Florian Armas

This complex medieval-style fantasy novel of intrigue and conflict centers mainly around Codrin, last of his family, and Jara, widow and mother. Their individual stories weave together against the backdrop of this world of struggles over power.

There's a lot going on in the story and the many characters, each with their own allegiances and plots, at times interact and other times oppose each other. The world in which these characters move is rich in culture and detail, and the magic that is present is subtle. The myriad intrigues that the many different factions supported held my interest and kept me reading to see how they would intertwine and succeed or fail.

Unfortunately, the numerous characters were hard to keep straight - who supported and who opposed whom. The narrative introduced them quickly, often with little to distinguish them, and many disappeared from the story just as quickly. The ending came abruptly and did not give a sense of closure, no satisfying conclusion to even part of the story. That leaves the story with not even the slightest feeling of anything having been resolved, even if only temporarily.

Many instances of odd phrasing, incorrect words and typos, and random tense changes made the reading difficult, usually requiring re-reading sections to try to discern the meaning, which often remained just out of reach. There are instances of multiple voices smashed together into a single paragraph, and sudden time jumps from one paragraph to the next. These issues interfered with the flow of the story and sadly worked to obscure subtleties and nuances. It became a struggle to follow what was going on.

Overall, this is an intriguing story of plots, betrayals, and conflicts. But it's held back by word-usage errors and grammatical and other problems in the writing. An interesting read that's tough to follow at times.… (meer)

In a war in the future, Vlad and his fellow soldiers face an overwhelming enemy force. Something extraordinary happens and Vlad finds himself somewhere else: a world new to him with cultures strange to him, in which he must learn to survive.

Elements I liked:
The compelling story quickly drew me in and for the most part, the pace flowed well to keep me interested in finding out what happened next. I liked how the story incorporated the idea of quantum consciousness and some of our current understandings around the influence of certain foods on the body. Vivid descriptions painted wonderful pictures of the settings, such as '...the hill resembles a half-bald man's head...'. The story's unique mystical elements were intriguing, and the ancient cultures that Vlad encountered were well-developed, believable, and peopled with credible characters with their individual desires and agendas.

Elements I struggled with:
At times the dialog came across more formal and stilted than seemed to fit the situations in which the characters found themselves. Odd verb tense changes, some typos, and instances of missing and incorrect words popped up from time to time and hindered the story's flow. The story's conclusion didn't really provide much closure, and it ended with a bit of a frustrating cliffhanger.

Overall:
I enjoyed this mystical time-travel adventure. It's an original, engrossing story with an interesting twist near the end, before the bit of a cliffhanger.… (meer)

I enjoyed this much more than the first in the series. It came across as much more well developed and organized. It made reading It a lot easier, less confusing,and much more enjoyable.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys time travel and science fiction stories. I feel like this book is capable of standing alone and doesn't necessarily need to be read in succession to it's predecessor, though it does refer back to it a few times, text is included to clear up any confusion.

*I won a copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway. The review is my own, honest and unsolicited.… (meer)