Thursday, January 7, 2016

Book Review: Sands by Kevin L. Nielsen

"Time slowed. Something inside Lhaurel screamed out. Something deep and  primal that she had felt only twice before clawed to the surface and unleashed a torrent of seething energy and rage."
- Sands by Kevin L. Nielsen 

When Future House Publishing asked me to review the Sands and its sequel Storms I was immediately interested. The synopsis made it sound like an action packed book with people with abilities. And it was but there was a lot more to it.

Goodreads Synopsis: 


For nine months of the year, the sands of the Sharani Desert are safe. The genesauri—giant, flying, serpentine monsters who hunt across the desert in enormous packs—lie dormant. The smallest of their kind is able to take down a single man with ease, and the largest is able to swallow entire clans. The people of the desert have always been able to predict the creatures’ appearance, but this year, the genesauri have stopped following the rules. 

When the genesauri suddenly attack her clan, seventeen-year-old Lhaurel draws a sword in her people’s defense—a forbidden practice for women of any clan—and is sentenced to death by her own people. Chained to a rock and left to be eaten by the next wave of genesauri, Lhaurel is rescued by a mysterious, elusive clan said to curse children at a glance, work unexplainable terrors, and disappear into the sands without a trace. 

With the fate of the clans hanging in the balance, Lhaurel discovers she possesses a rare and uncontrollable power—one that will be tested as the next deadly genesauri attack looms on the horizon and the clash between clans grows more inevitable by the hour. 


 At the beginning of this book Lhaurel struggles to find her place in this new world and is trying to figure out what is going on with her magic. Watching her go from the meek girl being forced into marriage into the warrior facing down her enemies was surreal. The author did an amazing job on her character development and it was so refreshing. 


The magic in this book was epic! I hate using that word but I can't think of anything else to use for it.  When I read the synopsis and saw that there was magic I was expecting the typical I can control the elements or stuff like that but the magic in this book was really different. 


Okay lets just take a minute to appreciate that plot twist at the end. Not the end end but like the last fifty pages when you have a pretty good idea about how this is going to go down. No. We get the full blown craziness train. It wasn't just one thing or even two it was like the author suddenly decided to take the story in a whole new direction but it was planed and just wow okay wow. Lets just say that I was grateful I had the second book cause I wouldn't have been able to wait for it. 


There were a couple times when it was hard to keep up with the book. I think maybe there was just a little to much going on and it was to much being thrown at the main character. But just a few instances. Most of the time it was just a smooth ride on the crazy train. I swear I sound like a lunatic.


If you enjoy fantasy, magic, betrayal (oo intrigue), clans, and a crazy, awesome, strong female lead then I recommend this books to you. 





My Rating: 3/5 Stars
Author: Kevin L. Nielsen
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2015

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