Review: Great read with a nice touch of fantasy, action and sardonic wit
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 13, 2012
Although the story's setting resemble an apocalyptic Earth, there wasn't all that much focus on it.The story is told in the third person POV of Dave ( an apparently normal guy with a little magical talent), Ellen (Duchess and ruler of Minneapolis), and Larsen (ruler of Carness). When Dave saves a wandering priest, he is thrust into one mess after another which forces him to reevaluate exactly what kind of person he is. War is never an easy thing and the book explores the "difference between a good thing and the right thing".I absolutely adored this book. The characters were fleshed out very well. I found a lot of the side characters to be very likeable. The minute Dave started talking, I knew he was going to be my favorite character. He went through more character development than any one else. Dave's sardonic wit made me chuckle even when they were in the midst of battle. Another thing I enjoyed is that the author stayed clear away from notable cliches. In a fight, winning and losing don't mean as much as surviving.As much as I enjoyed the book, I felt a little put out by the ending. There was this big final battle and this and that happened and we're all eagerly flipping pages to see what happens...and then it ends with a brief epilogue. It was simply so abrupt that I didn't have any big response to it beyond a "that's it?". In addition, a character that I liked died offscreen (offpage?) and another important one was implied to have died. I was left feeling more confused than anything.Overall, the book was written very well and was a pleasure to read. I love how the characters interact with each other and with their own inner doubts and flaws. I would recommend this to any adult fantasy reader whose looking for a bit of wit in their reading and not too picky.This book was won in a giveaway in return for an honest review