Fantasy with a Focus on Frontier Life
“Uprooted” is the story of a pair
of brothers who are forced to leave their home after they discover a
decaying body in the woods near their home. The body was in
possession of an amulet that the boy’s village fears will draw the
attention of “The Jackals,” who are always on the hunt to
eliminate the use of magic.
I found “Uprooted” to be a quick
and easy read. This isn’t the kind of fantasy novel that has a
sword fight on every page, it’s more of a meditation on rural life
and family. At times, I could imagine the characters involved were
attempting to build a life on the American frontier rather than
occupying the pages of a fantasy novel. I actually enjoyed this
component because it lent the novel a sense of realism.
Edwin is a gifted storyteller and there
are some very good scenes in this book which display a keen grasp of
character development. I especially enjoyed a chapter where a young
boy goes to profess his love to an indifferent girl. The scene was
not overdone and the boy learns a few things that echo in his actions
for the rest of the novel. It’s good to see moments in a novel
where actions have consequences. This is what people mean when they
say “the characters need to grow and change.”
I was kind of looking forward to a
little more action early on, and at times it was hard to identify who
the main characters were going to be. There are a lot of characters
in this novel, which indicates that this is a rich and fully
developed world. I did eventually get my answers, and overall this
is a compelling start to a new series. This is a well-crafted,
professional novel. The editing is good, the cover design is good,
and I’m looking forward to more entries in this series.
Pick up your copy here.
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