Book Review- "Light and Dark: The Awakening of the Mageknight

Recently I started offering to review children's, Juvenile and YA genres.  Not only does it hold me accountable to read more, but it also helps authors get their stories out to a wider audience!  As a new author on the street, I know how valuable that service can be!  Here is my first "official" book review that I completed for a new Indie author, Daniel Fife.  You can find him at @DanielMFife, and on Goodreads, FB, etc.  Enjoy the review!

Book Review: Light and Dark: the Awakening of the Mageknight
by Daniel Fife- 3 stars

Light and Dark: The Awakening of the Mageknight begins with an average 13 year old, Danny Firoth, beginning his 8^th grade year and reuniting with his buddies.  He is taken with a new girl, Sabrina, who quickly becomes friends with his group because of their shared interest in the card game of “Knights.” 

After an encounter with a dragon fighting the dark, and discovering that he possesses the curious and exciting ability of foresight, Danny realizes there is a world of good and evil that is far more realistic and closeby than he ever imagined.  With his friends and Sabrina with him, they have an opportunity to spend their summer attending a secret school learning how to be a knight of the light.  The truth slowly unfolds as Danny learns more about his past and his true destiny that will change his life forever. 

Daniel Fife has come up with a wonderful storyline that is unique enough, but would also remind you of popular stories like Harry Potter.  It is relatable to a YA audience, and contains a relatable love story, along with the themes of good and evil, fighting for what is right, loyalty and learning by doing.  Fife’s writing continues to improve throughout the book, especially with the thrilling fight scenes, and his beautifully thorough scene descriptions.

Unfortunately the grammar, typos and repeated use of cliché phrases such as “did as bid” and “for but a moment,” truly distract from the story.  The pacing also needs reworking with too much character details in the first chapter, as well as too much time and development of the scene at Danny's middle school where the majority of the story takes place at the Academy of the light. 

If these changes were made, this book would be fantastic and receive 5 stars, however, I can only offer 3 stars in its current state.  If you enjoy YA fantasy, this book is worth reading.  I am definitely interested to find out what happens next in the series.    

Note!  After submitting my review to the author, Daniel Fife, he told me he made many of the changes I suggested.  Yay!

 

I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.