J. T. Williams

There is definitely a good seafaring story here. It felt a bit reminiscent of that movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World starring Russel Crowe where a vessel and its crew are constantly being hunted by an enemy ship that obeys a rival king and the constant battles of wits between the two factions.

There are some nifty sea creature scenes that were ultimately the best parts of the novella. The plot for the most part is entertaining and I personally liked Faris and wondered if he is a good guy or a bad guy.

The problem lies in other parts of the book. The fantasy trope of orphan kid that is dragged to a huge adventure and discovers he was the big enchilada the whole time without ever realizing it and now faces a bunch of bad guys is omnipresent in this tale. I don't mind that too much, but some things of the book seemed like there is something missing here.

Valrin is just some ordinary Joe with no real talent. He catches eels to resell for a living and everyone in the island where he grew up believes he sort of sucks at that but apparently he sells enough to maintain himself. He doesn't seem overly bright, but he isn't a moron either. He seems like a good chap that doesn't know what he wants. Curious about the sea, but he's never verbally admitted he has ever wanted to join a vessel. He was raised by a mysterious woman with elf blood named Tua and while the plot hints of her elven heritage, we don't know her perceived age or how elf llike she really was. In fact, the book never offers a physical description of anyone. She seems to harbor some magic but I feel like her character was left in the blue. We could have a Luke Skywalker tension scene going on here. Heck, the initial episode of that anime Hunter x Hunter has a similar orphan named Gon Freecks that was raised by an aunt in a quiet island and Gon's aunt tries to convince the kid to live a quiet life and he rejects the offer. Gon decides to attempt to pass the difficult Hunter exam in the hopes he might discover if his father is still alive somewhere.

Stormborn doesn't have the tugging initial premise. It's very much a generic fare. A bad guy shows up, offers a reward for the islanders to capture a rogue vessel that just happens to dock at the island the following day and we discover the crew are the good guys. Valrin ends up joining the crew out of plot convenience and the expected adventure begins.

Again, I don't mind predictable plots as long as the pace is good and the characters memorable. Some characters stand out but without a physical description and character interaction tension, it was hard to fully connect with the story. The second-in-command of the vessel is a dwarf just like the bad guys and yet he isn't distrustful of the new member of the crew. Nobody seems to have a quip that their looney captain wants to bring this kid to a mysterious part of the ocean for a secret mission. The book could have been a lot better if we had some more tension and much more character development. The writing especially in the first portion of the book wasn't all that great. I skimmed through parts of the story.

At the end it's still an okay 1 hour read, but nothing that blew me away.… (mais)

My favorite character almost died and I about cried. Through out this book I couldn't tell who was on the 'good team' and who had hidden motives, I kept thinking at any moment Kealin was going to get messed over why someone within their travels. My favorite aspect of Kealin is his honesty. Even when he isn't sure of his path, or who to trust, he just speaks in real talk. No pleasantries, just true as he knows it. The ending was a pleasant yet stressful surprise. I look forward to the next tale in Kealins story.… (mais)

These books have been progressively getting darker. Which I have loved, many times when the first book has a somber ending, the following books are working towards making everything light and solved. But so far that hasn't been the case in the Half-Elf Chronicles series. This series has been a whirlwind of darkness, loss & disappointment, but also full of friendship, alliances and wins. No one is ever safe and there has yet to be a romance, thank goodness. (So far it hasn't been the time or the place, but too many times they are shoved in there anyways)

The battle scenes have all been well choreographed dances, and the line of who is good/evil or who is right/wrong has been pretty grey. I adore books that even the 'bad guys' have valid reasons for their actions.

Overall, I'm excited to start book 4 in this series, Kealin is a well built character.… (mais)