Amber's Book Reviews

Argent | Child of Storm & Arrow

@ShyGuySamurai

Genre: Fantasy Adventure

Summary: It was not a question of if blood would be spilt; it was a question of when.

In a strange turn of events Darin Alaris found himself the leader of a peculiar band of travelers: his young apprentice, a brooding warrior, and an elven pariah. He rarely traveled with others, but in this case, he enjoyed it as a long-term arrangement--days turning into weeks. Yet Amaredeia was still healing its war-ravaged wounds, and the cries of rebellion and anguish were rising again.

For years dragonkind and humankind had been at war, alternating between short-lived truces and all out warfare. In this age, however, humans had subdued the proud dragonkind, turning them into slaves. Brands seared into their arms with the mark of a weeping dragon; the symbol of their defeat.

Darin vehemently hated the mistreatment of dragonkind, and when a branded runaway boy crossed his path he made him his apprentice to protect him. Something had to be done as pleading eyes gazed up at him; silver masked by brown. Could he really continue to deny the calls of his apprentice's people? He was only one man, but fate knew of the storm yet to come. 

May Ordephus save them all.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

The boy shot him an unimpressed look, glancing at the restraints.

"Ah. Bad choice of words. But I mean it."

Focus: The author asked for the focus of the review to be on character development, world building, plot, and pacing. 

Summary: Okay so honestly this summary is suuuuuuper well done. I like the information presented. It gives a nice overview without giving too much away. I have some possibly edits though. To begin with I think the summary is a little out of order. I feel like the first paragraph really belongs at the end. There were a few parts where I thought there was unnecessary information added (which you don't want in a summary) and a few awkward sounding sentences. A possible edit:

"It was not a question of if blood would be spilled again; it was a question of when.

Many years ago dragonkind and humankind had been at war. Today humankind has subdued the proud dragonkind, turning them into slaves marked by the brand of a weeping dragon on their arm. A symbol of their defeat. 

Darin Alaris vehemently hates the mistreatment of dragonkind. When a branded runaway crosses his path he makes him his apprentice; the only way he can protect him. Against his solitary nature he now finds himself the leader of a peculiar band of traveler: his young apprentice, a brooding warrior, and an elven pariah. 

The land of Amaredeia is still healing its war-ravaged wounds, and the cries of rebellion and anguish are rising. Can Darin really continue to deny the calls of his apprentice's people? He was only one man, but fate knew of the storm yet to come. 

May Ordephus save them all."

I'm not a huge fan of quotes in a summary unless they have huge meaning and I don't think this ending one really does anything to improve the summary.  

Before we get started:

I'm never a huge fan of these kind of first chapters, BUT since this is written for entry into ONC 2021 I don't mind the backstory of how the story came to be. I like the inclusion of the prompts that the author took inspiration from.