people standing by her side, willing to face whatever comes with her. I love a story with a great protagonist, but a great story includes incredible side characters as well - the Dragon King Chronicles has the best of both worlds with its characters. Each character is important and plays a vital role to the story. I am truly astonished by this series! Fantasy lovers, this series is a must read. Packed with the right amount of action and a heroine that will blow you away, Warrior has it all. Incredible in every sense of the word!
I was so nervous to see how this book would end. The stakes are kicked up to a notch I couldn't even fathom, but it makes for one epic story. From start to finish, Warrior will consume your mind - even long after you've turned the final page. That ending was brilliant. I didn't see that coming, but once I got to the end, my mouth had seriously fallen open. I adored everything about Warrior. I need the third book like crazy! SO excited to see how it all concludes!
Overall, Warrior shouldn't be missed. Warrior is a sequel that will be the only thing on your mind. Mesmerizing!
Warrior is, simply put, incredible! With so much more action and tension between the characters, it's impossible not to love this book. Ellen Oh has done it once again!
I loved Prophecy, but wow, Warrior blew it out of the water! With Kira's circumstances shifted due to the end of Prophecy, her life has changed, but with this changed life comes more responsibilities and more betrayal. Chaos rules over Hansong, and Kira has to mature even more in this sequel. I didn't even think it was possible for Kira to become more kick-butt and awesome than she was before, but Oh definitely pushed Kira to her boundaries, and I really appreciated that! You know the dreaded Sequel Syndrome (when a sequel doesn't live up to expectations made because the first book was so epic)? It passed completely over this series' head. Warrior is easily one of my favorite sequels of all time!
Ellen Oh is a master of action scenes. Seriously, every page will have you in its clutches until the very end - I didn't ever want to put this book down. Right from page one, action flies off the page, and believe me when I say that the action never stopped (and we can't stop, and we won't stop). Treason lurks everywhere Kira looks, and she's got a team of people standing by her side, willing to face whatever comes with her. I love a story with a great protagonist, but a great story includes incredible side characters as well - the Dragon King Chronicles has the best of both worlds with its characters. Each character is important and plays a vital role to the story. I am truly astonished by this series! Fantasy lovers, this series is a must read. Packed with the right amount of action and a heroine that will blow you away, Warrior has it all. Incredible in every sense of the word!
I was so nervous to see how this book would end. The stakes are kicked up to a notch I couldn't even fathom, but it makes for one epic story. From start to finish, Warrior will consume your mind - even long after you've turned the final page. That ending was brilliant. I didn't see that coming, but once I got to the end, my mouth had seriously fallen open. I adored everything about Warrior. I need the third book like crazy! SO excited to see how it all concludes!
Overall, Warrior shouldn't be missed. Warrior is a sequel that will be the only thing on your mind. Mesmerizing!
August 11, 2016
When I finished Prophecy, the first book in The Dragon King Chronicles, I wasn't sure I would continue with the series. But when I had the chance to get an advanced review copy of Warrior, I just couldn't pass it up. Maybe I should have.
My problems with Warrior mostly has to do with my taste in books. There's a lot of fantasy in these book. To me, it's over the top. I like my fantasy more realistic, I guess. Like Harry Potter. I really was frightened for those characters. I felt the tension and believed their terror. Even though they used magic, it didn't seem to come easily.
In each of these books our main character, Kira, must go on a quest to find a magical object to save the world. She's trying to fulfill the Dragon King's prophecy. She's also in charge of protecting the young prince who is destined to be the next king.
The objects are supposed to be impossible to reach, of course. With every challenge she faces, there are always fantastical magical things that make it possible for Kira and her group to escape. I never had the slightest doubt that her quest would be successful. It was just a question of what magical creature or object would appear to rescue her or tell her what to do to achieve her goal. The demons attack several times, and even when Kira is convinced she is about to meet her demise, I never believed it. Its FANTASY. So just call in the magic.
There's nothing wrong with the writing. The pacing keeps moving and I never felt like it was moving too slow. The main characters are distinct, and you do want them to succeed. But, after about 2/3 through the book, I just started skimming to see how it ended. The ending did not surprise me. It was pretty much as predicted.
I didn't hate this book. I knew going in that it was a long shot, just because of the genre, so this is a case of "it's not you, it's me."
If you enjoyed Prophecy, then by all means you want to get your hands on Warrior. If you haven't started the series, you should start with Prophecy first, and you should really enjoy books about otherworldly creatures and magical happenings. Because this series is all about the fantasy elements.
My problems with Warrior mostly has to do with my taste in books. There's a lot of fantasy in these book. To me, it's over the top. I like my fantasy more realistic, I guess. Like Harry Potter. I really was frightened for those characters. I felt the tension and believed their terror. Even though they used magic, it didn't seem to come easily.
In each of these books our main character, Kira, must go on a quest to find a magical object to save the world. She's trying to fulfill the Dragon King's prophecy. She's also in charge of protecting the young prince who is destined to be the next king.
The objects are supposed to be impossible to reach, of course. With every challenge she faces, there are always fantastical magical things that make it possible for Kira and her group to escape. I never had the slightest doubt that her quest would be successful. It was just a question of what magical creature or object would appear to rescue her or tell her what to do to achieve her goal. The demons attack several times, and even when Kira is convinced she is about to meet her demise, I never believed it. Its FANTASY. So just call in the magic.
There's nothing wrong with the writing. The pacing keeps moving and I never felt like it was moving too slow. The main characters are distinct, and you do want them to succeed. But, after about 2/3 through the book, I just started skimming to see how it ended. The ending did not surprise me. It was pretty much as predicted.
I didn't hate this book. I knew going in that it was a long shot, just because of the genre, so this is a case of "it's not you, it's me."
If you enjoyed Prophecy, then by all means you want to get your hands on Warrior. If you haven't started the series, you should start with Prophecy first, and you should really enjoy books about otherworldly creatures and magical happenings. Because this series is all about the fantasy elements.
Did Not Finish
September 29, 2020I made it roughly 30 pages before giving up.
I honestly didn't get very far before putting this book aside. I was unsure about keeping this book on my TBR in the first place because it's been seven years since I read book one and I remember thinking book one was okay. Right away, I just struggled to know who was who. The book tried to give a recap, but I didn't feel invested in the characters or the story. I didn't dislike what I read, but I had no energy for it. It just seems like another case where I need to reread book one to understand this book, but I didn't like book one enough to do that. I'm just going to pass on finishing this series.
I honestly didn't get very far before putting this book aside. I was unsure about keeping this book on my TBR in the first place because it's been seven years since I read book one and I remember thinking book one was okay. Right away, I just struggled to know who was who. The book tried to give a recap, but I didn't feel invested in the characters or the story. I didn't dislike what I read, but I had no energy for it. It just seems like another case where I need to reread book one to understand this book, but I didn't like book one enough to do that. I'm just going to pass on finishing this series.
October 28, 2013
Continuing from the first book, this book picks up right where the last one ends. It has so much action, I LOVE IT!
Plot: So this plot moves on with Kira leading the fight and moving on. Many trials come against Kira, leaving her to become even stronger. I really like how each chapter, the reader is able to know Kira more. She becomes just what the titles says, a warrior.
Love: Now this area is an area I wish would develop some more. There is a love interest but I feel like the reader just gets a taste of it. Little flirtation here and there and really, I yearn for this stuff. I wanted more to come along but something always happen leaving the love right where it is. Moving very slowly…
Ending: I do love however how well this book ended. It ended with enough drama and secrets to make me want the next book. I look forward to reading how the series will conclude. The ending does pose some questions but I’m hoping that in the next book, this questions will be addressed.
If anything, I’m pumped and excited for the next book! I’m ready for that love interest to soar (pretty please)! Warrior is a strong sequel carrying the reader into admirable characters and action. A powerful story that captures fantasy well, Warrior is great.
Plot: So this plot moves on with Kira leading the fight and moving on. Many trials come against Kira, leaving her to become even stronger. I really like how each chapter, the reader is able to know Kira more. She becomes just what the titles says, a warrior.
Love: Now this area is an area I wish would develop some more. There is a love interest but I feel like the reader just gets a taste of it. Little flirtation here and there and really, I yearn for this stuff. I wanted more to come along but something always happen leaving the love right where it is. Moving very slowly…
Ending: I do love however how well this book ended. It ended with enough drama and secrets to make me want the next book. I look forward to reading how the series will conclude. The ending does pose some questions but I’m hoping that in the next book, this questions will be addressed.
If anything, I’m pumped and excited for the next book! I’m ready for that love interest to soar (pretty please)! Warrior is a strong sequel carrying the reader into admirable characters and action. A powerful story that captures fantasy well, Warrior is great.
October 23, 2014
Oh, wonderful book, I wouldn't want to be a of companion of them, because everyone who hasn't been a part of the group since the beginning doesn't survive, with one exception! And yeah, so glad that I have an ARC of King, after this ending!
November 28, 2013
Review:
Protagonist: Even though prejudices against Kira have dissipated slaighlty following her heroic takedown of Shaman Ito and his imoogi, there are still many who fear and despise Kira. Some treat her with distain because she is a woman who acts like a man, others because they still don't believe that she isn't a demon hell bent on their destruction, and with others it's a mixture of the two. Even though Kira puts on a mask of indifference at this, we really get to see in this book how it affects her that even after realizing her destiny as the Dragon Musado, she is still treated so poorly. As usual she channels this into fighting demons and protecting Prince Taejo. This book puts a great focus on her insecurities by introducing a communication between her and the Demon King, who may or may no make her doubt herself.
Romance: My favorite part about the romance in this series, at least so far, is that it remains very much a sub-plot. It's there, but it really only adds to the realism of this world and these characters and doesn't grow confusing and clouds the core plot. Once again there is a bit of a love triangle, though I refuse to either confirm or deny that Shin Bo Hyun is back, there is a love triangle nonetheless. While I may not love triangles half the time, this is definitely the other half where either love interest character could be good for Kira and yet if she chose to stay single everything would still turn out great. I always love it when protagonists have two great romantic prospects, but aren't defined by whether or not they choose.
World-Building: As usual in a trilogy, there is a whole lot of world-building in this second.book. The first and foremost thing being seeing the world expanded, or I guess since we have a map at the beginning of Prophecy, then visiting parts of the world our characters have yet to discover. Along the way we meet Jaewon's family and learn more about who he is. There's a very powerful shaman who helps Kira in her quest for the Dragon King's second treasure. I really hope to see more of this shaman in the next book, because he was pretty amazing even if he sometimes spoke before he talked. While I was surprised the daimyo working for the Demon King didn't play a larger role in this installment, but I guess we'll see more of him in the next one. Another thing that fascinates me about this series is all of the political intrigue and without spoilers I will say that things really heat up in that department, even though again it's an ongoing theme, but more of a sub-plot.
