Destruction (The War of the Democratic Coalition, #1) by Eric Mrozek ~ Book Review

Book Description:

With the passing of the summer solstice, the United Kingdom of Callista has come together to celebrate the independence of their nation and the continuation of the Age of Illumination. Like many in the capital of Agosia, Helisah Almari is looking forward to a new year, the possibility of a new love, and the beginning of her studies at the Royal College with her twin brother, Aegras. As the Royal Light Show begins, the joy of the young elf soon turns to horror as the Telurian Lord Thrakoth launches a surprise attack that plunges the city into chaos.

In a matter of hours, the world that Helisah knew was gone. Agosia has fallen. Death reigns supreme. Helisah and Aegras are cornered by the Telurian hordes as a city burns around them. It appears that no hope remains for the twins until they are suddenly rescued by a team of assassins known only as The Raiders.

Consumed by a burning rage over all that they have lost, Helisah and Aegras are inducted into the mysterious order as an apocalyptic war breaks out across the world. Joined by their fellow Raiders and a band of citizens that dare to resist the invasion, Helisah and Aegras must find a way to thwart the grand design of Thrakoth and his rising empire by any means necessary.

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About the Author:

Eric Mrozek is the author of the Maereath series of novels and an ardent pop culture junkie that currently resides in Michigan. When he is not busy plotting out his next story, he can typically be found in the great outdoors, at a microbrewery, or shouting about whatever catches his fancy on his website.

Connect: Website | Goodreads | Twitter |

Review:

I don't normally read sci-fi fantasy but I have made a promise to myself last year to work on reading some genres that I haven't read before or only read a few of. I will admit to really enjoying this book. It is written by the main character, Helisah. A strong female character. She and her brother Aegras are on a journey to save back their land after an invasion. At first I was a little confused on who was who and what place was what. There are tons of different names in this book and they threw me off a bit. Helisah is telling the story in a form of her dairy. She write about her journey of learning to protect herself and fight in battle. Then she is sent on her first mission to prove if she is ready for battle. Helisah also falls in love with a Captain during her travels. I found the book to be actually a pretty light read, I didn't feel that is took me into the story to deep but enough that I wanted to know how Helisah does and if they win their battle. I love also how the author the telepath into the story between the siblings.

I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars. I loved the strong female characters within the novel, there actually were a lot of females in the battle fields. The reason I can't give it a 4 was that I would have loved a bit more depth in character development at the start. Also the fact that I was totally lost on who was an elf, dwarf or human and which place was what. That could have just been me though as this is really one of the first novels in this genre for me. I would read book two to see what happens next with Helisah as I did find myself liking her character a lot. For a battle book I found this to be okay for preteens, there really wasn't any gruesome violent scenes.