Three young heroes find themselves in a world descending into chaos in this high fantasy novella. - Kirkus Reviews
In this series opener, Hammer's prose evokes the romantic diction and mythological complexity of the high fantasy genre, sometimes to an eye-rolling extent:- Kirkus Reviews.
It's unclear how many more installments Hammer has planned—one suspects it's quite a few—but so far the pacing is brisk and the world, if not completely unique, is quite fun. - Kirkus Reviews
This story may not prove to be a crossover hit like some of the books that inspired it, but readers who love the fantasy genre will find much here to enjoy. - Kirkus Reviews
A derivative but skillfully executed and engaging fantasy. - Kirkus Reviews
Hammer writes with energy—the characters rush from one danger to another, always with high stakes and mysterious
artifacts involved. - Kirkus Reviews
The author's narrative technique of rapidly shifting viewpoints from chapter to chapter echoes a similar tactic by some of
the bestselling writers in the fantasy genre, and for good reason: It keeps the story hurrying along in a compulsively
readable way. - Kirkus Reviews
Hammer is likewise skillful at changing tones; one chapter can be filled with high-stakes sorcerous tension,
and the next can be, equally convincingly, lighthearted - Kirkus Reviews
Readers encounter a very inventive world—one that features everything from Jinns to Greek mythology to Shaolin monks to the Monkey King, and in which the legions of Caesar can easily end up fighting hordes of vampires. - Kirkus Reviews
Readers already up to speed on the many ongoing plot threads will find this volume a tense and fast-paced addition to Hammer's engaging fantasy world. - Kirkus Reviews
-Hammer does a good job of orchestrating the book's suspenseful ending, which leads readers right on to the next installment. - Kirkus Reviews
A colorful and hyperactive section of a larger multicultural fantasy epic. - Kirkus Reviews
This is a fantasy novel that blends Robin Hood, King Arthur, Cleopatra, all fighting Dracula, in a world growing out of research of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbell. Studying the Heroes Journey of Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces on which I wrote my Master's thesis with this story as my creative exegesis.
This novel is the one that will lead to a warm welcoming by thousands of readers in my lifetime. I hope it is appreciated as a work of art, expressing human cultures, spiritual beliefs, archetypes and psychoanalysis, but most importantly, that it is a story that readers can enjoy stepping into. That it makes the reader feel comfortable, exhilarated, interested, and emotionally engaged in the story telling that is heartfelt.
Kind regards,
L. A. Hammer
