Article first published as Book Review: The Island of the Seven Kings: Book I by Ken Stephenson on Blogcritics.
“The Island of the Seven Kings” takes us to a beautiful land. A high god and seven servant gods beneath him are worshipped by the people. This island also has a main ruler known as the Great Father and seven kings below him who are in charge of the cities located here. The people of this place are relatively peaceful, and follow the rules of the city in which they reside. Especially unique to this land are the dragons. While they are still young and unable to produce fire, specially selected individuals are trained to ride them. They develop a special bond with them until they have to release them when they start producing fire. This is to protect the rider.
When visitors come to the island by ship, the peace is disturbed. Even though they initially pretend to be friendly, they are really interested in gathering information so that they can invade the cities. At the arrival of the strangers, several of the best dragon riders team up to demonstrate their abilities with the dragons. They form a group called the “Sky Raiders.” Pretending to be a military unit that has been in existence for a while, they practice incredible maneuvers over the arriving ships. This definitely captures the attention and concern of the invaders.
One of the team members secretly has a plan in which he thinks he can work with the dragons so that they can stay with their riders past their period of maturation. It is heartbreaking to have to leave these wonderful creatures after having years of being bonded with them. While all this is happening, several of the main characters are also dealing with affairs of the heart and coming into their own as couples. As usual, complications arise that affect their progress. This adds a great deal of depth to the unfolding drama.
“The Island of the Seven Kings” tells a wonderful story. I felt that it was the perfect mixture of fantasy, romance and suspense. The author does an excellent job bringing both the human and the dragon characters to life. Everything is described in vivid detail. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of errors with grammar and punctuation that could easily be resolved with proper editing. Fixing these issues would really make it a perfect story. I am happy to see that this is the first book in a series and think that readers will find themselves waiting for more books to be released so that they can revisit this incredible place.
The Island of the Seven Kings: Book I
Ken Stephenson
AuthorHouse (2012)
ISBN 9781468543704
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (3/12)
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