Review: A real surprise from what seemed a slow start.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 8, 2012
I hesitate to give this book the five star rating, but I do so because it has true quality, especially towards the end, and AJ deserves to have this read and recognized, if not for the book itself then at least for the clear potential displayed therein. The book starts off... well for those of us who have read dozens of the... bargain bin fantasy books, there are several warning signs of a new writer. While she did well in not trying to drown the reader in information, a VERY common mistake of enthusiastic but amateur writers, it was a little obvious, and lacked the polish a more experienced writer might have brought to the table. She also skimps a little on characterization and detail in her enthusiasm to avoid that mistake and maintain the mystery of the plot and the characters' individual stories and secrets. A little more inter-character interaction and more detailed dialogue early on would have guaranteed this book a spot on my "Best quick reads ever" list, but still the writing is clear and there are no plot wholes or bad editorial mistakes early on to make me put it down. After the introduction of the essential, "hero's companions", characters however, it becomes very clear that she is hitting her stride. The interactions begin to become vastly more detailed, subtle hints bout the world around the story that put her earlier attempts at mystery to shame begin to dot the dialogue, and, more importantly, we begin to KNOW the characters. Her characterization improves dramatically a fourth of the way through the book, and the plot begins to gain speed as well as AJ continues her world building. While I was able to unravel the "surprises" by the 1/3-1/2 mark, the plot twists were impressive in their own right, and anyone less familiar with the genre will enjoy them quite a bit. Unfortunately this book DOES feel like a new authors book. The world building BEGS for more attention, because what is there is so good, and the lack of knowledge about the larger forces at work, not even mentioning the ending of the novel, practically forces the reader to expect a sequel or at least another  book set in this world by the 2/3 mark. All of these things however, merely point to one thing that did suprise me at the end of the piece. I wanted more, and I wanted it right then. The writing had managaed to pull me in, no small feat at this point,and for that, I salute Ms.Searle and encourage any and all readers of fantasy, or even introspectively oriented bibliophiles, to pick up this particular piece of work and join me in waiting for her to flesh out her potential and hopefully take Fantasy's portion of the literary world by storm. :)