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Jake Thomas Trilogy #2
Sword of Light
Sword of Light, Book 2 of the Jake Thomas Trilogy, continues Jake's quest to return home.
Dominic and Jonas lead Hailyn, Marcus and Keria out of the demons’ stronghold, carrying Jake, who collapsed after his dramatic display of power. Jonas is stymied on how to heal Jake, but help arrives when Tomaris unexpectedly shows up in Sanduas.
Tomaris informs them that he believes that he has found a way to return Jake to his world – with the Guardian’s sword, an object of great power. When the demons first appeared a thousand years ago, the Guardian had confronted them, but was defeated and the sword lost. Standing in the way of any effort to recover the sword are two seemingly insurmountable obstacles – it is being defended by the demons and its exact location is unknown.
Following obscure clues, Jake, Dominic, and Hailyn go in search for the sword, trying to approach unnoticed by the demons. Jonas, Marcus and Keria remain in Sanduas and are confronted by a growing darkness that threatens the city itself. Lurking in the shadows, the mysterious figure from Creatos’ lair moves to protect the sword and find Jake.
Dominic and Jonas lead Hailyn, Marcus and Keria out of the demons’ stronghold, carrying Jake, who collapsed after his dramatic display of power. Jonas is stymied on how to heal Jake, but help arrives when Tomaris unexpectedly shows up in Sanduas.
Tomaris informs them that he believes that he has found a way to return Jake to his world – with the Guardian’s sword, an object of great power. When the demons first appeared a thousand years ago, the Guardian had confronted them, but was defeated and the sword lost. Standing in the way of any effort to recover the sword are two seemingly insurmountable obstacles – it is being defended by the demons and its exact location is unknown.
Following obscure clues, Jake, Dominic, and Hailyn go in search for the sword, trying to approach unnoticed by the demons. Jonas, Marcus and Keria remain in Sanduas and are confronted by a growing darkness that threatens the city itself. Lurking in the shadows, the mysterious figure from Creatos’ lair moves to protect the sword and find Jake.
332 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 10, 2013
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188 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 26, 2013
Finally he did good the little Jake
October 5, 2013
The descriptions are very good, there are plenty of details allowing the reader to fully imagine the world and follow the story. The details do not go on for too long, and when short descriptions or summaries of conversations will suffice the author uses them and the pacing of the story never suffers due to too long descriptions.
I felt the characters were stronger in this book. They were more fleshed out and had more interesting personalities. Just like the first book in the series, the good characters did suffer from being too nice. They all almost always say nice things to one another, always are prepared to help someone, risk their lives and sacrifice them for anyone even if they have only just met them. By having everyone act like this makes the characters less diverse and interesting. It also makes anyone who does these things less special since you know that everyone acts in the same way.
Likewise all of the evil characters are completely evil, they all enjoy killing, forcing themselves on women, desire power and have little loyalty to those around them. This makes them less interesting and none of the evil people stand out since they all act in the same way. It was also annoying that
Characters also had a tendency to ‘just know’ something and their instincts would always be right. This was hard to believe and wasn’t always the best way for characters to solve a problem or know what to do next.
The first half of the book had plenty of story, plot and character development, but there was virtually no action. There were some tense scenes which could have led to action but these never turned out that way. It would have been nice to have seen Dominic’s part of the story at this point as this would have provided some much needed excitement.
The last part of the book was perhaps a little heavy in action. There are still some character and plot scenes but the vast majority of them were action based. Some of them were too similar to each other and I found myself suffering from ‘battle fatigue’ and wanting something a little more diverse and thought provoking.
The religious element is again strong, it is not overpowering but it is usually present.
There was more originality in this book compared to the first one. It is by no means an original story but it didn’t suffer as badly as the first one. We also get to see more of the world and cultures adding more interesting things and originality to the book.
The romance part is nice, it is not a large part of the story allowing a reader to enjoy the book if they are not interested in this sort of thing, but it is believable, people feelings are realistic and it is developed well.
All three main storylines were well written and interesting, and I found myself simultaneously wanting to read the current POV and to switch to one of the others as they were all so good.
Just like the first book the dialogue was incorrectly punctuated, most of the time this was just annoying and distracting, and would pull me out of the story, but sometimes it made it hard to follow who was speaking.
There was some swearing, violent scenes and references to sexual content, mostly implications or threats of rape (although no details are given), making this book unsuitable for younger readers. It is probably aimed at a young adult audience rather than middle-grade.
In full disclosure I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I felt the characters were stronger in this book. They were more fleshed out and had more interesting personalities. Just like the first book in the series, the good characters did suffer from being too nice. They all almost always say nice things to one another, always are prepared to help someone, risk their lives and sacrifice them for anyone even if they have only just met them. By having everyone act like this makes the characters less diverse and interesting. It also makes anyone who does these things less special since you know that everyone acts in the same way.
