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Everflame #1
Everflame
Long ago, when the earth was young. . . Four ancient beings created man to be the bastion of the earth and its creatures. But when The Great Tyrant came and chased The Ancients away, the world was transformed into a place of fear and isolation. Over time humans lost the connection they had with a world they had been created to protect. Now, deep in the forests that surround Gray Mountain, two bears find a small child that is abandoned and left for dead. They name him Evercloud, and raise him as a member of their kingdom. Teaching him the secrets of the elders, they tell him of the ancient beings that created man and the rumors of their return. Evercloud must now go on a quest to return The Ancients to power. However, in another corner of the land, a man known only as The Messenger travels the land under a white hood, on a mission to prevent the return of The Ancients. We follow the paths each of these men take until their stories collide in an epic battle of good versus evil
260 pages, ebook
First published November 11, 2012
475 people are currently reading
3599 people want to read
About the author
Dylan Lee Peters
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 200 reviews
January 4, 2022
I gave up. I stuck through half of it, thinking it had to get better. It didn't.
Kind of a neat, mythological concept, with half the story told from a human POV and half from intelligent bears, but Peters didn't think through what he was saying. The bears (who lived in a mountain cave complex far from oceans) had limited technology and a fish monger offering normal inland fish plus tuna and swordfish. And the bears didn't act, fight, think or move like bears. A bear chased down and killed a buffalo.
The story telling was about high school level. It needed a thorough proofreading. Phraseology inappropriate to the apparent level of development kept throwing the reader out of the story. "created a utopia", "worst case scenario", ate a "pork chop", "growing at an exponential rate."
A human raised by the bears was given an artificial claw "made of pure gold, yet it was as hard as steel and light as a feather." Pure gold?
Like I said, I gave up. Don't waste your time.
Having said all that, I'll continue to try these "fringe" books and new authors because I can't see paying the prices which the publishers and book vendors charge for ebooks. Paying more for an electronic book than for a print-on-paper one makes no sense.
Kind of a neat, mythological concept, with half the story told from a human POV and half from intelligent bears, but Peters didn't think through what he was saying. The bears (who lived in a mountain cave complex far from oceans) had limited technology and a fish monger offering normal inland fish plus tuna and swordfish. And the bears didn't act, fight, think or move like bears. A bear chased down and killed a buffalo.
The story telling was about high school level. It needed a thorough proofreading. Phraseology inappropriate to the apparent level of development kept throwing the reader out of the story. "created a utopia", "worst case scenario", ate a "pork chop", "growing at an exponential rate."
A human raised by the bears was given an artificial claw "made of pure gold, yet it was as hard as steel and light as a feather." Pure gold?
Like I said, I gave up. Don't waste your time.
Having said all that, I'll continue to try these "fringe" books and new authors because I can't see paying the prices which the publishers and book vendors charge for ebooks. Paying more for an electronic book than for a print-on-paper one makes no sense.
May 22, 2012
This book was awesome. Dylan Peters has created a world full of magic where anything can happen, the rules are out the window and there are surprises around every corner. Full of adventure and the character development is great, you'll find yourself caring about everything that happens. A wonderful mythology that creates great mystery within the book and makes you think about the way things are in our own world. A quick read and well worth your time. I'm on to the second book in the series. I recommend this to everyone!
June 1, 2015
In the world of fantasy for younger readers, anything can happen. Bears and all other animals can talk, if they choose. They live civilized lives, with rules, commerce, and their own kingdom. Their spiritual lives are fulfilled with the teachings of ancient beings, the creators. Among them lives a young man, treated as one of the clan, raised by the bears as a toddler, in spite of his being human. When a treacherous journey is required, two bears and one human will trek the wilds in search of the ancient creators, for only they may defeat the evil Great Tyrant. What they do not know is the Tyrant has created a minion to do his bidding, and he is powerful, filled with hate and deadly, very deadly. Will this journey be one filled with blood, death and darkness or will good conquer evil once again, at a steep price to pay.
Epic fantasy is detailed, follows prescribed format and always has a magical feel. The author may create as he/she sees fit in a world built with shadows and jagged edges and camaraderie and unlikely allies coming together against the odds. Everflame by Dylan Lee Peters is written for a younger audience that does not require minute details to make things happen. It is written for that magical spark inside of the reader who wants to live in the moment with the characters and believe in the unbelievable. Mr. Peters has woven many threads for this story and pieced them together like a patchwork quilt, and only when the pieces are sewn together does the true beauty of this tale come through.
Talking bears, good versus evil, sorrow, loss, cruelty, magic, love and coming of age, it’s all here, written to entice younger readers to feel the magic of reading.
Reviewed per author request. Free on Amazon.
Series: Everflame - Book 1
Publication Date: First Published January 8, 2012
Publisher: Dylan Peters
ISBN: 9781105453328
Genre: Epic Fantasy younger readers
Print Length: 304 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Reviewed for: http://tometender.blogspot.com
Epic fantasy is detailed, follows prescribed format and always has a magical feel. The author may create as he/she sees fit in a world built with shadows and jagged edges and camaraderie and unlikely allies coming together against the odds. Everflame by Dylan Lee Peters is written for a younger audience that does not require minute details to make things happen. It is written for that magical spark inside of the reader who wants to live in the moment with the characters and believe in the unbelievable. Mr. Peters has woven many threads for this story and pieced them together like a patchwork quilt, and only when the pieces are sewn together does the true beauty of this tale come through.
Talking bears, good versus evil, sorrow, loss, cruelty, magic, love and coming of age, it’s all here, written to entice younger readers to feel the magic of reading.
Reviewed per author request. Free on Amazon.
Series: Everflame - Book 1
Publication Date: First Published January 8, 2012
Publisher: Dylan Peters
ISBN: 9781105453328
Genre: Epic Fantasy younger readers
Print Length: 304 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Reviewed for: http://tometender.blogspot.com
June 18, 2012
Really good book and the second one is even better. Was recommended to read by a friend. Can't believe it's a free nook book. I found the mythology especially interesting and the characters are really likable.
July 9, 2020
Every single sentence has the same rhythm. It's unreadable, I feel like I'm being cursed into slumber. This feels like a third grader's attempt to write a book but they have no idea how bears work. I can't.
December 26, 2015
Ever read a book and really liked the plot, some of the characters, and the world, but were so let down by the overall finish of the book?
Everflame is that for me.
