Fantastical, Magical, & Witty
The Relic Huntress is an intriguing story about a girl who as a child is trained alongside a group of individuals known as the relic hunters. Their purpose is to discover relics across the globe and retain them for their archives since most, if in the wrong hands, could be catastrophic for the people of the world. The story follows Leandra and her journey. She is a sharp, witty character who while remains serious about her mission can also be humorous, especially when she's talking to her kadra, Onyx.
I love reading books that know how to poke fun and joke around. Sometimes, fantasy novels are so serious that the characters become rather one dimensional in their conquests which in turn makes for a very boring read. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the characters throughout this book had fuller personalities to them that I, as a reader, could fully immerse myself into. The dialogue and banter between the characters made them seem more real and relatable for the average person making for a more pleasurable read.
Furthermore, the pace in a epic/high fantasy such as this one is very important to me personally. There have been fantasy books I've had to put down due to their monotonous and elongated descriptions about the setting, lands, rulers, all the way down to how the heroine's hair flows on a breeze. This one is certainly fast-paced with it's action - dare I say very fast. While the action is great, it's extremely brief leaving you with more questions about certain situations.
SPOILER - For example, when Leandra and Nik encounter an eel-like God while visiting the baths who reveals more about the creature behind the mountain door in her dreams. The creature's explanation is very sudden, surprisingly revealing, and without much pay off. It slithers back into its home leaving Nik and Leandra completely untouched and the two don't even really talk about it afterwards. I think this particular chapter could be expounded upon further by giving Nik and Leandra a challenge with the monster, or giving them more dialogue between the two since their dialogue (at this point in the story) is minimal at best.
The dialogue is my favorite part of any story because that's where we learn the most about characters such as their traits and flaws. And while the dialogue the book contains is great and on the right track, there's not much of it, sadly. Most of the dialogue occurs within Leandra's mind because of the first person point of view. And after Leandra finds her long last friend after 15 years, and journeying alongside him, I would've expected a little more dialogue between the pair. This could happen further along in the book. I'll have to just keep reading to find out since I'm currently on chapter 14.
The plot of the book makes for a fascinating one because the author has done so well developing the scenery and talks about the different relics Leandra has found in the past as well as the ones she learns about. With that being said, I'm not sure if this book is set in the past, the present, or the future. It's even possible it's a dystopian society. Without the use of electronics and guns and such things, I assume it's meant to be like a medieval period. I'm a sucker for dates though. Another explanation I would like to see is if magic is accepted throughout the realm as normal. For now, it seems like an everyday thing that people know about but rarely talk about.
The author's development of the world and its creatures impress me. The names of her characters are a dead giveaway for an epic fantasy and are just as one would expect. I hope to encounter more creatures as the book continues because I think they're among the more interesting attributes of the story. While descriptions remain brief about landscapes and our characters current locations, I would like to see more detail added to describing the monsters she encounters.
I'm giving this book an overall 5 star review based on these truths: Any book I will continue to read after giving a review is a good book in my opinion. The author's uniqueness and creativity within this fantasy world brings it to life for the reader. The author also, has good word flow with minimal grammatical mistakes - any author who edits their work obviously cares about it and their readers.
My only suggestions would be to have more dialogue between main characters, expound upon pertinent situations that occur within the chapters, add a little more description to places that are needed such as to characters and monsters, and if you haven't considered turning this into a series yet, please do. I would love to learn more about these relics throughout their lands and encounter more fantastical creatures.
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