The Vanished Knight
4.7
3
5
1
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780620628761 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Misha Gericke |
| Publication date: | 09/04/2015 |
| Pages: | 268 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.61(d) |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
The Vanished Knight
4.7 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
3 reviews.
 |
Reviewed by Ray Simmons for Readers' Favorite
The Vanished Knight is the first book in the War of Six Crowns series by M. Gerrick. It is a tale of medieval magic and war. The protagonist is a young orphan girl, Callan, who is cursed with dreams and visions by an entity inside her that she cannot control or understand. The entity makes her life unbearable until she becomes the ward of the wealthy Braden family and is sent to an expensive private school with her foster brothers James and Ward. Here the mysteries are slowly revealed and the girl who has lived most of her life as an outsider begins to make friends and discover who she really is. The story unfolds slowly, but the personalities, both good and bad, are apparent from the start.
I liked The Vanished Knight because I like medieval warfare and internecine strife. The writing is good and the characters and personalities are vivid. Good guys and bad guys stand out and you either love them or hate them, but you will never forget them. The story reminds me a lot of the classic struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster in English history. M. Gerrick has a knack of showing how epic struggles between warring factions are a lot like the conflict between high school cliques. It’s all about weak and strong personalities but loyalty, friendship and honor matter a lot too. Young people will love The Vanished Knight, especially if they happen to be fans of medieval life and history.
|
|
First things first: I received this a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Callan Blair is fairly sure that this next foster assignment will be like all the rest - she'd be in and out pretty quickly. Except this time, she's sent to school at Graystone Academy with her two new brothers and somehow plunges into a real magical world that had only ever existed in her dreams. Worse, whilst she's still coming to terms with the fact that two of her new schoolmates are soldiers and contenders for the throne in this strange new world, she's confronted with the fact that everything she knows of her late parents has been a lie. Mostly of omission. Struggling with that betrayal, staying in this world may be the only chance she has of ever finding out who they really were.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book. On a general feel, it was kind of so-so-ish in the beginning (meh, boarding school story, what?) but by the time I hit midway, I didn't really want to stop reading. It's fairly short though; well, middling in length (less than 3 hours). Then again, it's book 1 of a series so I suppose it can't go on for too long or we'll never get to the other books.
Writing wise, it's not exactly stellar, but it's quite solid for a debut. Gerrick tends to use shorter, choppier dialogue which wasn't exactly ideal for me. I don't know what I was expecting, but I'd have figured longer, more formal dialogue for princely types. Then again, they're teens. There were a few confusing bits - especially with the dream sequences and the red vs black - but nothing too major.
|
|
Callan Blair's dark secret keeps her bouncing around from one foster home to another. When her newest foster parents send her to a rich boarding school, Callan finds things she didn't think possible: a friend, a link to her past, and a doorway to another world. She's dragged into this strange and beautiful medieval world. Though she makes friends and might find some answers about her parents, she knows she can never stay. The darkness in her would never make it safe. But what's more frightening: what's inside of her or the war erupting around her?
A marvelous tale that takes us from our modern world into a wonderful fantasy realm, one forgotten by the people of Earth. The world building is incredible. There's a rich history filled with unusual customs and folklore, and none of it is dumped on the reader. It's perfectly spread out through the book. This is the first book in a series, and I cannot wait to learn more about the land and its peoples.
What makes this book stand out from other YA fantasy tales is the cast of characters. Callan is a strong female protagonist. She has my sympathy as well as my admiration. And the mystery behind her dark secret is intriguing. Kaela is another great female character. She's a soldier with a powerful sense of duty and loyalty. Then there are all the charming males: Gawain, Quin, Darrion, and Ward. Not James. He wasn't charming at all!
THE VANISHED KNIGHT is a fantastic beginning to Misha Gerrick's series. I can't wait until the next one is released!
|
Explore More Items