It has too many loose threads, appallingly bad editing and is rather long-winded.
I chose not to list all the editing errors in this book, because I felt that I'd remove myself from an otherwise interesting story. There were times that the typos and poor grammar really threw me out of the story, but for most of them, I was able to overlook them after a moment's agitation. It's a testament to how bad the grammar and spelling is, when it takes me 10 days to read a 260 page book.
The loose threads included many little things, but the worst was the bear culture that Evercloud enters as a small child. The bears very rarely act like bears. In fact, they speak and act more like humans than some of the human characters. I'd have liked to see greater use of the animalistic bear nature, as well as using some advanced technology.
The idea that a child raised by bears can then enter human civilization and actually pass for a human was amusing. Only in the clearly laughable and utterly unlikely way... I think that too many coincidences and good luck happened for Evercloud and his crew.
Also, the way in which the characters got higher powers was all too easy. Especially when it came to Evercloud and his crew. I really disliked how easy The Tyrant and his Messenger had it. I also wish that the break in the story to cover Edgar's childhood and development was like being doused in cold water. Things were just starting to get interesting with Evercloud and the reader is thrown into a new story (even though it does tie in with Evercloud's story - it's not immediately obvious).
Ultimately, there's a great idea here, but the execution of it was poor. I wouldn't bother paying for this, if you're intrigued, obtain it for free if possible. I won't be continuing with the series.
Everflame is that for me.
It has too many loose threads, appallingly bad editing and is rather long-winded.
I chose not to list all the editing errors in this book, because I felt that I'd remove myself from an otherwise interesting story. There were times that the typos and poor grammar really threw me out of the story, but for most of them, I was able to overlook them after a moment's agitation. It's a testament to how bad the grammar and spelling is, when it takes me 10 days to read a 260 page book.
The loose threads included many little things, but the worst was the bear culture that Evercloud enters as a small child. The bears very rarely act like bears. In fact, they speak and act more like humans than some of the human characters. I'd have liked to see greater use of the animalistic bear nature, as well as using some advanced technology.
The idea that a child raised by bears can then enter human civilization and actually pass for a human was amusing. Only in the clearly laughable and utterly unlikely way... I think that too many coincidences and good luck happened for Evercloud and his crew.
Also, the way in which the characters got higher powers was all too easy. Especially when it came to Evercloud and his crew. I really disliked how easy The Tyrant and his Messenger had it. I also wish that the break in the story to cover Edgar's childhood and development was like being doused in cold water. Things were just starting to get interesting with Evercloud and the reader is thrown into a new story (even though it does tie in with Evercloud's story - it's not immediately obvious).
Ultimately, there's a great idea here, but the execution of it was poor. I wouldn't bother paying for this, if you're intrigued, obtain it for free if possible. I won't be continuing with the series.
December 17, 2012
The cover is laughably juvenile, and the teaser is ridiculous, and ...bears, seriously? Still the book was free, so why not try it out?
Everflame surprised me.
I don't know if I've been reading a lot of crappy fantasy lately (cough-Godsland-cough) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
The characters weren't unique in the fantasy genre, but they developed nicely, and conversations didn't feel forced or stilted. I enjoyed learning about the bears' relationship with humans,and about this new world. I appreciate that the violence feels truly wrong and evil, and I found it nice that the protagonists are mucking about as best they can, instead of having everything magically handed to them. A solid Good vs. Evil struggle is commendable, and this is one of those.
I didn't resent the cliffhanger at the end since Book 2 is out. In all honestly, I'd have paid for this book, as I believe the author warrants the reward. I will pay for book 2. If there's another cliffhanger, however, I might get bent.
Everflame surprised me.
I don't know if I've been reading a lot of crappy fantasy lately (cough-Godsland-cough) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
The characters weren't unique in the fantasy genre, but they developed nicely, and conversations didn't feel forced or stilted. I enjoyed learning about the bears' relationship with humans,and about this new world. I appreciate that the violence feels truly wrong and evil, and I found it nice that the protagonists are mucking about as best they can, instead of having everything magically handed to them. A solid Good vs. Evil struggle is commendable, and this is one of those.
I didn't resent the cliffhanger at the end since Book 2 is out. In all honestly, I'd have paid for this book, as I believe the author warrants the reward. I will pay for book 2. If there's another cliffhanger, however, I might get bent.
April 1, 2013
I got Everflame as a free kindle book and couldnt put it down. The bear culture was different and refreshing and I liked the back stories for the characters, it gave you their perspective and motivation. The book was unique in its story and that made it all the more interesting. It was captivating all the way through the book and left me still interested in the characters afterwards. Definately worth the read and the day devoted entirely to it. The next morning I purchased Everflame 2 and 3. I would read anything this author wrote. Forget the naysayers-try this book!
October 10, 2019
Unusual, Interesting, Highly recommend
The book surprised me by how interesting it was. The characters are believable and the plot ( save the world from evil with superpowers) was an old theme with a pleasant diverting twist.
The book surprised me by how interesting it was. The characters are believable and the plot ( save the world from evil with superpowers) was an old theme with a pleasant diverting twist.
March 24, 2020
Genre: Epic fantasy, coming of age, good vs evil
Evencloud has grown up raised in the kingdom of the bears. When rumors of the Ancients surface, he and his cousin set out to revive them and fight the Great Tyrant.
Enjoyable start to a new series. The characters are interesting and the story is paced well.
Evencloud has grown up raised in the kingdom of the bears. When rumors of the Ancients surface, he and his cousin set out to revive them and fight the Great Tyrant.
Enjoyable start to a new series. The characters are interesting and the story is paced well.
February 1, 2020
Awesome!
I loved this book. It drew me in, kept me reading until I finished it in one day. I never figured out why,or who, tied the MC to a tree though. Perhaps it will be explained in the series? At any rate, I was enthralled by this story.
I loved this book. It drew me in, kept me reading until I finished it in one day. I never figured out why,or who, tied the MC to a tree though. Perhaps it will be explained in the series? At any rate, I was enthralled by this story.
April 9, 2015
Normally, rather than give a low review of book I just ignore it because I know the process involved. But then I also recognize that if I never give a low review my better reviews lack merit. So, with all apologies to Mr. Peters, this is one of the few books I have to give a low score to.
