4 out of 4 stars
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Across the Golden Desert is the second book in Greg Johnson’s young adult fantasy fiction series. Having read the first book, I jumped at the chance to continue on with the story.
Starting where book one finished, Kelvin is left with no idea how to find Elizabeth after she is kidnapped by Luther. Luther is one of the few Enlightened left, this means that he has the ability to manipulate his surroundings and the perceptions of others. Luther had spent hundreds of years imprisoned in a cave for his past transgressions and is now determined to have his revenge.
He needs Elizabeth, who is also Enlightened, to play an integral role in his master plan and her cooperation is necessary for him to accomplish this. Finding out more about who she is and what she is capable of, Elizabeth is unaware of the manipulations going on around her. Will Kelvin be able to rescue her in time or will Luther change her forever?
Set in an alternate world, there are many aspects here that would appeal to a young adult reader. Not only are there treacherous lands for Kelvin to cross, full of otherworldly animals set on attacking him, there are also soldiers sent by the king to capture him and Elizabeth. There is a slight magical element as well in the form of the powers of the Enlightened. This appealed to me as it was incorporated well into the story and didn’t overwhelm the plot.
The story follows several of the characters as they separate to undertake their individual missions. Kelvin is still the likeable character he was in book one, showing his loyalty and determination to track down Elizabeth against all odds. Elizabeth develops more as a character as she comes to learn more about herself and her capabilities, but sometimes her emotions get the better of her resulting in bad decisions. Luther, in spite of being the villain, was a character I liked the most. His mental capacity and sanity have obviously been affected by his incarceration, but his cleverly constructed plans make him a very real threat to overcome. All the secondary characters were also realistically portrayed especially as their flaws became more apparent in this book, lending a tone of believability to the story.
Written in third person, I found no significant editorial errors. The only criticism that I had was that at times the writing just didn’t flow as smoothly as I would have liked, and some conversations felt a little static. However, this did not affect my overall enjoyment of the story.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because the story was strong enough to carry it past any criticism I had about the flow of the writing. This would definitely appeal to young adult and adult readers equally. Those who like fantasy adventure fiction would enjoy this series, although, I would certainly recommend reading the books in order as I would’ve struggled to understand this story without prior knowledge.
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Across the Golden Desert
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