Monday, March 25, 2013

Review - Lords of Prophecy




Lords of Prophecy
By Michael A. Rothman
Publisher: M&S Publishing, L.L.C.
Pub. Date: March 3, 2013
ISBN: 9780989089401
ASIN: B00BOELL4K
Pages: 450
Buy Link: Amazon

Blurb:

The Riverton brothers have completed their training, and despite their own personal skills, they worry about the forces arrayed against them. Knowing the barrier that's kept the people of Trimoria safe for over five centuries is weakening, the brothers ready their ragtag army of humans, dwarves, and elves for battle.

In the meantime, on the other side of the ancient barrier, a growing army of demons have readied themselves for the final battle against the people of Trimoria.

As the barrier weakens, Ryan is struck by bouts of debilitating madness. As the barrier crumbles, so does the hope of Trimoria's citizens. 

Review: 

I've never cared much for the fantasy genre until I watched Game of Thrones on HBO and now I have taken an interest in reading fantasy books, which is one of the reasons why I signed up to review Lords of Prophecy courtesy of the author and Goddess Fish book tours.

Lords of Prophecy uses the old theme "good vs. evil" where the people of Trimoria are preparing to battle an enormous army of demons. It has been foretold by the prophecies that two brothers (Ryan and Aaron) will unite and lead the people, ogres, dwarves, and other mystical creatures against the evil demon forces. The brothers have a lot on their shoulders and many challenges lie ahead of them. The future of Trimoira rests in their hands.

I was unaware that this was book three in the series when I signed up to review it, but I easily figured out what was going on. I thought the overall basic plot of warriors vs. demons has been done to death, but the author has created his own mythology with well developed characters, wonderful description and intriguing dialogue, making this fantasy novel unique and a page turner. Overall, I enjoyed reading this intense epic tale and I recommend it to others.

EXCERPT: 

Scene from first chapter - Arabelle is talking with her handmaiden about something very important to her.

Miriam made a dismissive noise with the click of her tongue and held up a large towel, signaling the end of the bath. “Princess, it’s something you must take care of. If you feel guilt over the act, then you should share it with Ryan ... err, the Archmage. Do it before your wedding, if you feel you must, but I’m sure he'll be understanding.”

Arabelle rubbed herself dry, and held out her hand. Miriam gave her princess a sheathed dagger and in return accepted the damp towel. Arabelle pulled the glowing black dagger from its sheathe, inspected its edge, and firmly reseated it.

As she strapped the dagger to her leg, she sighed. “Miriam, Father is expecting me to stay amongst our people the month before the wedding, and Ryan isn’t scheduled to arrive back from Eluanethra until the day before the ceremony. That’s two weeks from now!”

Miriam handed Arabelle another dagger which she strapped to her other leg and pointed to the ring on Arabelle’s finger. “You’ve told me that with your ring, you’re able to talk privately with your betrothed. Why don’t you use it?”

“I can’t confess to him through the ring! I need to see him ...” A smile bloomed on Arabelle’s face. “I have an idea.”

Miriam returned her smile as she passed Arabelle a brace of glistening throwing darts along with her undergarments. “Just remember, it’s very bad luck to see your betrothed the week before the ceremony.”

As Arabelle activated her ring, she fidgeted with excitement. “I guess I better tell him to hurry.”

Arabelle squeezed her ring in a special pattern, knowing that whatever Ryan was doing, he’d immediately feel the vibrations and translate the message.

Ryan. We need to talk...


About the Author:

I've been writing throughout my career as an engineer, however my writing had been relegated to technical
books and technical magazine articles. Heck, you might even find a couple of those musty tomes still for sale if you look hard enough.

With my foray into epic fantasy, I've shed the shackles of technical writing and created novels that I hope will be attractive to a much wider audience.

I've always admired truly epic tales. You know the ones I mean. The book you crack open, wander through and utterly get immersed in. The story takes you on twists and turns you never expected, run into dead-ends that make you wheel your arms backward to prevent you from falling into an endless abyss. By the time you reach what you think is the end, you've read hundreds of pages and realize the end is really only the beginning of the story.

You close the book and wonder out loud. "Do I have the next book? Is it out yet?"

My goal when I started writing the first book (HEIRS OF PROPHECY) that involved the Riverton family was to make a story that would allow a younger audience access to such a tale. Since then, a second book (TOOLS OF PROPHECY) was released, and now I introduce the third book in the series with LORDS OF PROPHECY.

As to my other writing activities, I've completed another as of yet unreleased novel in the Prophecies series, and they are scheduled to be released as soon as - well, as soon as the paperwork on them is complete, and the lawyers nod their heads up and down.

I hope you enjoy the novel. In the meantime, if you want to see my ramblings, I lurk at the following social media portals:

Twitter - @MichaelARothman
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/MichaelARothman
Blog - http://michaelarothman.com/







CymLowell

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for the kind review. If you get a chance, I’d love to see you post on Amazon as well so others could stumble into it. I’ve posted a link to this review on my blog and I’ll check back to answer any questions folks have...l

    ReplyDelete
  2. Do you take any of inspiration for your characters or plots in movies or TV series you watch?

    lyra.lucky7 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd say that everything is ultimately an inspiration, but inevitably the stories and plots are things that are originated in my own fevered mind.

      However I'd note that any author who says they aren't influenced by others are living in a cave and unaware of the rest of the world or they are deceiving themselves.

      Delete
  3. Great review and excerpt, I enjoyed both.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like it that you have created your own mythology and paid a lot of detail to the overall world building, I think that is more important in a fantasy book than in other genres.

    moonsurfer123 AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Have you decided if you will make Anja and Jason rivals after all?

    shadowrunner1987ATgmailDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Clearly you've read my blog or facebook posts about the next title I am working on. ;-)

      Anya (note I evolved the spelling of her name) and Jason will have a significant moment which will force them apart. Will that serve as the end to them, or is it something that is needed for other things in the story to progress?

      Let's just say that I know the answer to that question - and it's my intention to make the readers keep guessing. Suffice it to say, I plan lots of surprises and unexpected results.

      Sorry for the tease... But you did ask a question - did I decide. The answer is yes. :-)

      Delete
  6. I can not understand how anyone can not want to read this series. It sounds awesome. This excerpt was wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Very intriguing excerpt!

    vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Now, with that spelling I think of the demon Anya from Buffy :)

    lennascloud(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  9. An editor I work with also mentioned Buffy - the irony is, never seen a single episode. Maybe I should go see what people are associating with that name. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice excerpt and review

    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  11. I liked the mthology and the prophecy as well

    ReplyDelete
  12. I do enjoy a well written fantasy.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow...Game of Thrones was your intro to Fantasy? Talk about being thrown into the deep end! Lol but I'm glad you're starting to branch into fantasy! I love the genre!

    andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wonderful thoughts! I like the sounds of this one! Thanks for the chance to win!

    Kate

    hense1kk AT cmich DOT edu

    ReplyDelete

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