Predictability: Like the last installment this one is sort of like walking through a very dark, just barely lit, hallway. It's easy to see a bit of what's coming but there are times when things don't come into sight until right before they are revealed. There are also the inevitabilities that that we know are coming but in what form exactly, is unknown. The thing I'm really embarrassed about though is something that was right in front of my face but yet I was still surprised by it. Finally there are things that come completely out of the blue and shock me to my core which I always enjoy.
Ending: While I could have easily guessed that this book ends in a cliffhanger, I was completely caught off guard by how it came about. Lured into a false sense of safety everything changes and I was completely blown away, it's a rather doozy of a cliffhanger. The earlier parts of the end have a very interesting action scene which I was excited reading. Kira is such an amazing heroine and while I wouldn't be surprised if she's still seen as a bit of a pariah in the next and final book, it's gotten to a point where the only acceptable (but not okay) prejudice against her is that she's a woman in a man's world, and even that should be among those who are jealous that she can do what they cannot.
Rating:
I love this trilogy, while this book is a bit different from the first, mainly because the quest starts sooner, it never hit a slumping point for me and I am amazed at what this author has created. I cannot wait to see the cover for the final book in this series, I'm imagining a green background and obviously the jade dragon belt front and center. I can't wait to see what that looks like.
For more YA reviews check out my blog: Zach's YA Reviews (zachsyareviews.com)
Protagonist: Even though prejudices against Kira have dissipated slaighlty following her heroic takedown of Shaman Ito and his imoogi, there are still many who fear and despise Kira. Some treat her with distain because she is a woman who acts like a man, others because they still don't believe that she isn't a demon hell bent on their destruction, and with others it's a mixture of the two. Even though Kira puts on a mask of indifference at this, we really get to see in this book how it affects her that even after realizing her destiny as the Dragon Musado, she is still treated so poorly. As usual she channels this into fighting demons and protecting Prince Taejo. This book puts a great focus on her insecurities by introducing a communication between her and the Demon King, who may or may no make her doubt herself.
Romance: My favorite part about the romance in this series, at least so far, is that it remains very much a sub-plot. It's there, but it really only adds to the realism of this world and these characters and doesn't grow confusing and clouds the core plot. Once again there is a bit of a love triangle, though I refuse to either confirm or deny that Shin Bo Hyun is back, there is a love triangle nonetheless. While I may not love triangles half the time, this is definitely the other half where either love interest character could be good for Kira and yet if she chose to stay single everything would still turn out great. I always love it when protagonists have two great romantic prospects, but aren't defined by whether or not they choose.
World-Building: As usual in a trilogy, there is a whole lot of world-building in this second.book. The first and foremost thing being seeing the world expanded, or I guess since we have a map at the beginning of Prophecy, then visiting parts of the world our characters have yet to discover. Along the way we meet Jaewon's family and learn more about who he is. There's a very powerful shaman who helps Kira in her quest for the Dragon King's second treasure. I really hope to see more of this shaman in the next book, because he was pretty amazing even if he sometimes spoke before he talked. While I was surprised the daimyo working for the Demon King didn't play a larger role in this installment, but I guess we'll see more of him in the next one. Another thing that fascinates me about this series is all of the political intrigue and without spoilers I will say that things really heat up in that department, even though again it's an ongoing theme, but more of a sub-plot.
Predictability: Like the last installment this one is sort of like walking through a very dark, just barely lit, hallway. It's easy to see a bit of what's coming but there are times when things don't come into sight until right before they are revealed. There are also the inevitabilities that that we know are coming but in what form exactly, is unknown. The thing I'm really embarrassed about though is something that was right in front of my face but yet I was still surprised by it. Finally there are things that come completely out of the blue and shock me to my core which I always enjoy.
Ending: While I could have easily guessed that this book ends in a cliffhanger, I was completely caught off guard by how it came about. Lured into a false sense of safety everything changes and I was completely blown away, it's a rather doozy of a cliffhanger. The earlier parts of the end have a very interesting action scene which I was excited reading. Kira is such an amazing heroine and while I wouldn't be surprised if she's still seen as a bit of a pariah in the next and final book, it's gotten to a point where the only acceptable (but not okay) prejudice against her is that she's a woman in a man's world, and even that should be among those who are jealous that she can do what they cannot.
Rating:
I love this trilogy, while this book is a bit different from the first, mainly because the quest starts sooner, it never hit a slumping point for me and I am amazed at what this author has created. I cannot wait to see the cover for the final book in this series, I'm imagining a green background and obviously the jade dragon belt front and center. I can't wait to see what that looks like.
For more YA reviews check out my blog: Zach's YA Reviews (zachsyareviews.com)
December 28, 2013
**4.5 stars**
Originally posted at: http://iliveforreading.blogspot.sg/20...
I managed to get Warrior as an eGalley and that was what launched me into reading this amazing fantasy series. I loved Prophecy, but I'll admit, I was a little bit afraid of getting into this one. Quite a lot of series have a really bad follow-up to the first book, or one that doesn't live up to what happens in the first book. However, I'm happy to say that Warrior was as awesome as the first book. I was completely blown away with the action and plot in this one! I enjoyed the return of characters, the plot twists and the new character developments with this second instalment and it just left me hungry for more.
This book's events takes place ten days after where Prophecy leaves off. I like that I read this as a continuation because everything was so fresh in my mind, concerning the plot and characters in the first book, and that just made me love this one even more. I tend to forget things quite often, so that's why it's really important that I read a series in one go!
We get a slightly more feminine side to Kira this time round – slightly meaning a teensy spoonful – as she battles her emotions towards *certain* characters, emotions that might mean more than just friendship. I love Kira, she's such a kick-ass character! However, I feel that there's some lack of connection to her character. It might just be the third-person narrative though, because while we find out how she reacts to certain things, there's a lack of describing how she feels. It's pretty much what's on the outside (besides her inner thoughts) and some general comments. It didn't bother me much in the first book because I was more interested in the world-building, but in the second I was looking forward to learning more about her character, but was a little let down instead. Other than this though, I do love her determination and will-power.
The return of old characters! Of course, we have the Taejo, Kira's brothers, Major Pak, Jaewon, Brother Woojin, Seung, and the adorable dog Jindo. I love them all, and feel like while we don't learn much about their characters, their roles in the book are significant. We also have the return of a character from the first book (I'm not spoiling this!) and so there's a lot of conflict on whether or not to trust this person.
While the romance was barely there in Prophecy, it's featured a lot more in Warrior. I was quite glad that it didn't take up and overshadow the important events, but was there nonetheless. I'm kind of split about it, because I don't think I know Jaewon's character still as much as I would have liked to, but it's still an interesting development, especially as Kira hasn't grown up with much of female influence, and so I thought Oh depicted her struggle really well.
The ending was pretty intense. It was actually quite Lord of the Rings-esque, because it ended in a cliffhanger, and now I desperately need the next book! So much happens, and the epic journey is clearly not yet at it's end, which leaves me excited for more.
Warrior lived up to my expectations and even soared far beyond that– this sequel to Prophecy will entice fans of the first and will leave them hungry for more. Ellen Oh's storytelling is masterfully epic, and will have you spellbound with her take on Korean myths and folklore. I'm excited to learn more about the next book, because I can't wait for the journey of the Dragon Musado to continue. More please!
Originally posted at: http://iliveforreading.blogspot.sg/20...
I managed to get Warrior as an eGalley and that was what launched me into reading this amazing fantasy series. I loved Prophecy, but I'll admit, I was a little bit afraid of getting into this one. Quite a lot of series have a really bad follow-up to the first book, or one that doesn't live up to what happens in the first book. However, I'm happy to say that Warrior was as awesome as the first book. I was completely blown away with the action and plot in this one! I enjoyed the return of characters, the plot twists and the new character developments with this second instalment and it just left me hungry for more.
This book's events takes place ten days after where Prophecy leaves off. I like that I read this as a continuation because everything was so fresh in my mind, concerning the plot and characters in the first book, and that just made me love this one even more. I tend to forget things quite often, so that's why it's really important that I read a series in one go!
We get a slightly more feminine side to Kira this time round – slightly meaning a teensy spoonful – as she battles her emotions towards *certain* characters, emotions that might mean more than just friendship. I love Kira, she's such a kick-ass character! However, I feel that there's some lack of connection to her character. It might just be the third-person narrative though, because while we find out how she reacts to certain things, there's a lack of describing how she feels. It's pretty much what's on the outside (besides her inner thoughts) and some general comments. It didn't bother me much in the first book because I was more interested in the world-building, but in the second I was looking forward to learning more about her character, but was a little let down instead. Other than this though, I do love her determination and will-power.
The return of old characters! Of course, we have the Taejo, Kira's brothers, Major Pak, Jaewon, Brother Woojin, Seung, and the adorable dog Jindo. I love them all, and feel like while we don't learn much about their characters, their roles in the book are significant. We also have the return of a character from the first book (I'm not spoiling this!) and so there's a lot of conflict on whether or not to trust this person.
While the romance was barely there in Prophecy, it's featured a lot more in Warrior. I was quite glad that it didn't take up and overshadow the important events, but was there nonetheless. I'm kind of split about it, because I don't think I know Jaewon's character still as much as I would have liked to, but it's still an interesting development, especially as Kira hasn't grown up with much of female influence, and so I thought Oh depicted her struggle really well.
The ending was pretty intense. It was actually quite Lord of the Rings-esque, because it ended in a cliffhanger, and now I desperately need the next book! So much happens, and the epic journey is clearly not yet at it's end, which leaves me excited for more.
Warrior lived up to my expectations and even soared far beyond that– this sequel to Prophecy will entice fans of the first and will leave them hungry for more. Ellen Oh's storytelling is masterfully epic, and will have you spellbound with her take on Korean myths and folklore. I'm excited to learn more about the next book, because I can't wait for the journey of the Dragon Musado to continue. More please!
November 10, 2013
This review was originally posted over at Millie D's Words.
I thrive for anything imaginative, new, and epically badass. And yay for me, I found all these elements in Ellen Oh's Dragon King Chronicles. Since when do you get to find a book series that focuses on Asian culture rather than more of a European/white dominant one? Or one that doesn't focus on a romance or turn primarily into one? I don't think I've read anything like these books, which is the best thing ever.
I truly love Kira. She's a very consistent character who does, while it might not seem like it since she's such an experienced fighter and mature character in general, learn valuable lessons. She's such a strong and noble character who doesn't enjoy moping around too much (which tends to be a popular trend in strong YA characters. I love emotional breakdowns, but I despise constant moping.) I also love how much Kira values her family! She'd do anything for them and her friends, which basically is almost a majority of the plot, besides the whole find-the-prophecy-treasures thing.
