The Legend of the Three Roses

by Jason Hubbard

Four years ago, the Son of Man returned to Earth, seemingly to begin a new age of enlightenment. But two years later, he vanished without a trace ...

Today, nineteen-year-old Kane Bailey--a nobleman and sorcerer's apprentice--works and studies in his master's tower in the middle of his nation's capital. In spite of making a few mistakes (such as nearly blowing up a spellchamber), he shows the potential of being a great magician. But his dreams of working with magic come to a sudden end when he gets in the middle of a plot to assassinate the King.

Upon getting captured by the assassin, Kane starts tumbling down a road fraught with lofty ambitions, terrible greed, and maddening bloodlust. Cut off from his magic talents, he'll need to rely on his wits and knowledge to survive, as well as the trust and friendship of a young woman who may be taking on more than she can handle.

And a question What are the "Three Roses," and what do they have to do with the impending war?

Genres: Fantasy

603 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2017

About the author

Born in 1980 and raised in Johnstown, PA, Jason Hubbard started writing a still-unfinished novel at 14 years of age. After moving to Las Vegas in 2000, he started writing again, starting with "The Seeing Glass," and eventually getting to "The Taming of Adam" series.

Jason was once inspired by an interview with a Star Trek screenwriter who said, "Good sci fi has to be about something," meaning it has to have a special message and not just be entertaining. He works that philosophy into my own writing, making stories that make you think about your own life without being too irritatingly preachy.

The "Taming of Adam" series is a great example of this, being about a young man who starts out extremely antisocial but ends up opening his heart a little to life's boundless possibilities. It's a serious story that's not without humor, a tense drama that ends with rollicking adventure.

There's also "The Legend of the Three Roses," a fantasy crime thriller with a strong yet complicated female protagonist.

Reviews

[Theresa Wade · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by Jason Hubbard and the firs tin the series. I found this to be a very enjoyable book to read. For the most part it kept me entertained and focus on the story. There were a few spots where the book got a little boring or became confusing. There were also times where the religious conversation was repeated.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

***THIS BOOK WAS RECEIVED FROM A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY***

After reading plenty of sub-par independent authors recently, I was pleasantly surprised to have the opportunity to read The Legend of the Three Roses by Jason Hubbard. With a slick cover and good chapter header graphics, the book looks good, but how does it read? I’m a stickler for proofreading, and I found maybe one or two errors in the entire manuscript. Again, good so far. There were a few confusing spots near the end that could have used either chapter or scene breaks, but overall, the book was solid. What made me truly enjoy reading The Legend of the Three Roses were the characters.

I can forgive a lot if the story is engaging, but if I find the characters annoying or illogical, I’ll usually force myself through. This book was not the case, as it had both an immersive story and setting, as well as excellent characters, even to the point where minor characters who only showed up in a chapter or two (or even a brief section) felt well-developed and intriguing. Concerning the main characters, there was plenty of growth for each of the main protagonists, which succeeded in not only showing the hero’s journey but also the harsh realities of living in a country at war.

I haven’t read too much fantasy, but I did find the representation of a war fought with ground troops and magic to be pretty realistic to how I would imagine it would happen. Unfortunately, one of the few weaknesses in this book is its fusion of modern ideologies and topics with the fantasy setting. While this made the characters easy to understand, it all felt somewhat out of place. Furthermore, while I initially thought this book was pro-Christianity, the tarnishing of the main character’s innocence, as well as the inclusion of many religious hypocrites painted Christianity in a negative light. Plus, it would have been nice going in to know how much sex was included, both implied and gratuitous. Still, by the unconcluded ending, I did want to keep reading. Hopefully, the second book continues to be well-written.

An enjoyable fantasy with a realistic war setting and engaging characters, I give The Legend of the Three Roses 4.0 stars out of 5.