The plot to the book is a decent one. Evercloud is a human raised among talking bears (all the animals talk, so it's not quite as odd as you would think; besides, we've all heard of Narnia so we can let this go to get the book rolling). When he comes of age, about 16, suddenly the Great Tyrant reappears and he, his "cousin" Riverpaw, and his "uncle" Whiteclaw are sent off to find the Ancients (four tremendous beings from ancient times) to see off this threat. So far, so good.
But then things just start going bad. Evercloud starts asking about the Ancients in a tavern and is about to burned at the stake for heresy when two brothers appear out of nowhere and drag him away. Lo and behold, they're looking for the Ancients too. Oh, but before this, there's an incident where Whiteclaw has to get Evercloud some clothes, so he's attacked in a village, reinforcing the idea that humans and bears don't get along. Which goes back to the foreshadowing from earlier that Evercloud, being raised by bears, will be the link that will allow the two races to get along.
And while all this is happening, there's a wife of a missionary (actually an assassin for the Holy -- who happens to be the Great Tyrant) who then has an affair with the blacksmith who gets killed by the missionary who comes home in time to find them in bed together. But the adopted son sees it happen, the wife runs off, and the adopted son is blinded by a bully in town, then the adopted son is called by the Holy and kills his dad, then goes off as the messenger of the Holy to rid the world of evil. And, of course, the two parties meet, conflict ensues, and the book leaves you with absolutely no resolution.
If this book sounds like it has potential, it does, but the farther I got into the book the harder it was to keep going. I nearly put it down twice, but trudged on hoping for something to come of it. I was disappointed. The book had enough to make me finish, thus the two stars, but there was nothing in here that would even make me consider the rest of the series. There is too much wanton killing (for my taste) for me to recommend this, too many characters lack depth (okay, all of them lack depth), and there are just too many bits of silliness (including a blatant rip-off of Gollum from "Lord of the Rings") to give this book much to redeem it. Again, I apologize for the low review, but in my mind this book is best passed over.
The plot to the book is a decent one. Evercloud is a human raised among talking bears (all the animals talk, so it's not quite as odd as you would think; besides, we've all heard of Narnia so we can let this go to get the book rolling). When he comes of age, about 16, suddenly the Great Tyrant reappears and he, his "cousin" Riverpaw, and his "uncle" Whiteclaw are sent off to find the Ancients (four tremendous beings from ancient times) to see off this threat. So far, so good.
But then things just start going bad. Evercloud starts asking about the Ancients in a tavern and is about to burned at the stake for heresy when two brothers appear out of nowhere and drag him away. Lo and behold, they're looking for the Ancients too. Oh, but before this, there's an incident where Whiteclaw has to get Evercloud some clothes, so he's attacked in a village, reinforcing the idea that humans and bears don't get along. Which goes back to the foreshadowing from earlier that Evercloud, being raised by bears, will be the link that will allow the two races to get along.
And while all this is happening, there's a wife of a missionary (actually an assassin for the Holy -- who happens to be the Great Tyrant) who then has an affair with the blacksmith who gets killed by the missionary who comes home in time to find them in bed together. But the adopted son sees it happen, the wife runs off, and the adopted son is blinded by a bully in town, then the adopted son is called by the Holy and kills his dad, then goes off as the messenger of the Holy to rid the world of evil. And, of course, the two parties meet, conflict ensues, and the book leaves you with absolutely no resolution.
If this book sounds like it has potential, it does, but the farther I got into the book the harder it was to keep going. I nearly put it down twice, but trudged on hoping for something to come of it. I was disappointed. The book had enough to make me finish, thus the two stars, but there was nothing in here that would even make me consider the rest of the series. There is too much wanton killing (for my taste) for me to recommend this, too many characters lack depth (okay, all of them lack depth), and there are just too many bits of silliness (including a blatant rip-off of Gollum from "Lord of the Rings") to give this book much to redeem it. Again, I apologize for the low review, but in my mind this book is best passed over.
June 15, 2015
Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.
The story begins with an opening paragraph that grabs your attention about a bear who is a king, raising a human child as his son. From there it becomes a story about ancient legends, fantasy, mysticism and faith, and trying to bring peace between the bears and the human world.
The plot is not confusing so much as complicated, with many different elements quite substantially introduced early on. Back stories and pieces of information are given with long and detailed side stories before the main narrative kicks off, and throughout there are clear and obvious moments of exposition that are more tell than show.
Characters are slightly flat, but they have enough history and depth as the story needs them to have, and some have much more than others. And even though you can grasp a bit of their personality based on interaction and dialogue, I never really connected with them, or cared much about them.
There is a bit of violence, human and animal alike, which when it first appears comes as a blunt shock having read through so many chapters of pleasantries and life with the bears. To be thrust into another side story with sudden and brutal violence is a shock, and in a way it does move the story on, but the sudden switch was a surprise, and one that immediately changes the age range possibilities. The violence continues sporadically through the remainder of the novel, not as detailed or brutal as before, but there all the same.
There are also a lot of coincidences that help move the story along, whether cliché or deus ex machina, which help out Evercloud and the others. But by the time they come along you just expect it, that's the kind of story it is, everything goes along well with one a few bumps and troubles on the way that instantly have a solution.
It wasn't all mediocre, the information was interesting, Peters has good timing in revealing new snippets and twists, even small ones, and the structure was good, just a bit heavy with the exposition. A good idea poorly executed.
Overall the story is likeable and the idea is sound, but there are a fair few things that stand out as you read that make it hard to immerse yourself fully. The problems lay in the construction and execution with grammatical issues, characters you can't really connect with or care much about, and a story that is curious at best, but not really pulling you through the pages with interest. If you ignore the holes, the few implausible and far-fetched aspects, and the writing doesn't bother you, it is a nice little fantasy.
A longer version of this review was published on my blog https://lostinagoodbk.wordpress.com/2...
The story begins with an opening paragraph that grabs your attention about a bear who is a king, raising a human child as his son. From there it becomes a story about ancient legends, fantasy, mysticism and faith, and trying to bring peace between the bears and the human world.
The plot is not confusing so much as complicated, with many different elements quite substantially introduced early on. Back stories and pieces of information are given with long and detailed side stories before the main narrative kicks off, and throughout there are clear and obvious moments of exposition that are more tell than show.
Characters are slightly flat, but they have enough history and depth as the story needs them to have, and some have much more than others. And even though you can grasp a bit of their personality based on interaction and dialogue, I never really connected with them, or cared much about them.
