Entertaining and can't wait Book 3

Highly suggest this series for anyone who enjoys history woven in with magic, science fiction, alien worlds, and entertaining characters. This series takes the reader on a journey with Ben, Abu, and Louisa. What I appreciate about this series is the history and the very strong female protagonist Louisa. It seems as if many authors really struggle with creating a truly strong female heroine with authenticity and yet Mr. Cowdrey has done just that. The characters are real in the sense that they are strong, yet human and flawed, but not excessively or over exaggerated in any way.

Book 2 continues to reveal more fascinating insights about Aaru, but without giving away too much and perhaps that is the only reason I gave 4 stars in this book compared to the first in the series where I gave a well deserved 5 stars to this brand new author. Keep in mind that I am a very harsh critic of books and enjoy many genres; however, I believe that authenticate and accurate reviews are the most beneficial for future readers and the author should they choose to read them. As such, I very rarely give a 5 star review, so a 4 is a very worthwhile read!

Back to the review: I truly appreciate all the hard work it is clear the author did in understanding and appreciating the cultures of others. Although as a reader, someone may not agree with some of the cultural practices represented, they are accurate and appropriate to the story as this world is based on old history. Therefore the authenticity is clear and I appreciate how he wove the cultural backgrounds into the story; for example with the welven society. Where appropriate, the author has also mentioned what he doesn't agree with in the culture without it being to obnoxious and he has also given liberties where possible to offset some of these concerns.

I also enjoy learning about Abu, his culture, and watching him struggle and grow as a young man. The family dynamics of Abu and Ben is extremely well and beautifully written. There are some new characters introduced into this book as well and although that can be difficult or take away from the story, I did not feel that occurred in this book; however, as with the first Book, due to complexities of the characters and the world, as an Audible reader, I would have appreciated a PDF of the characters.

The only reason for giving this Book 4 stars is that I felt there were a few periods of time where it dragged. In series, I have found that Book 2 often lags, but did feel that there was some missed opportunities where there should have been a little more story or world building to keep things more interesting and fluid.

Overall, this is a fantastic series offering the reader a lot of action, adventure, history and science fiction. I highly recommend and very much looking forward to Book 3. Next in my listen includes Louisa Sophia and Legion of Sisters. Happy Reading!

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