     

For more reviews of books and movies like this, please visit www.benjamin-m-weilert.com

[Emerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Legend of the Three Roses is a dark epic fantasy tale by author Jason Hubbard. The story is set the fantasy land of Consaria and follows alchemists apprentice Kane. The story is exciting with a country on the verge of war, assassination attempts, kidnapping, and betrayal. Kane is taken into a mysterious world full of danger and adventure where he must seek the mythical three roses to save himself and his world. The story is gripping as you journey with Kane in the fantastical world that Hubbard has created. I felt pulled into the story from the beginning with the beautiful and descriptive language of the prologue and the unique and intriguing introduction to the central character through a list of strange magical ingredients. With this strong start, the book’s exciting adventure and intense and ominous feelings of approaching war give the book an engaging feeling from beginning to end that made the book hard to put down.
The biggest strength in this book for me was in its characters. While the story is unique and exciting, the book also follows the classic form of a hero’s journey and the group of companions that undertake it. Not only did I find that the central characters in the book have depth with interesting backstories, skills, and characteristics as well as great growth throughout the story, but the characters also have interesting relationships creating trusting friendships that are integral for the story as well as enemies, trust given to those that don’t deserve it, and mistrust.
The book nicely balances the exhilarating adventure with the intriguing mysteries throughout the book. It is clear that Hubbard intended this book to raise questions and discussions around theology, philosophy, and war. Woven well into the story, I think that Hubbard was successful, and it adds an interesting layer to the reading. I particularly liked the realism that was used in writing about a land on the brink of war and the mental state that impending danger and horror can leave on people.
The book is not a short read, but it is very worth it to get the full immersive world and characters that Hubbard has created and the thrilling story that they embark upon. As an avid reader of epic fantasy, I found this story to be full of the magic, creative world-building, complicated politics, beings, and mysteries that make me love the genre. The book to me felt unique and refreshing to read. I immensely enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it to those that love epic fantasy stories. I looked forward to seeing more from this author. A five-star book!

[Mellissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book, can't wait for part 2.

[J.A. Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Legend of the Three Roses by Jason Hubbard is the first installment in the series. This book was an interesting read. I liked the concept of the book, but I believe it could have been better executed. The religious talk seemed repetitive and eventually just got annoying, the characters were meh, and the storyline kind of fell flat on and off. I didn’t find myself interested in the book until around the nineteenth chapter, maybe a little later. I love to read, but I didn’t mind putting this book down and coming to it days later. The writing itself was well done as was the verbiage from that time-period. I also thought the details of war and the description of that time-period were well done, but sometimes things that didn’t matter were detailed and it felt like the author was just trying to fill in the chapter.
The story starts with Kane Bailey, an alchemists apprentice, practicing a spell. Later King Hugo comes to visit the man that is teaching Kane and Kane overhears some of their conversation on accident. Just a small portion of their conversation, but what sticks out the most to him is “The Three Roses.” There is an assassination attempt made on the king's life while he’s visiting and things just go downhill from there for Kane. Callie is the attempted assassin who turns into Kane’s captor when things take a bad turn on her assassination attempt. Later Kane takes the information that he overheard from King Hugo and he attempts to bargain for his life with it. In doing so things just continue to take a turn for the worse, eventually, that information leads to Kane almost being executed for treason.
One of the things that REALLY annoyed me about this book was that there was such a fuss made by King Hugo over someone speaking about “The Three Roses” and the characters kept talking about finding out about what “The Three Roses” really are, but it played very little part in the book. There was an execution because of them, there was an argument between Kane and his father over Kane speaking about them, Kane attempted once to learn about them from a friend, but that was literally all there was regarding them. The book is titled “The Legend of the Three Roses” so I thought we would hear a legend of some kind behind them at least once, but speculation, guessing and a tattoo on Jonah is all there was regarding them. Only one person knows what they are and he played a small part in the book and gave no information on them. I found the whole thing regarding the roses to be frustrating.
As for the characters… My favorite characters were Jonah and Dan. The main character, Kane, was wimpy, whiney and kind of annoying at times. I didn’t feel like his character grew at all except for him learning how to handle a sword and being able to tolerate taking a green potion. Callie was the main female character and I really wanted to like her, but I found myself thinking that she was immature and she always leapt before thinking, which her teacher scolded her about before his death. She never changed that part of herself though, she never developed. As for Jonah, there was one point where I thought he was secretly Micah, the son of God. People speculate and assume that Micah is being held a prisoner in King Hugo’s castle or that he gave up on them after he saw that they weren’t worth saving. Jonah doesn’t have many memories and he’s mentally a child in a man's body so I considered that maybe he is Micah who possibly got severely injured, a head wound perhaps, or he’s Micah who is pretending and hiding out at a farm in the hopes that King Hugo won’t find him. Eventually I dismissed those thoughts, but either way, I loved his character. Dan was sweet and smart, quick on his feet, thief and rebel turned good, but forced back into the game because of selfish Callie. I wish things would have turned out better for him :/ Jackal is one of the main villains (aside from King Hugo) and I didn’t care for his character at all. I felt like the author kind of threw him together. He’s rude, vicious, mentally unstable and a professional assassin, but that’s all he is. He’s a very boring character who I rolled my eyes at multiple times. King Hugo was just a jerk and I can’t wait until he finally gets killed at some point in the series.
Overall the book was good, but I probably wouldn’t recommend it to others. There were times when the adventure was fun and I found myself enjoying it and then there were times when I debated finishing the book. Three out of five stars for me.

