Blood Ties by L. WaithmanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A Great YA Fantasy with Abrupt TBC Ending
Book: ****
Performance: ****
A young boy with a mysterious past is taken in by fighting monks after his father is murdered. This is the first of the series that introduces us to Lucas, the blacksmith’s son with unique abilities that may play a role in a prophecy about two warring kingdoms. Not content to stay in the monastery, young Lucas leaves to join a traveling circus, where his special abilities start to reveal themselves … and he draws the attention of the King. Tragically, the jealousy of another young boy sends Lucas into hiding until a mysterious group of toughs/assassins flushes him out into the open and he is finally accepted into a group of young soldiers known as The Chosen (no spoiler here … the series is called The Kings Chosen so you had to be expecting that right). What follows is another typical YA trope where the leader of the Elite Born takes an instance dislike to Lucas and uses his authority over all the Chosen to make his life difficult … but Lucas manages to survive and gain a solid reputation despite all of that. The writing here is surprisingly tight and well done that, with the aid of a solid narration for each of the characters, makes this one of the better audiobooks in the fantasy genre that I have encountered.
The only reason it failed to get top marks is the abrupt ending … obviously this is a setup for the series; however, it is still a stand alone book and it should have resolved at least one of the plot conflicts … if it does I missed it as it seems to be to simply drop off after a new character states that it is time for Lucas to know who he really is … so tune in at the same bat time on the same bat channel to see the exciting conclusion to who the heck is Lucas. It should say something that regardless of my displeasure at the ending … I will probably pick up the next installment
I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#BloodTies #TheKingsChosen #FreeAudiobookCodes
View all my reviews
Performance: ****
A young boy with a mysterious past is taken in by fighting monks after his father is murdered. This is the first of the series that introduces us to Lucas, the blacksmith’s son with unique abilities that may play a role in a prophecy about two warring kingdoms. Not content to stay in the monastery, young Lucas leaves to join a traveling circus, where his special abilities start to reveal themselves … and he draws the attention of the King. Tragically, the jealousy of another young boy sends Lucas into hiding until a mysterious group of toughs/assassins flushes him out into the open and he is finally accepted into a group of young soldiers known as The Chosen (no spoiler here … the series is called The Kings Chosen so you had to be expecting that right). What follows is another typical YA trope where the leader of the Elite Born takes an instance dislike to Lucas and uses his authority over all the Chosen to make his life difficult … but Lucas manages to survive and gain a solid reputation despite all of that. The writing here is surprisingly tight and well done that, with the aid of a solid narration for each of the characters, makes this one of the better audiobooks in the fantasy genre that I have encountered.
The only reason it failed to get top marks is the abrupt ending … obviously this is a setup for the series; however, it is still a stand alone book and it should have resolved at least one of the plot conflicts … if it does I missed it as it seems to be to simply drop off after a new character states that it is time for Lucas to know who he really is … so tune in at the same bat time on the same bat channel to see the exciting conclusion to who the heck is Lucas. It should say something that regardless of my displeasure at the ending … I will probably pick up the next installment
I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#BloodTies #TheKingsChosen #FreeAudiobookCodes
View all my reviews
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