Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I [NOOK Book]

Quite Riveting

I found this book simply riveting and I have not been provided such an escape to another place in a while. What a way for an unwilling harlot and an AWOL military man to find each other through desperation, only to end up in the company of greatness.

I will pursue the next book in the series when I get home this evening, as well as a nice cup of hot cocoa.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

A terrific debut fantasy novel

Dreibrand Veta is a skilled warrior from an impoverished and disgraced noble family. Angered by the actions of his military leader, Dreibrand rides off into an unexplored wilderness, hoping to gain wealth and fame by his discoveries of this new world. Alone and vulnerable, he encounters Miranda, a woman with two children who have fled the beatings of a cruel and abusive slave master.

In this secret land, Queen Onja reigns as supreme goddess of the Rys. Her powers are far reaching. She can enter the mind of her subjects and enemies, controlling them at her whim. Shan is a spellcaster with magical powers that rival those of Queen Onja's. Although he is her most respected advisor, he becomes disenchanted with her degrading cruelty. For years he has awaited to usurp her throne in order to save the kingdom.

When Onja steals Miranda's children and leaves her to freeze to death on a glacier, Shan rises to action. Together with Dreibrand, they rescue Miranda. Shan plans his rebellion and the three set out to convince the leaders of other Rys tribes to join them in rebellion against Onja.

This book was a very pleasant surprise, gripping me from its first few chapters. The three dimensional characters were intriguing and believable. Thrust into impossible situations, their personalities developed as the story evolved, soliciting sympathy from the reader for their individual plights.

Tracy Falbe has created a credible fantasy world filled with conflict and danger. The story was easy to follow and most enjoyable. The author's lovely writing style allowed the story to unfold seamlessly and at a good pace. As I got further into the story, I could not help but feel as if I was deeply involved with the characters and their plight.

Union of Renegades is the first book in the Rys Chronicles.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Immature

The dialog and scene descriptions were very immature and poorly done. The spelling and grammar weee ok, but the character's thought dialog was not punctuated properly. Very difficult to read. I had to stop many times to reread entire paragraphs to try to figure out what the author was trying to convey.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

self-published and it shows

For $0.99 this book is easily worth the price, and my rating reflects this. I found the plot to be enjoyable and the characters generally well-rounded. However it is painfully obvious that Ms. Falbe lacked access to a professional editor. The writing feels awkwardly stiff and formal and problems with redundancy crop up with depressing regularity. These are problems that plague the entire series, and a decent editor would have made a world of difference. For the most part I was able to look past the grammatical issues and enjoy the story but there were times that I had to work at it. Any fantasy fan should at least give this a look, but make sure you like it before buying the other books.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Fascinating new world to explore!

Tracy Falbe has created a magical landscape that comes to life. The hierarchical structure is fascinating, and I find the dynamics between the people who populate this world quite interesting. There are several different races of people in this book, and I felt like I had a good feel for the spoken (and unspoken) rules of each culture. I didn't feel I knew each of the individual characters quite as well, however. I think this author did a great job with description and creation of this world, but the dialogue between the individual characters felt flat.

The book is a touch lengthy and builds slowly. It was an interesting read the entire way through, but, by the end, I could hardly remember where we had started. This first book in the Rys Chronicles establishes the world and the battle to be fought, and it sets up expectations for the following book. There is plenty of action and some romance interspersed throughout the tale, and the book prepares the reader for the next adventure in the series.

There were a noticeable number of minor typos in my copy of the book. Some sentences and phrases flowed beautifully while others were a little awkward and somewhat ambiguous. Add in the wonderfully crafted world in contrast to the flat dialogue, and the writing style feels somewhat inconsistent.

Overall, the story is very engaging and, typos aside, makes for a very good start to what's sure to be an intriguing fantasy series. If you're a fan of epic fantasy, this book will offer you a glimpse into a riveting world and provide you with the start to what's sure to be an adventure of a lifetime.

3.5 stars Full review at GraceKrispy's MotherLode blog

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

STOP !!!!

Start with RYS RISING, this will give you a running history. If nor this is excellent book and seris. I have read them all and recomend it!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Amazing Read!

This story is absolutely amazing. The author really pulls you into this alternate world where these characters live and how they interact. I can hardly wait to read the rest of the series. The author turely is gifted, and I was so glad that I took the time to read this book. It is rather long (over 1000 pages) and I was weary of the book in the begining, but I soon warmed up to the characters and the sotry that the author expertly unravels.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

RECOMENDED

I didnt expect a good book, but was plesantly surprised after reading it because it was a really good book. it was easy to ignore errors in most places and was very injoyable.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

really enjoyed this tale

ready to get the rest of the series

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Really like it!

I have to admit it was kind of a slow start, but kept me interested & now couldn't wait to see what happens & get to the 2nd book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Avidfantasyreader

Exciting first book in what i hope will be a fantastic new series. I only give it fout stars for the spellling and gramatical errors. I highly recommend this book

Twists and turns

Approx 1100 pages of good reading. Hope you enjoy also.

A very good start to a series. Can't wait to read the next book.

The book was free and did a good job of hooking me into getting the next book in the series.

A little on the simple side

I found the book to be just ok. Lots of excitement but not a lot of character developement. just not up there with Robert Jordan or maybe Elizabeth Hayden. I like much more depth to characters. I probably will read rest of series because I like to series to the end.

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