3 out of 4 stars
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In Kyle McCurry’s The Tempter’s Bane (sequel to The Fleeing Company), Adroegen and his friends must continue to put up a fight against Vyroun and his evil forces. At the start of this book, Adroegen and his company are being pursued by a pack of goblins sent by Vyroun. They must escape these evil beings and reach the mountain sanctuary of the dwarves. Adroegen hopes upon his arrival to convince the dwarves to join the fight against Vyroun. After a fight with the goblin pack, the group becomes separated. Will this separation be enough to hinder the friends from reaching the dwarves? The reader is left scared that this obstacle will lead to Vyroun’s complete domination over all good left in the world.
This book certainly contained a lot of positive aspects. Character development was a huge focus of this book. After the company splits, the reader is given more time to get to know each member of the group. In addition to character development, the author also did a nice job of making the plot intriguing and easy to follow. The book was also clearly exceptionally edited, and I could not catch any grammatical or spelling errors.
The only issue I took with this book was its similarity to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The similarity to the Mines of Moria caught me first. The dwarves in The Tempter’s Bane are also hidden in a mountain fortress behind a secret door. Some other similarities include the talking trees that resemble the ents, and an elven woman giving Caitren (a member of Adrogen’s company) a necklace that protects against evil forces. There were many more similarities, but I cannot list them all without giving spoilers to the book.
Although there were many similarities between Lord of the Rings and The Tempter’s Bane, there were far fewer similarities than within the first book of the series, The Fleeing Company. In addition, the similarities were within the details of the book. The author did a good job of keeping the plotline quite separate from Lord of the Rings.
Although the similarities to Lord of the Rings did bother me slightly, the positives of this book far outweigh the negatives. Because of that, I give this book 3 out of 4 stars.
Overall, I do recommend this book. Any avid reader of fantasy and action would enjoy The Tempter’s Bane. The reading level is not difficult, so it is a good book to turn to when one is looking for a blend between relaxing and exciting.
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The Tempter's Bane
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