The author sent me an ARC (epub format) in exchange for an honest review.

My rating: 3.8 of 5 stars

Plot

(by Goodreads)

Adversaries Together is the first book in the new fantasy adventure series Ascendant Realms. In this opening installment, we are introduced the to the men and women who will go about changing their world, Syr Nebra. The political intrigues of city-states attempting to become nations and eventually empires, as they vie for control of resources as well as the hearts and minds of the numerous human races is the focus of the series.

In the world of Syr Nebra, there is no such thing as magic, yet every human clings to their faith and country. The nation of The Seven Spires has imperial ambitions while the seat of the world’s great religion, The Cathedral, plots its own crusade to control the world. The once prosperous city of Rikonen has been under siege for more than a thousand days and is crumbling. All the while, deep to the south the city of Lappala, the only source of the most precious substance in the world, is a sleeping giant.

Avery Roth is a wanderer scratching out a living in the hinterlands trying to avoid the religious zealots of The Cathedral and the imperial ambitions of The Seven Spires. But when a young woman and her paladin guardian literally run into him in the wild as they are fleeing bandits, he is entangled in a web that tightens the more he struggles to free himself and others. Roth aids the duo on their way but in so doing is drawn into the duplicitous schemes of the elites from rival realms.



Genre(s): Fantasy

Series: Ascendant Realms, #1

Length: 414 pages

Release Date: 2014-11-05

Teaser

Tobin smiled, “Soon there will be two Cassubians traveling on the highroad from Sulecin to Anhra on their way to Lappala.”

Declan broke in, “That’s a bit of a trek. Just the two?”

My Opinion

This book’s first chapter starts rather slow. This is obviously due to the fact that the important characters need to be introduced. As of the second chapter, the story develops a pleasant flow, it becomes a gripping story with interesting characters. There were some typos in the ARC, they are presumably corrected by now.

With Adversaries Together, Daniel Casey has created a quite thrilling fantasy story with characters to like and/or to abhor. The story comprises several plot lines; characters leave sufficient room for the readers’ imagination; sufficient depth, nicely woven situations and interesting interactions. I started enjoying Adversaries Together as of chapter 2; I was drawn into the story then, looking forward to reading book 2 in the series. This is for you if you like fantasy (different clans, no sorcerers or dragons).

The interesting start of a fantasy series.

In brief:

Writing Good Plot Some twists Mood Suspenseful Pace First slow, then steady Characters Some one-dimensional, others developed Violence Some violence Sexual content No sexual content POV Third person

About the author

Daniel Casey has a MFA in Creative Writing-Poetry from the University of Notre Dame. He’s been an adjunct English instructor, a soccer journalist, and a literary magazine editor. He blogs occasionally and continues to freelance.

Connect with the Author:

Please take a look at my statement on reading in My train of thoughts on …reading. Now I am asking you. 🙂

My questions for you bibliophiles:

What about you? What did you think about Adversaries Together? Or – if you did not yet read Adversaries Together – are you now interested in reading it yourself?

My question for you cinephiles:

If Adversaries Together was filmed – who should direct it, who could you imagine as actors?

I am looking forward to reading your comments. 🙂