I can already see how people will be discontent with the lack of romance, but to me it's perfection. To begin with, I'm not big on romance, but for Kira, she's not either. She experiences love through her family and she's completely inexperienced when it comes to loving *whispers* boy-men. So when she does find a boy-man, she doesn't know what to do or how to act and she doesn't like that. Also, she doesn't need some significant other to lean on, and for her to suddenly fall in love would be uncharacteristic and, in my opinion, would ruin the plot. And with what little the author has given us, not only do I want more for later on, but I ship them harder!
Warrior is almost like the show Supernatural, what with the demons taking over and going all apocalyptic on all the humans. And Kira and her buds must braves these dangers to save the world, essentially, while many don't believe what is happening or believe in Kira, for that matter. I enjoy how the plot (not only for its somewhat Supernatural elements) is set and with it's quick pace, I flew through the pages and was finished with the book in under a day.
The Dragon King's Prophecy will possibly always be a favorite series of mine. Oh transports readers right into a Korean fantasy setting, with rich culture and interesting characters. Kira poses as a strong and independent character that doesn't come off as the cliche martyr of the story. And with Warrior's ending, I'm left wanting more. So obviously, I can't wait to see what happens next and I hope that others will enjoy this book as much as I did.
I thrive for anything imaginative, new, and epically badass. And yay for me, I found all these elements in Ellen Oh's Dragon King Chronicles. Since when do you get to find a book series that focuses on Asian culture rather than more of a European/white dominant one? Or one that doesn't focus on a romance or turn primarily into one? I don't think I've read anything like these books, which is the best thing ever.
I truly love Kira. She's a very consistent character who does, while it might not seem like it since she's such an experienced fighter and mature character in general, learn valuable lessons. She's such a strong and noble character who doesn't enjoy moping around too much (which tends to be a popular trend in strong YA characters. I love emotional breakdowns, but I despise constant moping.) I also love how much Kira values her family! She'd do anything for them and her friends, which basically is almost a majority of the plot, besides the whole find-the-prophecy-treasures thing.
I can already see how people will be discontent with the lack of romance, but to me it's perfection. To begin with, I'm not big on romance, but for Kira, she's not either. She experiences love through her family and she's completely inexperienced when it comes to loving *whispers* boy-men. So when she does find a boy-man, she doesn't know what to do or how to act and she doesn't like that. Also, she doesn't need some significant other to lean on, and for her to suddenly fall in love would be uncharacteristic and, in my opinion, would ruin the plot. And with what little the author has given us, not only do I want more for later on, but I ship them harder!
Warrior is almost like the show Supernatural, what with the demons taking over and going all apocalyptic on all the humans. And Kira and her buds must braves these dangers to save the world, essentially, while many don't believe what is happening or believe in Kira, for that matter. I enjoy how the plot (not only for its somewhat Supernatural elements) is set and with it's quick pace, I flew through the pages and was finished with the book in under a day.
The Dragon King's Prophecy will possibly always be a favorite series of mine. Oh transports readers right into a Korean fantasy setting, with rich culture and interesting characters. Kira poses as a strong and independent character that doesn't come off as the cliche martyr of the story. And with Warrior's ending, I'm left wanting more. So obviously, I can't wait to see what happens next and I hope that others will enjoy this book as much as I did.
October 26, 2014
Review Copy: Purchased
First Julie Kagawa ends The Eternity Cure with a cliffhanger and then Ellen Oh does the same thing with Warrior! Really, ladies?! Why must you be so cruel? Why must you break my heart so? I will say, based on the ending of Warrior, the third book will probably be amazing and I can’t wait to get it into my eagerly awaiting hands. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Warrior picks up just days after Prophecy leaves off, the events of the first book still very fresh in the hearts of Kira and her family. The book also deals with the political fallout of the events and Oh spends some time dealing with the issue of what would happen to a kingdom that has lost both its King & Queen and is now ruled by another. I greatly enjoyed this aspect, exploring the after effects of war both from a psychological and political perspective. The reprieve is short lived when the new King is assassinated, and Kira’s life and that of her cousin Taejo is put in jeopardy. In Prophecy, Kira was tasked to find the first of three magical objects signifying the fulfillment of the Dragon King prophecy and this new threat to Kira and Teajo’s lives is the catalyst for them to go in search for the jeweled dagger. Off their troupe travels, this time meeting new mythical helpers as well as fighting an even creepier demon army than before. Seriously, this demon army that the Demon Lord creates is effective and deadly. There were times when I seriously wondered who would get out alive in the battles and was praying for some of my favorite characters.
One of the treats of this novel, for me, is that Oh explores more of the world of the Seven Kingdoms. This time we head north, via an adventure at sea and then traveling through the snow to the mountains. I love watching Korean Dramas, and after watching so many, I have a visual picture in my mind of the landscapes that Oh describes so beautifully. I imagine the world that I’m familiar with layered with the fantastical elements Oh adds. The strength of the novel lies in Oh’s descriptions of her world and having us truly feel what the characters are feeling. The cold that Kira and her group experience as they travel towards the mountains, I could feel in my bones. Many times I curled up tighter in my blankets because I could clearly imagine the chill that Kira felt.
While I’m angry that Oh just ended the story on a cliffhanger, I know that the next novel will be a thrilling conclusion to the series and I can’t wait.
Recommendation: Go buy it now!
Review originally posted at Rich in Color http://richincolor.com/2014/01/book-r...
First Julie Kagawa ends The Eternity Cure with a cliffhanger and then Ellen Oh does the same thing with Warrior! Really, ladies?! Why must you be so cruel? Why must you break my heart so? I will say, based on the ending of Warrior, the third book will probably be amazing and I can’t wait to get it into my eagerly awaiting hands. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Warrior picks up just days after Prophecy leaves off, the events of the first book still very fresh in the hearts of Kira and her family. The book also deals with the political fallout of the events and Oh spends some time dealing with the issue of what would happen to a kingdom that has lost both its King & Queen and is now ruled by another. I greatly enjoyed this aspect, exploring the after effects of war both from a psychological and political perspective. The reprieve is short lived when the new King is assassinated, and Kira’s life and that of her cousin Taejo is put in jeopardy. In Prophecy, Kira was tasked to find the first of three magical objects signifying the fulfillment of the Dragon King prophecy and this new threat to Kira and Teajo’s lives is the catalyst for them to go in search for the jeweled dagger. Off their troupe travels, this time meeting new mythical helpers as well as fighting an even creepier demon army than before. Seriously, this demon army that the Demon Lord creates is effective and deadly. There were times when I seriously wondered who would get out alive in the battles and was praying for some of my favorite characters.
One of the treats of this novel, for me, is that Oh explores more of the world of the Seven Kingdoms. This time we head north, via an adventure at sea and then traveling through the snow to the mountains. I love watching Korean Dramas, and after watching so many, I have a visual picture in my mind of the landscapes that Oh describes so beautifully. I imagine the world that I’m familiar with layered with the fantastical elements Oh adds. The strength of the novel lies in Oh’s descriptions of her world and having us truly feel what the characters are feeling. The cold that Kira and her group experience as they travel towards the mountains, I could feel in my bones. Many times I curled up tighter in my blankets because I could clearly imagine the chill that Kira felt.
While I’m angry that Oh just ended the story on a cliffhanger, I know that the next novel will be a thrilling conclusion to the series and I can’t wait.
Recommendation: Go buy it now!
Review originally posted at Rich in Color http://richincolor.com/2014/01/book-r...
November 2, 2013
Review: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars
Contains possible spoilers from the first book
When I requested Warrior I had no idea it was the sequel to Ellen Oh’s debut novel, Prophecy but I’m thankful enough background information was given to get a grasp of what had happened in the first book.
I really liked Seventeen year-old Kira with her unique ability to sense demons and slay them, now the declared Dragon Musado of a foretold prophecy since defeating the evil shaman and his imoogi she is still overcome with grief since the death of her parents but she is dedicated to her duty to protect her cousin, heir to the Guru throne and her kingdom and continue to search for the sacred treasures of the Dragon King needed to fulfil the prediction of her fortune. She had strength, determination and the courage I admire in my heroines and I loved the way she was out to defend her family’s honour despite not being fully accepted or trusted – she was different.
The plot is fast paced with wonderful action sequences; it is filled with secrets and mystery as we watch Kira fulfil her quest, there never seemed to be a dull moment for her; she had to be a true warrior. The world Ellen Oh has created is intriguing, it was quite simplistic with nothing over the top, everything was resolved nicely – probably a little too neatly but it was entertaining none the less.
There is not much romance unfortunately & I tend to prefer romance in my books for some reason, there is potential for a relationship but nothing really develops from Kira’s interactions with Jaewon which were quite sweet but still more of a friendship than anything more but you can definitely see the potential.
Also, I stumbled over the names and I found a lot of the characters to be there in the background but no-one person besides the MC, Jaewon and bratty Taejo really stood out.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ellen Oh’s crisp, concise and detailed writing and the Korean setting; I felt the ancient lore and myth was interesting and explained well.
Overall, a wonderful asian-inspired fantasy filled with magic, action, betrayal and wonderful characterisation, it’s an engaging adventure story. I’m excited for the next book in the series.
Thank-you kindly to HarperTeen/Eidelweiss for the opportunity to read and review Warrior by Ellen Oh.
Contains possible spoilers from the first book
When I requested Warrior I had no idea it was the sequel to Ellen Oh’s debut novel, Prophecy but I’m thankful enough background information was given to get a grasp of what had happened in the first book.
I really liked Seventeen year-old Kira with her unique ability to sense demons and slay them, now the declared Dragon Musado of a foretold prophecy since defeating the evil shaman and his imoogi she is still overcome with grief since the death of her parents but she is dedicated to her duty to protect her cousin, heir to the Guru throne and her kingdom and continue to search for the sacred treasures of the Dragon King needed to fulfil the prediction of her fortune. She had strength, determination and the courage I admire in my heroines and I loved the way she was out to defend her family’s honour despite not being fully accepted or trusted – she was different.
The plot is fast paced with wonderful action sequences; it is filled with secrets and mystery as we watch Kira fulfil her quest, there never seemed to be a dull moment for her; she had to be a true warrior. The world Ellen Oh has created is intriguing, it was quite simplistic with nothing over the top, everything was resolved nicely – probably a little too neatly but it was entertaining none the less.
There is not much romance unfortunately & I tend to prefer romance in my books for some reason, there is potential for a relationship but nothing really develops from Kira’s interactions with Jaewon which were quite sweet but still more of a friendship than anything more but you can definitely see the potential.
