CRYSTAL CASTLE REVIEW
TITLE: Crystal Castle
AUTHOR: John D. Ashton
SERIES: Standalone
PUBLISHER: Self Published
PUBLICATION DATE: October 24 2016
SOURCE: Free copy from author
Gabriel sits by his fire awaiting the arrival of each member of his fellowship. They do not know of him nor of the epic journey that lies ahead. Brought together by forces unknown, they travel across the vast landscape of New Earth on their quest to bring to an end the evil reign of the mysterious Ruler of the Crystal Castle. During their treacherous journey, which is plagued by the cruel, dark power of the Ruler, they find friendship and love, but also suffer great loss and witness untold horrors as they move closer to the infamous Crystal Castle. Gabriel knows that this mission is his fellowship's destiny, but will they be strong enough to succeed?
First off thanks to the author for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review!
The author did an excellent job in varying his characters, they were all well developed and pretty unique in their attitudes. Johnny actually already lived on New Earth and his character brought the sweet and innocence to the group. Then you had Jason who's kind of the let's-drown-our-sorrows-in-a-bar kind of guy, Gabriel a Gandalf-like character and Janice who was by far my favorite! She's kind of your typical rebellious teen with an overzealous mom, at the beginning she appears cold and distant but her character really developed into someone a little more open.
It was definitely fast paced with loads of action but it made me want a little more description of the world. It had a few Lord Of The Rings feels which i absolutely loved!
The idea was pretty interesting! After death these strangers meet in a new unknown world that's being controlled by an evil ruler. You had a moving crystal castle, crazy monsters attacking them and throughout it all the bonds forming between the group. Loved the little tad of romance!
I think a downside for me would be that the ending was a little too flat-it just came a little too quickly. There was a great build up throughout the book but when we reached the end it ended way too quickly. There were questions throughout the book that were all answered at the very end in one go and i think it could have been more of a weighty ending if the answers were drawn out at a slower pace.
The story is definitely intriguing and interesting! But i think the plot should have been a little more developed and the ending should have been elongated. That being said it's a cool action/fantasy standalone that fits both YA and Adult genre!
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