Unleashed

by Ramon Terrell

In the bone-chilling spring, spice trades are lucrative and exhausting, and Emiel Dharr wants nothing more than to come home to a hot meal and his beloved daughters. But when he returns to an empty home and a note detailing his daughters’ kidnapping, Emiel travels beside an aggressive mercenary and a mysterious Magus to the imposing city of Altarra to free them.
Beside unfriendly companions, Emiel fights for his life and the lives of his daughters, and discovers a terrifying power lurking inside him.
Monsters at his back, war and uncertainty ahead, across darkening lands and hostile terrain trolled by vicious predators, nothing will stop Emiel from reaching his destination before the power inside destroys him.

Genres: Fantasy

468 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 16, 2014

About the author

I have two addictions: Books, video games, and potatoes, (okay, that's three) but they are all well managed. *grin*

I am a writer who loves to write, and thinks about writing when I am not writing. When I am writing, the world around me fades into a dim background. :)

A native of Carson, California, I have found my love in Vancouver, BC and don't plan on leaving. :)

Reviews

[Keelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was introduced to Ramón Terrell through his recent Kickstarter for the release of his newest book, Shadowlancer. His Kickstarter came to my attention through the recommendation of Dan Wells and Brandon Sanderson so I felt confident that I would enjoy Ramón’s books and picked up Unleashed and a few of his other books. I was not disappointed.

The first half of the book was a bit slower - I was happy and excited to read it, but wasn’t telling myself “just one more chapter” before going to bed at night. About half way through that changed and it became much more difficult to put the book down to go and do other things.

I really enjoyed most of the characters, and there’s a good balance between understanding the characters but not quite knowing their motivations which helped me remain interested in chapters from their views even when I would rather be reading about another character.

I’m looking forward to the next book in the series and seeing how the adventure continues.

[Ben Kreucher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The setting was interesting, the plot intriguing, and the pacing gripping. However it had grammatical errors and missing words that made it more difficult to read at times... though they much just have been my version not sure.
None of the plot points end or even resolve... well maybe one. By the end of the book, it just feels like the author wanted to stop to hit a deadline or word count. I understand that it's part of a series but a bit better wrap up would have been nice... for me anyway.

[Joshua Harkey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Upon finishing I think it's likely I'll pick up the sequel. It was a fun and easy read for the most part. The pacing was great and the balance of POVs well done. I like the characters and I'd like to spend some more time with them.

Unfortunately I found the book a bit underwhelming, and I find most of my crystalized thoughts are about the reasons why. I don't think I've ever made a comment about this, but the number of typos in the book was wild. It's not something that especially bothers me, but I couldn't shake how strange it was. At the end of the day it kind of just feels like a surface level symptom of the quality. The world and magic are not especially inspired. The story didn't give me a very good sense of how everything is situated, and the included map seems like it must have only been an early draft because nothing ever really fit right. I never really did understand why a journey across civilization had to involve so much backcountry travel across lands infested with monsters and other fantastical beings. (How has the spice trader never seen all these, because supposedly he travels and they seem to be everywhere?) The various monsters themselves are strangely eclectic. None of the cultures seem especially unique or interesting except for the Khatala, and we don't see much of that culture after it's introduction. The magic is an uninspired elemental sort that doesn't become much more interesting than how it is presented early on. The characters, as much as I generally liked them, all kind of felt rather flat with little growth (aside from their inevitable increased skill with magic). I had my fingers crossed that the ending would impress, but it was just the book's usual brand of action and largely ended with a cliffhanger.

As critical as I'm being here, if I had the next book on my shelf I'd pick it up next. That's rarely something I find myself feeling when I give out a 3-star rating. It looks like 7 years passed between publications, so perhaps Ramón will show some growth as well.

[Paula Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unleashed by Ramon Terrell is a wonderfully crafted fantasy. The main character is Emiel, a spice trader. Emiel is blackmailed into "delivering" a package due the fact that his twin daughters have been kidnapped. What Emiel is unaware of is that he contains powers that he has not even the slight hint of having. Along his journey, with his mercenary companion, he encounters many strange and dangerous creatures.

Unknown to Emiel, his daughters are discovering their own powers which appear to be very strong. They are going to rescue their father.

Fantasy isn't my primary genre, but I throughly enjoyed Unleashed. I am looking forward to book 2 to find the answers to my unanswered questions.

I honestly believe that one of the reasons I enjoyed Unleashed so much is that...... the mind that created the numerous people, creatures and story has to be very deep and interesting.