Also, I stumbled over the names and I found a lot of the characters to be there in the background but no-one person besides the MC, Jaewon and bratty Taejo really stood out.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ellen Oh’s crisp, concise and detailed writing and the Korean setting; I felt the ancient lore and myth was interesting and explained well.
Overall, a wonderful asian-inspired fantasy filled with magic, action, betrayal and wonderful characterisation, it’s an engaging adventure story. I’m excited for the next book in the series.
Thank-you kindly to HarperTeen/Eidelweiss for the opportunity to read and review Warrior by Ellen Oh.
January 11, 2014
Kira seems to attract trouble wherever she seems to step, and yet, she's one of my favorite heroines. Kira is extremely self-sacrificing and selfless; she always puts the Prince and Jaewon's safety first. Not to mention the fact that Kira is a total kick-butt heroine whose skills never cease to surprise him. There were so many moments where I just wanted to give Kira a huge hug for my own sake, Oh better not mess with Kira because that would break my heart into two. Kira has gone through so many hoops and obstacles that I truly believe she deserves a happy ending in King.
Oh my dragons. Warrior is full of non-stop, fast-paced action scenes that were brilliantly written and I was so immersed in the world of the Seven Kingdoms. There is so much depth to the world of the Seven Kingdoms and I really enjoyed watching Oh explores so many new layers to this enticing world. I was completely addicted to Warrior to the point where by the time I reached the last portion of the book, I was filled with sadness because it hit me that I'm going to have to wait so long to read King, the final installment in The Dragon King Chronicles. The ending of Warrior was definitely the highlight of the book for me and it was absolutely epic.
Oh my dragons. Warrior is full of non-stop, fast-paced action scenes that were brilliantly written and I was so immersed in the world of the Seven Kingdoms. There is so much depth to the world of the Seven Kingdoms and I really enjoyed watching Oh explores so many new layers to this enticing world. I was completely addicted to Warrior to the point where by the time I reached the last portion of the book, I was filled with sadness because it hit me that I'm going to have to wait so long to read King, the final installment in The Dragon King Chronicles. The ending of Warrior was definitely the highlight of the book for me and it was absolutely epic.
October 24, 2015
I remember not liking the first book, Prophecy, as much as I’d hoped to. I liked it enough to want to continue with the series, and I’m so glad for that! I like this one. It had a faster pace and I didn’t feel like it was predictable. There were some unexpected surprises that made the book more exciting.
I did feel, however, that things were a bit too easy. Yes, there was some struggle, some adversity, but it seemed like just when things got hairy there was always a way out. They never really get into real trouble. But, then, I think about this book. It’s YA, and it’s something even younger teens could probably read and enjoy. It’s not overly violent; it’s not sexual – it’s very clean. And, well, for a younger audience, it’s probably best not to get too dark. So, I suppose it’s fitting with the intended audience.
That said, I felt many of the characters were stronger. Kira, Jaewon, the prince … to name a few. I find myself so wanting to see Kira and Jaewon together. She still cannot get over the idea that she’s not marriage material. I’d be surprised if, by series end, she doesn’t find otherwise!
I did feel, however, that things were a bit too easy. Yes, there was some struggle, some adversity, but it seemed like just when things got hairy there was always a way out. They never really get into real trouble. But, then, I think about this book. It’s YA, and it’s something even younger teens could probably read and enjoy. It’s not overly violent; it’s not sexual – it’s very clean. And, well, for a younger audience, it’s probably best not to get too dark. So, I suppose it’s fitting with the intended audience.
That said, I felt many of the characters were stronger. Kira, Jaewon, the prince … to name a few. I find myself so wanting to see Kira and Jaewon together. She still cannot get over the idea that she’s not marriage material. I’d be surprised if, by series end, she doesn’t find otherwise!
January 10, 2016
Warrior, the second volume in Ellen Oh's young adult fantasy trilogy, continues to entertain. The warrior in question, protagonist Kang Kira, shows every sign of being the prophesied Dragon Musado, a warrior of great power, and her cousin, Prince Taejo, the foretold king who will unite the seven kingdoms. However, at the moment, they are orphans, their parents dead at the hands of invaders allied with demons, and as this novel opens, the king who offered to give them shelter and protection is killed by a demon curse forcing them to flee once more.
To before she can wield her power fully, Kira must complete a hero's quest by finding three magical objects of power. She has already located one of these object, but two more remain. So Kira and Taejo set out with a small band of companions to complete her quest - but Kira's other task is to keep the prince and herself alive.
Fun, and all the more interesting because it is grounded in Korean history, folklore and culture.
To before she can wield her power fully, Kira must complete a hero's quest by finding three magical objects of power. She has already located one of these object, but two more remain. So Kira and Taejo set out with a small band of companions to complete her quest - but Kira's other task is to keep the prince and herself alive.
Fun, and all the more interesting because it is grounded in Korean history, folklore and culture.
November 25, 2013
What I loved about the first book of The Dragon King Chronicles is the adventure. It was so exciting and I felt like I was there fighting along with Kira. I love it!
In Warrior the excitement went up. I love the parts where Kira’s heard the Demon Lord in her head. And their journey to hell!!! Grrr…
The weird creatures are so fascinating. I mean, I love the way the author describe them. I can picture them clearly in my head. From Dragons, Nine-tailes fox to these garbage army. (lol)
*Mc’s Corner*
I want a dokkaebi for myself.
Kira and Jaewon are together is freaking frustrating!!!
DAMN! What did you do with Kira. Are you making her ugly??? *grin*
I want to experience riding with these chollimas (flying horses).
See? These creature are really fascinating!!!
@gleekidMC
In Warrior the excitement went up. I love the parts where Kira’s heard the Demon Lord in her head. And their journey to hell!!! Grrr…
The weird creatures are so fascinating. I mean, I love the way the author describe them. I can picture them clearly in my head. From Dragons, Nine-tailes fox to these garbage army. (lol)
*Mc’s Corner*
I want a dokkaebi for myself.
Kira and Jaewon are together is freaking frustrating!!!
DAMN! What did you do with Kira. Are you making her ugly??? *grin*
I want to experience riding with these chollimas (flying horses).
See? These creature are really fascinating!!!
@gleekidMC
October 20, 2013
Overall, WARRIOR was such a great sequel and a great follow-up to Ellen Oh's Dragon King Chronicles series. If you love Asian-inspired books or if you loved the author's first book, Prophecy, then be sure to not miss out on this one awesome book this December or better yet preorder this book for Christmas time!
Full review: http://talesoftheinnerbookfanatic.blo...
4.5 stars!
Full review: http://talesoftheinnerbookfanatic.blo...
4.5 stars!
January 7, 2014
Loved it! I so want Jaewon, and Kira to be together! I loved it when Jaewon kissed Kira, it was so romantic! I also knew that Shin was not dead! (people in books and movies never really die)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2014
I started it yesterday after school and finished it this morning! It was sooo good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 15, 2014
The fight sequences are rushed, under detailed and short but I suppose she just isn't comfortable writing them.
January 26, 2015
The story: although she's captured the powerful Tidal Stone and found her place as the mythical Dragon Musado, Kira soon realizes that the kingdom will never be safe--either from betrayal by humans or warfare waged by demons--unless she possess the two other artifacts of great power once owned by the Dragon Lord: the dragon dagger, and the jade belt. Her brother Kwan, Prince Taejo, and the handsome and mysterious Jaewon are willing to join her on a second quest, even knowing that it will surely end in some of them being killed. The price is agonizing: how can it be worth it? But Kira knows the alternative is allowing the kingdom to fall apart, her cousin to lose his place on the throne, and the dreadful Demon Lord to become the master of them all. She has no choice but to face the demons--both real, and those fighting the battle in her mind.
June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; nudity G; sexual content PG; violence, R; magic and the occult R; substance abuse PG; GLBT content G; adult themes (betrayal and scary demonic magic) PG; overall rating PG-13.
Liz's comments: I really like this series! The Korean-based mythos is cool and unusual, and Kira is a strong, occasionally flawed heroine you really want to root for. The demonic element gets quite creepy at times, but is more magic-flavored and less tied in with religion than it would be in Western fantasy.
Annotation with spoilers: The story opens at the palace in Hansong, where the Guru kingdom forces have just won a battle that unites several of the previous Seven Kingdoms, fulfilling the prophecy that they will become three, and finally one. But Kira is uneasy, and King Eojin (her and cousin Prince Taejo's last living uncle) is having trouble with his General, who thinks everything bad that's happened is a result of letting a woman into the elite circles of battle. And of course, things are about to get a whole lot worse. The demon king sends an assassin in the guise of a dancing girl, and before Kira can prevent it, the King has been struck by a cursed dagger that turns him into stone, then kills him. This is enough to make the General secede from the unified kingdoms and put forth his own claim for the kingship. The gang from book (Kira, her brother Kwan, Prince Taejo, her friend Jaewon and his servant Seung, along with the monk Brother Woojin) make a quick getaway before they're trapped in town. Eldest brother Kyoung has to stay behind to lead the armies, but Kira's group knows that in order to fulfill the prophecies, they're going to have to find and claim the last two treasures of the Dragon Lord, a dagger, and a jade belt.
The dagger, according Brother Woojin, is hidden in the land of shades near Mount Baekdu. Jaewon wants to accompany them there because he knows it's time to return to his home village and make peace with his family over the death of his younger brother, which Jaewon accidentally caused many years ago. Although he has little hope of gaining his family's forgiveness, he feels it's not fair for his follower, Seung, to be separated from his own family for so long.
As before, Kira sees disturbing visions. Her most recent is of the Demon Lord creating half breed demons by combining his hordes and melding them into the bodies of captured humans. Not good news. And even worse, after seeing this vision, it seems that the Demon Lord can somehow get into her head. She hears him talking all the time--calling to her, telling her to give up and come join him.
Kira is smuggled out of the palace dressed as a courtesan and hidden in the floor of a carriage. She's amazed to see these women, whom she'd always considered to be pretty useless, dispatch a group of soldiers without any trouble at all. She and the others in the group meet on a ship that's going to take them north, around the fighting going on near Hansong. The sailors soon realize who she is, and decide that she's totally bad luck--until a monstrous, demon-powered storm starts up, and Kira is able to calm it using the power of the Tidal stone, one of the Dragon Lord's powerful weapons, which she discovered in the previous book. All of a sudden, everyone is on team Kira! The bigger problem is Jaewon's terrible seasickness, which is almost enough to kill him before they make port, and from which it takes him several days to recover fully.