[Kelly Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kane is the son of a baron, one of the privileged nobility naive to the ways of the regular Consarian citizen. Callie, on the other hand, has been raised in one of the city’s notorious clans, taught to fight and steal as a livelihood. They cross paths when Kane becomes Callie’s hostage during her unsuccessful assasination attempt on King Hugo- itself part of a larger plan to stop a seemingly meaningless war. As the two slowly move toward something akin to friendship, their lives are forever altered as they face constant danger and hope to learn what, or who, the “Three Roses” might be.
This is the setting for “The Legend of the Three Roses”, the first in a series by Jason Hubbard. Although there are quite a few characters introduced throughout its ample pages, Kane and Callie remain the constants and most definitely the most important. Kane has lived his life knowing he’s a disappointment to his father because of his physical weakness and interest in magic. His lack of self confidence and constant self doubt seems to be his most defining features. Kane’s encounter and subsequent imprisonment by Callie, and her partner Dan, expose him to more challenging situations that he has ever imagined before, and inexplicably help him to grow up. On the other side of the coin, Callie comes off as confident almost to a fault, coming up with plans on the fly as things fall apart around them. Hubbard exhibits several strengths in his writing, most notably his character development. Kane, Callie, and everyone else that we meet, for however brief a time, are all writing extremely well. Their backstories reveal themselves gradually, without feeling forced, and Hubbard doesn’t resort to creating things out of character for the sake of convenience. Kane and Callie’s friendship also evolves naturally, as they slowly realize they may have more in common than they first believed. They also bond over their mutual interest in the Three Roses, a phrase uttered by King Hugo and overheard by Kane just before the king is attacked. It quickly becomes clear that whatever that are, they’re insanely valuable and could be instrumental in stopping the useless war the king wants to start. Hubbard also does well with pacing throughout the book. For the bulk of its nearly 600 pages, things move along smoothly, only dragging on a couple times in the last third before picking up again and steamrolling to the cliffhanger of an ending.
The theme of perseverance is consistent throughout the book, with both Kane and Callie repeatedly finding themselves in situations where they have to try just a little bit harder, and for just a little bit longer. It fits in well with the subtle undercurrent of faith and spirituality established by Kane’s strong beliefs in the teachings of Micah, a character who is essentially Jesus.
I’d give “The Legend of the Three Roses” 4 out of 5 stars for having extremely well written characters in a consistently engaging story. There is a wonderful balance between action and character development, with a little bit of mystery thrown is as well, and although it does begin to slow toward the end, it doesn’t deter the reader from getting there. Hubbard has set an excellent foundation here for what should be an amazing series!

