Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Pages: 386

Published by Lowsea Publishing

Far away from home, under the command of his brother, Raylan and his squad must retrieve an ancient relic stolen from their kingdom’s trading partner—the Tiankong Empire.

Traveling deep into unknown enemy territory to complete their mission, Raylan learns that the ancient relic holds unexpected life; a creature buried in legends, one not seen in their world for more than two hundred years.

With their enemies closing in, Raylan and his friends search, desperately, for a safe way home. Danger lurks around every corner: Warriors larger than any man, predators stalking them through the night and soldiers determined to hunt them down. Leaving them all little choice, except to keep moving as they strategically plot—and skillfully fight—their way back to those awaiting their return.

★★★★☆

This book was one action packed moment after the next and that is no lie!

We begin the story with a wonderful prologue which gives insight to the importance of the main focus of this tale, which is an ancient relic. It is protected within a monastery and hidden away until something horrible happens and it is stolen.

Once we hit the first chapter we meet Raylan, who is a soldier beneath his older brother Gavin’s command. We are introduced to them at length, which allows us to become invested in them. After this, we meet several other supporting characters, too.

Soon, they are part of a mission to extract an ancient relic that must be protected and return to the monastery at all costs. Except, when said stone-like relic is found and Raylan is drawn to it, it begins to react oddly to him. It softens and then the unexpected happens…

A dragon hatches.

There was action before and a story before, but once the dragon is hatched things really kick up into high gear. For a while, I found it a touch difficult to really submerse myself into the book and that is not because the story lacks detail or action, but I felt at times that there was too much action and then not enough world building, not enough political intrigue or further insight on the other side. Then, I stopped reading and mulled over my thoughts for a while, this is an action-adventure-fantasy tale about a dragon and soldiers… The writing is good, the characters interesting, so what if it’s just action? That was my thought and I stand by it. For me, yes, I absolutely wish there was more of the aforementioned, but you know what? This was still a good story.

There is peril after peril and just when you think there will be a calm, think again. There is action until the very last page. So, if you’re looking for adventure and action, check this book out. There is another on the way, too!

3.5 stars