Before starting from Uju to Mt. Baekdu, they hear a disturbing story of an entire village being eaten alive by demons. They hire a guide, Jeong, and start out, determining to skip the village that was destroyed, but it's not long before they realize that a whole bunch of villages along the way have been completely emptied. They hole up during a five-day blizzard in one such village, during which time the voices in Kira's head grow continually louder. As the finally move forward, against Kira's shouted orders Jeong accidentally takes them into an ambush where more than half of their guards are killed. The rest are about to be overwhelmed also, when Woojin leads them to a surprise encounter with her former adversary/fiancée, Shin Ho Byun. Suin's soldiers help them survive the onslaught of the demon half breeds, and they make camp.
Last time we saw him, Shin was being washed away as he tried to prevent Kira from reaching the Heavenly Maidens, and she considers him to be a traitor. Woojin counsels her that he believes Shin has turned over a new leaf, and he confides that he can see auras--and that Shin's has changed. She takes Woojin's advice and accepts Shin's help, as she would like to believe it's true...and she really doesn't have much choice anyway.
They travel in company with Shin's group for several days, heading for Jaewon's village, but they're finally are caught by a group of half-breed demons. Jumping into the ice-cold river, they're able to avoid the demons for a while, since demons can't tolerate water and would disintegrate if immersed. Eventually, though, Shin and his men must stop to fight the demons, and it becomes clear that Kira also needs to use the power of the tidal stone to disperse the demons, even though it means washing away Shin and his men as well. She finds herself grieving for her former enemy, and hoping that he'll survive this second flood, just as he did the first. (No doubt we'll see him again in Book 3, providing some competition for Jaewon).
They stop briefly in a village where her brother Kwan is enticed into what looks like an inviting tavern--but Kira smells bad magic and goes in after hum. She finds him in the power of a kumiho, or a nine-tailed fox spirit. The spirit has been capturing and eating men's hearts and livers for over a hundred years, in an effort to try to become a human (this is clearly not working for her). She offers to help Kira's group find Mount Baekdu, in return for a look at Kira's memories (still trying to figure out what it means to be human). For some reason, Kira feels empathy for the creature and decides to trust her. Nara shows them how to find the river spirits that will be able to take them to the volcano, and for once they're not betrayed!
When they arrive at Jaewon's village, it is surrounded by wards that keeps the demons out, and even the Demon Lord's voice out of Kira's head. Evidently, there is an unusually powerful shaman here. As they arrive in town, Seung's family greets him joyfully, while Jaewon's father greets his son a little more cautiously--but it's the appearance of his mother that's most jarring. She has evidently become maddened by grief at the loss of his brother all those years ago, and she wants his father, the chief, to either kill him, or at least throw him out of the village. She is forcibly taken back into the house and sedated.
At her frenzied, hateful greeting, Jaewon abruptly leaves the village, his father sends Kira after him, and when she meets up with him in the woods, she tries to comfort him and ends up kissing him. Pretty nice..but pretty unexpected, and a bit awkward afterwards as well.
At a celebration for Jaewon's return (his dad's glad to see him, anyway) the group meets the village shaman, who agrees to help them in whatever way he can. He calls forth some fire shadows and lets them speak through him--and the message is frightening. Kira and Taejo's mission to get the dragon dagger can only be accomplished by their becoming shades, and traveling into the underworld via an out-of-body experience where they will have to figure out a way through the traps and mazes and into the den of the dragon, Falung, who guards the dagger.
In getting ready for the experience, the wounded Major Pak (her personal guard, who's accompanied them all this way) and Woojin are sent back to the coast to prepare passage for them. Since their soldier escorts have all been killed, the shaman uses Kira's blood to create a troop of dokkaebis, or goblin assistants, for her. They're ugly, but Kira notices that when the smallest one, Gom, sleeps at her feet, she can't hear the Demon Lord's voice in her head. Plus, he's devoted to her, and able to catch food when no one else can.
They reach the foot of the mountain, and it's time for Kira and Taejo (as the future king) to begin their journey into the land of the spirits. They must return before dawn, or their bodies will die and they'll be shades forever. Their first challenge is to choose the right passageway, and luckily, Kira is more curious than violent, greedy, or proud, so she choose correctly. In the passageway, they're surprised to run into the kumiho, Nara, again, and more surprised that she's able (and willing) to be there to help them. She and Kira have formed a bond. She leads them to a passageway where they call forth the spirit of their dead uncle, Eojin, who agrees to help them but makes her swear to kill the Demon Lord and his daimyo (human underling who also happens to be the one creating the half-breed demons) or else be stuck in this place with him eternally. He also admits that he's becoming a demon because of being here, so time is of the essence--she needs to rescue him before the process is complete. Killing the Demon Lord will release Eojin to move onward to the realms of the happy dead (cuz duh, no one's happy here!). When she agrees, he leads them to the dragon's lair.
They move inside, and not surprisingly, wake the dragon up. That's not a bad thing, though, since the dragon dagger is embedded into its flesh and serves as one of its claws. Nara distracts the beast while Kira shears off the claw; then they all make a run for the exit before the dragon can eat them. As a parting gift for being the only human who's ever befriended or trusted her, Nara gives Kira a vision of the attack about to take place on her Brother Kyoung's troops far to the south, then shows her the way to get there in time: riding the winged horses, or chollima, that live at the top of the mountain.
Kira arrives just in time to use the dragon's dagger to turn the tide of the battle, as she thrusts it into the ground to create an earthquake that opens an abyss to engulf the demon troops facing her brother. But to her horror, the earth then breaks open and an enraged Falung bursts out to snatch up Taejo and carry him away, telling Kira that if she ever wants to see him again, she'll meet Falung on Jindo Island In ten days' time.
This is good news inasmuch as Jindo Island is the location of the last of the Dragon Lord's treasures, but the bad news in that the monks who guard it are cannibals who will eat anyone coming to take it, since they believe that its being taken from their care will unleash 14 dragons and bring about the end of the world. But what else can she do? Taejo's life is at stake and there are prophecies to fulfill! The Dragon Musado is on her way.
June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; nudity G; sexual content PG; violence, R; magic and the occult R; substance abuse PG; GLBT content G; adult themes (betrayal and scary demonic magic) PG; overall rating PG-13.
Liz's comments: I really like this series! The Korean-based mythos is cool and unusual, and Kira is a strong, occasionally flawed heroine you really want to root for. The demonic element gets quite creepy at times, but is more magic-flavored and less tied in with religion than it would be in Western fantasy.
Annotation with spoilers: The story opens at the palace in Hansong, where the Guru kingdom forces have just won a battle that unites several of the previous Seven Kingdoms, fulfilling the prophecy that they will become three, and finally one. But Kira is uneasy, and King Eojin (her and cousin Prince Taejo's last living uncle) is having trouble with his General, who thinks everything bad that's happened is a result of letting a woman into the elite circles of battle. And of course, things are about to get a whole lot worse. The demon king sends an assassin in the guise of a dancing girl, and before Kira can prevent it, the King has been struck by a cursed dagger that turns him into stone, then kills him. This is enough to make the General secede from the unified kingdoms and put forth his own claim for the kingship. The gang from book (Kira, her brother Kwan, Prince Taejo, her friend Jaewon and his servant Seung, along with the monk Brother Woojin) make a quick getaway before they're trapped in town. Eldest brother Kyoung has to stay behind to lead the armies, but Kira's group knows that in order to fulfill the prophecies, they're going to have to find and claim the last two treasures of the Dragon Lord, a dagger, and a jade belt.
The dagger, according Brother Woojin, is hidden in the land of shades near Mount Baekdu. Jaewon wants to accompany them there because he knows it's time to return to his home village and make peace with his family over the death of his younger brother, which Jaewon accidentally caused many years ago. Although he has little hope of gaining his family's forgiveness, he feels it's not fair for his follower, Seung, to be separated from his own family for so long.
As before, Kira sees disturbing visions. Her most recent is of the Demon Lord creating half breed demons by combining his hordes and melding them into the bodies of captured humans. Not good news. And even worse, after seeing this vision, it seems that the Demon Lord can somehow get into her head. She hears him talking all the time--calling to her, telling her to give up and come join him.
Kira is smuggled out of the palace dressed as a courtesan and hidden in the floor of a carriage. She's amazed to see these women, whom she'd always considered to be pretty useless, dispatch a group of soldiers without any trouble at all. She and the others in the group meet on a ship that's going to take them north, around the fighting going on near Hansong. The sailors soon realize who she is, and decide that she's totally bad luck--until a monstrous, demon-powered storm starts up, and Kira is able to calm it using the power of the Tidal stone, one of the Dragon Lord's powerful weapons, which she discovered in the previous book. All of a sudden, everyone is on team Kira! The bigger problem is Jaewon's terrible seasickness, which is almost enough to kill him before they make port, and from which it takes him several days to recover fully.
Before starting from Uju to Mt. Baekdu, they hear a disturbing story of an entire village being eaten alive by demons. They hire a guide, Jeong, and start out, determining to skip the village that was destroyed, but it's not long before they realize that a whole bunch of villages along the way have been completely emptied. They hole up during a five-day blizzard in one such village, during which time the voices in Kira's head grow continually louder. As the finally move forward, against Kira's shouted orders Jeong accidentally takes them into an ambush where more than half of their guards are killed. The rest are about to be overwhelmed also, when Woojin leads them to a surprise encounter with her former adversary/fiancée, Shin Ho Byun. Suin's soldiers help them survive the onslaught of the demon half breeds, and they make camp.
Last time we saw him, Shin was being washed away as he tried to prevent Kira from reaching the Heavenly Maidens, and she considers him to be a traitor. Woojin counsels her that he believes Shin has turned over a new leaf, and he confides that he can see auras--and that Shin's has changed. She takes Woojin's advice and accepts Shin's help, as she would like to believe it's true...and she really doesn't have much choice anyway.
They travel in company with Shin's group for several days, heading for Jaewon's village, but they're finally are caught by a group of half-breed demons. Jumping into the ice-cold river, they're able to avoid the demons for a while, since demons can't tolerate water and would disintegrate if immersed. Eventually, though, Shin and his men must stop to fight the demons, and it becomes clear that Kira also needs to use the power of the tidal stone to disperse the demons, even though it means washing away Shin and his men as well. She finds herself grieving for her former enemy, and hoping that he'll survive this second flood, just as he did the first. (No doubt we'll see him again in Book 3, providing some competition for Jaewon).
They stop briefly in a village where her brother Kwan is enticed into what looks like an inviting tavern--but Kira smells bad magic and goes in after hum. She finds him in the power of a kumiho, or a nine-tailed fox spirit. The spirit has been capturing and eating men's hearts and livers for over a hundred years, in an effort to try to become a human (this is clearly not working for her). She offers to help Kira's group find Mount Baekdu, in return for a look at Kira's memories (still trying to figure out what it means to be human). For some reason, Kira feels empathy for the creature and decides to trust her. Nara shows them how to find the river spirits that will be able to take them to the volcano, and for once they're not betrayed!
