Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Book review: The Book of Deacon Series

 Review of the Book of Deacon Series by Joseph Lallo

This series is available at all online stores, including Smashwords, Amazon, B&N, Kobo and Apple.  I highly recommend it.  There are three books in the series and I've reviewed them each individually.

The Book of Deacon


Description:  The tale of Myranda Celeste, a young woman orphaned by a century long war, and her chance discovery of a fallen soldier's priceless cargo. The find will change her life, sending her on an adventure of soldiers and rebels, wizards and warriors, and beasts both noble and monstrous. Each step will bring her closer to the truth of her potential, of the war, and of the fate of her world.

My Review:

As an avid reader of fantasy, sometimes it's hard to try someone new rather than re-reading books I love, but I'm so glad I opened this book.

It didn't take long to get involved in Myranda's fate. I found myself nerve-wracked by what could happen next and had a hard time putting the book down. The characters Myranda meets are fascinating and easy to like. I feel so bad for Deacon though and hope things work out for him.

My only two criticisms are the lack of chapters, which makes finding my place hard if I swipe up or down on my Kindle instead of sideways, and a few instances of head jumping between characters. These are not enough to truly detract from the story though. :)


The Great Convergence


Description: The second in the Book of Deacon series, The Great Convergence continues the tale of young Myranda Celeste. With fresh knowledge of magic and steadfast resolve to see the end of the war that plagues her land, Myranda sets out to find and unite the five fated heroes, the Chosen. Each new warrior brings her world a step closer to peace, but does she have the strength to survive the trials ahead?

An excellent sequel. Things begin to unfold and the rest of the chosen begin to appear.  The story behind the long war starts to unfold before our eyes. 

Like the first book, the head hopping is a bit disconcerting where the viewpoint switches from one character to the next between paragraphs, but I'm getting used to it. I don't like that the baddies seem invincible and hope that the good guys start to have some successes!


The Battle of Verril


Description: In this, the finale of the Book of Deacon Trilogy, Myranda and the Chosen face their greatest challenges yet. Time is running out, and the Generals are growing desperate. Through victory and defeat, reunion and betrayal, neither the heroes nor their foes will rest until they have seen their task through to the end. The only question is, will it be the end of a war, or the end of times?

The third book is the best and wraps the trilogy up nicely.  Myranda comes into her own and shines.  I like strong heroines.  Myranda holds true to her beliefs throughout all and inspires everyone else.  The build up to the ending is finely crafted.


It does get frustrating when the heroes keep walking into the exact same traps over and over.  I felt like smacking them in the back of the head.  But it's also nice to see villains that are every bit as nasty as they're supposed to be.  By the end, I wanted them all destroyed.


My favorite characters are Ivy, Myn and Deacon.  Lain is a bit too sullen for me and Ether is incredibly foolish for someone who's supposed to have been watching the world since it came into existence.  My absolute favorite is Myranda though.  She's lived a tough life and remains strong and resolute throughout all three stories.  Strong leading women are my favorite. :)


Overall, this is an excellent fantasy series.  The characters and plot are original.  I definitely recommend giving it a read.



About the AuthorJoseph Lallo is a Computer Engineer, as well as editor and chief contributor to Brainlazy.com.

You can find him at Smashwords and Amazon


Disclaimer


I have decided to review books that I enjoy.  I am an avid reader of fantasy, so most of them will be in that genre.  I'm not taking any requests, just reading what catches my eyes.  You'll find that most of these are from Indie Authors.  The way I figure it, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, Alan Dean Foster and Piers Anthony (my favorite authors) already have enough reviews, but Indies could always use a few more.


It is important to note here that while I am a writer, I am doing these reviews as a reader.  I also know a number of the authors I will be reviewing.  This is not an exchange of reviews, nor have I been solicited by those authors to write the review.  At no time will I ever accept any form of payment for a review.  When I say that I'm am doing this as a reader, I mean it.  I get nothing in exchange.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree that it was an excellent trilogy. I was wondering if you might recommend something similar one might read; I'm having a hard time choosing something and I loved this series. Thanks in advance!

John H. Carroll said...

Well, Obviously, I would recommend my high fantasy, starting with Dralin. You can find the links to the right.

If you're not interested in those, then I'd suggest the Aielund Saga by Stephen L. Nowland, starting with "Nature Abhors a Vacuum". It's very good epic fantasy. :)

Anonymous said...

I adore Lain in this trilogy.. my favorite character by far.. If you need something to read after finishing this series including Rise of the Red Shadow, I would suggest Jeff Wheeler's Muirwood and Mirrowen books and Silverkin and Fire in the Blood.. any of his books would be great.. Wheeler is another dynamite writer.

Anonymous said...

You should try deltora quest or the demonata series both very good in my opinion

John H. Carroll said...

I'll give those series a try. :)