There is a bit of violence, human and animal alike, which when it first appears comes as a blunt shock having read through so many chapters of pleasantries and life with the bears. To be thrust into another side story with sudden and brutal violence is a shock, and in a way it does move the story on, but the sudden switch was a surprise, and one that immediately changes the age range possibilities. The violence continues sporadically through the remainder of the novel, not as detailed or brutal as before, but there all the same.
There are also a lot of coincidences that help move the story along, whether cliché or deus ex machina, which help out Evercloud and the others. But by the time they come along you just expect it, that's the kind of story it is, everything goes along well with one a few bumps and troubles on the way that instantly have a solution.
It wasn't all mediocre, the information was interesting, Peters has good timing in revealing new snippets and twists, even small ones, and the structure was good, just a bit heavy with the exposition. A good idea poorly executed.
Overall the story is likeable and the idea is sound, but there are a fair few things that stand out as you read that make it hard to immerse yourself fully. The problems lay in the construction and execution with grammatical issues, characters you can't really connect with or care much about, and a story that is curious at best, but not really pulling you through the pages with interest. If you ignore the holes, the few implausible and far-fetched aspects, and the writing doesn't bother you, it is a nice little fantasy.
A longer version of this review was published on my blog https://lostinagoodbk.wordpress.com/2...
January 6, 2016
If you decide to read this book plan on purchasing the four book series because you will want to finish them all! Mr. Peters has a great imagination and he took me on an adventure I thoroughly enjoyed. The first book was a bit slow but I realize it was because Mr. Peters was trying to develop the characters. I also had a tough time at first because the main characters in the first book were bears and I had a tough time relating to them. Humans are slowly introduced and they soon become equal in importance. The next three books in the series I could not put down. The primary goal in the books was not resolved until the end of the last book but Mr. Peters introduces new characters and takes us on new adventures in each book. He also continues to develop the main characters through the entire series. At the same time he builds upon the events of previous books. This series will take you on a great adventure and I highly recommend it. If Mr. Peters continues to write books of this caliber he will have a successful career as an author. Good luck to you Mr. Peters.
September 12, 2012
When I started this book and realized there were talking bears I immediately was skeptical, I hung in there though and found that I enjoyed it. The premis is that a human is brought in and raised by bears (who have their own society, this is a fantasy book after all). The narrative does switch to follow some human characters which made me feel better for some reason, maybe because I can relate better to humans than to bears.
It did end with a pretty big cliffhanger but I'm not sure that I'll run out to read the sequel.
It did end with a pretty big cliffhanger but I'm not sure that I'll run out to read the sequel.
November 5, 2012
I'm in the same camp with others that have said this book might be great for young adults; in fact, yesterday I told my fiance that it would make a great PG movie. The concept is interesting and the story is pretty good, but I had trouble getting past the simple sentence structure and poor editing. Typos like "nauseas" where "nauseous" should be really don't belong in anything that has been accepted for publishing of any kind. I have started the next one, and I generally feel the same way so far. A decent 1-2 day read.
February 2, 2014
I really wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this. It is a story about a child who is taken in by bears. It is so much more than that though. It is almost fairy-tale/fantasy. Great story. I loved the characters and the story line. I felt like it wasn't finished when it ended though - a sequel perhaps?
October 17, 2018
First time reader of this author and now i am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative series. i was hooked after the first page.
The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.
i would highly recommend this author and this series.
The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.
i would highly recommend this author and this series.
June 19, 2012
The book starts a little slowly but once the adventure begins it's impossible to put the book down. You never really expect what's coming next and the thoughts presented in the book really get your imagination flowing. This is a great book and I highly recommend it!
April 1, 2013
Well, I love Bears, so this was fun for me, but even though I kept reading and enjoyed myself while doing so, I think it was not an adequate story so far as where it left you. There is not too shameless "keep on looking for the story" flavor for me.
June 15, 2014
When Bears Came Bear-ing Fire
There’s a cosmic battle going on here. It’s good versus evil, hey, it’s a fantasy story, except good and evil are ambiguous, which is not to say the book is more thoughtful or provocative than a simple elves-trolls faceoff.
One side is led by The Holy, referred to by his enemies as the Great Tyrant and he does seems to be more tyrant than holy. He’s the Christian God, more or less, the God of the Old Testament and a bit of a curmudgeon. He’s a jealous god, too, as we see here. The Holy recruits a messenger and the Messenger is a vigilante. He decapitates a guy who kidnaps children and sells them into slavery and decapitates another guy who has poisoned a man so he can steal the man’s horse and sure, those are bad people who deserve punishment, but decapitation?
It’s messy.
Then the Holy does something weird.
He sends his messenger out to kill…bears.
That’s right, bears, but these are no ordinary bears. These bears live in a civilized fashion and with language and with fire too, although they haven’t really figured out what to do with fire, other than worship it, no, that’s not it, they don’t worship fire. It seems as if they do but as one of the bears, the king, I think, explains, they only keep the fire burning as a reminder of something or other. Still, the bears aren’t child-snatchers or poisoners. The bears are actually decent enough fellows, bland, but decent, but they are guilty of worshipping the Ancients, four pagan beings who apparently ruled the world before the Holy came along. The Holy is intolerant, that no false gods thing, and so the bears, two in particular, who have set out on a quest to liberate the Ancients, have to die.
Except, of course, they’re not so easy to kill.
So who’s the good guys here? Stay tuned, it’s a trilogy. (Or a tetralogy.)
This book left me with a very powerful image nicely done, the image of one of those big Kodiak bears standing on its hind legs and bellowing with visceral frustration and rage, a “I’ve had all I can take and I’ll take no more” moment. Unfortunately, the book left me with another image. It’s the end of the day, the writer is putting aside his pencils and the characters sit down to relax, following a long day of action (the book is filled with action, or what passes for action.) The bear characters, seated, take off their heads and underneath are…men! Sweaty men, in those hot costumes all day, but men, not bears, because the author never succeeds in getting across how his bears really are bears. Bears can be civilized in a fantasy novel, but they still need to be bears. They need to be different, if only in subtle ways, from men. To be fair, the author did try to make the distinction but he wasn’t convincing and it left me wondering, all through the book, why the characters were dressed up as bears. Why didn’t we just dispense with the bear-suits and make it a man versus man thing, or elves versus trolls.
