Review: A wonderful debut!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 12, 2013
Living in the village of Caldahar in Manaki, where they had resided all their lives, twins brothers Herth and Tarn were surrounded by their father Dezmus and mother Nadarn, plus the other village families. Theirs was a peaceful existence, working hard in their various duties, hunting for food to see them through the winter months while others worked as blacksmiths, farmers and fishermen. Dezmus ran the Amberly along with his wife and the boys, and the inn was a dwelling place which drew the villagers to it at the end of a hard day.Caldahar nestled in the foothills of the Birrimans, a huge mountain range which provided a lot of their game. The Gardel waters ran along the edge of the village where the villagers fished and frolicked. But the day a stranger arrived in their midst was the day their lives were destined to change forever. For this stranger brought word of a war which was raging far away, and was heading their way; the Malcarians were a force to be reckoned with and it appeared they were taking no prisoners.Dezmus realized his duty in an instant – with the village men all at the Amberly, discussion began on the choices they faced. And the choices were not going to be easy; the whole village was facing death – could they prepare to fight in the short time they had? These peaceful villagers who hadn’t faced a fight before, would they be able to dig deep to find the courage they needed to protect the village they loved, to protect their families?What an amazing debut! I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction between the two boys, the bickering which is normal between siblings plus the intense but terrifying journey of their young lives. The early days before the threat of war shook their existence was great, as I got to know the characters well, learning about their lives and loves – the fact that Herth had an insatiable appetite was amusing.I would like to thank the author (who is made up of best friends Luke Jessop and Garrett Streater from WA) for my copy of this book to read and review, and I have no hesitation in highly recommending this great tale.