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A review by perilous1
The Third Scroll by Dana Marton
4.0
Full Review for RT Magazine
4 Stars
An ambitious, vividly imagined epic fantasy. Marton has created a promising and immersive world that is, at the same time, darkly brutal.
Although barely a woman, Tera is a fully formed and sympathetic character from the start. Belonging to a passive people, she's thrown unwillingly into a foreign culture and situations of intense cruelty, violence, and political maneuvering. Her naivete persists at great cost to herself and those around her, bringing about steady but inevitable growth in her maturity and self-perception. Complex issues of identity are examined unobtrusively. So too is the incompatibility of innocence and war—the necessity of sacrifice and survival. The romantic angle is muted and allowed to develop in a natural, non-formulaic manner that plot-centric readers will find refreshing.
The prose is pleasant and skillful. And considering the amount and quality of story you're getting, the ebook price is more than fair. There were a handful of minor grammatical errors, and the pacing wobbles a bit (mainly in the last quarter) which seems to hold it back just slightly from it's full potency. But the splendor of the author's vision cannot be overlooked.
4 Stars
An ambitious, vividly imagined epic fantasy. Marton has created a promising and immersive world that is, at the same time, darkly brutal.
Although barely a woman, Tera is a fully formed and sympathetic character from the start. Belonging to a passive people, she's thrown unwillingly into a foreign culture and situations of intense cruelty, violence, and political maneuvering. Her naivete persists at great cost to herself and those around her, bringing about steady but inevitable growth in her maturity and self-perception. Complex issues of identity are examined unobtrusively. So too is the incompatibility of innocence and war—the necessity of sacrifice and survival. The romantic angle is muted and allowed to develop in a natural, non-formulaic manner that plot-centric readers will find refreshing.
The prose is pleasant and skillful. And considering the amount and quality of story you're getting, the ebook price is more than fair. There were a handful of minor grammatical errors, and the pacing wobbles a bit (mainly in the last quarter) which seems to hold it back just slightly from it's full potency. But the splendor of the author's vision cannot be overlooked.