It has been six months since the reclamation of the Ro'Sar Mountains and the liberation of Isladon. The lands of Agora are plagued by the hordes of Draggard which poured from the mountains during the reclamation. Eadon's Draggard scourge ravishes the land, sending all nations into chaos, dividing the Kingdoms and their people.The Dark Elf Eadon himself sits upon the thrown of Uthen-Arden, impersonating the fallen King Addakon. As King, Eadon has wrought war, famine, and plague upon the Kingdom. As the Dwarves hole up in their mountains, protecting their borders and guarding their treasures, the elves remain silent to Agora's plight. The Sun Elf Zerafin has returned in shame to his people with his sister's comatose body, her soul a captive of Eadon. Roakore has become King of the Ro'Sar Mountains and freed his father's spirit, his clan has rebuilt the great Kingdom. Abram and Rhunis continue their search within the Uthen-Arden capital city of Del'Oradon, for any clue that Whill remains alive. A Quest of Kings plunges readers into a vast and in depth world of magic, monsters and mayhem, rich in history and culture, where Humans, Dwarves and Elves have managed to live in harmony for centuries. It is a tale of friendship, love, honor, and courage in the face of deception, power, darkness and war.
I spent my youth in the land of make believe. School was a bore, and growing up in the "Boonies" without cable television forced me to use my imagination. If I wasn't holed up in my bedroom playing with my vast collection of action figures, I could be found in the forest with a wooden sword or staff in hand, battling the forces of evil. As an 80's kid, I was raised on a healthy diet of movies like Star Wars, The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, Goonies, and endless other classic (but strange) movies.
As a reader, I enjoy books that take off right out of the gate, sweep me off my feet, and whisk me away on an epic adventure. As an author, I try to create books that do the same for my readers. I write fantasy, and I suppose that I still live in a land of make believe, except now I get to share the adventure with others.
I hope that you will join me on my next adventure, and together we can escape reality, if only for a time.
Although I did enjoy the plot developments in this book very much, I felt as though there were way too many battle descriptions. It felt like 5% move the story along and 95% lengthy fight descriptions. It was redundant and eventually boring.
So I had to give this one less star than the first book due to the writing. While the story development was solid, and not entirely predictable, getting through was a little frustrating at times. Had the first book been written in a way that feels this hasty I might not have finished it. Sure I enjoy that it isn't slow, but plenty of places could have used more detail and more effort in differentiating between which "he" was speaking. My biggest pet peeve was the lack of page breaks. I wish that from one paragraph to the next it wouldn't just jump to a different character in an entirely different location. And, as a woman, I must say that I'm over how all of the women characters seem to be beautiful. Come on! Even the damn dragon? Now I do like the dragon twist, but it'd be nice if a woman was allowed to be in the story without being desirable. There are also progressions in character development that could use more of a well thought out evolution. I think that's all I have to bitch about.
I don't think this is a terrible story, but I do think it could have used more time and a devoted editor (not only for the various spelling/plot mistakes, but also for content) to polish this up a bit. Since I do like the story line I will read the next book, but I hope I enjoy the process more than I did with this.
Even though this is a series, it ends each book without the dreaded "cliff hanger" instead relying on the greatness of the story being written to encourage you to read the next story. I love the story and book 1 was very good with book 2 being even better. I want to read all of the books because I want the story to continue to its encompassing resolve. I so recommend this book to all! Written to entertain all ages, it's added bonus is that as a Christian, it can be thoroughly enjoyed without fear of offense. Definitely a keeper! A+++++
If you have read book 1, you will be pleased with this book. Whill's quest continues, and some new characters are introduced. There are some twists in this story that were totally unexpected. I was happy about that because it made for more interesting reading. And fear not, there are more epic battles. I loved this book. A must read. Now I am anxious to read book 3.
This was a delight to read. The author builds the characters at just the right speed, flowing with a great story line. A strong story, coupled with strong characters makes for a great book. Great Reading Everyone!
Nice basis. Good use of magic without overdoing the standard character tropes. Sometimes the writing was a little confusing but overall a good job of alternating storylines.
