Book Name: A Dragon’s Dyne
Author: Brett Salter
Star Rating: 4
Summary from book
Things have gone from weird to blatantly absurd in Rome and Julian’s quest to preserve the boundary between the Earth realm and The Void. With Darkbrand numbers growing at a terrifying rate, the escape of Beliarahm, the fiercest Nocturn yet, and the struggle to make ANY headway with the Elementals and all their tomfoolery, The Alliance has hit a veritable wall. Even with the promise of the light Talisman to oppose the forces of darkness, there’s just no telling how or where to find it. All the other Talismans are collected, but that doesn’t necessarily give our heroes any comfort, because to this point, these magical items seem to have served more as crosshairs than protection. Maybe they need something more than the Talismans. But what could that be?
Warning: This review contains spoilers
Review
The final book of The Talisman Series bursts into action from the very beginning. Friendship, teamwork, and love in all forms in various relationships are consistent themes. The adventures have become increasingly dangerous. Creatures are getting harder to fight but each one has a weakness that our heroes need to use to their advantage.
The lovable main and recurring characters of previous books are back in this book. A few characters deserve to be specially mentioned. Julian’s presence injects scenes with a light-hearted ambiance. He even broke the fourth wall. Rome has come a long way from being pulled into this world with no warning to doubting himself as a leader to being an amazing leader especially when it counts. Abralis was suspicious of The Alliance’s intentions and that was perfect. Mr. Rider switching sides was great to read about. As a reader, I am ‘#blessed’ to know Camela Rider. Mr. Jones’ exclamations are as unique and quirky as ever.
The fact that in this fictional world, Nocturns are creatures with the ability to talk made the battles more fun. The portals and new Nocturns are very interesting. Occumus and his reaction to manmade light sources was very unique. Self-sacrifice was surprising to introduce.
The writing has improved in terms of vocabulary. The choice of words was of a higher level than the previous books but it elevated the writing style and scenes in the book. The author focused more on “showing” rather than “telling” in multiple instances. In the serious moments, there was still humor present and that was much appreciated.
The book may have been too action-packed but, in a way, it made sense for the final book. Additionally, the details of the battles and self-sacrifice may be too intense for the younger section of the target demographic.
This book has been an exciting conclusion to Part One of The Talisman Series. Unity among the characters was great to watch and the multiple references to the previous books made it a great read for fans of the series.