Review: A hauntingly beautiful story of knights, magic and Arthurian legends
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 24, 2010
The Forest of Adventure sets the stage with an ominous and foreboding preface. And while the tone appears at first dark and menacing, as the story unfolds the reader will discover that The Forest of Adventure is first and foremost a love story."From the very first moment of time, I loved you."Author Katie John has created a tale that weaves together the lives of a modern day heroine, Mina Singer, with a Knight of The Realm from the time of King Arthur, Blake Beldevier. And though the story speaks of Arthurian legends, Merlin and times of sorcery and magic, it is not mired in the weighty details typically used to create medieval tales, reading more like a fairytale.The Forest of Adventure is set in the modern day, with elements of fantasy just hinted at early on, only coming to the forefront midway through the story. The pace is unhurried, allowing the author to reveal the details in wonderfully descriptive, poetic and often achingly beautiful passages.Blake's eyes lingered on mine, his pupils a yawning darkness on the edge of which I stood with a desperate temptation to fall.While the story flows fluidly with such detail, it becomes a bit unclear during the brief transition as Mina begins to fully embrace the people of The Realm, leaving behind her modern day life. And while we know Blake to be chivalrous, honorable, living his life abiding by a code, it is at times difficult to get insight into Mina's character, her feelings about the events that have altered her life and her motivations.The Forest of Adventures ends with a question and a series of adventures on the horizon. The second book in the trilogy, Immortal, will hopefully provide the answers and continue the quest.A note to readers: In its eBook format, the story has not been adapted for an American audience so readers should expect alternate spelling and punctuation as well as certain "Britishims" - such as classes being referred to as "lessons" and secondary school/high school being referred to as "college."