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jason Hubbard’s ‘The Legend of The Three Roses’ is attention-grabbing right from the start. The few characters, unique lot and author’s love for details when narrating are some of the things that made the book an interesting read. We are introduced to Jeremy Justin Tucson, the mayor of Kiliman’s Crossing, a town. The town was protected by a legion of men trained by City Guard. Kiliman’s Crossing was right at the center of the kingdom of Consaria. The mayor ensured that his town was secure. Jeremy seemed like a decent man, given his main priority was to make Kiliman’s Crossing a safe haven for the people. The mayor traveled to meet The Jackal. It is comical how the author named the characters given some of the names represented their traits.
The Jackal was an assassin. Jeremy and his assistant traveled across the woods to meet the assassin as the mayor wanted King Hugo to be murdered. His reason for doing this was to stop the possibility of the country going to war. Kane Bailey is a 19-year-old apprentice to a sorcerer. It is funny that even with his flaws, one could see the energy and potential the sorcerer had. Kane is at some point captured by the assassin. He suddenly changes and becomes this person that is patronizing, condescending and over-ambitious. Kane became greedy and developed an extreme desire to kill. Kane no longer had links with sorcery,With this new situation, Kane is made to alter how he lives. His condition forces him to be sharper, more knowledgable and clever.
Kane gets to be miixed in a web of mess he had not foreseen. Being taken hostage by the assassin was not in Kane’s plan. This part of the book was, however, necessary because by being kidnapped by the Jackal, Kane got the opportunity to go look for the three roses. Both Kane Bailey’s adventure and the mayor’s adventure were thrilling to read. The author writes in a way that makes one yearn for more. Every chapter has something that the reader enjoys. There are also religious undertones in the book, which gave me a different view as I read on. The religious takes bring out the theological and spiritual discussions that are engaging. ‘The Legend of the Three Roses’ is a fantastic read that will be loved by readers who enjoy fantasy.
The book is a great addition in adult fiction and epic fantasy. I appreciate how the author tried to portray each character differently. The character development in the book is commendable. It was amazing how some characters turned from being among the favorites at the start of the book to being villains. The plot twists, humor, explicit scenes, suspense, and adventure are some of the factors that made me enjoy this book. The author’s brilliance can be seen in his engagement and how he wrote the plot. At no point does a reader feel lost in the book.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a novel that is guaranteed to grab your attention and keep it throughout the entire book, look no further than The Legend of the Three Roses by Jason Hubbard. One of the first things that you need to know about this story is that it is an adventurous one and is full of twists and turns that most readers find interesting. The Legend of the Three Roses combines action with fantasy and mystery to deliver you a story like you have never read before.

I am all for stories that keep you on the edge of your seat, the ones that are so action packed that you can’t wait to turn the page. The Legend of Three roses is not as action packed as I would like, but it is still a great action story. Many times action based stories lose sight of the bigger picture; they tend to leave out little details that many avid readers enjoy. Jason Hubbard is not one of those writers. In his novel The Legend of Three Roses Jason provides a lot of those little details in the way of the setting and the background. In reading is words you can also imagine you are there. Jason Hubbard also pays a lot of attention to character development. Although there were a few characters that I really wanted to know more about.

In reading the story The Legend of the Three Roses you get to learn about a town named Consaria. This town is deep in conflict with the Lonsarans, so deep that they are actually on the brink of war. The story starts out with Jeremy and Gregory traveling through the woods to meet with an assassin known as The Jackal. Jeremy is the mayor of Kiliman’s Crossing which is a town in the middle of the kingdom of Consaria and Gregory is his assistant. In meeting with the Jackal, Jeremy hopes to have King Hugo assassinated in an attempt to stop the country from going to war.