Likewise all of the evil characters are completely evil, they all enjoy killing, forcing themselves on women, desire power and have little loyalty to those around them. This makes them less interesting and none of the evil people stand out since they all act in the same way. It was also annoying that
Characters also had a tendency to ‘just know’ something and their instincts would always be right. This was hard to believe and wasn’t always the best way for characters to solve a problem or know what to do next.
The first half of the book had plenty of story, plot and character development, but there was virtually no action. There were some tense scenes which could have led to action but these never turned out that way. It would have been nice to have seen Dominic’s part of the story at this point as this would have provided some much needed excitement.
The last part of the book was perhaps a little heavy in action. There are still some character and plot scenes but the vast majority of them were action based. Some of them were too similar to each other and I found myself suffering from ‘battle fatigue’ and wanting something a little more diverse and thought provoking.
The religious element is again strong, it is not overpowering but it is usually present.
There was more originality in this book compared to the first one. It is by no means an original story but it didn’t suffer as badly as the first one. We also get to see more of the world and cultures adding more interesting things and originality to the book.
The romance part is nice, it is not a large part of the story allowing a reader to enjoy the book if they are not interested in this sort of thing, but it is believable, people feelings are realistic and it is developed well.
All three main storylines were well written and interesting, and I found myself simultaneously wanting to read the current POV and to switch to one of the others as they were all so good.
Just like the first book the dialogue was incorrectly punctuated, most of the time this was just annoying and distracting, and would pull me out of the story, but sometimes it made it hard to follow who was speaking.
There was some swearing, violent scenes and references to sexual content, mostly implications or threats of rape (although no details are given), making this book unsuitable for younger readers. It is probably aimed at a young adult audience rather than middle-grade.
In full disclosure I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
June 25, 2013
I struggled a bit reading the first book in this series, A World Apart. I liked it, but occasionally it bored. I found Jake to be annoyingly immature sometimes, but he does grow throughout the book, so I guess it's to be expected. Fortunately I didn't have the same problem this time. In Sword of Light, things really start to pick up the pace.
At the end of A World Apart, the princess is rescued, but Jake is down for the count. When we pick up again in Sword of Light, things aren't looking much better for Jake, but he has plenty of allies willing to do just about anything to get him back on his feet.
As they head back to the capital, the political intrigue starts. And soon the team is split up and headed for all corners of the world in search of the artifacts that just might rid them of the demons forever.
I very much appreciate that Steven A. Tolle is subtle in his religion. I may be a Christian, but that doesn't mean that I enjoy being bashed over the head with it. I don't imagine anybody could be offended with Tolle's religion, Christian-influenced or not. What a nice change to not read a fantasy novel (with an important religious component) that's not a platform for the author's beliefs.
Finally, I am so glad that toward the end Jake is no longer a hormone-drenched idiot around girls. Boys... They amuse me so. The scene between Jake and toward the end is just so sweet. "A rough, damp blanket on muddy ground, with the horses only a few paces away, is not how I pictured my first time." Yeah, me neither. You go, girl.
[I received this book for free through First Reads and was not required to write a positive or any other type of review. All opinions stated herein are solely my own.]
At the end of A World Apart, the princess is rescued, but Jake is down for the count. When we pick up again in Sword of Light, things aren't looking much better for Jake, but he has plenty of allies willing to do just about anything to get him back on his feet.
As they head back to the capital, the political intrigue starts. And soon the team is split up and headed for all corners of the world in search of the artifacts that just might rid them of the demons forever.
I very much appreciate that Steven A. Tolle is subtle in his religion. I may be a Christian, but that doesn't mean that I enjoy being bashed over the head with it. I don't imagine anybody could be offended with Tolle's religion, Christian-influenced or not. What a nice change to not read a fantasy novel (with an important religious component) that's not a platform for the author's beliefs.
Finally, I am so glad that toward the end Jake is no longer a hormone-drenched idiot around girls. Boys... They amuse me so. The scene between Jake and toward the end is just so sweet. "A rough, damp blanket on muddy ground, with the horses only a few paces away, is not how I pictured my first time." Yeah, me neither. You go, girl.
[I received this book for free through First Reads and was not required to write a positive or any other type of review. All opinions stated herein are solely my own.]
June 3, 2014
The story evolves nicely, though the telling is again rudimentary. The characters become more complex, while the plot unfolds into Light v. Darkness.
I really want Steven A. Tolle to let his hair down in bk 3.
I really want Steven A. Tolle to let his hair down in bk 3.
June 28, 2014
You want to root for the hero and yet conflicted about where he should end up. Great story!
November 19, 2018
Yay! Now I wanna read the last one :)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews