The Battle for Vast Dominion
This entry was posted on Monday, February 25. 2008 and is filed under Posts by Rebecca Luella Miller,Fantasy,Reviews.
The first book I received with a 2008 copyright date on it was The Battle for Vast Dominion by George Bryan Polivka. If you've hung around Spec Faith for any length of time, you probably know this is the third book in The Trophy Chase trilogy, published by Harvest House.
From what I can decipher, Polivka's fantasy series has met or exceeded his publisher's expectations. Here was an unpublished author, producing a trilogy in a genre many Evangelical Christian Publishing Association (ECPA) houses were avoiding. But an amazing thing happened. Readers started finding out about the books.
From the favorable Publishers Weekly review to the highly successful CSFF blog tour for the first book, The Legend of the Firefish and Harvest House's Talk Like a Pirate contest, the momentum for these books seems to have built.
A friend of mine just finished The Hand That Bears the Sword and said, as editor Nick Harrison did in an interview in this space, that the second book was even better than the first.
Well, the great news is, number three is even more outstanding!
The Story. The Battle for Vast Dominion takes up where The Hand That Bears the Sword. Nearing Vast is facing the indomitable forces Drammun, with little hope. And yet, ... Here's the first twist in the story line.
Just when you think you have an inkling where that new angle is headed, enter another twist connected with the wild Achawuk people.
As before, hero Packer Throme shares the limelight with his bride. Panna once again proves herself a force with which others must reckon.
And then there are the firefish!
This story is fun, unexpected, powerful, satisfying. Of the three books in the trilogy, this one had the most tension, kept me engaged and eager to come back to it quickly, curious to see how it could all be resolved. And it was, in believable fashion.
Strengths. I think I've already hit on those. The unexpected plot twists were highly entertaining. The pace felt right in this one (I felt the first two books had slow places). Packer seemed like a strong, likable hero, and Panna continued to surprise by her wisdom and foresight. She's one tough cookie!
All the while, Polivka holds to his central theme, and it is such a natural part of the plot and an outgrowth of who Packer is, that it is seamlessly woven into the fabric of the story.
Weakness. Honestly, I don't have one. Granted, I finished this book some time ago, so maybe I'm forgetting, but I made no notes while I read it, don't have any recollection of anything bothering me or pulling me from the story. And if I remember correctly, there were several places where I teared up.
Recommendation. For Christian fantasy readers, this is a Must Read. For those who want an engaging story with well-crafted characters, this is a Must Read.
Comments
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Tuesday, February 26. 2008
sally apokedak wrote:
OK I'm going for it. Thanks for the review. I actually haven't read book 2 yet. It's in my "to be read" stack. But I'm glad I waited. Because when I finish it I can go right on over to book three. Yeah!
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Wednesday, February 27. 2008
Rebecca LuElla Miller wrote:
I don't think you'll be disappointed, Sally.
Becky
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