Title: The Outlaw King (Book 1 of The Line of Kings)
Author: Craig Saunders
Website: www.craigsaundersauthor.blogspot.ca/
My rating: 4.5 Stars
Author: Craig Saunders
Website: www.craigsaundersauthor.blogspot.ca/
My rating: 4.5 Stars
I stumbled upon this book browsing Amazon for fantasy books one night when I found myself at the end of another amazing book. I remember clearly having that feeling of "Wow, what do I do with my life now?" that I get whenever I finish a really good book. Usually I end up half-heartedly reading a short story that doesn't live up to the sheer awesomeness the previous book was. On this particular night, however, things were not about to follow the norm.
Finding The Outlaw King, I settled in thinking it looked interesting enough but still with the dull ache resembling the loss of friend in my heart, I loaded the e-book. Immediately I was drawn in. Transported into a new world, I followed the steps of Tarn, the main character. Us, the readers, get the joy of watching him grow into adulthood, fighting to create his own destiny. I will not outline the entirety of the book as I believe that is for the reader to discover on their own.
A common worry of mine with lesser-known authors is character development and a sense of realism - such as a character staying true to themselves. I find a lot of authors fall into the trap of characters completely changing as opposed to growing, which tends to rip me out of the book. This is not an issue for me with this book. All of the main characters, and a good majority of the minor, were well fleshed out. They have their own unique ways with the exception of a few listed in the minor characters that I'm sure we have not seen the last of yet.
On the subject of characters, the banter between the main character and some of his companions throughout the story had me literally laughing out loud. Do you know how awkward it is to smuggle your e-reader to the dinner table and almost snort a piece of corn out of your nose? Not only that, but to then have your 7 year old reprimand you for reading at the dinner table? I thoroughly enjoyed many of the characters in this book.
The world setting was done very well. I'm not sure if new lands are added in later books, but for this particular book there was enough world building to tell the story it needed to tell with just the right amount of wonder for what lies beyond. The author doesn't spend ages on small details, but wherever the character was in the story, I could picture it and "be there" with ease.
The plot moved forward at a nice and steady pace, I didn't find myself getting bored or tired of any part of the story. The ending quite ramped up in pacing, which is what it should do so that's far from a complaint. During the last few chapters, I forgot my nice fresh hot coffee on the cupboard and didn't think twice about it until I settled in to write this review. No surprise, coffee is cold.
Overall, I strongly feel that this book was written by a person with a strong sense of story telling with a natural born talent. I'm grateful that I ended up with such a great book for my first review. It was a good, solid candidate for 5 stars, but there were numerous errors with spaces at weird spots in the middle of a word all through the book, which brought it down to 4. I'm not sure if it was just a computer error or what, but it wasn't enough to draw me out of the story much.
But wait, you say. It says 4.5 at the top! Yes, indeed. Not a typo folks. See, there's a little glossary that most people skip over/don't bother reading in the back. You will be missing out if you do this. Do not read it before hand, read it at the end. You will not regret it. After the turmoil of emotions raging through me at the ending of the book, this little glossary was enough to settle my heart again.
My one and only regret of getting this book lies with the fact that I will not be able to get the next ones for an undetermined amount of time. However they are high on my list of books I want, nay, need. I look forward to reading more by this particular author!
Finding The Outlaw King, I settled in thinking it looked interesting enough but still with the dull ache resembling the loss of friend in my heart, I loaded the e-book. Immediately I was drawn in. Transported into a new world, I followed the steps of Tarn, the main character. Us, the readers, get the joy of watching him grow into adulthood, fighting to create his own destiny. I will not outline the entirety of the book as I believe that is for the reader to discover on their own.
A common worry of mine with lesser-known authors is character development and a sense of realism - such as a character staying true to themselves. I find a lot of authors fall into the trap of characters completely changing as opposed to growing, which tends to rip me out of the book. This is not an issue for me with this book. All of the main characters, and a good majority of the minor, were well fleshed out. They have their own unique ways with the exception of a few listed in the minor characters that I'm sure we have not seen the last of yet.
On the subject of characters, the banter between the main character and some of his companions throughout the story had me literally laughing out loud. Do you know how awkward it is to smuggle your e-reader to the dinner table and almost snort a piece of corn out of your nose? Not only that, but to then have your 7 year old reprimand you for reading at the dinner table? I thoroughly enjoyed many of the characters in this book.
The world setting was done very well. I'm not sure if new lands are added in later books, but for this particular book there was enough world building to tell the story it needed to tell with just the right amount of wonder for what lies beyond. The author doesn't spend ages on small details, but wherever the character was in the story, I could picture it and "be there" with ease.
The plot moved forward at a nice and steady pace, I didn't find myself getting bored or tired of any part of the story. The ending quite ramped up in pacing, which is what it should do so that's far from a complaint. During the last few chapters, I forgot my nice fresh hot coffee on the cupboard and didn't think twice about it until I settled in to write this review. No surprise, coffee is cold.
Overall, I strongly feel that this book was written by a person with a strong sense of story telling with a natural born talent. I'm grateful that I ended up with such a great book for my first review. It was a good, solid candidate for 5 stars, but there were numerous errors with spaces at weird spots in the middle of a word all through the book, which brought it down to 4. I'm not sure if it was just a computer error or what, but it wasn't enough to draw me out of the story much.
But wait, you say. It says 4.5 at the top! Yes, indeed. Not a typo folks. See, there's a little glossary that most people skip over/don't bother reading in the back. You will be missing out if you do this. Do not read it before hand, read it at the end. You will not regret it. After the turmoil of emotions raging through me at the ending of the book, this little glossary was enough to settle my heart again.
My one and only regret of getting this book lies with the fact that I will not be able to get the next ones for an undetermined amount of time. However they are high on my list of books I want, nay, need. I look forward to reading more by this particular author!
Hi Kay - I just had a read of this - I'm really touched! Thank you so much - it's a great, thoughtful and very kind review. Thank you (PS...the other books are up now! ;)
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