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Jeff Redric

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Stephen King's N.

by Marc Guggenheim (Goodreads Author)

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Jan 07, 2012 11:45PM

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Mathion (Mavonduri Trilogy #1)

by Jeff Shanley (Goodreads Author)

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Jeff Redric said: " This is a book that I both genuinely like and am frustrated by. Because I would really want to end this review on a positive note I am going to talk about its flaws first.
The really big flaw with this book is there is little to no character developm This is a book that I both genuinely like and am frustrated by. Because I would really want to end this review on a positive note I am going to talk about its flaws first.
The really big flaw with this book is there is little to no character development. It comes off as a kind of coming of age story yet you could take the main character from early on and place him at the end and very little would be different.

Several problems in the book are just too easily solved, Mathion the main character possesses a wolfstone. It is an item that basically allows him to annihilate werewolf armies in a blink of an eye. The problem with this is, using the stone is of no consequence, it doesn’t drain energy from him or anything like that. This makes every battle anti-climatic and drawn out for no reason. The Wolven and men will be fighting the werewolves and when they are on the brink of defeat Mathion suddenly remembers he has the power to defeat the enemy single handily. This concept was extremely frustrating and just didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Another example of Mathion forgetting his abilities is when he is captured by the enemy in the black city. He is restrained for quite some time and then suddenly remembers he can summon a sword and daggers (an ability he has had for several centuries) it was just totally unbelievable that he would forget he possessed such powers.

Now for something that is both a positive and a negative. Mathion has genuine depth to its world and its history is both rich and exciting, yet very little of it is explored and none of it is done so in great detail. This really left me unsatisfied as the story continuously moved on in places where I wanted time to hear more about the origins of both the werewolves and the wolven. There was literally tens of thousands of years that I wanted to explore, yet I couldn’t and that left me a little annoyed.

Now allow me to write about the positives of this book. Out of the millions and millions of werewolf stories out there I have never read any quite like this one. Very few others can claim that they have done something original but this author can say it proudly. It is really strange to think about, as far as I know no one has ever written such a rich and deep history for the werewolf.

Is this a very traditional story? Yes but what sets it apart for me compared to so many traditional stories is that it isn’t forgettable. There are small touches the author as put in place that really added a touch of remembrance to this story, such as an unforseen ending. This is the mark of a very talented but inexperienced writer. This book does have its flaws but overall this is a good read and I will be getting myself the sequel. ...more "

Oct 13, 2011 06:48PM · see review