Dragon Ore by Brian Rathbone

Let me start off by saying that I really felt that this series was beginning to be drawn out.  That was until I started to read Dragon Ore.

This story chronicles the final installment to the Catrin Volker saga.  Catrin is (as normally the case) just a normal kid who is given some amazing powers.  She is the Herald of Istra.  Basically the incarnation of a goddess and has been given amazing powers.  Catrin has travelled all over the know world, from her home on the Godfist to the Greatland and on to the Firstland.  In her travels one thing has remained constant ... her friends have been there.  They have protected her and she has protected them.  She gained more friends and more enemies, and at the end she even decided to settle down.

This was a pretty cool series.  I was skeptical at first, but became enthralled in the world of Catrin Volker and her adventures.

See my other reviews on the series here:
Call of the Herald
Inherited Danger

Overall I'd give the series a 3.75/5, only because of the seeming longness of the story.  I'd rate Dragon Ore a bit higher , but it could have been better.

For Dragon Ore:

Rating - 4/5

Inherited Danger by Brian Rathbone

The Dawning of Power trilogy is getting better with each book.  Brian Rathbone is a very skilled author and develops the characters wonderfully.

Catrin Volker is the heroine and becomes bigger than life.  She struggles with the cards that she has been dealt, and that is mostly with moral issues.  Should she risk the lives of her friends and family?  Should she risk the lives of total strangers?  Should she do what she has set out to do?  She has her protectors; her cousin Chase, friends Osbourne and Strom, and her surrogate father Benjin Hawk.

She makes the journey to the Greatland in search of answers.  Is she really the Herald of Istra?  Can she control these powers that she is conflicted with?  Will Benjin stay at her side?  Will she ever see her father again?

Catrin finds out much more than she ever reckoned she would when she makes it to the Greatland.  She finds out more of her mother and her father, and how Benjin played a part in it all.

The story is a mixture of Hunger Games and Lord of the Rings.  There is a heroine, with magic and swords and special journeys that only the main character can complete with the assistance of her protector.  Catrin is much like Frodo, and Benjin is muck like Sam.  Catrin is much like Katniss and Benjin is much like Haymitch.  Both Frodo and Katnis are on a journey, like Catrin.  Both Sam and Haymitch are there to protect, much like Benjin.

I am excited to see where this story ends.  I have already begun to read Dragon's Ore, and am excited by the title.

Inherited Danger by Brian Rathbone

Rating: 4/5

Call of the Herald - Pre-Review Problem

So I'm again in a quandary.  I have just been offered a lent copy of Bryan Liftin's The Gift.  Which is the second in the Chiveis Trilogy.  I totally loved the first novel The Sword as you can see from my prior review.

http://nextonmykindle.blogspot.com/2011/06/sword-by-bryan-liftin.html

I am just about done with Call of the Herald, which has been slow at times, but I can definitely see myself finishing the series.  It is about a girl and her becoming the Herald of Istra.  The book has been well written and I anticipate the others to be that way as well.

Here is my plan ... I am 80% complete with Call of the Herald and the loan offer is available for 7 days from today.  I'm going to do my best to finish COTH over the weekend and download the loaned The Gift on Monday.  Sound like a good plan?  Here is the catch ... my wife is 100% pregnant and could give birth to our second daughter any day now ... that MAY throw a little wrench in the works.  I think I can make it to still read even though we'll have another little one in the house.

UPDATED 8/16/11 - Call of the Herald Complete!!!

I was able to complete Call of the Herald and loved it so much that I dove right into the second story.  Catrin Volker is just your normal farm girl, who struggles with the rich brats in the town.  She and her cousin Chase and her friend Osbourne mut endure abuse and torture daily.  Until ... one day Catrin is faced with a life or death situation.  Life wins ... at least HER life wins.  She protects those that she loves on numerous occasions, and is accused of being a witch with amazing powers.

She fights her way through this book with the help of those who have sworn to protect her.  Her cousin Chase, her friends Osbourne and Strom and her father's friend Benjin.  There are struggles and problems, and Brian Rathbone weaves a thread that develops over time.  The characters grow and it is quite enjoyable.

Rating: 4/5