Review: A Funny Fantasy!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 16, 2013
Party of Five is a fast-paced fantasy story that held my attention from beginning to end. It is the first in Vasileios Kalampakas's adventure series and a perfect setup for the collection.Parcifal and Lernea are two sisters of nobility forced out of their country by evil opposition. They are spunky, believable heroines and I instantly liked both of them. They are true siblings; arguing over who is technically the oldest (they are twins), having the same thoughts and defending one another. Parcifal is hot-headed, brassy and impulsive. Lernea is logical, innocent yet bold. They both irritate each other and complete one another, which are signs of an authentic relationship.The action really takes off when they encounter Winceham, a thief who snags their possessions. The chase ends in a pungent tavern where they become unintentional participants in a murder. They soon find themselves on a mission for revenge, bringing and gathering a mix match army along the way.Kalampakas' writing style was an interesting choice as it seemed to match the genre and assumed time period. The sentence structure was clean and concise without a lot of repetitive words. He doesn't blurt out the entire story set-up in the first couple of pages so I got to learn about the characters bit by bit, just as I would with a real life person. There were some grammar mistakes but that is common with independently published books.This was the most humorous piece of fantasy literature I have ever read and reminded me quite a bit of The Princess Bride. I literally giggled through parts. I appreciated the authentic language and that it wasn't filled with a lot of flowery language that is irrelevant to the story line. I am really looking forward to the second book!