Review: Terrific Beginning of a Series!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 6, 2014
Swords of Winter opens with a small group of Malcarians rounding up and slaughtering an entire village of Manakians. The brutal group, believing they have a claim to idyllic Manaki, is the harbinger of a full-scale invasion.Twin brothers, Herth and Tarn, in their blissful ignorance of the situation, go about hunting and fishing in their peaceful, prosperous town, Caldahar.  When they stumble upon a Malcarian scouting party, discussing how they will attack Caldahar in a few weeks, they rush to tell their father, Dezmus, a tavernkeeper. Their father reveals he was once an elite member of the king’s army and he rallies the townspeople to prepare for the coming attack. He trains them with swords, organizes patrols and develops an escape plan.Swords of Winter is a coming-of-age tale about how the lives of two young men change from living the simple, harmonious life, to facing the realities of war.  The strength of the book is undoubtedly the wonderfully detailed character development, not only of Herth and Tarn, but of their family, friends and many of the townspeople.  They are innocents and their personalities are such that the reader is truly engaged with both their physical and emotional struggles. The reader’s involvement and actual liking of the characters is what captivates and holds the attention throughout.I often complain about a lack of  “boy books” for young adults but once again, I’ve come across another one. Swords of Winter, about boys proving themselves to be men in battle, would absolutely appeal to male teens. With a sweet, budding romance between the tongue-tied Tarn and the lovely Elsa, girls would love it too.The book comes to completion, so it really is a series instead of a serial novel. Yet, it dangles the thread of the next story, about the coming war, leaving the reader anticipating the next installment.What I liked:  Engaging dialogue!  The teasing banter is non-stop and quite authentic. I also liked how heart-warming the overall tale is.  The townspeople all need to work together to survive and it turns into a story of kindness and gentleness as the townspeople take care of each other as well.What I didn’t like: This is a fantasy novel.  I was very interested in the fantasy elements such as Lykar, the high priestess with the magical godsense, and the evil in the woods that tore a bear apart and struck terror in the twins’ hearts.  I would have liked to see these developed more, but they were barely mentioned. Also, the part of the book where they were training and learning how to handle a sword was a little bit long, compared to the heart-pounding battle scene.Overall: Four stars for a terrific beginning to what promises to be an excellent series!