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The Stobrimore Chronicles #1
The Beginning
After losing his parents at an early age, Jack Stobrimore was raised by his grandfather, Artemis.
Artemis loved to tell fantasy stories of a world of magic, filled with heroes and villains, epic quests, dragons, fairies, elves and beastfolk of every sort, almost as much as Jack loved hearing them. As Jack grew up, he never grew out of hearing the seemingly neverending number of stories that Artemis told him.
One fateful day, Jack receives a letter from Artemis, hinting at a new quest for him to take. This quest leads Jack to discover some long hidden family secrets, along with the unexpected accidental discovery of a portal that would take him to the world he thought existed only in the stories he grew up hearing.
With this discovery, Jack soon learns that the fantasy stories he grew up listening to are actually far more real than he ever imagined, and his role in the stories to come is only beginning.
“The Stobrimore Chronicles - The Beginning” is the first in an ongoing fantasy novel series following the adventures of Jack Stobrimore, who, after discovering a mysterious portal on his grandfather's property, finds himself in a parallel world filled with elves, fairies, magic, beastfolk, dragons and an ever-growing collection of unique individuals and experiences that he will not soon forget.
Artemis loved to tell fantasy stories of a world of magic, filled with heroes and villains, epic quests, dragons, fairies, elves and beastfolk of every sort, almost as much as Jack loved hearing them. As Jack grew up, he never grew out of hearing the seemingly neverending number of stories that Artemis told him.
One fateful day, Jack receives a letter from Artemis, hinting at a new quest for him to take. This quest leads Jack to discover some long hidden family secrets, along with the unexpected accidental discovery of a portal that would take him to the world he thought existed only in the stories he grew up hearing.
With this discovery, Jack soon learns that the fantasy stories he grew up listening to are actually far more real than he ever imagined, and his role in the stories to come is only beginning.
“The Stobrimore Chronicles - The Beginning” is the first in an ongoing fantasy novel series following the adventures of Jack Stobrimore, who, after discovering a mysterious portal on his grandfather's property, finds himself in a parallel world filled with elves, fairies, magic, beastfolk, dragons and an ever-growing collection of unique individuals and experiences that he will not soon forget.
444 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 13, 2026
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 2, 2025
The Stobrimore Chronicles: The Beginning is a scarcely enjoyable high fantasy novel I feel would be more suited for a younger audience or for new readers of the fantasy genre, at best.
Once again, we deal with another forgettable, flat, and one-dimensional tale that seems to be content to just punch all the boxes of what fantasy writing should include.
PLOT
When Jack returns from his last mission before retiring from military service, he receives a small package in the mail from his grandfather Artemis. Inside, he finds a smaller package and an envelope. In the envelope there's a letter from his grandfather, who used to tell him stories, when he was young, of far and enchanted realms. The letter explains the content of the small package: two sets of keys. The first set is for the house in the hills where he grew up. The second set of keys is to a small cupboard in the basement. Inside that cupboard he will find a small chest containing “some things of interest.”
When Jack leaves the army he goes back to the house in the hills and, following the instructions left by his grandfather, he reaches a cave/temple gate which is a portal to another world where elves, beastfolk, and dragons are real, just like in the stories grampa Artemis used to tell him.
Jack will discover to have immense magic powers, that he is of royal blood, and that even the beautiful elf princess Lia can't resist his awesomeness.
And that leads me to the characters.
CHARACTERS
Most characters here have the personality of a plank of wood.
Jack. Well let's just call him ‘Mr. Perfect’ since that's what he's presented as: he's kind, courageous, possesses more magic powers than anyone else, is of royal blood, and gets to marry the hot elf princess. The point that his parents died when he was young never gets explored or never seem to have any impact on the narrative, which I found odd.
And speaking of the princess, Lia is another walking cliché: she's beautiful yet humble, gentle yet fierce in battle and she says all the right things at the right times. She comes off as being ‘programmed’ to speak and act a certain way but we never get to know her other than—well, she's both beautiful and fierce.
Her parents, the elf king and queen, are as generic as they come. For instance, when the king meets Jack (who by now is his daughter's biggest suitor) he seems to be only interested in seeing a display of his great magic powers. It all comes off as very shallow and paints the king, frankly, as a nitwit. I would expect the king to have a breathtaking, private conversation with Jack, setting up boundaries and expectations if he even wants to be in the same room as the princess. But no—the king would rather see magic tricks instead (sigh.)
The only character that offered even a hint of redeeming qualities was Crescia, the female humanoid feline who plays the role of Her Highness’s personal attendant. She's cute, she's fluffy, she is curious to learn about things that are foreign to her world. I wouldn't mind reading a story with Crescia as the MC, honestly. More Crescia, please.
MAGIC WORLD THAT DOESN'T FEEL MAGIC
One of the things that I find very frustrating in modern fantasy is the lack of imagination. Magic worlds and magic creatures that don't feel all that magic. For example, the elves in this story feel like average human beings with pointy ears. So much so that, in one scene, Jack covers his ears with his hood, and only when he lowers the hood he gets recognized as a human. To me that takes away the mystery and the ‘ethereal’ element creatures like the elves should evoke.
One of the two types of dragons depicted here also feels very irrelevant as these dragons act and behave just like horses with wings. They are docile, they enjoy being pet and being fed little treats… again, horses with wings. Same with all the other magical creatures we encounter—they all feel very human and very ordinary. Too human and ordinary, for my taste.
This includes also the villains who belong to the evil army which is called (I'm not kidding) the Dark Army.
