3 Stars
Publisher: 13Thirty Books, Independent Book Publishers Association, Members Titles
Date of publication: January 11, 2018
Genre: Fantasy
Number of pages: 241
Where you can find Road of the Lost: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Book synopsis (from Goodreads):
Ancient evils awaken.
The glades overflow with blood.
If the forest dies, the world will burn.
“Road of the Lost is a thrilling fantasy adventure with action and humor…” – San Francisco Book Review.
“Road of the Lost is a fast-paced fantasy with an RPG feel… I really enjoyed the jocular, brotherly bickering of the two knights… This was a fun fantasy read.” – Manhattan Book Review
Reslo wants nothing more than to be home in time for supper, but ancient evils want to drown his forest homeland in blood. An outsider from birth, he is at last given an opportunity to serve alongside his people and save their mother forest. But if he thought fighting against the cruel Dark Elves and their Ogre allies would test his endurance, Reslo must also keep alive two bungling, novice knights from a foreign kingdom on a quest to find their lost champion.
Fresh from squirehood, Jerah and Gratas are tasked to find the missing knight and the holy sword entrusted to them. If they perish, their kingdom’s armies will march, and war will be unavoidable.
Road of the Lost is an epic-quest fantasy that features wise-cracking characters pitted against world-shattering adversity. The pages are filled with an abundance of intense, vivid, and consuming action. If you like classic fantasy with gritty combat and captivating heroes, then you’ll love this book!
Trigger Warning: None
My review:
When I read the blurb for Road of the Lost, it sparked my interest. For those of you who haven’t read my about me, I am a huge World of Warcraft fan. I have played since 2006.,..so vanilla Warcraft. I have every expansion that they put out and am waiting for the newest one. When I read the blurb for Road of the Lost, I picked up on a vibe that this book could be like WoW. While I am glad that I did read the book, I found that I was left a little disappointed in it.
I was disappointed because, towards the middle of the book, a whole new plotline was thrown in. By doing that, it threw me off. If those people had been introduced earlier in the book, I wouldn’t have been so confused. The book would have been OK even if that plotline had been left out. It added extra questions that didn’t get answered.
I did have some questions that weren’t answered in the book. Like who Mdychi was and why he needed to be kept safe. It was mentioned to Reslo towards the middle of the book and never answered again. I hate it when that happens. It drives me crazy because I tend to think of that plotline throughout the book. I am sure it will be explained in later books but still…
I did think that Jerah and Gratas were loud, bumbling fools. When they were battling them, they were far from bumbling. They were graceful and they destroyed Ogres and Dark Elves. Destroyed them. I did get rather annoyed with them when they wouldn’t listen to Reslo. I kinda wished that Reslo gagged them.
The plot of Road of the Lost was good but it did confuse me in some parts. When I have to reread chapters because I don’t get something, well that can be an issue. I did only have to reread a couple of chapters at the beginning of the book. That was because I had no flipping idea was going on…lol. The author introduced Jerah and Gratas early on. But there were scenes with their factions and then with the Elves that I felt shouldn’t have been in there. In my eyes, it was information overload for me.
Jerah and Gratas are sent on a quest to find out what happened to a fellow knight. They are joined by an Elf Ranger, Reslo, who is very reluctant to be with them. All he wants is to go home, be with his wife and nephew, and enjoy a pot of shi shi. But that isn’t happening. Reslo, Jerah, and Gratas are taken on a journey. They discover that finding that knight is harder than they thought. They also get dragged into a conflict that is older than them. The outcome of this quest will determine if a new evil will rise in the land.
While the end of the book did answer some questions, it did not resolve any of the other plotlines in the book. I am hoping that book 2 will answer questions that I had from Road of the Lost.
Road of the Lost is a gritty, action-packed fantasy novel that reminded me of a quest of out World of Warcraft. I did find a few faults in the story. Characters being mentioned and then dropped. Also the plotline with the Seelie being introduced at the end of the book. I did like the book but found it very hard to read the first few chapters. But, once the main storyline got going, it was engaging and action-packed. It had an explosive ending. I will recommend to people who like fantasy. I do want to read book 2 because I have questions that I hope will be answered on there.
Age range: Adult
Why: Violence
I would like to thank 13Thirty Books, Independent Book Publishers Association, Members Titles and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Road of the Lost
All opinions stated in this review of Road of the Lost are mine
**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**
