Munira @ In Vogue with Books

Cross posted at my blog HERE
Original Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
I'm actually a bit confused about how should I write the review of this book. At times I felt like I should give it no more than 2.5, but then again I felt 2.5 would be much less (in which case I wouldn't have posted the review at all)..and then finally I decided to rate it 3 stars. There were things I liked and things I didn't like. So it was a mix of both.

First the names in the book. I kind of liked the names given to the characters. Names like Mikal, Majam, Talon and others seemed peculiar at first but once I got used to it I kept looking for more. Even the names of the places were interesting (like the Callous Hills).
Second, the time and style of narration. I like when stories are narrated in present tense, gives me a sense of attachment. I liked it here too. But what somehow spoiled the fun here was the way it was used. The author could have made the story more interesting if he had been a little careful.
Third, one of the things I actually liked was that the whole book sounded like a RPG. I am not a big fan of role playing games but I like to watch when others play. It seemed that I am in a game, inside the world of wizards and magic stuff; the only difference was that it's being written rather than seen. But everyone, like RPGs, have a part to play.

Everyone in this group has an important part to play; yours no less than anyone else's.

That's the fun of role playing games...or here, role playing stories.
Fourth and last, and this is wholly a con according to me, is that the characters lacked proper development. I would have loved to see some strong back stories and evolving characters but never got the chance. Every story relies a lot on the characters and without the proper development of them, it's like a headless ram!

Not a too-bad read after all. If you like role playing games and are into wizard things a lot, then I suggest you read this. But there are some things you may face trouble with like I did and you should be ready for that.