A few chapters in I was a little skeptical because when you have dwarves, elves, a school of magic, and a clear line of we are good and they are evil, things can get a bit cliche fast. But in the case of this story I like the twists it gives to some of these things, even though the mountain mining dwarves are still as stubborn and prideful as you would expect.



I really like the two main characters Emissir and Delothir (or Ocean and Sky), they have very relatable personalities especially if you

A few chapters in I was a little skeptical because when you have dwarves, elves, a school of magic, and a clear line of we are good and they are evil, things can get a bit cliche fast. But in the case of this story I like the twists it gives to some of these things, even though the mountain mining dwarves are still as stubborn and prideful as you would expect.



I really like the two main characters Emissir and Delothir (or Ocean and Sky), they have very relatable personalities especially if you have a brother, then you will really understand these characters. I do have to say that I'm not too fond of the names they pick when they became "full" wizards, every time I read the names Ocean and Sky I felt like I was reading about magic strippers or a hippie rap duo, it took awhile to get used to it but it still bothers me. My favorite part of this book is the interactions between these two brothers, whether they are arguing, poking fun at each other, or thinking around a problem their conversations always feel real and makes me appreciate their different personalities even more.



All the characters in this story were really well written and interesting, some of the best were the brother's parents Ardun and Orissa, Worem, Torik, Thorgal, and my personal favorite Balia. She really enhanced every scene she was in, especially when she charged in the mines fully armored up and the way she came out of the mines with Torik on her back. The Beast felt like it was written with a lot of care, it was the bad guy of the story and was made to look that way with great detail but it also has a few subtle quirks to it throwing you off all the way till the end.



The story is pretty simple, they have to figure out a way to stop the Beast while hiding the fact that they are not old wise men but new wizards fresh out of school. I enjoyed the story a lot, but there are few things that bothered me. The parents dying in the beginning seemed forced (though things get interesting with this later on), the whole light solution in the mines to find the Beast didn't really make sense, maybe if it was talked about earlier (like if was taught in the school) as a thing maybe it would've made more sense. The wizard school was too brief, it was basically they were taught some stuff and now they're done, a couple of classes were mentioned but again it was brief. I would've like to know more about the school and what the rules of this world's magic are, but I just have to assume that it is Harry Potter like.



The last thing I didn't really like was the whole prophecy, the book was going so well at the end but then they mention a prophecy and it was a huge downer. I just think it's too cliche, it's the same prophecy we see everywhere, they are the key to stopping the great evil as told in this ancient scripture. I don't think this book needs a prophecy, I have confidence the author has the skill to get around having a cliche prophecy to fuel the story.



I really like this book and can't wait to see what happens to these characters next. I won this book in a Good Reads First Reads Giveaway.