The Second in the Series is just as good as the First. Enjoyable read, good characters, with a brilliant story line. Roakore is memorable character, that just gives you a good laugh, and fulfills the role of a Dwarven character as only a Dwarf can. Every fantasy book should have a great Dwarven legend, and Roakore is Whill of Agora's. The good thing about these books is that they are an easy and enjoyable read. It's nice to get immersed in a book, but not get bogged down in it. The characters have a real depth in these books, the ongoing growth of Whill is a fascinating read as he tries to uncover who he is. As previously discussed, there is also Roakore, as well as the evil character of Eadon, whom is written just so well. The author doesn't get lost in endless battle scenes. Having said that, there are the desired battles for any fantasy book, it's just that the story doesn't get lost in them. There are beautiful, epic landscapes as with the first, adding to the enjoyment of the read. Great fantasy read.
Will and his mentor, best friend and father figure Abram, are really getting into trouble in this book. Roakore, my favorite character and Dwarvan King, Avriel the Elvan Princess, and Zarafin and Azzeal ALL are getting into trouble trying to do battle with Eadon in their own way. It's still early for things to come to a head but all signs lead to Eadon's dominance because of his creation of the Draggard army. Eadon has been mixing different species with dragon eggs to make monsters that are pure evil. They're hard to kill to begin with and Eadon has given them special powers to aide in the defeat of the good guys, entire cities and small communities. The author has a magical way with words to create such a fantastic story line. As long as Mr, Ploof keeps writing, I'll keep reading. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to all fantasy readers.
An excellent 2nd book in the series. The characters are engaging and easy to connect with and the story moves along at a nice pace. The battle scenes are a bit long and can get tedious but it is not a major problem.
As with book one in the series my major complaint here is with the editing. There are many misspelled words in the book. Some examples include the use of "ark" where "arc" was the correct word and "plaque" where plague" was the correct word. There is also a long section at the end of the book where the elf name Adimorda and the sword name Adromida are fairly consistently mixed up and the sword is often called by the name of the elf. It is obvious from content which is correct.
Overall I would highly recommend this book and the story and characters make the editing errors far less annoying than they are in many books.
Awesome read, this book has taken the adventure to a new level. Character development is good and a few new characters have been introduced. My favorite Dirk who seems to be a blend between a Rogue and Ninja with a few magic tricks up his sleeve is one wily devil. Michael's addition of these new characters and how he has developed the old ones is impressive to say the least. The best part for me was the ending; no surprise but the way he ended the story wants you reading more and sets up the characters with room for some surprising twists. I hear he plans on putting book 3 out sometime mid-winter early spring. This is turning out to be an epic fantasy I feel will rival some of the great works in fantasy. Chomping at the bit can't wait to read book III.
I became a total fan of Whill of Agora after book one. I was looking on Amazon for something else and found book 2 and 3. Wow! What a ride. between laughing, crying, and sitting on the edge of my seat, I've never enjoyed something as much as I did this second book. If book 3 offers up the same excitement and fun as the first two books I may never sleep again. I highly recommend this series if you like great fantasy. The characters are believable and endearing. I'm wanting to find out if all gets made right in the end so guess I'm on to book 3. Please read these great books!
I received this book as a First Reads giveaway. I apologize for taking so long to write this review. I enjoyed the book, though I have to be completely honest and say I have not read the first one. That being said, I didn't feel like I was missing much in not reading it first. I thoroughly enjoyed the battle scenes, though some were a bit lengthy. But I am guy which probably makes me predisposed to enjoy such scenes. There were some editing errors that took me out of the story in parts, but all in all I did enjoy this book and will definitely try to read more from this author.
It is not even come close to book one. In book one you had hope and in book two, you didn't. There wasn't any love or hope, especially with Whill, always gloom. You got to have hope. You put Whill through stuff no one will believe and keep reading your books. I hope book three is better, at least as good as book one.
I am thoroughly enjoying this series so far and love that your vision of elves and dwarves go on long the lines of other books with similar characters. Poor Whill has a terrible time in this book but hope to see him have better luck in the next novel. Thx for a great book, no matter what your age!
This second book was much darker than book one but it did move the story forward with more details about the dwarven and Elfen societies and a plot twist for Whill's love interest. As others have mentioned, however, there were very long battle sequences that went on too long for me. I've started book three and there are still a few more twists in the story for us to enjoy.
Another solid 4*, flowed a lot better than the first one & not so much repetitive sentences. If I was being hyper critical I would say that you don't have to have every bit that you liked in other authors books & shoe horn them into the story. It almost feels like Michael has a checklist & he ticks things off as he goes & has to have a full house at the end.
Far too many boring fight descriptions, told step by step. The author would be better to let the reader feel the action. I was also hoping to see more in the way of character development, but other than Whill's brief despair following his torture, there was little else.