An Epic Fantasy

Lark is hiding. He’s frightened and lost and not sure where he is or where he’s going. He peeks from his hiding place in a thicket near the waterfall and finds he’s not alone. A beautiful elf decides to take a plunge into the pool. Lark is a teenage boy. He can’t help but watch. He doesn’t realize that the elf is also watching him. She confronts him and decides to take him with her to the Great Western Fair.

Lark was hiding because his village had been destroyed and his parents killed. They fought bravely to give him a chance to survive, but now he’s alone and there is so much he doesn’t understand in the world peopled by elves, trolls, dwarfs and other creatures.

I enjoyed the characters. Lark is growing, learning, and finding that things are not the way he thought they were. As he and his companion progress toward the fair, he asks questions and learns quickly, the prototype of a teenage boy. The descriptions of the surroundings are good. They draw you into Lark’s world and make it real.

My only problem with the book is the length. It is a very long fantasy adventure, and only the first book in the proposed series. There are multiple plots and many interesting characters, but it can get tedious to read about encounter after encounter.

I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings which is an equally long fantasy adventure, but that book has the Hobbits. Although there are many interesting characters in this book there are none that rival the Hobbits. If you enjoy immersing yourself in fantasy adventure, this is a good book.

I received this book from PR by the Book for this review.