Review: Two worlds brilliantly fused together to create one great adventure
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 14, 2014
One of the things that frustrate me about other book series is when the author waits until the end to make the story interesting and fill it up with brilliant plot twists and adventure, while two-thirds of the book is spent establishing characters and have them do mundane things. Fortunately, I didn’t experience that with Seal of the King by Ralph Smith. Smith immediately jumps into adventure within the first few chapters, immediately hooking the readers and keeping their attention well into the end of the book.The book opens with David and Aurora in their respective worlds, contemplating about each other’s existence, how both believed that the other existed but have never actually, physically met. Until someone threw a ball of fire at Aurora and somehow David felt the singe of heat on his arm. And the events continue to unfold to have them finally meet each, when the worlds they knew and loved were in the brink of a great war. David, who lived in the modern world, was simply mystified at how strong Aurora is as a warrior. And Aurora, who always felt like she didn’t believe in marriage and had no interest in it, suddenly found herself amazed with the man she wasn’t sure existed in the first place.I also appreciate that Smith was able to write in a way that lets the reader drink in David’s fascination with Aurora when he finally saw her in person for the first time. “For a split second, he drank in her grace and beauty,” is the perfect line to sum up how David felt after years of frustration and doubt.From the initial meeting of David and Aurora, to figuring out how and what they meant to each other, to finding themselves in the middle of a great battle and figuring out to survive it—let alone win it, the story escalates quickly but sensibly. Smith doesn’t waste unnecessary words and elements that have nothing to do with the development of the story, and ends the book with the best possible hook ever.