The Legend of the Three Roses then moves forward and introduces to you a new character, Kane bailey. Kane is a 19 year old apprentice to a sorcerer who despite several mistakes is showing great potential for the future. The problem is Kane Bailey ends up getting caught up in things he wasn’t prepared for. As the Jackal takes him hostage in an attempt to ransom him off, but things don’t go quite as planned. Kane Bailey ends up going on quite the adventure in his search for the “Three Roses.”

One thing to watch out for is this book is geared more towards adults, as it has quite a few explicit scenes. The book was still enjoyable to read and leaves you wanting more at the end. If you want to find out more about what happens to the kingdom and what Kane Baileys actual role is you need to pick up a copy. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Legend of the Three Roses by Jason Hubbard is a hefty fantasy novel. This book follows a young mage named Kane. Kane is working his way up as an apprentice to become a sorcerer when his life is turned upside down one night. He is suddenly in the middle of an assassination attempt on the King’s life. This night spirals into a series of life-changing events and near death experiences. The would-be king slayer is the root to all of Kane’s troubles getting him into one scrape after another. All while trying to understand what The Three Roses are.

I liked this book. It started out really slow with the prologue but then picked back up. The tone of the book changed frequently. It some parts it seemed as if it was a middle-grade book, but then it would quickly change to dark and adult. While it did not take away from the enjoyment of the book overall, it was a bit jarring in the beginning. The Legend of the Three Roses is also more unique than some fantasy books I have read. The way that magic is portrayed, how basically anyone can have it with a drink of a potion, was something interesting. I also liked how it was portrayed as something that can poison a person if not approached with caution. Wars were also more interesting in this because of the heavy elements of magic. I am not fond of war scenes in books personally, but I found these scenes to be thrilling and captivating. These scenes were actually some of my favorites in the book.

As I said, some of the book was slow, but then it would pick back up. I think this may just be a normal element to a longer book to build anticipation. There are some dark and gruesome scenes that I would like to caution some readers by. It may be off-putting to some. I did not find them to be too disturbing, but they can be a bit graphic and bloody. What I was surprised the most about with this book is one of the villains. I could not see a shred of humanity in this person, and I found that to be an interesting element to have to a character who is written as a bad guy. Their part of the book has me intrigued, and I want more of this character in the next book because I have to know how and what happened with him.

The heroes, in this book are not like other heroes who are typically strong, smart, and powerful. They get by through heaps amount of luck at times, and I found it to be more anticipatory and fun to read in that sense. They were truly the underdogs who got out by chance. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes low fantasy books. The elements of fantasy were not too fantastic in this, but it is the first in a series!

[Diana Levit · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The Legend of Three Roses’ is an incredibly vivid and atmospheric piece, that is somewhat reminiscent of The Lord of The Rings. The author does an amazing job portraying the deference between the classes and carefully crafting the medieval aura throughout the narrative. Kings, knights, mages and thieves – the story has it all, yet the book is far from being a fairy-tale.
The writer is prompt to equip his characters with strong language, so making them more realistic and credible. Moreover, the swearwords are the tool writer uses to illustrate the psychological growth one of the main characters – Kane – is going through. The reader can witness first-hand how shy and indecisive Lord is gradually becoming more and more confident, while more and more strong language attributes appear in his lexicon.
Although the book is full of dramatic and at time even heart-breaking moments, the writer does an incredibly good job making the piece easy to read, constantly spicing chapters with little jokes and funny moments. By doing this the writer is arguably saying ‘No matter how hard situation is, there are always bright moments to be found.
I also admired author’s efforts in creating a discussion around the meaning of Bible and how many people are trying to twist it’s meaning so it would benefit them. I almost wish the writer would dedicate more time describing the son of God and his journey. Hopefully he will do so in the fallowing books.
The only thing I disliked about the book was the story-telling pace. More than a half of the book is dedicated to events, happening within 2 weeks’ time. And then, all of a sudden, the writer is trying to fit a 4 months period of events in the remaining 40% of the piece. As a result, the second part of the book seems much weaker and with some things appearing to be out of sense.
Perhaps due to the lack of space, the second part of book often has a change of the character perspective in the middle of the chapter. Although this action is arguably is aimed at creating more anticipation, I personally find this move extremely confusing, since those changes are too sudden, with no indicators suggesting the perspective has changed.
Perhaps I would suggest the author to not rush the narrative as much as he did, leaving some parts of the events described at the end for the second book, but I really enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the sequel!

