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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Lichgates by S.M. Boyce

Lichgates: Book One of the Grimoire Trilogy is a fantasy, and although not classified as YA, fits that genre as well.

Kara Magari stumbles through a Lichgate while hiking and discovers the Grimoire,which can answer questions asked of it--at least concerning the strange world of Ourea she finds herself in.  Finding the book puts her in danger as the Grimoire's power is desired by almost everyone in this world.

 Kara's first meeting in Ourea is Braeden Drakonin, who has been searching for the Grimoire in order to free himself from his heritage.  Both are taken prisoner, but Braeden decides to stick with Kara, hoping to eventually use the Grimoire.  The leaders of each of the Five Kingdoms want access to the powerful book, and Kara finds herself in one threatening situation after another.  Braeden, who also has an agenda, becomes her protector.

When I looked at Amazon to get the book pic, I noticed that there were no reviews.  That is unusual, especially since there were reviews of the next book in the series (very positive reviews), so I went to Goodreads and found mostly 5 star reviews of Lichgates.

I enjoyed the book, but certainly not to that standard.  The world-building that others found so convincing failed to persuade me.  The characters and plot are pretty typical of fantasy, but Braeden's ability to change form is an interesting device, not the typical shape-shifter trope.  Although the protagonists are likable, they  don't feel fully dimensional.

So...while I liked the book, it did not impress me as much as it did other readers.  I'm in the minority in my opinion, though, so if you are interested in reading Lichgates, you can get the Kindle version for free on Amazon.   Then you can decide if you want to continue with this popular series.

I received this ebook from Net Galley/Immortal Ink Publishing.

Fantasy/YA.  2011.  Print version 334 pages.  ISBN-10: 1939997062

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