Something else I wasn’t buying ─ the bears live not too far from men and there’s some contact between the two societies so the men must know the bears have a city. (Bear City is an Aztec-like place, with an eternal flame atop a tall tower but without all those human, or bear, sacrifices.) Don’t the men want to know what to heck is going on over in Bear City? Wouldn’t they have sent out spies? You know, men in bear costumes. The men are surprised to discover the bears can talk but why surprised? If you’ve got a city, you’ve got language. (And if you’ve got fire, why don’t you cook your food instead of eating it raw? Because you’re bears, and you haven’t figured out how your eternal flame might be good for something other than worship.)
The wolves were another missed opportunity. They’re the baddest guys in the forest and they’re wolves, not men dressed like wolves. If you’re going to have talking bears, why not have talking wolves? The leader of the pack could chew on his words, like Cagney in a gangster role and the rest of the wolves could talk out of the sides of their mouths.
The bears are helped along on their quest by a giant crab. The crab attacks the bears and the bears’ human allies, (it’s not complicated, how they became allies, or particularly clever) and there’s a battle. The bears and the men kill the crab and I’m wondering why the crab showed up, then I get it. To move the story along. The crab was looking for dinner too but he seemed to come out of nowhere and honestly, the battle against the giant crab wasn’t really exciting but it served its purpose. After the bears and men kill the crab, it rolls over and crushes a guy’s house and the guy, it turns out, is the guide who’ll send our intrepid heroes along their way. A giant crab demolishing a man’s house would certainly get the man’s attention but what if the crab hadn’t arrived and died and rolled onto the house? Would our heroes have missed the guide’s house? Maybe yes, since it was buried in a sand desert. Or maybe no, since the questers, to continue questing, have to go through the house and into a tunnel leading out of the house. If they hadn’t gone into the house, they’d have missed out and why knock on the door when you can knock down the house with a giant dead crab?
About a third of the way through the book, we’re suddenly lifted out of the world of bears and into a human-inhabited town and here the book picks up steam. We get the backstory of the Messenger, he who decapitates; think the Biblical Job. His name is Edgar. Edgar suffers a lot as a boy, including the death of his beloved dog, (yes, that cliché gets tossed into the pot and there’s another cliché later on ─ a witch who talks and cavorts exactly like Gollum. It came across as character theft.) The Messenger hears voices, most whackos do, and is directed in his bloody business by the voice of the Holy but since the Messenger has already come face to face with the Holy, we know the Messenger’s voices don’t originate inside of himself. He’s not crazy, he’s the sword of God, which doesn’t necessarily make him the good guy.
Overall, this book was more readable than some, less than others, and with so many fantasy quest books out there, authors have to find their own unique twist, and this author’s twist, anthropomorphic bears, while I can’t say it doesn’t work at all, ultimately fails. It fails because the bears were superfluous. It all would have worked as well without them.
The rest of the books in this series are available. This one was free, those aren’t. Will I buy the rest and read them? Probably not. You see, I don’t really care which cosmic force triumphs and having witnessed the death of at least one heroic bear and finding myself unmoved by the death, I’m not inclined to go looking for more.
There’s a cosmic battle going on here. It’s good versus evil, hey, it’s a fantasy story, except good and evil are ambiguous, which is not to say the book is more thoughtful or provocative than a simple elves-trolls faceoff.
One side is led by The Holy, referred to by his enemies as the Great Tyrant and he does seems to be more tyrant than holy. He’s the Christian God, more or less, the God of the Old Testament and a bit of a curmudgeon. He’s a jealous god, too, as we see here. The Holy recruits a messenger and the Messenger is a vigilante. He decapitates a guy who kidnaps children and sells them into slavery and decapitates another guy who has poisoned a man so he can steal the man’s horse and sure, those are bad people who deserve punishment, but decapitation?
It’s messy.
Then the Holy does something weird.
He sends his messenger out to kill…bears.
That’s right, bears, but these are no ordinary bears. These bears live in a civilized fashion and with language and with fire too, although they haven’t really figured out what to do with fire, other than worship it, no, that’s not it, they don’t worship fire. It seems as if they do but as one of the bears, the king, I think, explains, they only keep the fire burning as a reminder of something or other. Still, the bears aren’t child-snatchers or poisoners. The bears are actually decent enough fellows, bland, but decent, but they are guilty of worshipping the Ancients, four pagan beings who apparently ruled the world before the Holy came along. The Holy is intolerant, that no false gods thing, and so the bears, two in particular, who have set out on a quest to liberate the Ancients, have to die.
Except, of course, they’re not so easy to kill.
So who’s the good guys here? Stay tuned, it’s a trilogy. (Or a tetralogy.)
This book left me with a very powerful image nicely done, the image of one of those big Kodiak bears standing on its hind legs and bellowing with visceral frustration and rage, a “I’ve had all I can take and I’ll take no more” moment. Unfortunately, the book left me with another image. It’s the end of the day, the writer is putting aside his pencils and the characters sit down to relax, following a long day of action (the book is filled with action, or what passes for action.) The bear characters, seated, take off their heads and underneath are…men! Sweaty men, in those hot costumes all day, but men, not bears, because the author never succeeds in getting across how his bears really are bears. Bears can be civilized in a fantasy novel, but they still need to be bears. They need to be different, if only in subtle ways, from men. To be fair, the author did try to make the distinction but he wasn’t convincing and it left me wondering, all through the book, why the characters were dressed up as bears. Why didn’t we just dispense with the bear-suits and make it a man versus man thing, or elves versus trolls.
Something else I wasn’t buying ─ the bears live not too far from men and there’s some contact between the two societies so the men must know the bears have a city. (Bear City is an Aztec-like place, with an eternal flame atop a tall tower but without all those human, or bear, sacrifices.) Don’t the men want to know what to heck is going on over in Bear City? Wouldn’t they have sent out spies? You know, men in bear costumes. The men are surprised to discover the bears can talk but why surprised? If you’ve got a city, you’ve got language. (And if you’ve got fire, why don’t you cook your food instead of eating it raw? Because you’re bears, and you haven’t figured out how your eternal flame might be good for something other than worship.)
The wolves were another missed opportunity. They’re the baddest guys in the forest and they’re wolves, not men dressed like wolves. If you’re going to have talking bears, why not have talking wolves? The leader of the pack could chew on his words, like Cagney in a gangster role and the rest of the wolves could talk out of the sides of their mouths.
