March 20, 2012

A Race To Live Or Ruin - A Book Review




The Curse Of Gremdon - Ciara Knight
Genre - Speculative Fiction - Fantasy/ Adult Fiction
Novel - 282 pages, Price $ 7.99
Available at Amazon Kindle Store


Blurb:


In a world where marriage is forbidden, sex is only granted to male warriors, and the outer realm is full of murderous creatures, Arianna fights to protect the life of her only living relative, her brother.Tardon, an elite warrior, is granted anything he desires by the Elders, but finds little joy in the voluptuous women presented to him. Born for the bloodlust found only in battle, complicated emotions emerge when he discovers his equal in the alluring warrior, Arianna. Charged by the Elders with saving the castle from  attack, Tardon and Arianna risk the curse when they traverse the vast outer realm to retrieve serum from the Tree of Life. If successful, the Elders have promised Tardon the right to marry and Arianna the cure for her brother’s death fever. Will their love carry them through or will the discovery of a great deception be their ultimate demise


This is a fantasy set in the kingdom of Gremdon, basically a sword and sorcery style of story telling. The magic is not visible in daily life and yet is very much there in the background, playing a crucial part.
I liked the author's focus on the two main characters, elite warriors Arianna and Tardon allowing the readers to explore their interaction, romantic and otherwise. The world around them is created with painstaking detail and clarity that one feels a part of the narrative.
 The secondary characters are well developed and some of them linger on after the ending. Ex Warrior Saldor's feelings for Arianna vacillating between friendship and love, her brother's natural affinity towards the deprived and troubled, the enforcers and the apprentice's penchant for using their powers to control and subjugate enhance the progression of the story.
Despite the romantic tension, its not all rosy and their task to retrieve the sap from the tree of life is beset with obstacles and live threatening dangers.
 Though it does drag a bit in the beginning, it picks up pace fast enough. The twist and turns keeps one engrossed and at the edge of the seat unable to predict what comes next.
The superb twist in the end really catches the reader unawares, though the author leaves subtle hints throughout the book.
Some may find the dark, shadowy world a bit sexist with the male warriors being pampered by the Elders. Arianna is the only female warrior  where most of the women are engaged in other activities. But  this only makes the Elders ruled world that much more realistic.
There are strong romantic scenes which fall in the spicy category of romance rating - Sweet -> Hot -> Spicy.
I give this a 4.5/5 rating.
I recommend this enjoyable read to all fantasy lovers looking for a tale well told and surprisingly different.


I received a copy for review through the group Knights of the Round Table on Goodreads. 


Personal Disclaimer: Though this book was a free copy received for the purpose of review, the post in entirety is my basic impression after reading the book twice. It is not based on intervention by the author, publishing house or the book forum. 

10 comments:

Ciara said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review The Curse of Gremdon. Did I read that right? Did you read the book twice? :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the review! Its great to receive free review copies. I just had one delivered last week. Good luck to you Ciara!

Cherie Reich said...

Ciara's book looks awesome. It's on my to-read list.

A said...

"The magic is not visible in daily life and yet is very much there in the background, playing a crucial part." You just described life Rek :-)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Wonderful review for Ciara's book!

Golden Eagle said...

Thanks for the review! :)

Empty Nest Insider said...

I really enjoyed your review of Ciara's book! Best of luck Ciara! Julie

M Pax said...

Great review. Yay for Ciara. Sounds like a great read.

Misha Gerrick said...

Ooh I can't wait until I can get my hands on this story. Started reading when I critted a few of its chapters. :-D

Ciara said...

Thanks everyone. I'm so sorry, but I realized today that blog comments I left in March did not show for some reason. We believe this happened because I was logged on for multiple users for another job. I believe we've fixed the issue.
Thank you again for reviewing The Curse of Gremdon. I'm so happy that you enjoyed it.

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Glad you made it this far...would love to hear your take on the words scribbled. A comment every now and then keeps the blues away. :D

Since, crazy Mr. Blogspot won't let me reply to the comments here (is upset with the water ladies ever since they refused to verify visitors)...will do the next best thing, drop in to your blog to say my Vanakkam/Namaste/Salaam/Hello.

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