4 out of 4 stars
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Errant Spark is a romantic fantasy. It is deliciously long at 436 pages (although honestly, I wish it had been longer).
Wow.....just wow. I LOVED this book! Seriously, I can't rave about it enough. I am hoping beyond hope that book 2 is available or will be soon.
I read a lot of fantasy. A lot. So I wasn't expecting too much when I started reading this book. I mean, there are a lot of new fantasy writers out there and I have read many of them. I thought this would be something similar to many of those that I have read. It's not. Not in the least. This book kept me up until midnight turning pages to find out what was going to happen. I didn't eat lunch that day, because I couldn't take time from the story to go cook something. It's just that good.
Jex Xander is a new Battlemage. He is also quite cheeky. This gets him into trouble frequently. When Errant Spark starts, Jex is just arriving at the royal palace with his friend and mentor, Eryk Alcyon. Eryk is High Mage and also brother to Tora (or queen) Aelani. Jex meets Sarene, the daughter of Tor Brinon (king of Egalion) and is intrigued enough by the feisty minx to consider her a good challenge. However, he may have bit off more than he can chew. Sarene is used to getting her way, and Jex is used to speaking his mind. This does not mix well between the two of them. Remember, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned".
Enari is a young novice to Kvinna (a healer) Vasi. Ironically enough, Enari has never spoken in her life. When the Tora reacts strangely to an unexpected pregnancy, the healer is called in to watch over Tora Aelani, and brings Enari with her. Jex is assigned as a bodyguard on their journey. From the first moment Jex meets Enari, they are drawn to each other. When Jex is cursed by an unknown witch, Enari is the only one that can help him. From there, things get really interesting. Someone is performing human sacrifices, but their purpose is unclear. Things escalate quickly with no end in sight. So many threads are in play, and if the wrong one breaks, everything will be lost.
There is so much more to this story than I can share in one review. So many amazing characters and side plots. This is truly an epic fantasy! There is only one problem that I found with the story, and I do feel that it is a minor one. When a character is thinking something, it is placed in quotation marks. As they are often thinking and talking at the same time, this can get confusing as to what they thought as opposed to what they said. I was able to figure out what was going on rather quickly and from there it was relatively easy to tell when the issue arose again. However, I would advise fixing this, as it may cause a problem for some readers. Overall, it is a minor issue and I do not want to detract from the rating based on that alone. I would like to note that this is intended for a mature audience.
If you enjoy Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, Sarah J. Maas, and other writers of their ilk, you will love this story. The twist at the end left me completely speechless! I am waiting with bated breath to find out what happens next. I am giving this book 4 out of 4 stars!
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Errant Spark (Elemental Trials Book 1)
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