The bears are helped along on their quest by a giant crab. The crab attacks the bears and the bears’ human allies, (it’s not complicated, how they became allies, or particularly clever) and there’s a battle. The bears and the men kill the crab and I’m wondering why the crab showed up, then I get it. To move the story along. The crab was looking for dinner too but he seemed to come out of nowhere and honestly, the battle against the giant crab wasn’t really exciting but it served its purpose. After the bears and men kill the crab, it rolls over and crushes a guy’s house and the guy, it turns out, is the guide who’ll send our intrepid heroes along their way. A giant crab demolishing a man’s house would certainly get the man’s attention but what if the crab hadn’t arrived and died and rolled onto the house? Would our heroes have missed the guide’s house? Maybe yes, since it was buried in a sand desert. Or maybe no, since the questers, to continue questing, have to go through the house and into a tunnel leading out of the house. If they hadn’t gone into the house, they’d have missed out and why knock on the door when you can knock down the house with a giant dead crab?
About a third of the way through the book, we’re suddenly lifted out of the world of bears and into a human-inhabited town and here the book picks up steam. We get the backstory of the Messenger, he who decapitates; think the Biblical Job. His name is Edgar. Edgar suffers a lot as a boy, including the death of his beloved dog, (yes, that cliché gets tossed into the pot and there’s another cliché later on ─ a witch who talks and cavorts exactly like Gollum. It came across as character theft.) The Messenger hears voices, most whackos do, and is directed in his bloody business by the voice of the Holy but since the Messenger has already come face to face with the Holy, we know the Messenger’s voices don’t originate inside of himself. He’s not crazy, he’s the sword of God, which doesn’t necessarily make him the good guy.
Overall, this book was more readable than some, less than others, and with so many fantasy quest books out there, authors have to find their own unique twist, and this author’s twist, anthropomorphic bears, while I can’t say it doesn’t work at all, ultimately fails. It fails because the bears were superfluous. It all would have worked as well without them.
The rest of the books in this series are available. This one was free, those aren’t. Will I buy the rest and read them? Probably not. You see, I don’t really care which cosmic force triumphs and having witnessed the death of at least one heroic bear and finding myself unmoved by the death, I’m not inclined to go looking for more.
March 1, 2023
In Everflame, the first book in the Everflame series by Dylan Lee Peters, we follow two main storylines, Evercloud, a human that grows up in the Bear Kingdom, and Edgar, a human that grew up in the Human Kingdom. At the beginning of the world, there were four main creatures, the Ancients that created everything, including the Great Tyrant who chased them away. As the world loses its connection with the Ancients, they start to live in fear and forget the old ways, accepting the Tyrant’s lies.
I really liked the cover of the book, especially the colors! The story was interesting and there was a good plot, but it just didn’t grab me. I wasn’t really invested in the characters although there were a few I found interesting. Overall, I didn’t really care what happened in the book which is weird as it is a fantasy/mythology with mythical/magical creatures, usually something I love. I think it just read too young for me.
The formatting of the book and the writing style feels very Middle Grade to me but the storyline and the ages of the characters feel a bit more YA. Also, the darkness of a couple of the characters and themes read even older. It almost feels like it is a story that someone wrote in middle school, then in high school, decided to add to it, then add a bit more once they hit college but never went back to make sure the full story flowed together. It felt disjointed at times, pulling me out of the story. I most likely won't continue with the series.
I really liked the cover of the book, especially the colors! The story was interesting and there was a good plot, but it just didn’t grab me. I wasn’t really invested in the characters although there were a few I found interesting. Overall, I didn’t really care what happened in the book which is weird as it is a fantasy/mythology with mythical/magical creatures, usually something I love. I think it just read too young for me.
The formatting of the book and the writing style feels very Middle Grade to me but the storyline and the ages of the characters feel a bit more YA. Also, the darkness of a couple of the characters and themes read even older. It almost feels like it is a story that someone wrote in middle school, then in high school, decided to add to it, then add a bit more once they hit college but never went back to make sure the full story flowed together. It felt disjointed at times, pulling me out of the story. I most likely won't continue with the series.
July 1, 2018
It needs a lot of proof reading, but the story is interesting so far. I do wish there were more female characters. I get that the bears run a patriarchal society and thus have no female advisors and therefore no women or girls in the questing party, but even in the human societies there were maybe two women tops, and the closest a woman gets to the questing party is Iolana. The story itself kept me interested and I do want to see how Peters grows as an author throughout this series,but I hope he faces the challenge of writing female characters realistically! I think it would be fun if the traditional housewife role wasn't applied to bears and if there was a girl who wasn't just a love interest/damsel in distress but an actual asset to the questing party.
Aside from the bear society being way too human, it also struck me as odd that bears, mice, and vultures all have the capacity for language but wolves are just mute slaves to bears. Again, I hope to learn a bit more about the world this series takes place in as the series continues! Looking forward to the next book :)
Aside from the bear society being way too human, it also struck me as odd that bears, mice, and vultures all have the capacity for language but wolves are just mute slaves to bears. Again, I hope to learn a bit more about the world this series takes place in as the series continues! Looking forward to the next book :)
July 28, 2017
I had a hard time with this book. I found myself confused at first. It was hard to tell if I was really reading about bears or bear shifters or what the author was talking about. The bears acted so human and apparently talk as well. The bears were complaining about their relationship with humans and how humans were afraid of them so I kind of assumed that their language was different. However, later in the book the bears were talking and the humans were understanding them. That made me question the whole thing even more. If they were so concerned about their relationship with humans why did they never attempt to talk to them? They obviously could have had conversations with them. Then you throw in ancient beings and I just found it hard to immerse myself a world I couldn't relate to or understand. I don't think I will be continuing the series. The idea had merit but the execution didn't live up to it.
August 4, 2021
A reader can get lost in this world
The author has created a world of Magic and wonder that sucks you in without quite realizing it.
A human child is raised by bears who have their own civilization. Earth powers fought a battle with evil long ago and lost. There was a prophecy that an unlikely pair (human raised by bears anyone?) would be found to reset the balance.
The author writes so that you are transported back and forth between bear and human worlds and don't realize it at first.
The characters are presented very well and the questions and tasks presented to them have them responding in character through the whole book. The plot rolls smoothly opening up new background areas of the world-building logically.
While not a great fan of fantasy this series is one I want to follow.
I did receive a copy from a book giveaway.
The author has created a world of Magic and wonder that sucks you in without quite realizing it.
