William D. Burt

Loved this action filled YA fantasy read from Wm Burt. Debut of the series of 7 books, it sets a positive tone as it captivates the reader with one adventure after another...

Rolin and his father, Gannon, live a quiet life in their log cabin set in a mountainside forest. Rolin's mother has died, leaving father and son to manage life on their own. Their lives are spent as beekeepers, providing for their own needs as well as supplying their local village. On one such trip to sell their products, Rolin is accosted for the pendant he is wearing - an unexpected find from a forgotten old box in their dusty cellar - heritage from his mother and grandmother.

Rolin's real life adventures begin from there, taking us along with him to mythological lands and meeting fantastical creatures of other worlds. Rolin meets and makes new friends who aid in the understanding of an ancient prophecy, battle of a fiendish foe and his evil army, and journey to the Isle of Luralin to discover the Tree of Life and the King of Trees who cares about them every step of the journey ~ including their newly found 'wings' of flight!

I enjoyed getting to know the characters. the glossary included at the end of the book was invaluable in helping identify unfamiliar names and meanings for this unique world of our young protagonist.

Definitely a recommended read! Thank you for writing and sharing your imaginative worlds with us, Bill! It was certainly an enjoyable summer armchair adventure!

… (més)

Christian fantasy. The first half of the book was really good - great writing and I really got to care about the characters. Unfortunately the writing lost some of its tightness in the second half, resulting in stilted conversations and awkward jumps from scene to scene. Really a shame, because I enjoyed the plot and found it very interesting.

I think the author would have benefited from not having the King of the Trees reference the Bible quite as much though. The same effect could have been achieved without the direct quotes, as the allegory was sufficiently obvious, so they seemed unnecessary and threw me out of the story, as he started sounding like he was in fact quoting, rather than talking himself.

Had those two points been handled better in editing, I would have considered this a great book, because the story itself really drew me in, and made me want to learn more about the universe and the characters. Seeing as this is the author's debut novel, I think it's reasonable to hope that these weaknesses will disappear in later books in the series.… (més)