When they arrive at Jaewon's village, it is surrounded by wards that keeps the demons out, and even the Demon Lord's voice out of Kira's head. Evidently, there is an unusually powerful shaman here. As they arrive in town, Seung's family greets him joyfully, while Jaewon's father greets his son a little more cautiously--but it's the appearance of his mother that's most jarring. She has evidently become maddened by grief at the loss of his brother all those years ago, and she wants his father, the chief, to either kill him, or at least throw him out of the village. She is forcibly taken back into the house and sedated.
At her frenzied, hateful greeting, Jaewon abruptly leaves the village, his father sends Kira after him, and when she meets up with him in the woods, she tries to comfort him and ends up kissing him. Pretty nice..but pretty unexpected, and a bit awkward afterwards as well.
At a celebration for Jaewon's return (his dad's glad to see him, anyway) the group meets the village shaman, who agrees to help them in whatever way he can. He calls forth some fire shadows and lets them speak through him--and the message is frightening. Kira and Taejo's mission to get the dragon dagger can only be accomplished by their becoming shades, and traveling into the underworld via an out-of-body experience where they will have to figure out a way through the traps and mazes and into the den of the dragon, Falung, who guards the dagger.
In getting ready for the experience, the wounded Major Pak (her personal guard, who's accompanied them all this way) and Woojin are sent back to the coast to prepare passage for them. Since their soldier escorts have all been killed, the shaman uses Kira's blood to create a troop of dokkaebis, or goblin assistants, for her. They're ugly, but Kira notices that when the smallest one, Gom, sleeps at her feet, she can't hear the Demon Lord's voice in her head. Plus, he's devoted to her, and able to catch food when no one else can.
They reach the foot of the mountain, and it's time for Kira and Taejo (as the future king) to begin their journey into the land of the spirits. They must return before dawn, or their bodies will die and they'll be shades forever. Their first challenge is to choose the right passageway, and luckily, Kira is more curious than violent, greedy, or proud, so she choose correctly. In the passageway, they're surprised to run into the kumiho, Nara, again, and more surprised that she's able (and willing) to be there to help them. She and Kira have formed a bond. She leads them to a passageway where they call forth the spirit of their dead uncle, Eojin, who agrees to help them but makes her swear to kill the Demon Lord and his daimyo (human underling who also happens to be the one creating the half-breed demons) or else be stuck in this place with him eternally. He also admits that he's becoming a demon because of being here, so time is of the essence--she needs to rescue him before the process is complete. Killing the Demon Lord will release Eojin to move onward to the realms of the happy dead (cuz duh, no one's happy here!). When she agrees, he leads them to the dragon's lair.
They move inside, and not surprisingly, wake the dragon up. That's not a bad thing, though, since the dragon dagger is embedded into its flesh and serves as one of its claws. Nara distracts the beast while Kira shears off the claw; then they all make a run for the exit before the dragon can eat them. As a parting gift for being the only human who's ever befriended or trusted her, Nara gives Kira a vision of the attack about to take place on her Brother Kyoung's troops far to the south, then shows her the way to get there in time: riding the winged horses, or chollima, that live at the top of the mountain.
Kira arrives just in time to use the dragon's dagger to turn the tide of the battle, as she thrusts it into the ground to create an earthquake that opens an abyss to engulf the demon troops facing her brother. But to her horror, the earth then breaks open and an enraged Falung bursts out to snatch up Taejo and carry him away, telling Kira that if she ever wants to see him again, she'll meet Falung on Jindo Island In ten days' time.
This is good news inasmuch as Jindo Island is the location of the last of the Dragon Lord's treasures, but the bad news in that the monks who guard it are cannibals who will eat anyone coming to take it, since they believe that its being taken from their care will unleash 14 dragons and bring about the end of the world. But what else can she do? Taejo's life is at stake and there are prophecies to fulfill! The Dragon Musado is on her way.
December 6, 2013
2.5
Huge thank you to HarperTeen and Edelweiss for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I read Ellen Oh's Prophecy quite recently in preparations to review this book. Too be honest, I was furious with the wasted potential in Prophecy because it was a story with great ideas, a unique Asian-flavoured setting, and a premise that should have been pretty easy to follow through. It wasn't a fun ride, and in fact it was easily one of the most boring YA fantasy novels I had ever read. Considering those feelings, you're all probably wondering why I read the second book. It was mostly because I wanted to see if Oh could improve on her writing, characters and world-building skills. Is this book better? Technically. Was it fun to read? Hard to say, truthfully.
I think Oh's writing has vastly improved since the first book. The descriptions are better thoughtout, the writing is simple but it's not as dull or monotonous as the previous book. Hell, the pacing was even better in this book. Why can't I like this series? Because despise better description and less "he said, she said" it's still not an interesting or engaging read. This book suffers from the same flat characters from the prior book, they don't come across altered or changed by the situation they faced in the first book, and frankly, they come across as blank slates -- personality less and dull. I didn't care about Kira's feelings because Oh's writing didn't evoke the necessary emotion to make me feel sad for her. To make me cheer for her. To make me want to understand her better. The characters were once again so forgettable that I had to flip back a few pages just to remember who was talking, or who was the betrayer, or who did what -- I feel like if these characters had defining features, I'd be able to remember them better. Then there's the action sequences, which are boring. The description isn't there to make the fights engaging or interesting -- they aren't even satisfying to read about!
The world building is still the stronger part of this series, and I feel like in Warrior Oh finally used the setting more. She fleshed it out and when she was describing aspects related to the world, the prose felt so much more confident than when she was focusing on characters and interaction. I felt like in this second installment I could picture the world much more clearly, and I liked it for that. I get frusrated because she has this fabulous backdrop which she sets her narrative and it's hardly used to the potential it could be.
Warrior is definitely an improvement over the first book, and this one certainly ends on a cliffhanger. However, it suffers from middle book syndrome on top of just being an uninspired read overall. Part of me keeps hoping this series will improve because I see the potential -- I know it's there, and it's simply not being lived up to.
Huge thank you to HarperTeen and Edelweiss for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I read Ellen Oh's Prophecy quite recently in preparations to review this book. Too be honest, I was furious with the wasted potential in Prophecy because it was a story with great ideas, a unique Asian-flavoured setting, and a premise that should have been pretty easy to follow through. It wasn't a fun ride, and in fact it was easily one of the most boring YA fantasy novels I had ever read. Considering those feelings, you're all probably wondering why I read the second book. It was mostly because I wanted to see if Oh could improve on her writing, characters and world-building skills. Is this book better? Technically. Was it fun to read? Hard to say, truthfully.
I think Oh's writing has vastly improved since the first book. The descriptions are better thoughtout, the writing is simple but it's not as dull or monotonous as the previous book. Hell, the pacing was even better in this book. Why can't I like this series? Because despise better description and less "he said, she said" it's still not an interesting or engaging read. This book suffers from the same flat characters from the prior book, they don't come across altered or changed by the situation they faced in the first book, and frankly, they come across as blank slates -- personality less and dull. I didn't care about Kira's feelings because Oh's writing didn't evoke the necessary emotion to make me feel sad for her. To make me cheer for her. To make me want to understand her better. The characters were once again so forgettable that I had to flip back a few pages just to remember who was talking, or who was the betrayer, or who did what -- I feel like if these characters had defining features, I'd be able to remember them better. Then there's the action sequences, which are boring. The description isn't there to make the fights engaging or interesting -- they aren't even satisfying to read about!
The world building is still the stronger part of this series, and I feel like in Warrior Oh finally used the setting more. She fleshed it out and when she was describing aspects related to the world, the prose felt so much more confident than when she was focusing on characters and interaction. I felt like in this second installment I could picture the world much more clearly, and I liked it for that. I get frusrated because she has this fabulous backdrop which she sets her narrative and it's hardly used to the potential it could be.
Warrior is definitely an improvement over the first book, and this one certainly ends on a cliffhanger. However, it suffers from middle book syndrome on top of just being an uninspired read overall. Part of me keeps hoping this series will improve because I see the potential -- I know it's there, and it's simply not being lived up to.
November 16, 2016
Set in the chaos of Hansong after the defeat of the evil shaman and his imoogi, as Kira's lauded as the prophesied Dragon Musado, "Warrior " begins with an assassination, and a Tangey plot to usurp Prince Taejo as King Eojin's heir. Leaving her brother Kyoung behind to diplomatically lessen the growing tension Kira, Prince Taejo, Kwan, Jaewon and Seung head north to Mount Baekdu not only to reunite the nobleman and healer with their clan and but to find the second of the Dragon King's treasures that must be claimed before the Demon Lord can be defeated. The trip proves to be treacherous with half-breed demons pursuing them and a formidable enemy hidden in the shadow world waiting to kill Kira and the Prince.
Well-developed and fast-paced, the action never stops as Kira and her friends face a supernatural storm at sea, demon attacks, a conniving nine-tailed fox who wants to be human as well as a fierce fire-breathing dragon. Yet there is an emotional element to this plot when Jaewon returns to his clan and confronts his father and mother; one rejoicing at his homecoming and the other hating him. Other relationships take on a new dimension as Jaewon and Kira's flirtation heats up while she tries to come to terms with her feelings for an old nemesis who has changed, willing to sacrifice himself to protect her.
Blending Korean culture and myth into a fantasy that keeps you spellbound from beginning to end, the intensity and suspense of the story continually escalate not only as Kira and her friends face turmoil and violence at every step in their journey but with Kira's dreams and nightmares that add another chilling dimension to the story.
Kira still struggles with being a warrior in a male-dominated society, although with each triumph disdain and fear of her is slowly changing to respect and admiration. Although she is confident in her skill as a warrior and is learning to trust her instincts she continues to deny her femininity especially after being scarred and having to cut her hair. Like Kira many of the characters continue to develop and none more so than twelve year old Prince Taejo, the boy destined to become King and unite the kingdoms. Loyal to Kira, loving her like a sister he has begun to mature, shedding his boyish fears and anxieties while acting on her counsel and becoming resilient and determined. Haunted by a tragic accident and running from his guilt and pain Jaewon returns home shedding his melancholy and healing emotionally while gaining insight into his future.
I liked " Warrior" with its exotic landscape, thrilling plot and unforgettable characters. I look forward to reading the next chapter in this exciting and imaginative adventure.
Well-developed and fast-paced, the action never stops as Kira and her friends face a supernatural storm at sea, demon attacks, a conniving nine-tailed fox who wants to be human as well as a fierce fire-breathing dragon. Yet there is an emotional element to this plot when Jaewon returns to his clan and confronts his father and mother; one rejoicing at his homecoming and the other hating him. Other relationships take on a new dimension as Jaewon and Kira's flirtation heats up while she tries to come to terms with her feelings for an old nemesis who has changed, willing to sacrifice himself to protect her.
