It's Bonus Book Review Saturday--a sign that I managed to fit a bit of extra reading time into my busy schedule! Today, we're going hardcore high fantasy with a classic tale of "good" vs. "evil"…

Kragan

Prince Damon competed with his younger brother Prince Tabor to be crown prince, but Tabor bested him in the final contest. Thereafter, Damon feels his life has no meaning until stunning Beth rides into his life fleeing the great trauma of her life. Fate is not done with Damon who is forced to overcome self-pity to become the person he was meant to be. Their world is threatened with destruction as the vast barbarian horde, the Argore, suddenly invade the lowlands from their mountain realm. Damon, shackled with doubts, strives to become that better man, trying to win the love of Beth, but her disdain and personal focus on revenge thwart him time after time. Is it him she rejects? Does her heart belong to another?

My Review: 3.5 Stars

I wanted to give this book a good review, as it looked like a fascinating read. Let's start with the good: Loved the world! Solid world building, and the author knows how to convey a decent sense of the surroundings, background, setting, etc. Good characters. Perhaps a bit TOO flawed in some cases, but they were well-written. Could have used a bit more fleshing out, though. Now for the bad: Grammar and writing iffy. A lot of writing that seemed very "beginner". Simple mistakes like passive sentences, poor punctuation, and a LOT of "telling". Conversations and descriptions jerky. The dialogue either came off as too crisp or "perfect" for it to be the way real people speak, or else it was a bit stilted or jerky. A lack of realism. A few examples include: 1) the women becoming "perfectly curved" through their hard training, rather than solid and blocky; 2) battle scenes are unrealistic--how many people pause in the middle of a fight for the "champions" to duel; 3) battles didn't really take a toll on the heroes, only the villains; 4) the bad guys assault a city, but without the use of siege weapons; 5) the heroes become masters with swords in a matter of six months to a year. I feel like the book would have been better divided into two, with more time spent developing the characters and more focus on making the action scenes really pack a punch. The battle scenes could have been dramatic and intense, but instead, many of them came across like a battle scene from a history book.

About the Author

Dennis K. Hausker is retired since 2003 from the insurance industry. He started publishing books post-retirement writing mostly epic fantasy. There are double digit books on the market currently including anthologies as a contributing author. His wife, a retired teacher, is called a 'warm and fuzzy' for children she taught. Born to be a teacher, she was exceptional in her job. Both are graduates of the Michigan State University, love to travel, and possibly have passed through your hometown, wherever that might be. Denny is a sports fanatic for MSU teams and goes to every bowl game. Denny is also a part-time financial consultant. He loves to write unique stories with flawed characters, difficult plot twists, shocking turns of events, and a plethora of emotions, shaking the reader like rag dolls. If you're not exhausted traveling this road, it will be surprising. Find his book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kragan-Dennis-K-Hausker-ebook/dp/B00KCBRDRU Connect with him on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dennis.hausker