Review: Prequels are tough
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 17, 2013
I'm a big fan of the Chronicles of Lumineia, so I am pretty biased towards these books and the author. I was pleased when I heard that Ben was putting out another book, although I was hoping it would have been about Taryn's further adventures, but I suppose he has earned a rest. Instead, this book tells the hinted at tale of Taryn's parents as they strive to complete a series of tasks that will hopefully allow the world to survive the Second Draeken War, as forseen by Ianna, his mother and Oracle.I think that writing prequels is a difficult task, and you don't have to look farther than the Star Wars prequels to see that this is true. Everything has to be double checked against what has already been spoken, and, since the story wasn't totally written at the time of the original books, it can be difficult to avoid inconsistencies.  For the most part, Ben does a good job at this, and it was a treat to see Ianna and Mazer intersect with so many major and minor characters from the first three books. I thought the Rock Trolls section showed the most inconsistency with what we read in the first three books.  But really, it's not a huge deal.I thought the beginning was a little.. rushed I guess. I don't know what I was expecting, and really, Mazer and Ianna's time before running off is pretty inconsequential.  However, once the story settled down, I really enjoyed it.  The ending really touched me a couple of different times as things were revealed and connections with the other books were made. The Hunter, in particular, is a great storyline which may or may not have generated a tear or two.Ben hints at other events, both in the past and the future, which would be interesting stories, so let's hope he is able to keep this going.I do believe that there would be a good amount lost if this book was read before the trilogy, so I wouldn't recommending reading in chronological order.  However, having completed "The List Unseen", I really want to go back and reread the rest of them.