Publisher: iUniverse

Date of publication: February 23rd, 2009

Genre: Fantasy

Purchase Links: Kindle | B&N | AbeBooks | Alibris | Powells | IndieBound | Indigo | BetterWorldBooks

Goodreads Synopsis:

Before the days of men, there were elves. In a time they were great and powerful, the first dwellers, the brightest ray of dawn upon the earth. They brought light and music to the world and every breeze that stirs and wave that crashes still echoes with the wonder of the fair folk.
But a foulness is brewing in the east, where men deal in sorcery. They summon dire forces, unleashing a terrible power into the world. And the elves, once immortal, now fade from the earth. But knowing that all sorcery comes from Runes that were carved ages ago, Efkin, a young elf lord, races to find and destroy the hidden Runes before all is lost. He sets out to recover the horn of his ancestors that long ago summoned the forces that shaped the world. Only the horn has the power to break the Runes. He journeys into the east, but comes too close to the heart of sorcery and does not dare blow the horn. If he is tainted by the poison of the Runes the horn will sound a ruinous note that could spell the end of the earth.

First Line:

It was early dawn when a wagon rumbled across the plain along the eastern part of Khazinth in its way toward a village the stood between the mountains and the sea.

The Sylvan Horn by Robert Redinger

When I read the blurb for The Sylvan Horn, I immediately thought of The Lord of the Rings series. Except the Humans were the bad guys, and the Elves were trying to protect the rest of the world from them. So, I immediately accepted the invite and dove right in. While I wasn’t right about it being like The Lord of The Rings (not even close…lol), I did enjoy reading this book.

The Sylvan Horn had an exciting plotline. The boundaries that have protected the Elves’ realm are failing. That is allowing Trolls to infiltrate their forests and kill their people. Attempting to broker peace leads the Elves to discover that there is more going on than just the Trolls attacking them. It is up to Efkin, a young Elf with almost mythic magical powers, to retrieve an artifact that can help him. This artifact, The Sylvan Horn, is held by the humans in a mountain of iron….which is deadly to Elves. As Elfkin makes his journey, he discovers there is so much more at stake. The bindings on The Runes, which can destroy the world, are failing. And there is only one god that can help them. Can Efkin survive the journey? Will he be able to reach the Horn? And what will Efkin learn about himself on the journey?

The Sylvan Horn is book one in The Sylvan Chord series. As it is the first book in the series, I can’t say the usual stuff I put in this section.

The Sylvan Horn was a medium-paced book. It did get off to a slow start, but the author used that to introduce most of the main characters. It picked up when Efkin started his journey but did falter a little in the middle of the book. But I still enjoyed the plotline. Once Efkin reached the human lands, the book picked up its pace and zipped to the end.

There were a lot of characters in The Sylvan Horn, most of which were introduced in the first few chapters. It did get a little confusing. But once Efkin was on his journey, I was better able to keep track of characters better.

I want to add before I go any further and forget that I wish the author had included a glossary. That would have made keeping track of the characters and the cities/countries/continents Efkin and his group visited so much easier.

This book is supposed to be a young adult fantasy. The book fits perfectly in with the fantasy genre. The author hit every single earmark for that genre, and I enjoyed it. I was iffy about the young adult genre, though. Some of the vocabulary was a little adult. Even I had to look some words up.

I loved the main storyline and the lore that went with it. Efkin was a likable character who was determined to get the Horn. I loved reading about his side journies while continuing on his main quest. The ones that stood out the most to me were the water giant (who protected him against the dragons) and the count who was training birds for war (I got a good laugh about that). I liked the twist on who Efkin was. It made sense during the last half of the book (with what he could do).

The Sylvan Horn ended on a cliffhanger. I have questions about the druid that this one didn’t answer. I am looking forward to reading the next book

I would recommend The Sylvan Horn to anyone over 13. There is violence, no language, no sex (or sexual situations), and no other triggers.

Thank you to the author for allowing me to read and review The Sylvan Horn.