Review: Didn't make sense to me
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 01 3, 2014
The writing was fine and I didn't notice a lot of editing issues.  The plot was original and had real promise.  But I just couldn't enjoy the book as I thought the actions by the characters weren't logical.  Major spoilers follow: the first thing that set me off is why such a small contingent of warriors was sent to fight the demons (who basically took over a whole country) and why the supposed prince wasn't allowed to brief them or at least go with them (despite the queen hinting at when they would leave).  It seems to me that without the prince stowing away on the ship, the small group of warriors would have been killed at sea by the octopus-like creature before ever getting to the kingdom. They then would have been killed on the beach, near the forest, etc etc.  This group was completely naive and unprepared for their mission.  They would have been killed again in the throne room (had the coup not already been planned by the natives).  I couldn't understand why the lead mage didn't tell anyone his plan for reestablishing the barrier (of course he dies and they have to figure it out themselves).The author claims he wants to write about strong female characters that his daughters can look up to. I would not want my daughter to read this book.  A female warrior and the "prince" become romantically involved and appear to love each other, but she sleeps with another female because she feels sorry for her. This seems to make sense to the "prince" so he lets it go.  I may be a prude, but I think there are other ways to console someone than sleep with them (I'm sure my wife would not like it if I slept with someone else because they were depressed).  Then later the 2 females and "prince" have a 3-way with the prince ending up with the depressed female while the warrior female goes home.  I just could not follow this relationship logically and wouldn't recommend the book for younger readers.Anyway, I also thought the book was too descriptive in places and became boring, but some readers enjoy that type of writing. I will not be continuing the series.