Heartless


Cover Art
Heartless
Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Bethany House Publishers

My friends and readers, try to hold in your amazement: I have found it. What, pray tell, have I discovered? A fantasy I actually like. No, not one I tolerate, not one I find passable, but one I actually like. As in, I want to read the next books in the series pronto.
The storyline was engaging and easy enough for even me to understand; it had some great characters and some not-so-great ones, and overall, I really want to read more of the Tales of Goldstone Wood.
This book takes place in a fantasy world. I have pretty strict requirements about fantasies in regard to magic, and I was happy to say that, though I could certainly be wrong, I don’t remember the word “magic” even being used. Yes, there were crazy creatures, and people turning into dragons, and weird abilities and beings called faeries; however, it was all a part of this fictional world, and there were no spells/sorcery or such.
As for characters, I liked Una at the beginning, but she started to annoy me not quite halfway into the book. Aethelbald was another story. He was great. I also really liked Una’s brother, Felix. I didn’t think I would at first, but once he started becoming friends with Aethelbald, he began to grow on me J My favorite character that I want to learn more about? Sir Eanrin. Apparently, though, he doesn’t get his own story until book four…argh!!!
I got this ebook awhile ago for free on CBD.com, but I wasn’t particularly interested because I thought the cover looked kind of creepy. I guess this is a classic case of a “don’t judge a book by its cover”. Thankfully, the other books in the series don’t look quite so…strange.
Also, though this was a fantasy, I could see the Christian morals/principles/allegories very clearly, so I really liked that as well.

Objectionable content: There was some violence, and some “magical-type” abilities and such.
                                                                                      
Rating: 8 ½ 

Comments

  1. GraceDecember 13, 2012 at 4:46 PM

    Hi!

    I saw that you wanted to read more about Eanrin, but his book is not until number four. It is a prequel type, taking place hundreds of years before "Heartless." I read it, and it shouldn't ruin the other books for you if you wanted to go ahead and read it :-).

    Have a lovely week,
    Grace

    ReplyDelete

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