Review of Dionne Lister's Shadow of the Realm

Epic fantasy is not generally my genre of choice. The stories are great but I prefer something that follows a faster pace and epic fantasy seems to take longer to get to the next exciting part. I loved this book though even though it was an epic fantasy. I fell in love with the characters easily and the plot was easy to follow.

The concept of the story is a time honored tradition of there is bad out there and the good guys must journey to stop it. In this journey we find several people with ability to connect between realms and meet to decide the course that they need to take to fight the bad guys. Unfortunately the bad guys have access to that realm as well and work very hard to not only infiltrate but actively sabotage their foes.

The novel is long and has a lot of twists and turns during the journey but this allows the reader to become part of the story. I felt pulled into the scenery right from the first page and the author was able to keep me not only interested but in the action as well.

The only issue that I found other than the length (which is my personal preference) was the lack of a conclusive ending. I felt as I was Bronwyn standing at the edge of the cliff as she was in the opening of the book. I was on that edge not knowing what was to happen next. I hope that Dionne Lister writes a second novel about this because I am dying to know what happens next.

I rate this book 5 out of 5!

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Synopsis:

Bronwyn and Blayke are two strangers being drawn into the same war. Their world is facing invasion from the Third Realm. While they move unknowingly toward each other, they are watched, hunted, and sabotaged. When the Dragon God interferes, it seems their world, Talia, will succumb to the threat. Can they learn enough of the tricks of the Realms before it’s too late, or will everything they love be destroyed?   

The young Realmists’ journey pushes them away from all they’ve known, to walk in the shadows toward Vellonia, city of the dragons, where an even darker shadow awaits.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dionne lives in Sydney with her husband and two children and is passionate about writing. Dionne writes different genres, including epic fantasy, crime/thriller, and intense stories that explore the dark side of human nature. She has just edged past halfway in an Associate Degree of Creative Writing and Is also addicted to Twitter. Dionne loves sharing her stories, but she just wishes they wouldn't keep her awake at night.

Dionne has written an epic fantasy novel, Shadows of the Realm, which is the first book in The Circle of Talia series. Shadows of the Realm has been endorsed by Grub Street Reads. Dionne’s other book contains suspenseful and dark short stories, one of which was runner up in a Five Stop Story competition and one which received an honorable mention in another one of their competitions.

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