(I received this book for free in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I did find this book a little difficult to get into. During the first scene with Jake and Ben, I actually thought they came across as much older than they were supposed to be. Their speech was a little… strange.
Saving worlds isn’t a unique storyline, but I still found this to be a really entertaining read. When Jake and Ben go into the other world, I think that – on the whole – it is dealt with quite well. However, I do have a problem with a character who suddenly gets all of this skill and knowledge, able to wield a sword and defeat people with years of experience. In my opinion, that’s kind of lazy.
The other world they enter is quite an interesting one, with a lot of unique creatures and characters. I do think, however, there was a lot of ‘listing’ going on – a paragraph explaining all of the details of these races that probably wasn’t necessary to explain.
I particularly liked Knesh as a character and the rebel King. I also really liked Ben. I felt he was more realistic than Jake and his loyalty to his friend and then to the world was really touching.
The writing seemed a bit stilted at times. There were a lot of mentions of ‘the evil king/wizard’. Apart from the fact that villains who see themselves as evil aren’t that interesting, I don’t think it’s necessary to keep saying ‘evil’.
I did also notice quite a few errors in the writing. There was lots of random punctuation, too – three or more exclamation or question marks aren’t necessary. Even two aren’t.
I think I would like to read the next two books in this trilogy. The ending was a bit more intense than the rest of the book and despite the issues I mentioned above, I was invested enough in the characters to care about what happened to them.
Ink of Blood 