Book Review: The Kings Scrolls

     Following the harrowing events that brought them to Landale Forest, Jace and Kyrin have settled comfortably into their new lives and the mission of protecting those under the emperor's persecution. The fast approach of winter brings with it the anticipation of a quiet few months ahead. That is until the arrival of four mysterious, dragon-riding cretes who seek aid in a mission of great importance--not only to their own people, but to all followers of Elôm.

Hidden in the vast mining valley north of Valcré, a faithful crete has spent years sharing his knowledge with the destitute miners and their families and is known to possess what may be Arcacia's last surviving copies of the King's Scrolls--the Word of Elôm. Joining the cretes, those in Landale must find the crete teacher and bring him to safety, but it is a race against time. Should Daican's men find him first, execution and the destruction of the Scrolls is certain.

When disaster strikes, all seems lost. Could Elôm have a plan even in the enemy's triumph?

My Thoughts

     After anxiously awaiting the arrival of The Kings Scrolls for months It was quite a jubilant moment when I started Chapter 1. And I must say, it did justice to my high expectations.

     The characters development was done just as well as in the first book. And the new characters fit in beautifully. I was glad that Knight brought in the cretes, learning about their culture brought more excitement to the book. And well their dragons....they were just awesome. I mean who doesn't like a beautiful, flying, fire breathing reptile?

      The growing relationship between the main characters was so sweet and natural. It wasn't forced, you could see it growing. It was done beautifully and in my opinion the very best aspect of the book.

     The story line surprised me around every corner. I would think I could predict what was going to happen, but boy was I wrong. In the midst of my gleeful pride at 'knowing' what was going to take place it would suddenly take a very different turn. I did this over and over again throughout the book. And though a few of my guesses were right most were wrong. This is something I really love in a book. In my opinion it means that the author has done their job, create a story with many layers. One that is not black and white. A story where you are in constant anticipation at what is going to happen next. In many books I have read my guesses are almost always correct. And although it makes me feel super smart, I don't like it. But with Jaye's writing it was different. It kept surprising me. A thing that not many books can do for me. It was incredibly well done.

      Personally I felt that there to much of Kyrin for my taste. Although I admit that circumstances in some ways necessitated that. Also I may be just a bit biased. For although I love Kyrin's character, I am in love with Jace's character.

      Over all I say well done! I can't wait to read the upcoming novella that Jaye is putting out as well as her next book, Samara's Perils!

       

Book Review: Resistance

“Don’t you know? Animals like you have no soul.”

Could God ever love a half-blood all of society looks upon with such fear and disdain? Jace once believed so, but when a tragic loss shatters the only peace he’s ever known, his faith crumbles as the nagging doubts he’s tried to put behind him descend on his grieving heart. With them come the haunting memories of the bloodstained past he longs to forget, but can never escape.

Taken from home at a young age and raised to serve the emperor, Kyrin Altair lives every day under a dangerous pretense of loyalty. After her unique observation skills and perfect memory place her into direct service to the emperor, Kyrin finds herself in further jeopardy as it becomes increasingly difficult to hide her belief in Elôm, the one true God.

Following the emperor’s declaration to enforce the worship of false gods under the penalty of death, many lives are endangered. But there are those willing to risk everything to take a stand and offer aid to the persecuted. With their lives traveling paths they never could have imagined, Jace and Kyrin must fight to overcome their own fears and conflicts with society as they become part of the resistance.

My Thoughts:

      When this book first came out I was THRILLED. I had read all of Jaye's previous works and was ecstatic to start her next series. In my first sit in with the book I read nearly half of it. It's intriguing plot drawing me in. 

      One of the things I really appreciated in this book was how Jaye took the time to develop her characters properly. In some books I've read, or even in things I've written, there is a large lack of proper development in characters. But for Resistance it wasn't so. Knight took plenty of time to change and mold them; it was done extremely well. The personalities of the characters were great. In many books I end up enjoying secondary characters much more than the main character. But in this book it was quite different.The main characters-especially the male lead-grabbed me. They were people who I connected to deeply. The secondary characters were done beautifully as well and filled in the gaps. Villains....ah, the pride and joy of many writers. It is really very hard to have a functional story line without a proper antagonist.Without a well done antagonist to spur your story along its hard to have a proper and enjoyable protagonist. But in this case there was no need to fear! The antagonists were done wonderfully; they were the perfect villains for this story. And thankfully there weren't any of the usual cliches when it came to these villains. Bravo!

     Plot wise it was a little slow for me at first; but this is understandable considering Knight is setting up a six book series. Though a little slow at first she brought in plenty of excitement throughout the book to liven up the dull parts.

      Overall it was probably one of the best books I have ever read. On a scale from 1-10 it was most definitely a 9 1/2. This series is surely one that I will follow progressively. Well done Miss Knight!