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Author: Lottie M. Hancock
Genre: NA, Journey/Adventure, Fantasy
Book Rating: 8.5
Personal Rating: 7.5
This book turned into a rather interesting read. It was a brilliantly crafted world of magical creatures and humans, some we've heard of before and others new. It moved at a rather steady pace. A little bit to slow for me but not enough to care. Regardless of that fact it held its consistency so it was easy to go along for the ride without wanting to stop. And the conclusion was unexpected but not for the reasons of predictability, which is very good.
The prologue was written well, it set up the world and the conditions of the gods. I had a slight problem with it because it felt too greek god. I couldn't seem to wretch my mind out of mount olympus. Light, Dark, life, and earth and water, the elements of choice for this book. I think it only bothered me really because of the concept of creating a world, having five siblings keep the balance, and the creator looking on in dismay as the harmony is disrupted between the world, Terra, after the insertion of man. It was a teeny bit to cliched for me. Dark ended up being evil, and so on and so forth. I was a bit worried I wouldn't like this book. But thankfully this was the end of such worries and it didn't last long.
It took me a while to get into the flow because of the page breaks. The character introductions were good but just a little bit too short for me to get into. I felt I got cut of a bit to soon, however they did intrigue my mind to ask, why? Which kept me going. I wanted to know who these characters where, and why had they all seemingly met the same mysterious old man. Very good in keeping my interest piqued, and actively trying to put together the pieces. Once into the real chapters the flow was very steady. My brain finally settled in and was pulled willing into a rather intricate plot.
Each of the characters had things to learn which was good. The god's didn't quite know everything, and each of the races going on the journey all had things to learn as well. And I liked the learning curve of the characters. The stubborn characters didn't drive the entire book with their arrogance, they learned and grew with it. There was only one debate of people not joining the war, which was short lived. In most journey books the different sects seem to put up too much of a fight, the world is in danger just say yes and join. I was more than happy to see these characters where eager to come together to save the world from darkness.
The descriptions in the book were also very well laid out. I had no trouble figuring out how things, looked or felt. The fight scenes never lost me. I always knew who was where and when. And the urgency was felt because there were very few points along the journey that a small fight didn't happen. This gave just the right amount of excitement to shake up the rather steady pacing of the novel. There wasn't too much magic amongst the magical races so this book is more about the realm and it's characters. Which i enjoyed.
Character pieces are interesting because, as this book does, if someone where to die you would actually care. This novel does a well enough job of describing the importance of each character into the relation of the others, that you understand the importance of each person through the eyes of someone else. I did find that the mood was very grey throughout. Which for this book suited it just fine. The world was coming to an end so the rather somber mood enhanced the importance of defeating the dark.
As far as journey epics go, this book hit all the marks. Well developed characters. A good visual world to journey through. Most of the characters had growth to achieve at a fast rate while also trying to save the world. And the need for all magical races to come together to save the one non-magical race of humans. And of course the epic battle at the end of the novel. Which I liked for one major reason.
You knew based on a vision that something was coming at the end. This something happened quite literally when there were next to no pages left, which in most cases would've lead to a cliff hanger with me screaming at the pages begging for more. Turning each page wondering why did I fall for this trick yet again. However this novel actually does end, and tie up loose and, all while still alluding to the fact that there will be more. Sometimes It's okay to actually end a novel especially if you can still leave the reader wanting more. This book done exactly that. This tale came to an end, even if it only appears that way, yet I still want more. This was a book ending that made me feel I didn't want it to end, which has the same effect of a cliff hanger ending because I was left wanting so much more. And that is just as it should be.
And lastly the love interests in the book were handled very well. Not overdone. No droning on back and forth over the why's and why nots of it all. And when it happened it just happened. And you felt that wave of 'yes' because secretly you really wanted this to go down. Unfortunately since the war was at hand, the new problems or benefits of the relationships that bloomed we didn't fully get to experience. Darn it. Now I must have the next installment. Besides I have no idea if the dark is really gone. Light cannot survive without the dark after all. Unless a new terror arrives in the Terra. I wonder what that could be. And you will too if you read this excellent work of fiction.
SIde notes.
As much as I wanted to give, on the personal side, a ten rating. Since it took my brain a while to set into the book before I ultimately fell in love with it I couldn't. It did bother me that the word Hades made it in here. It was only once near the end but it didn't help with my greek mythology problem. Especially after I had decided I no longer felt any similarities to those gods, with the authors gods. And the pacing was just a little bit too steady for me. When things slowed down, they didn't go much slower than regular pace and when they sped up they didn't speed up much faster than regular either. So even though the story was very well structured I kind of felt I flowed through it just a little bit too smoothly.
I was a little bit upset about all of the realm not specifically knowing the roles of the five gods. I was hoping it would be woven into one of those epic stories or fables of old. Part of the history engraved in the realm. The prologue made it seem like they were that important. That everyone would recognize who they were on site and marvel at them with awe and respect. They almost seemed like magicians. Human people with powers. Not revered balance keepers of the realm.
But as stated above since the story was crafted so well these feelings kind of got muffled away as I become more and more interested in the outcome of the characters and how they would end up in the end. Or more importantly if they would even make it out of this book into the second. Naturally I can't tell you that, I can say that my favorite character survived, but who he or she is.... well that's a secret.
Blurb:
Balance on the Terra is the opening novel to the Legacy's Children series. It introduces characters we all love to hear about (dwarfs, elves, giants and drow) along with new races, such as the heart of the series, the Holy Ones. They are an omnipotent race of beings who were born to help the Creator of Time to keep the balance in all things, for without that Balance, nothing can live as he had commanded. In this novel, one of the Holy Ones goes rogue and decides to destroy the race that had been a bane to his existence since they had been created. Man. Follow our misfit group of companions as they help the rest of the Holy Ones in their fight for Man's survival. Can they keep the Balance and still keep the Man race alive?
Bio:
Lottie M. Hancock is the author of the Legacy's Children series, a fantasy adventure featuring a variety of creatures and people, both magical and mortal. She lives in her hometown of Temple, Texas in a rural Czech community. Being a mother and grandmother keeps her busy, however, she had decided to put the stories that she and her late husband had created on paper. This gave birth to a new life for her and her family. Now, with the support of her children and new husband, Lottie has let the characters and events flow into a life of their own, and into a life her readers enjoy living with them.
Well I certainly enjoyed living the life of her characters if only for a day. And if I did so can you. So again, this was a book well worth the read and I would recommend it to all lovers of fantasy and epic journey tales.
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