It has been five centuries since a well-placed arrow put an end to the reign of terror brought by Sargon the Destroyer. Time passed, and the wounds of the land healed while magic was forgotten. Now, Aldrick and his family enjoy a peaceful journey to the Tournament of the King. He could never have imagined on that beautiful spring day, that his life was about to change, or that his destiny might be to face… …The Rise of the Destroyer.
I received this book from the author for an honest review. Actually, I received it in a compilation of the trilogy, but I like the idea of breaking the large compendium into its separate parts for this review. That said, let me begin…
The Key of Creation is a fantasy trilogy. The first book, The Rise of the Destroyer, centers on Aldrick, an investigator from a small town.
What I liked about this book is that there is a number of mysteries added with an interesting world. As a reader, you aren’t going to get this long exposition about the world before even figuring out the main characters. Though I love LOTR, it was something I didn’t care for. Luckily, Voss and Bushnell don’t dwadle in exposition land. No, you are shoved right into the mystery and action.
The first mystery is what is going on with the country Illyria and how does that tie into the large scheme. You are introduced to this mystery very early on. Though you don’t get much on what is going on, the authors do give enough background (through mythic storytelling) to give you an idea of what may happen in the future.
The other and more pressing mystery are the deaths of nobles during a tournament. What I love about this tournament is that it is to determine who will be king. Pretty neat and not something usually done. I really liked that tidbit of the world. It gave the country a custom and added onto something more.
So, without giving anything away (hopefully), Aldrick, our main character, is trying to figure out mystery number 2. What’s great is that I’m not sure if all of mystery number 2 is its own mystery or a part of mystery number 1. That bit of secrecy is well placed and does keep me wondering.
Aldrick is an interesting character. Someone, a reviewer I read, compared him to Sherlock. Whereas I love Sherlock and Aldrick does solve crimes for a living, I wouldn’t say he’s a Sherlock. I liken him as his own type of crime solver. He does rely on his wits and knowledge, but even he is the first to admit that he isn’t going to know everything off the bat. He has humor and is very loving to his family. That dynamic and his lack of navigational skills make him an interesting and endearing character.
The other characters we are introduced to are equally as interesting and you can see their own quirks. However, it is Aldrick that this book centers on. I’m not sure about the other two, but that won’t be long.
In all, I liked the fact that this fantasy was more of a mystery in a fantasy setting. No, the mysteries haven’t been solved, but I believe that’s because they are integral to the rest of the series. With that, I actually welcomed the cliffhanger ending.
This is a short book that you do get pulled into. It has little things that strengthen the storytelling and make you want to know more about the world. I will be reading the other two books and luckily, I have them to read them.
Casia's Corner 