We learn that “for the last two hundred and fifty years, the Vedyrian Kingdom has been at war with the Dark Army. The ruler of the Dark Army is known only as the Great Demon Emperor. His true name has been lost to history. All that is known is that he was a Grand Mage who became so consumed by dark magic that he turned into a being so evil that words still don’t exist to properly describe him.”
Everything about the Great Demon Emperor is one big cliché, and frankly there is nothing memorable or frightening about him and his dialogue is absolutely atrocious.
CONCLUSIONS
One of the most ‘memorable’ moments in the book is this battle speech that sounds as if the author watched hero speeches and said “I'll have some of that.” There's no character voice, it's direct and lacks subtext, either through dialogue or gesture. It's stock and there's no escalation. Here is part of it:
“This war against the Dark Army has gone on for far too long. We have all lost friends and loved ones. They have spread through this land like a plague. Today, we shall ensure that they spread no further. Today is the day we all say, No more!” said Alivair. “No more!” shouted all of the soldiers in unison. “No more!” shouted Alivair. “No more!” shouted all of the soldiers.”
And as I reached the last page of the book, I too felt like I wanted to yell from the top of my lungs:
“NO MORE!”
💜
Once again, we deal with another forgettable, flat, and one-dimensional tale that seems to be content to just punch all the boxes of what fantasy writing should include.
PLOT
When Jack returns from his last mission before retiring from military service, he receives a small package in the mail from his grandfather Artemis. Inside, he finds a smaller package and an envelope. In the envelope there's a letter from his grandfather, who used to tell him stories, when he was young, of far and enchanted realms. The letter explains the content of the small package: two sets of keys. The first set is for the house in the hills where he grew up. The second set of keys is to a small cupboard in the basement. Inside that cupboard he will find a small chest containing “some things of interest.”
When Jack leaves the army he goes back to the house in the hills and, following the instructions left by his grandfather, he reaches a cave/temple gate which is a portal to another world where elves, beastfolk, and dragons are real, just like in the stories grampa Artemis used to tell him.
Jack will discover to have immense magic powers, that he is of royal blood, and that even the beautiful elf princess Lia can't resist his awesomeness.
And that leads me to the characters.
CHARACTERS
Most characters here have the personality of a plank of wood.
Jack. Well let's just call him ‘Mr. Perfect’ since that's what he's presented as: he's kind, courageous, possesses more magic powers than anyone else, is of royal blood, and gets to marry the hot elf princess. The point that his parents died when he was young never gets explored or never seem to have any impact on the narrative, which I found odd.
And speaking of the princess, Lia is another walking cliché: she's beautiful yet humble, gentle yet fierce in battle and she says all the right things at the right times. She comes off as being ‘programmed’ to speak and act a certain way but we never get to know her other than—well, she's both beautiful and fierce.
Her parents, the elf king and queen, are as generic as they come. For instance, when the king meets Jack (who by now is his daughter's biggest suitor) he seems to be only interested in seeing a display of his great magic powers. It all comes off as very shallow and paints the king, frankly, as a nitwit. I would expect the king to have a breathtaking, private conversation with Jack, setting up boundaries and expectations if he even wants to be in the same room as the princess. But no—the king would rather see magic tricks instead (sigh.)
The only character that offered even a hint of redeeming qualities was Crescia, the female humanoid feline who plays the role of Her Highness’s personal attendant. She's cute, she's fluffy, she is curious to learn about things that are foreign to her world. I wouldn't mind reading a story with Crescia as the MC, honestly. More Crescia, please.
MAGIC WORLD THAT DOESN'T FEEL MAGIC
One of the things that I find very frustrating in modern fantasy is the lack of imagination. Magic worlds and magic creatures that don't feel all that magic. For example, the elves in this story feel like average human beings with pointy ears. So much so that, in one scene, Jack covers his ears with his hood, and only when he lowers the hood he gets recognized as a human. To me that takes away the mystery and the ‘ethereal’ element creatures like the elves should evoke.
One of the two types of dragons depicted here also feels very irrelevant as these dragons act and behave just like horses with wings. They are docile, they enjoy being pet and being fed little treats… again, horses with wings. Same with all the other magical creatures we encounter—they all feel very human and very ordinary. Too human and ordinary, for my taste.
This includes also the villains who belong to the evil army which is called (I'm not kidding) the Dark Army.
We learn that “for the last two hundred and fifty years, the Vedyrian Kingdom has been at war with the Dark Army. The ruler of the Dark Army is known only as the Great Demon Emperor. His true name has been lost to history. All that is known is that he was a Grand Mage who became so consumed by dark magic that he turned into a being so evil that words still don’t exist to properly describe him.”
Everything about the Great Demon Emperor is one big cliché, and frankly there is nothing memorable or frightening about him and his dialogue is absolutely atrocious.
CONCLUSIONS
One of the most ‘memorable’ moments in the book is this battle speech that sounds as if the author watched hero speeches and said “I'll have some of that.” There's no character voice, it's direct and lacks subtext, either through dialogue or gesture. It's stock and there's no escalation. Here is part of it:
“This war against the Dark Army has gone on for far too long. We have all lost friends and loved ones. They have spread through this land like a plague. Today, we shall ensure that they spread no further. Today is the day we all say, No more!” said Alivair. “No more!” shouted all of the soldiers in unison. “No more!” shouted Alivair. “No more!” shouted all of the soldiers.”
And as I reached the last page of the book, I too felt like I wanted to yell from the top of my lungs:
“NO MORE!”
💜
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review