Grayrider by Bruce Skye

Title: Grayrider

Author: Bruce Skye

Summary:

Fantasy meets medieval magic in Grayrider. This novel spans the gamut—think Tolkienesque with a suspense-filled punch of chivalry! This is story-telling at its best where kings, sorceresses, and memorable heroes create an impression that you’ll remember long after you’ve finished reading. Step into the land of Boadhagh, where an exiled king, Gabriel brings word to King Airell of an impending attack from the Ansgarian army—the same army that murdered his family. King Airell has no men to stave off the attack, so Gabriel takes matters into his own hands. The beautiful sorceress and daughter of King Airell, Deidre, learns that her mentor created the violent Ansgarians and leaves her kingdom to warn her father. They join forces to defeat their mutual foe—and as they fight together, Gabriel and Deidre fall in love. Tragedy, love, revenge, defeat, and grief are played out with insightful precision through Skye’s characters. The story builds to a crescendo and the ending’s dramatic climax will stay in your memory long after the final page is turned.

Rating: 3/5

Review:

I’ve never been the hugest fan of fantasy novels like this one; they tend to drag on and on for me. However, this one I liked.

First of all, the novel was short. There wasn’t any spreading things out to create 500 pages of nothing but fluff. It was short, sweet, and to the point. The focus was on the two main characters, and the battle that occurs throughout much of the book. I liked how it didn’t stray and talk about this thing, or that thing, or anything else. Simplicity is something that I think works well with this kind of book.

That being said, I liked the book a lot more than I thought I would. I was slightly wary about starting it, worried that I wouldn’t like it, and it would take me forever to get into. I shouldn’t have worried. Now, I’m not saying that I loved the book so much that I sped through it as fast as possible. I did get bored at some points, and I was capable of putting the book aside in favor of other activities. But I was still interested in the story, and interested in what would happen, enough for me to come back for more.

As a not-so-fantasy-fan (or at least, not fantasy of this sort), I can’t really say that this is a great book. But I can say that I enjoyed reading it, and would recommend it someone who is perhaps more of a fantasy type person than I am.