Blending Korean culture and myth into a fantasy that keeps you spellbound from beginning to end, the intensity and suspense of the story continually escalate not only as Kira and her friends face turmoil and violence at every step in their journey but with Kira's dreams and nightmares that add another chilling dimension to the story.
Kira still struggles with being a warrior in a male-dominated society, although with each triumph disdain and fear of her is slowly changing to respect and admiration. Although she is confident in her skill as a warrior and is learning to trust her instincts she continues to deny her femininity especially after being scarred and having to cut her hair. Like Kira many of the characters continue to develop and none more so than twelve year old Prince Taejo, the boy destined to become King and unite the kingdoms. Loyal to Kira, loving her like a sister he has begun to mature, shedding his boyish fears and anxieties while acting on her counsel and becoming resilient and determined. Haunted by a tragic accident and running from his guilt and pain Jaewon returns home shedding his melancholy and healing emotionally while gaining insight into his future.
I liked " Warrior" with its exotic landscape, thrilling plot and unforgettable characters. I look forward to reading the next chapter in this exciting and imaginative adventure.
January 12, 2015
To be honest, I don't really remember anything from Prophecy so I can't really say whether Warrior is better or worse than Prophecy, but I feel that it's in the same vein. If you disliked Prophecy, you'll probably dislike Warrior. If you liked it, then you'll like both. I say this solely based on the fact that I give both books 4 star ratings (or 7/10). I guess I could be wrong, but I feel like the basic structure of Prophecy is similar to that of Warrior.
I quite liked how there was a nice recap of Prophecy weaved into the first couple of chapters of Warrior (and even throughout). It was very useful indeed, because to be quite honest, Prophecy wasn't all that memorable for me. Then again, I suffer from terrible book amnesia, so maybe I'm not the best judge of whether a book is memorable or not haha.
I did read a lot of reviews for Prophecy which go on about the writing style being bad. Or there being words thrown in that they don't understand. I mean, being Korean, I have to say that there weren't really any words that I didn't understand, but I definitely agree that the writing was slightly...juvenile. It definitely seems aimed at the lower end of young adult, perhaps even middle grade. Also, ye gods, romanised Korean is ugly.
Totally minor point here, but is her name origin explained in book one? Because Kira really doesn't seem like a Korean name at all. If I were to guess, I'd say Japanese, if anything. Also, in the book, there is a dragon called Fulang. THERE IS NO F SOUND IN THE KOREAN LANGUAGE.
I'd really say that Warrior is just a mediocre book overall. Average plot, average writing, average characters. It's okay. Not good, not bad, just okay. The pace was fairly slow, perhaps because of all of these italicised sections which are basically the villain speaking to Kira in her sleep. To be honest, I kinda skimmed those bits because it was pretty much the same thing being repeated over and over again. I did enjoy the action scenes though, and the romance was interesting enough to follow.
Despite the many flaws, I do have to say I still enjoyed reading the book. I'll probably read the third book, just to find out what happens. At this point, I feel like I've invested too much in the story to give up now.
I quite liked how there was a nice recap of Prophecy weaved into the first couple of chapters of Warrior (and even throughout). It was very useful indeed, because to be quite honest, Prophecy wasn't all that memorable for me. Then again, I suffer from terrible book amnesia, so maybe I'm not the best judge of whether a book is memorable or not haha.
I did read a lot of reviews for Prophecy which go on about the writing style being bad. Or there being words thrown in that they don't understand. I mean, being Korean, I have to say that there weren't really any words that I didn't understand, but I definitely agree that the writing was slightly...juvenile. It definitely seems aimed at the lower end of young adult, perhaps even middle grade. Also, ye gods, romanised Korean is ugly.
Totally minor point here, but is her name origin explained in book one? Because Kira really doesn't seem like a Korean name at all. If I were to guess, I'd say Japanese, if anything. Also, in the book, there is a dragon called Fulang. THERE IS NO F SOUND IN THE KOREAN LANGUAGE.
I'd really say that Warrior is just a mediocre book overall. Average plot, average writing, average characters. It's okay. Not good, not bad, just okay. The pace was fairly slow, perhaps because of all of these italicised sections which are basically the villain speaking to Kira in her sleep. To be honest, I kinda skimmed those bits because it was pretty much the same thing being repeated over and over again. I did enjoy the action scenes though, and the romance was interesting enough to follow.
Despite the many flaws, I do have to say I still enjoyed reading the book. I'll probably read the third book, just to find out what happens. At this point, I feel like I've invested too much in the story to give up now.
April 21, 2016
Prophecy was a book that felt like it ended nicely and I wasn't sure what to expect with Warrior. I knew there were more objects I find and in this case, the journey that Kira takes is one full of turmoil. I love journey adventure books and this one was no exception. Except I was completely overwhelmed with the culture phrases and words. Since I was on the e-ARC there was no glossary to help me.
I liked how the story moved and was paced properly but I just wanted something more. Maybe there was a lack of relationship building between the characters. What blossomed between Kira and Love Interest was sudden and unexpected since I thought of them as being such good friends. It would have worked well without the romance only because I know how focused Kira is on her tasks and her need to protect her family, especially the young king. I loved the action scenes, Ellen Oh definitely knows how to write them. I love the world, and the setting and how brutal the villain King is. There's a death that I also felt that was needed. Only because it's one of those books where you know that they can't get any guidance from older characters. The young cast needs to go at it alone!
An ongoing tale of adventure and survival, Warrior is a great addition to the Dragon King Chronicles!
Quotes
“They don't see the real you. They see only the outside and are frightened by your differences, and in their blindness they can't see how truly wonderful you are.”
“Our power lies in the choices we make.”
“Even pretty things can be deadly.”
“Any woman can be powerful and dangerous, if they choose to be.”
“Better to know and be prepared, rather than ignorant and dead.”
“Life is so much more difficult than we thought it would be when we were young.”
“I'm not exactly the marrying kind.”
“Who said I need a man to be happy?”
“Maybe some lucky people meet their soul mate. The rest of us continue on the best we can, never knowing that there's something missing. We can still be happy enjoying the little things in life.”
I liked how the story moved and was paced properly but I just wanted something more. Maybe there was a lack of relationship building between the characters. What blossomed between Kira and Love Interest was sudden and unexpected since I thought of them as being such good friends. It would have worked well without the romance only because I know how focused Kira is on her tasks and her need to protect her family, especially the young king. I loved the action scenes, Ellen Oh definitely knows how to write them. I love the world, and the setting and how brutal the villain King is. There's a death that I also felt that was needed. Only because it's one of those books where you know that they can't get any guidance from older characters. The young cast needs to go at it alone!
An ongoing tale of adventure and survival, Warrior is a great addition to the Dragon King Chronicles!
Quotes
“They don't see the real you. They see only the outside and are frightened by your differences, and in their blindness they can't see how truly wonderful you are.”
“Our power lies in the choices we make.”
“Even pretty things can be deadly.”
“Any woman can be powerful and dangerous, if they choose to be.”
“Better to know and be prepared, rather than ignorant and dead.”
“Life is so much more difficult than we thought it would be when we were young.”
“I'm not exactly the marrying kind.”
“Who said I need a man to be happy?”
“Maybe some lucky people meet their soul mate. The rest of us continue on the best we can, never knowing that there's something missing. We can still be happy enjoying the little things in life.”
November 9, 2013
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)
This is book 2 in the ‘Dragon King Chronicles’, and kicks off a few days after the end of book 1 ‘Prophecy’.
**Warning – some unavoidable spoilers for book 1 ‘Prophecy’.**
Kira has found the first of the treasures that marks her as the Dragon Musado, and saved her cousin’s life countless times, but now she has more problems.
Daimyo Tomodoshi is planning to build a new army, filled with soldiers half-human and half-demon, in an effort to once again overthrow the throne, and take over the world, and it’s up to Kira to stop him.
Can Kira find the second sacred treasure? Can she continue to keep her cousin safe? And what will it take to become the Dragon Musado?
This was an interesting sequel, and there was once again quite a lot of adventuring and action.
Kira again didn’t act like a lady in this book, and continued to fight like a warrior. She continued to protect her cousin, no matter what, and battled bravely for what she felt was right. I did think that she maybe didn’t catch on to some things as quick as she should have done, but overall she got the job done. I was surprised by her reaction to her former fiancée though, especially considering that he was proved to be a traitor in book 1.
The storyline was okay, and it was pretty much a given that Kira would be searching for the second sacred treasure. This once again involved a lot of adventuring and danger, and once again Kira showed that she had the skills necessary to be the Dragon Musado.
There were some twists and turns in this, and I thought that the use of visions to guide Kira on her path was done well. I did begin to feel a little bored towards the end, but overall the story was enjoyable.
The ending was okay, although we were left with a bit of a cliff-hanger, unlike in the first book. For me though it was pretty obvious what was going to happen at the end though as the prophecy basically spelled it out!
Overall; a good YA fantasy sequel.
6.5 out of 10.
This is book 2 in the ‘Dragon King Chronicles’, and kicks off a few days after the end of book 1 ‘Prophecy’.
**Warning – some unavoidable spoilers for book 1 ‘Prophecy’.**
Kira has found the first of the treasures that marks her as the Dragon Musado, and saved her cousin’s life countless times, but now she has more problems.
Daimyo Tomodoshi is planning to build a new army, filled with soldiers half-human and half-demon, in an effort to once again overthrow the throne, and take over the world, and it’s up to Kira to stop him.
Can Kira find the second sacred treasure? Can she continue to keep her cousin safe? And what will it take to become the Dragon Musado?
This was an interesting sequel, and there was once again quite a lot of adventuring and action.
Kira again didn’t act like a lady in this book, and continued to fight like a warrior. She continued to protect her cousin, no matter what, and battled bravely for what she felt was right. I did think that she maybe didn’t catch on to some things as quick as she should have done, but overall she got the job done. I was surprised by her reaction to her former fiancée though, especially considering that he was proved to be a traitor in book 1.
The storyline was okay, and it was pretty much a given that Kira would be searching for the second sacred treasure. This once again involved a lot of adventuring and danger, and once again Kira showed that she had the skills necessary to be the Dragon Musado.
There were some twists and turns in this, and I thought that the use of visions to guide Kira on her path was done well. I did begin to feel a little bored towards the end, but overall the story was enjoyable.
The ending was okay, although we were left with a bit of a cliff-hanger, unlike in the first book. For me though it was pretty obvious what was going to happen at the end though as the prophecy basically spelled it out!