A human child is raised by bears who have their own civilization. Earth powers fought a battle with evil long ago and lost. There was a prophecy that an unlikely pair (human raised by bears anyone?) would be found to reset the balance.
The author writes so that you are transported back and forth between bear and human worlds and don't realize it at first.
The characters are presented very well and the questions and tasks presented to them have them responding in character through the whole book. The plot rolls smoothly opening up new background areas of the world-building logically.
While not a great fan of fantasy this series is one I want to follow.
I did receive a copy from a book giveaway.
March 5, 2018
Raised by bears to bring man and bear closer together
Evercloud was abandoned by men, and raised by bears, with the hopes of bridging the gulf between the two races. But fate has far more in store for the boy, and the bears he calls friends and family.
This book started with the simple tale of an unwanted child raised by unlikely parents, but turned into a page turned that kept me wanting more.
The culture and history of the bear nation is amazingly detailed, with beliefs and needs that are very believable. And the characters that come out of that worldbuilding made me want to see their world with my own eyes.
And then the story went beyond the boundaries of the bears, and became some th ibg truly amazing.
Bring on the second book...
Evercloud was abandoned by men, and raised by bears, with the hopes of bridging the gulf between the two races. But fate has far more in store for the boy, and the bears he calls friends and family.
This book started with the simple tale of an unwanted child raised by unlikely parents, but turned into a page turned that kept me wanting more.
The culture and history of the bear nation is amazingly detailed, with beliefs and needs that are very believable. And the characters that come out of that worldbuilding made me want to see their world with my own eyes.
And then the story went beyond the boundaries of the bears, and became some th ibg truly amazing.
Bring on the second book...
January 7, 2017
An extraordinary orphaned boy, talking bears, and an epic journey to save the world from evil!
This book was recommended to me by a friend. I have to admit, when he said it was about a boy raised by bears I was pretty skeptical. I figured there was no way anyone could pull that one off without sounding hokey. But Peters knocks it out of the park! You are sucked into this fantasy world that keeps expanding with each chapter. The characters are well developed. The story flows well. I am already planning on reading the rest of the trilogy and making a list of friends and family to recommend them to!
This book was recommended to me by a friend. I have to admit, when he said it was about a boy raised by bears I was pretty skeptical. I figured there was no way anyone could pull that one off without sounding hokey. But Peters knocks it out of the park! You are sucked into this fantasy world that keeps expanding with each chapter. The characters are well developed. The story flows well. I am already planning on reading the rest of the trilogy and making a list of friends and family to recommend them to!
April 29, 2014
Where to even begin with this book?
My one-star rating should say enough. Leave this book well enough alone, unless you, like I, are building the standard by which you judge terrible "literature."
First off, this was the second free ebook I've read from off Amazon's lovely free fantasy collection. The first I read was Sora's Quest, which actually exceeded my expectations for free-book quality.
But this...this book is why people are so wary of self-published authors. This book embodies the phrase "You pay for what you get," with the cliched language, characterization, plot, plot twists, and sheer painful prose to go along with it.
It was painful to read this book (my friends said I whined too much) until about three-fifths of the book the sheer horrific nature of the prose just started striking me as funny. It wasn't until I was 56% percent of the way through that I decided marking some of the more serious offenders, and then my favorite atrocities just got thrown into the mix once I started enjoying the pain (I was going to finish the book. Period.)
That fated passage of purple prose that marked the beginning of my note taking:
"Evercloud (main character) could not take his eyes off her (female love interest, first woman he's ever met). He had never seen a woman like her before (no freaking duh. He's never even SEEN a woman before). She was rather small and slender with long red hair (red flag) that fell in curls around her shoulders. Her skin was so pale that it almost seemed luminescent and her blue eyes sparkled like a river in the moonlight (Gag. Seriously?). She smiled at him and he felt as if he might fall down (okay, plausible). He put his hand out against the side of Riverpaw (his brother) to steady himself."
At which point I promptly lost it. That's...that's just...childish. The entire novel feels like it was written by a ten to twelve year old. I'm not slamming that age group, I'm a mod on a writers' website with some of that age group, and I expect young writers to be...well, young. But this guy was 32 when he published this book. I was shocked.
Then the book just felt like an idea he dug out of Mommy's keepsake box, dusted it off, and threw it to the world.
And it fell into a ditch, absorbed the effluent liquid, festered for a few ages, and then defecated itself onto Amazon's Kindle store.
That was my impression for over half of the book. The bears’ society, as far as actual worldbuilding goes, is unstable. The entire society relies on something bears don’t have, that is never explained away or justified: the lack of opposable thumbs. Basically, the bears are humans in animal bodies. And poor, poor Evercloud. I’m sorely tempted to call him a male Mary Sue, but digging back through that whole mess to see how justified my claim would be just isn’t worth the effort. In fact, if I tried to explain even a quarter of the things that pained me to read them, I’d practically have written a novel (or at least laid the foundation for one) on how to craft a well-built world. Which isn’t the point of a review.
So here’s a list of quotes that brought out a sort of masochistic flair:
(The percentages and location marks are noted from the Kindle version of the book.)
“That’s really the point of all this, isn’t it? To create a better world (beyond cliché, and stated so plainly!), restore a harmony [sic].” Yes, that really does say, “restore A harmony.” It’s at 58% through the book, Loc 2700
“Though that is a good idea…anyway, here’s the story.
And so Padre Esteban began:”
Appears harmless, right? Well, this little beautiful nugget (63%, Loc 2917) occurs right after a wonderful deus ex machina (which, by the way, happens right after one of the most video game reminiscent and most comical fight scenes in the entire book), and oh boy! Exposition! And in case you missed the fact that the entire preceding conversation built up to that fact, you’re given, not one, but two glaring neon signs screaming “Here’s exposition! This is important to my world building! Pay attention!”
“The group was stunned. The Earth itself was an ancient being. How was this possible?” (64%, Loc 2947)
Oh, and right after I thought you were going to actually be somewhat original in your childishness. The book had a unique, although not necessarily gripping or mature, mythology, and then we get Mother Gaia. And the characters’ disbelief? My word, all the trollolols in this book.
Best defense for truth, hands down: (64%, Loc 2947)
“I don’t need proof, my boy. That’s the funny thing about truth. Give it enough time and it’ll see its own way through.”
I about dropped my phone when I read that. Beyond hysterical. Oh, I don’t need to defend my beliefs! You’ll just see the light eventually.
