4 Stars
Publisher: RABT Book Tours
Date of publication: June 29th, 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Where you can find The Wizard’s Gift: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Goodreads synopsis:
The last of an ancient group of wizards leave a gift to the newly arrived race of men. It is revered and cared for by a line of priests until it is stolen, and the high priest and his sovereign murdered by a king who believes himself destined to be a great wizard. But from ancient writings, the high priest had discovered that the gift is not benevolent as was thought. This forces the son of the high priest unexpectedly elevated to his father’s position, and the young prince who is equally suddenly king, into a race to find the gift before it can be used as that may cause the destruction of the world. Accompanied by the retired captain of the palace guard they hope to speed their journey by crossing the Wasteland, a seeming desert, which is fabled to be populated by monsters, and from which no visitor has ever returned. In the course of their adventures, they are hunted by dog-faced men and captured by slavers, but the young prince truly becomes a king, and the priest discovers that he has a destiny that goes beyond the bounds of his world.
My review:
The Wizard’s Gift starts off with an ancient wizard leaving a gift to the men (and women) of the region where he lived. Telling the King of the area that the battle-ax was a good luck talisman, the wizard goes off to die in an enchanted land. The people with whom the battle-ax (and a few books) were left with came to revere and worship the gift. All was well for centuries until one of the priests of The Wizard’s Gift decides to sell out his people to a wizard king. It is there where the story begins. 4 men set off on a quest. One on his own and three together. The single man is determined to find the wizard king. He wants to make him pay for killing his King and razing his city. The other 3 men are also in pursuit of the wizard king. They want The Wizard’s Gift back in their city. It is their quest that is chronicled. A newly minted King, a retired Captain of the Palace Guard, and the High Priest of Bianmares. One of those three men has the destiny to fulfill. Can he survive to fulfill it?
I am going to warn you all, this book starts off slow. There were a few times where I almost DNF’d it because I was getting frustrated at how slow the plot goes. If you read this book, keep soldiering on. The plot gains speed after Caran Tuith buries his father. This is also a longer book, about 321 pages. Usually, I can read a book that length within a couple of days. But, I have been sick and couldn’t concentrate on the book long enough to read it. So, it took me 3-4 days to read it.
My only complaint about the book was that the formatting was wonky. I went from a larger font type to small font type. Also, at one point in the book, there were lines between each paragraph. Which stopped after a couple of chapters. It did get annoying after a while. That did affect how I rated the book.
Other than my complaint about the formatting, I loved the book. The characters were complex and well fleshed out. The author did a fantastic job of character building with them. I connected with everyone but King Premendis and Strantor. I didn’t like him. What they did to Caran Tuith’s father and people were unforgivable.
The world building was awesome in this book. The author took his time building up each area. I had no problem seeing The Wastelands and its inhabitants. Or Bianmares. Or where the mountain men lived.
The plotlines were the same way. Vivid and descriptive. I did have an issue with some of the bigger words but it was nothing that a highlight on my Kindle could solve. I loved that there were no storylines left up in the air. The author also did a great job at bringing all the storylines together at the end of the book.
Speaking of the ending, it was insane!! From the escape from The Wastelands to what Bataan did. I am hoping that the author is going to write a sequel to this book. Because I would 100% read it.
I gave The Wizard’s Gift a 4-star rating. This was a fantastic read. The character and world building were amazing. I did have an issue with the formatting and that did affect my review.
I would give The Wizard’s Gift an Older Teen rating. There is no sex. There is mild violence. There is no language. There are no triggers. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread The Wizard’s Gift. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.
I would like to thank RABT Book Tours for allowing me to read and review The Wizard’s Gift.
All opinions stated in this review of The Wizard’s Gift are mine.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**