Overall; a good YA fantasy sequel.
6.5 out of 10.
July 7, 2014
Kira was once an outcast, but that was before she saved the kingdom, now she’s a hero. Now that she’s the Dragon Musado she needs to find the rest of the Dragon King’s treasures, this time she needs to find the second treasure. While Hansong is getting ready for battle, the Demon Lord is raising his own army, made of minions who are quickly rising to get ready for the battle. While the battle is getting ready to happen, Kira is looking for the second treasure, away from Hansong. Kira is conflicted with feelings with Jaewon, however, she is putting that aside, trying to focus on the quest before her. With the Demon Lord’s minions are on their heels, Kira must figure out who she can trust and who she can’t.
At first, I was a little leery to read this book, since I didn’t really like the first book, soo I shoved my feelings aside and read the book. And you know what? I really enjoyed it, this book is a whole lot better than the first one, and it flows better than the first one. In the first book we see how Kira is very unconfident, people hate how she is the Demon Slayer, but in this book we see how when people make those remarks shes not as affected as she used to be. We see some potential love interests, like Jaewon, and another person, who I was surprised to see and I immediately wished could stay. In this book we also get to see Kira’s brothers, Kyoung and Kwan, make a large appearance. Kwan is the overprotective older brother who is trying to dissuade the love interests from going after Kira. Now in this book we see more mythical creatures come to life and they travel a lot, like they go really far. Anyway, now that I’ve read this book, and also re-read the first book, I feel like I was quick to judge the first book but I feel like I didn’t do that for this book, as I loved it even more than the first book. I absolutely can’t wait for the next book, the final book in the series, to come out. The date it is coming out, since I was curious, is March 30, 2015. We also got a look at the cover for the book and the title.
At first, I was a little leery to read this book, since I didn’t really like the first book, soo I shoved my feelings aside and read the book. And you know what? I really enjoyed it, this book is a whole lot better than the first one, and it flows better than the first one. In the first book we see how Kira is very unconfident, people hate how she is the Demon Slayer, but in this book we see how when people make those remarks shes not as affected as she used to be. We see some potential love interests, like Jaewon, and another person, who I was surprised to see and I immediately wished could stay. In this book we also get to see Kira’s brothers, Kyoung and Kwan, make a large appearance. Kwan is the overprotective older brother who is trying to dissuade the love interests from going after Kira. Now in this book we see more mythical creatures come to life and they travel a lot, like they go really far. Anyway, now that I’ve read this book, and also re-read the first book, I feel like I was quick to judge the first book but I feel like I didn’t do that for this book, as I loved it even more than the first book. I absolutely can’t wait for the next book, the final book in the series, to come out. The date it is coming out, since I was curious, is March 30, 2015. We also got a look at the cover for the book and the title.
March 20, 2016
Eh. Feels like a weak middle entry. While I was pleasantly surprised by 'Prophecy' (the first of this trilogy) I wasn't as excited about this second book. Something about it feels a bit too much like filler. There's some plot advancement, character development, backstory filling, etc. All good stuff. But I guess after the strong opening of the first book, I had hoped the rest of the story would pick up after it sagged a bit. Not quite.
The story opens with Kira having one of the special objects. (Of course, we have this book and presumably the last one because it's part of her journey yadda yadda). We find an old enemy who might be now a new ally (maybe, maybe not) plus perhaps a bit of a love triangle. I have to say, I'm quite glad that romance is not a major subplot of this book, for Kira or any of the other characters. It's there, it's in the background and I didn't care for these particular scenes. But I do like it when romance is NOT driving the plot nor is it a major factor in the plot (main character must save love interest, death of love interest is what drives the main character, etc.). That is definitely something that 'Warrior' has that I like.
But as I wrote, it's not exactly page-turning stuff. There's a plot development that unfortunately reminds me a bit too much of 'The Hobbit'. Come on, a dragon sitting on a treasure and Kira must confront it? Meh. What's even weirder is that the book ending even parallels the 'The Hobbit' films a bit. I won't spoil it in detail but let's just say there are similarities between the second entries of these trilogies that made me side-eye the author just a bit. Perhaps it was just coincidence.
Anyway. I'm still interested to finish the last book of the series. I'm not rushing to know how it ends but it still has my interest. Borrowed from the library.
The story opens with Kira having one of the special objects. (Of course, we have this book and presumably the last one because it's part of her journey yadda yadda). We find an old enemy who might be now a new ally (maybe, maybe not) plus perhaps a bit of a love triangle. I have to say, I'm quite glad that romance is not a major subplot of this book, for Kira or any of the other characters. It's there, it's in the background and I didn't care for these particular scenes. But I do like it when romance is NOT driving the plot nor is it a major factor in the plot (main character must save love interest, death of love interest is what drives the main character, etc.). That is definitely something that 'Warrior' has that I like.
But as I wrote, it's not exactly page-turning stuff. There's a plot development that unfortunately reminds me a bit too much of 'The Hobbit'. Come on, a dragon sitting on a treasure and Kira must confront it? Meh. What's even weirder is that the book ending even parallels the 'The Hobbit' films a bit. I won't spoil it in detail but let's just say there are similarities between the second entries of these trilogies that made me side-eye the author just a bit. Perhaps it was just coincidence.
Anyway. I'm still interested to finish the last book of the series. I'm not rushing to know how it ends but it still has my interest. Borrowed from the library.
July 3, 2017
*NOTE: This is a review of the entire trilogy*
I've been hearing great things about Ellen Oh's books for years now. I've been wanting to read one for a long time. However, I wanted to wait until the hype died down so I could form my own opinion, and not be influenced by those around me. Recently, I had decided that enough time had passed, so I decided to read her Dragon King Chronicles, which consists of Prophecy, Warrior, and King. While I'm not sure it was worth all of the hype surrounding it, I did find it enjoyable.
I did enjoy The Dragon King Chronicles. I read the whole trilogy within a few days time. I found myself flying through the books. However, it just didn't hold the magic for me that it held for others. I never found myself thinking that it was the best trilogy to come out in recent years, or anything like that.
The first book in the trilogy, Prophecy, was really good. It was fast paced, exciting, and had me wanting more at the end. The second book, Warrior, suffered from a classic case of second book syndrome. It was still exciting, but there were several times where I was bored, and thought the story line was dragging. By the third book, King, the story line was most definitely dragging out. It felt like most of the book was filler, just to get to the final battle. There were a few plot points that I did enjoy in King, such as how things were settled. For the most part, I just wanted to fast forward to the final battle. Then the final battle was kind of disappointing. While parts of it were awesome, I was expecting so much more.
Even though I wasn't thrilled with The Dragon King Chronicles as a whole, I did have fun reading it. I'm looking forward to reading Ellen Oh's other books, to see how her writing has matured, because this was her first series. I recommend this trilogy to teens who are looking for a fantasy read with a diverse cast of characters. Just don't go into it believing all of the hype.
I've been hearing great things about Ellen Oh's books for years now. I've been wanting to read one for a long time. However, I wanted to wait until the hype died down so I could form my own opinion, and not be influenced by those around me. Recently, I had decided that enough time had passed, so I decided to read her Dragon King Chronicles, which consists of Prophecy, Warrior, and King. While I'm not sure it was worth all of the hype surrounding it, I did find it enjoyable.
I did enjoy The Dragon King Chronicles. I read the whole trilogy within a few days time. I found myself flying through the books. However, it just didn't hold the magic for me that it held for others. I never found myself thinking that it was the best trilogy to come out in recent years, or anything like that.
The first book in the trilogy, Prophecy, was really good. It was fast paced, exciting, and had me wanting more at the end. The second book, Warrior, suffered from a classic case of second book syndrome. It was still exciting, but there were several times where I was bored, and thought the story line was dragging. By the third book, King, the story line was most definitely dragging out. It felt like most of the book was filler, just to get to the final battle. There were a few plot points that I did enjoy in King, such as how things were settled. For the most part, I just wanted to fast forward to the final battle. Then the final battle was kind of disappointing. While parts of it were awesome, I was expecting so much more.
Even though I wasn't thrilled with The Dragon King Chronicles as a whole, I did have fun reading it. I'm looking forward to reading Ellen Oh's other books, to see how her writing has matured, because this was her first series. I recommend this trilogy to teens who are looking for a fantasy read with a diverse cast of characters. Just don't go into it believing all of the hype.
December 23, 2013
Hansong is not safe. The Demon Lord’s army is getting stronger with every wasted minute, and turmoil is rising up in the city. Dislike and gratitude towards Keira from the people are growing, and with two more treasures of the Dragon King’s prophecy still hidden, Keira, Prince Taejo, and the others set out for the jeweled dagger. Filled with dragons, demons, and a surprisingly adorable goblin, WARRIOR is a novel that is sure to leave you breathless and surprised.
Once again Ellen Oh managed to keep me at the edge of my seat with an epic plot filled with action, sacrifices, and surprises. Big surprises. I will start off by saying there was not a single thing wrong with WARRIOR, except that I would like to see a bit more of a particular character that may or may not be coming back.
But what I loved most about WARRIOR was getting to see more of Jaewon, apart from a rather cute Gom – who I can’t say anything else about – Jaewon is my favorite. Funny, loyal, and with a troubled past, he’s just amazing.
I seldom talk about the romance in books, but in this book I loved how Kira’s feelings are all over the place. Kira’s loyalty to the prince was really deep, and occasionally, I found it a little too exaggerated.
Although there isn’t as much fighting in this one, WARRIOR was still as amazing as the first.
All in all, WARRIOR is one whirl-wind of a ride that you don’t want to miss out on. It’s a sequel as must-read-worthy as it’s predecessor. I recommend WARRIOR and PROPHECY to fans of fantasy set infused with cultures of our world.
Originally Posted Here
Once again Ellen Oh managed to keep me at the edge of my seat with an epic plot filled with action, sacrifices, and surprises. Big surprises. I will start off by saying there was not a single thing wrong with WARRIOR, except that I would like to see a bit more of a particular character that may or may not be coming back.
But what I loved most about WARRIOR was getting to see more of Jaewon, apart from a rather cute Gom – who I can’t say anything else about – Jaewon is my favorite. Funny, loyal, and with a troubled past, he’s just amazing.
I seldom talk about the romance in books, but in this book I loved how Kira’s feelings are all over the place. Kira’s loyalty to the prince was really deep, and occasionally, I found it a little too exaggerated.
Although there isn’t as much fighting in this one, WARRIOR was still as amazing as the first.
All in all, WARRIOR is one whirl-wind of a ride that you don’t want to miss out on. It’s a sequel as must-read-worthy as it’s predecessor. I recommend WARRIOR and PROPHECY to fans of fantasy set infused with cultures of our world.
Originally Posted Here
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