Hey Robert,

So honestly I was kinda pissed off that you read this series before me. Both times! When we read them as teens and now again for this. But at least you did all the explaining in your review.

So yeah…. spoilers… Duh.

For non spoilery recommendation please read Robert’s Review Here.

So first off. Has the part in Armethalieh always been so long? Seriously it was the first half to two-thirds of the book. Since I know that some cool stuff happens later I kept waiting for Kellen to get banished so we can get started. But it kept going and going and going.

Also in case, you didn’t notice the Wild Magic cheated Kellen. Yup. After he was banished he asked for a way to get outside of Armethalieh lands by sunrise. Shalkan shows up and offers him a deal for his chastity……That doesn’t sound right. Anyway, Kellen agrees to stay chaste for 1 year and Shalkan should get him out of the Armethalieh lands. But they don’t make it. Instead, they have to fight off like 40 stone hounds. So Kellen was robbed.

For me, the real story starts after Kellen and Jermayan leave Sentarshadeen for the black cairn. Kellen as a knight mage is not nearly as annoying as Kellen the boy from the city who is hiding out with his sister who is taking care of him. We get our first glimpse of Kellen as a man. I remember reading this as a kid thinking how cool it was they the author described the action and fight scenes so well with so much detail. Because a knight mage can see where his enemies will attack as well as his enemies weak points. What is kind of odd is that he learns so much about how to fight and then doesn’t actually do any fighting in the end.

What is kind of odd is that he learns so much about how to fight and then doesn’t actually do any fighting in the end. It speaks to the fact that the whole story is building from the idea that Kellen’s read battle is with himself. Will the wild magic turn him to the dark side? Will he become evil like the high mages say? When faced with the temptations of the queen of darkness will he become her puppet?

Oh, and how horrifying is it that Kellen’s lady centaur friend from Merryvale was taken and tortured by the Endarken? I didn’t even think of that the first time I read this.

Anyway, the style and writing where good. I like the story all in all. It was really good for me where I was in my reading level and my age when I read this the first time. Now it was just something I wanted to re-read and have the nostalgia.

I hope book two gets as exciting as I remember.

Jared