Reviewed by Dan

TITLE: Falkrag

SERIES: Wytch Kings – Book 5

AUTHOR: Jaye McKenna

PUBLISHER: Mythe Weaver Press

LENGTH: 258 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  August 22, 2018

BLURB:

Newly released from his bondage to the Wytch Council, Prince Shaine of Rhiva strives to prove that he can be trusted. Burdened by guilt and shame, but determined to help the Northern Alliance win the coming war against the Wytch Council, Shaine ventures into the Iceshards to investigate an ancient ruin rumored to contain a hidden cache of powerful weapons. He doesn’t get far before being badly wounded by a deadly mountain predator.

Son of the hunt leader of his village, Vorri is destined to one day lead his people, a group of exiled shifters from Rhiva who have survived in the dangerous Iceshards for nearly three hundred years. When the hunters who keep the village fed begin disappearing, the fearful village elders forbid anyone to seek them out. Determined to save the missing hunters, his own brother and sister among them, Vorri disobeys, and sets off alone to find them.

When Vorri saves Shaine from certain death, the two young men strike a bargain: Vorri will help Shaine find the ruin, and Shaine will aid Vorri in his search for his kin. But fulfilling the bargain turns out to be far from simple, and in the end, Shaine and Vorri’s actions could change both the course of the war and the future of Vorri’s people.

REVIEW:

I missed this one when it came out. You might remember that I reviewed the first four books in this series and I loved then all. I think I raved. If I didn’t, I should have. I just re-read the entire series in preparation for starting this one, and I loved them all over again. The author tells a great tale. The characters are realistic and you come to care for them. I’m really pulling for the entire Northern Alliance and all it’s myriad peoples. Particularly the dragons, because anyone who knows me will testify that I love dragons and anything to do with dragons. But… there are new shifters in town, and I’m loving them as well.

Falkrag is the story of Prince Shaine of Rhiva, the young man who was controlled by a powerful magician from the Wytch Council in a previous book. He was eventually freed, but still suffers from guilt on what he did, and almost did while under the spell. Now he wants to prove himself. Finding information on a forgotten fortress in the far north, that supposedly is full of Wytch weapons, he slips away when no one is looking and heads off to find the fortress. It isn’t long though before he falls foul of a brutal animal attack and almost dies.

His rescuer is also off on a mission by himself. Vorri, is forbidden to go searching for his missing brother and sister and the other missing hunters because he is the pack leader’s grandson and will someday be the pack leader. The opportunity arises though and he off to the south to find answers to where his pack mates are.  Instead, he finds a bleeding young human lying in the snow after an animal attack.

The two young men struggle to survive, narrowly avoid being killed, and spend a lot of time on adventures. Along the way we learn what type of shifter Vorri is and where his people came from, and we find out that Shaine is a really great guy. Both men step up for what they believe in and the tale rapidly passes. Too fast, in fact. I want more, and I want it now!

I love this author’s writing style for all the reasons I noted at the top of this review. I highly recommend this one to anyone who likes fantasy, dragons, shifters, good versus evil, and similar stories. I recommend you read all five books, and do them in order. Hurry up and catch up, I’ve a feeling there is more coming!

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

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