[Molly E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Legend of Three Roses is a fun, adventurous thrill with elements of action, mystery, and fantasy. The setting feels medieval but with a modern flavor added in character dialogue. Consaria is a town in conflict and on the verge of war with the Lonsarans. The sense of this war permeates everything and is a reminder of the current times in which we live where war is already waging, and the threat of more war feels ever present.
The king is preparing to send the towns young to fight a war and not everyone in the town feels this is a good plan. A thwarted assassination attempt leaves the young hero of our story out of the comforts of his alchemist training. As the sole heir of a family fortune, he appears as good bait for a ransom kidnapping. It turns out his captors are wrong, but he is taken into a secret world and on an epic and often dangerous adventure searching for the elusive and mysterious Three Roses. Poor Kane goes through much in this book but to the benefit of making this an exciting and dynamic story.
There are so many wonderful creative elements to this story. The author creates a religious philosophy, drawing heavily from Christianity, that permeates his lead character and often guides his actions and words. The magic element is interesting and presented in such a “realistic” way rather than overly mystical and mysterious. Although there is definitely a feudal vibe in this story, the characters, relationships and dialogue have a modern feeling. For me, this made the story more relatable while still providing a thorough amount of fantasy elements.
There is a lot of action in this story but also a good deal of background, setting, and character development. Hubbard’s writing is smooth and smart without proving challenging to read. I worked through this story quickly and was kept entertained and interested throughout. There is not a lot of down time or paragraphs spent on flowery descriptions. The details of this world and its inhabitants are woven carefully in to the story, so it feels very organic.
Overall, a highly enjoyable, interesting and fun story. This is not the most intense read and at times I wanted a bit more depth with some of the characters, but the overall tone felt consistent. This book has appeal to a large audience due to great characters, interesting storyline, and outstanding and original details.

[Moná · Rating 4 out of 5]

An action-packed adventure mixed with magical elements truly gives this novel a place in the science fiction category. Involving the King of Consaria and a quest of the Three Roses has lead one individual caught in between it all, Kane Bailey, the son of Lord Callahan Bailey, owner of the Bailey Estate. The world of such chaos and dishonesty can only be experienced beyond Master Cypher’s tower in St. Mannington, but within them, Kane was safely perfecting his craft in alchemy. In “The Legend of the Three Roses,” author Jason Hubbard showcases his amazing wordsmith skills by this well-written novel for his readers. Following along with Kane as his life went from living in the nation’s capital tower to being held hostage for an excessive ransom. Instead of getting the coins to support his freedom, along with his captors to seek out these Three Roses, as overheard by King Hugo himself.

Imagine being captured, then when you think you’re one step closer to freedom, you get captured again. This has been the unfortunate fate of Kane, being held against his will by Callie, the thief who attempted an assassination on the king while staying in Master Cypher’s castle. All is left is to find this spoken Three Roses because “if the king wants to find it, it must be valuable”. This book offers a sense of sadness as a lot of average people being conscripted for a war against Consaria’s neighbor, Lonsaran. By reading, you’ll understand what an individual is willing to do to get their hands on something valuable to the king. One thing that stood out, was quoted scriptures from “The Holy Book” and teachings by Micah, adding a level of religious views despite the number of crimes and sins committed.

