3.5 out of 5 stars
E-book. Kindle Unlimited. 1st edition. 232 pages. Published October 1st 2019
Blurb:
To battle an ancient evil, the greatest weapon each hero will have is each other.
Hundreds of years ago, facing defeat, the witch Morgana sent monsters into the future to vanquish a humanity King Arthur wouldn’t be able to save. The King might have won the battle, but now, centuries later, a few chosen men will have to fight the war.
Merlin always hated being named after some mythological wizard. His dad had been obsessed with the magic man of King Arthur’s Court before his untimely death – a loss that had sent Mel reeling in a downward spiral. He is ill-prepared, to say the least, for the outrageous claims of a proper English knight bent on overcoming evil.
Born a commoner, Lancelot was never supposed to be a knight in his own time, never mind now in a modern world he is so woefully untrained to protect. Thrown into a battle centuries in the making, this flawed hero, and a young man too-used to battling monsters of the present day, will have to come together in a last desperate fight to save humanity.
Can Mel and Lance defeat the greatest enemy the world has ever known? Or in the midst of fighting evil, will they discover the real threat has always been a shattered heart?
And what if the one fight they cannot ever hope to win is with themselves?
Likes:
- Interesting premise.
- Sets up nicely for more books.
- Lots of world building.
- Likeable characters.
- Cool monsters.
Dislikes:
- Writing can be clunky.
- Soggy middle.
- Too much talking and backstory, not enough action.
- Wish the fight scenes were more detailed.
- No big hook.
- Most of the plot was by the numbers.
This book feels very self-published. I don’t mean that in a bad way, although it does have some of the negative hallmarks self-published books are known for – like clunky writing and fight scenes that could use more description. This book is just fine, a solid 3 ½ stars, but it doesn’t shine.
Overall, this book has a ‘by the numbers’ feel to it. Which is both good and bad.
It’s good because it hits all the correct notes. The romance unfolded predictably, with a gradual buildup tension between Lance and Mel. There’s enough time for the men to get together without it feeling rushed, and their sexual compatibility is obvious. Sure, Lance needed a big push to accept Mel as his Tresor, but that fits the pattern.
By the numbers is bad because it doesn’t offer anything new and exciting. Don’t get me wrong, the plot was interesting and unique. But I felt like I always knew what was coming next. So much so that I got a little bored. It wasn’t until 78% that something happened which I didn’t expect.
The reason I got a little bored could have been because of the soggy middle. The immediate threats were dealt with and the characters were waiting around for the next big thing to happen. This allowed for some world building, which I normally love. But this time, there was too much talking and backstory. I get that this book has a heavy burden to carry since it’s setting up the series. That’s still not enough reason to have long passages about each of the knights. Especially since I won’t remember those little details by the time the rest of the books come out. Put that kind of thing in a short story collection.
That being said, this book set up future books well. I’m looking forward to Lucan and Tom’s story, which is already out. All the knights are interesting characters, so I expect this to be a fun series. Especially if more cool monsters and magic appear. I loved the description of the monsters, they were so unique.
I’m hoping that the next book will hook me more than this one did. A lot of the world building is already out of the way and the main characters have been introduced. Fingers crossed.
Be sure to check out the review for the second book in the series, Dead of Knight.
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