“…though smiling was all they had the energy to do. They reached the doors and Ben (minor character) knocked upon them.” (68%, Loc 3117)
I think that one pretty much speaks for itself.
There’s loads more where that came from. When a book contrives the plot so badly as to say “As if on cue (68%, 3114),” you know you’ve run into trouble. I’ve found better writing from 16 year olds (and younger) than this author, and I don’t plan on ever reading the rest of the series, unless I ever get in a mood where I feel like blowing a few dollars and metaphorically beating my head with a 2x4 for kicks and giggles. But who knows? Now that I know what to expect, I’d probably end up coating the book in dog ears and highlights from all the so-horrible-it’s-golden atrocities!
My one-star rating should say enough. Leave this book well enough alone, unless you, like I, are building the standard by which you judge terrible "literature."
First off, this was the second free ebook I've read from off Amazon's lovely free fantasy collection. The first I read was Sora's Quest, which actually exceeded my expectations for free-book quality.
But this...this book is why people are so wary of self-published authors. This book embodies the phrase "You pay for what you get," with the cliched language, characterization, plot, plot twists, and sheer painful prose to go along with it.
It was painful to read this book (my friends said I whined too much) until about three-fifths of the book the sheer horrific nature of the prose just started striking me as funny. It wasn't until I was 56% percent of the way through that I decided marking some of the more serious offenders, and then my favorite atrocities just got thrown into the mix once I started enjoying the pain (I was going to finish the book. Period.)
That fated passage of purple prose that marked the beginning of my note taking:
"Evercloud (main character) could not take his eyes off her (female love interest, first woman he's ever met). He had never seen a woman like her before (no freaking duh. He's never even SEEN a woman before). She was rather small and slender with long red hair (red flag) that fell in curls around her shoulders. Her skin was so pale that it almost seemed luminescent and her blue eyes sparkled like a river in the moonlight (Gag. Seriously?). She smiled at him and he felt as if he might fall down (okay, plausible). He put his hand out against the side of Riverpaw (his brother) to steady himself."
At which point I promptly lost it. That's...that's just...childish. The entire novel feels like it was written by a ten to twelve year old. I'm not slamming that age group, I'm a mod on a writers' website with some of that age group, and I expect young writers to be...well, young. But this guy was 32 when he published this book. I was shocked.
Then the book just felt like an idea he dug out of Mommy's keepsake box, dusted it off, and threw it to the world.
And it fell into a ditch, absorbed the effluent liquid, festered for a few ages, and then defecated itself onto Amazon's Kindle store.
That was my impression for over half of the book. The bears’ society, as far as actual worldbuilding goes, is unstable. The entire society relies on something bears don’t have, that is never explained away or justified: the lack of opposable thumbs. Basically, the bears are humans in animal bodies. And poor, poor Evercloud. I’m sorely tempted to call him a male Mary Sue, but digging back through that whole mess to see how justified my claim would be just isn’t worth the effort. In fact, if I tried to explain even a quarter of the things that pained me to read them, I’d practically have written a novel (or at least laid the foundation for one) on how to craft a well-built world. Which isn’t the point of a review.
So here’s a list of quotes that brought out a sort of masochistic flair:
(The percentages and location marks are noted from the Kindle version of the book.)
“That’s really the point of all this, isn’t it? To create a better world (beyond cliché, and stated so plainly!), restore a harmony [sic].” Yes, that really does say, “restore A harmony.” It’s at 58% through the book, Loc 2700
“Though that is a good idea…anyway, here’s the story.
And so Padre Esteban began:”
Appears harmless, right? Well, this little beautiful nugget (63%, Loc 2917) occurs right after a wonderful deus ex machina (which, by the way, happens right after one of the most video game reminiscent and most comical fight scenes in the entire book), and oh boy! Exposition! And in case you missed the fact that the entire preceding conversation built up to that fact, you’re given, not one, but two glaring neon signs screaming “Here’s exposition! This is important to my world building! Pay attention!”
“The group was stunned. The Earth itself was an ancient being. How was this possible?” (64%, Loc 2947)
Oh, and right after I thought you were going to actually be somewhat original in your childishness. The book had a unique, although not necessarily gripping or mature, mythology, and then we get Mother Gaia. And the characters’ disbelief? My word, all the trollolols in this book.
Best defense for truth, hands down: (64%, Loc 2947)
“I don’t need proof, my boy. That’s the funny thing about truth. Give it enough time and it’ll see its own way through.”
I about dropped my phone when I read that. Beyond hysterical. Oh, I don’t need to defend my beliefs! You’ll just see the light eventually.
“…though smiling was all they had the energy to do. They reached the doors and Ben (minor character) knocked upon them.” (68%, Loc 3117)
I think that one pretty much speaks for itself.
There’s loads more where that came from. When a book contrives the plot so badly as to say “As if on cue (68%, 3114),” you know you’ve run into trouble. I’ve found better writing from 16 year olds (and younger) than this author, and I don’t plan on ever reading the rest of the series, unless I ever get in a mood where I feel like blowing a few dollars and metaphorically beating my head with a 2x4 for kicks and giggles. But who knows? Now that I know what to expect, I’d probably end up coating the book in dog ears and highlights from all the so-horrible-it’s-golden atrocities!
February 15, 2022
Unique
If you seek something unique, imaginative, and off the beaten path, this book is for you. The timeline jumps were a great way of getting the back story for characters And events but sometimes left me a little unsure that I had not somehow skipped ahead of where i left off. That could be just me. The story felt familiar in many ways and yet never connected directly to Native American beliefs, religion or faith in general. I liked it.
If you seek something unique, imaginative, and off the beaten path, this book is for you. The timeline jumps were a great way of getting the back story for characters And events but sometimes left me a little unsure that I had not somehow skipped ahead of where i left off. That could be just me. The story felt familiar in many ways and yet never connected directly to Native American beliefs, religion or faith in general. I liked it.
September 17, 2018
Wonderful story. Just a bit short for my liking
4 stars because it is a good story. 5 if it would have been an epic. Not sure why this has become a trend among writers but it's not one I'm a fan of. If you have a story to tell, tell it. Don't parse it out amoung a hundred books. Nothing is as fine as a deliciously fat novel.
4 stars because it is a good story. 5 if it would have been an epic. Not sure why this has become a trend among writers but it's not one I'm a fan of. If you have a story to tell, tell it. Don't parse it out amoung a hundred books. Nothing is as fine as a deliciously fat novel.
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