| Title | : | Into the Reach (The Redemption Trilogy #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 258 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2006 |
In the land of Eranon, the Reach is a desolate place where people journey to forget who they are. Now, a menace rises from this wasteland, and he is hunting for someone. To keep the madman and his chaos behind the Reach, four adventurers with haunted pasts must rise to the challenge. But how how can failed heroes bring hope to others when they doubt themselves?
Into the Reach (The Redemption Trilogy #1) Reviews
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A Great, Character Driven Fantasy
“Do you know of the lair called the Black Death?”
When a small town on the edge of The Reach is attacked by an unholy thing, a group of heroes must band together to end the threat - though one of their number hides a secret that may destroy them all.
It's been a while since I've read a straight-up Fantasy novel. I read a ton when I was younger and fell out of the habit when they began to blend together - each started to feel like the same quest story with the same cardboard race-or-profession-as-personality characters. So I stopped reading them. This was more years ago than I care to admit, and I know I've missed many good novels as a result.
Happily, Into the Reach falls into none of those traps, instead providing a rich world and characters that feel like real people. The plot is driven by the actions (or inactions) of the principal characters and not some magical maguffin. It's not an EPIC storyline, in that the ramifications aren't world-changing, but it's important to the characters.
And it's the characters that really caught me. There are your traditional types - a knight, a cleric, a thief and a fighter - but their roles don't define them any more than yours or mine define us. They INFORM our character, but they're not the whole. Such is the case with Kennerly, Lydia, Taru and Nara - a disparate group, each running from their past. Alana Abbott writes dialogue well and crafts a distinct personality for each character. They feel real, and it's the emotional investment in their well-being that carries the book for me.
The minuses are few and mostly come down to personal taste. A couple of the action scenes were a little confusing to me and one seemed far too short for the build-up. There's a character that I really enjoy, but who functions as a sort of deus ex machina a few times. His first appearance is particularly problematic for me, as it seems to serve no function other than to stir the emotional pot. I like the character and look forward to his appearances, but he's a bit too convenient at times.
The pluses are many, including the aforementioned character building, but there's also a rich fantasy world that the characters inhabit. I have no knowledge of the setting - it's apparently that of a role playing game - and none is needed. While there are a lot of details they never make you feel lost, instead serving to create the sense of a larger world beyond that where the action is set. The antagonists are also interesting and more well-rounded than I'm used to in a Fantasy novel. You almost feel bad for some of them. Almost.
Technically the first of a trilogy, the story is complete on its own. You'll want to read the next two books, but not because of any dangling plot lines or cliffhangers - you'll simply be interested in what happens to these people, these friends that have come so far and have so far yet to go.
Bottom line: this is an enjoyable and well-written fantasy story with great characters that will stay with you long after the final page. -
Into the Reach is available as an e-book through DriveThruFiction. You can get there from this link:
http://tinyurl.com/aja-ebooks
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