I’ve enjoyed this novel, it provided enough action, feeling as if you’re amongst the characters. It allowed me to delve into an adventurous ride, seeing through the eyes of Kane Bailey. With the number one question, what is the legend of the Three Roses? I highly recommend everyone to read this and learn what it is for yourself. Overall, my reading experience has been nothing but phenomenal. I’ve read several books from Mr. Hubbard in the past and he never fails to amaze me. I look forward to reading the rest of this trilogy, along with many more books by this author.

[Sarah Nantais · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epic fantasy stories have the ability to build worlds like none have ever seen before. This is the case in The Legend of the Three Roses by Jason Hubbard. While there are modern influences in the story that can detract from an ‘authentic’ experience of a fantasy story set in the medieval ages, it instead adds to the relatability of the tale and the ease at which the characters can infiltrate a reader’s life; like these were the tales of old friends from afar. Our protagonist, Kane, is very much like a youth from today. Apprenticing as a sorcerer the young man tends to find himself caught up in situations that he is not prepared for, which is not unlike what young men and women deal with today.
There can be some strong Christian undertones which can be off-putting to some readers. Whether or not the author intended for this comparison to be made is undetermined, but it was noticeable enough. It doesn’t detract from the story itself, but it does provide conflict when the scenes of sexual experiences crop up along the way. There’s nothing wrong with a good sex scene, and these are not over-exaggerated or wasteful. Put together in the same story with such a, seemingly, Christian message can be difficult to swallow. It’s unclear if Christianity is meant to be a positive or a negative in the eyes of the writer, which can also detract from the overall impression of the book.
While it is long, there is nothing wasteful about the writing. Every character is carefully crafted and meticulously put into the story for a purpose. Things can get a bit overwhelming and confusing once you reach closer to the end of the book, but that is par for the course in epic fantasy telling’s like this. This is the first of two books. This is important to note because if the second book is a thick as this one, readers will want to ensure they pace themselves properly and not get overwhelmed. The chapter breaks make it easy to compartmentalize, but they also make it difficult when you reach the end of the story and it feels a bit rushed.
Those who enjoy the epic fantasy-adventure tale would do well to pick up a copy of Jason Hubbard’s The Legend of the Three Roses. While it’s size may be intimidating, the story contained within the many pages will be worth your while.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars. A middle school to 'tween book with magic and religious overtones. Not my kind of book. Read 32%.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit to religious for my tastes. Not bad but not my cup of tea.

[Kerrie]

Fantasy is a new genre for me. I tend to stay away from books that have a lot of action and fighting, but this book really pulled me in due to the characters and the magical feeling. Not only is this an incredible story, but it’s also an interesting lesson in religion and beliefs. We get to see how people who lived in a different reality would understand religion and how magic could coexist with religion. It was really cool to see these two things mingle.

The story starts out years ago, when the son of man returned to earth, in which he was going to start over anew and being enlightenment to the world. As we move forward a couple of years, we meet Kane, who is an apprentice. He wants to be a sorcerer and practices all of the time to make his dreams come true. This dream soon comes to an end when he is caught in the middle of a scandal involving the king.

This eventually leads to a war, in which Kane finds himself in the midst of, with out being able to use his magic. This is the first book in a new series by Jason Hubbard and it really makes for an intense and purposeful read. I enjoyed the characters in this book, as well as the way that the war and magic were displayed. Both seemed logical, in a way that made sense to me, rather than being so fantastical that I couldn’t make sense of it.

Often times in books like this, the author explores he world too much and forgets to make the characters concrete and have dimension, but Hubbard didn’t do that. He creates the characters and although the world isn’t built much yet, I’m assuming that will happen in future books in the series. It didn’t bother me, Id much rather read about the intricacies of someone’s life than a bunch of world building that I may not care about yet. I really found the description of the attempted assassination on the king to be clever and dark.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and will most likely continue on with the series. It also makes me want to see what else this author has written and to check out more fantasy novels. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, it’s a long book but the reading goes quick as the story pulls you in from the first chapter.