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Proud Fox
Elazar son of Darizar, the urbane, handsome, and charming Prince of Ushir, is building mud huts in the middle of nowhere. And he loves it. Chief Lucan has welcomed him into the Caledon with open arms and, civilised bathing aside, Elazar is quite content to stay there. This may be influenced by the wild and fair Almha, who seems to find him as intriguing as he finds her. But trouble brews back in Ushir. The new Gaian Emperor has a civil war to fight, and the son of King Darizar may be a valuable ally. Or a useful hostage. Elazar’s happy life among the Caledon may soon come to an end as duty calls and danger threatens, and contentment must be set aside. But, a man must love his fate.
686 pages, Paperback
First published December 7, 2020
4 people want to read
About the author
J.P. Harker
8 books26 followersI often see author profiles that talk about being lifelong storytellers and coming up with wild ideas since they were kids. It'd be nice to say that of me, but that's not how it went.
When I was about eighteen a friend asked me, out of the blue, to help write some stories for a comic book he was working on and, while it never came to anything, trying it made me realise this was something I enjoyed.
I then spent many years intermittently trying to write books and short stories, none of which were particularly good and most of which were pretty half-hearted.
In 2014 I decided to have a proper go of it and wrote a massive tome that was far too long and bulky to publish, but which at least had the makings of a decent book. I hacked at it, abandoned it, came back to it again, abandoned it again etc, and eventually came up with my first fantasy novel.
Since then I've been writing and learning as I go along. 7 books out so far - hopefully there will be many more to follow, and each one better than the last.
Happy reading - share and enjoy!
PS - Cymru am Byth!
When I was about eighteen a friend asked me, out of the blue, to help write some stories for a comic book he was working on and, while it never came to anything, trying it made me realise this was something I enjoyed.
I then spent many years intermittently trying to write books and short stories, none of which were particularly good and most of which were pretty half-hearted.
In 2014 I decided to have a proper go of it and wrote a massive tome that was far too long and bulky to publish, but which at least had the makings of a decent book. I hacked at it, abandoned it, came back to it again, abandoned it again etc, and eventually came up with my first fantasy novel.
Since then I've been writing and learning as I go along. 7 books out so far - hopefully there will be many more to follow, and each one better than the last.
Happy reading - share and enjoy!
PS - Cymru am Byth!
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 3, 2021
Review to come (aka once I collect my gushy, AHHHHH thoughts and put them into something coherent), but just know that I loved this and you should all read this series.
Moving on to the review:
Proud Fox is the fourth installment of the Caledon Saga and may be my favorite yet (though Leaping Wolf is also up there!). The beginning of the book is a little slower, by which I mean it's not heavy on the battle scenes. This allows us to learn more about the politics and really sets us up for the next arc of the series. We expand from more local matters with setting up the Caledon and dealing with the Gaians to the wider world. We get some happy, lovely moments here (of which I was deeply suspicious). There are also some epic battle scenes! JP Harker really excels at writing these, so they're always such a delight to read. I consistently wanted to keep reading to figure out what was going on!
One of the hallmarks of this series is the extremely shocking moments that come up. Cat and I were able to formulate more correct theories this time around, perhaps because we're now fully immersed in this world. That being said, there were still several jaw-dropping moments that I definitely didn't anticipate. But even with the things we got right, it's still immensely satisfying to be able to guess correctly! The ending was also fantastic - it was not at all what I expected, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
I really enjoyed the new setting of Ushir here! It's very interesting to see what the rest of the world thinks of the Caledon. I also liked seeing our characters adapt to this new setting, especially with learning what does and does not work with their battle formations. We also get some new characters here! While we've seen Elazar before, we get to learn much more about him. We're also introduced to Kalian, a Dariniae Gadarim (an elite warrior), who seems like a very intelligent and strong woman. We also get members of Elazar's family, some of whom are more likeable than others. I definitely want to see more of Zaida! Of course, we also have some returning characters, so it was great to see them develop even more.
Overall, I had such a great time with this book! There are definitely some questions I have about what will happen next, so I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment of this series.
Moving on to the review:
Proud Fox is the fourth installment of the Caledon Saga and may be my favorite yet (though Leaping Wolf is also up there!). The beginning of the book is a little slower, by which I mean it's not heavy on the battle scenes. This allows us to learn more about the politics and really sets us up for the next arc of the series. We expand from more local matters with setting up the Caledon and dealing with the Gaians to the wider world. We get some happy, lovely moments here (of which I was deeply suspicious). There are also some epic battle scenes! JP Harker really excels at writing these, so they're always such a delight to read. I consistently wanted to keep reading to figure out what was going on!
One of the hallmarks of this series is the extremely shocking moments that come up. Cat and I were able to formulate more correct theories this time around, perhaps because we're now fully immersed in this world. That being said, there were still several jaw-dropping moments that I definitely didn't anticipate. But even with the things we got right, it's still immensely satisfying to be able to guess correctly! The ending was also fantastic - it was not at all what I expected, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
I really enjoyed the new setting of Ushir here! It's very interesting to see what the rest of the world thinks of the Caledon. I also liked seeing our characters adapt to this new setting, especially with learning what does and does not work with their battle formations. We also get some new characters here! While we've seen Elazar before, we get to learn much more about him. We're also introduced to Kalian, a Dariniae Gadarim (an elite warrior), who seems like a very intelligent and strong woman. We also get members of Elazar's family, some of whom are more likeable than others. I definitely want to see more of Zaida! Of course, we also have some returning characters, so it was great to see them develop even more.
Overall, I had such a great time with this book! There are definitely some questions I have about what will happen next, so I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment of this series.
February 8, 2021
This was a fantastic continuation to the Caledon Saga that had everything you could ask for. There were so many great characters and perspectives as well as interesting settings and cultures as the story expands into the wider world. It was so fun to see characters we know facing completely new styles of politics and warfare.
I was definitely suspicious of the happiness from the beginning of the book, as I know from previous books that the characters I love are never safe, and the second half of the book was a perfect balance with really interesting battles (as well as shock and sadness).
This was such an enjoyable read and the surprises and twists in this book left me speechless (also I definitely teared up at the end). I'm just sad to have to wait for the next book (but I think that just gives me an excuse to reread the series before the next book comes out).
I was definitely suspicious of the happiness from the beginning of the book, as I know from previous books that the characters I love are never safe, and the second half of the book was a perfect balance with really interesting battles (as well as shock and sadness).
This was such an enjoyable read and the surprises and twists in this book left me speechless (also I definitely teared up at the end). I'm just sad to have to wait for the next book (but I think that just gives me an excuse to reread the series before the next book comes out).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews