Review: The Blacksmith's Daughter Review
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 27, 2012
There is nothing like an easy read. By easy in the case of the Blacksmith's Daughter, I don't mean lack of complexity or too often retold a tale. I mean Arley Cole's ability to take complex ideas and bring them to a simple explanation as she does repeatedly, and very well in this book! At first crack of reading this spin on a fantasy rags to riches tale, or well, worker ant to queen-bee of a humble sort, I came to expect the same take on wizards, warriors, and damsels who are either overly independent, or are a mere blip, a nod per say. I was instead pleasantly surprised to find a complex heroine, toughened by hard work and life experience, a new view on what it is to be a wizard; this one neither all powerful nor immune to greed, and a male protagonist equal to the task of taking on our strong heroine, but with his own thoughts on what it is to have stewardship of a kingdom. Without giving away details, I found the read stimulating enough for this seasoned reader of sci-fi and high fantasy, yet fair game for the person new to the genre, or mid-grade to young adult reader. The only part to make me pause was that I'd like to see  more tightly crafted ending, woven into the tale rather than as an epilog--well, that and I quite simply hated to see it end, period. There is hope however as it hints at a sequel! All in all an excellent, well put together story that flows easily from the start and carries through. I highly recommend the Blacksmith's daughter for a summer E-read.