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A review by bubblewombat
The Return of the Knights by Gregory Kontaxis
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Mr Kontaxis, HOW ARE YOU EXPECTING ME TO WAIT TILL BOOK TWO AFTER THAT ENDING??? I NEED THE SEQUEL IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!
I had such a fabulous time reading this, I didn't want it to end.
The beginning did feel a bit scary, because you're greeted with pages full of character names and there's a lot of them, but the book itself wasn't confusing at all.
It was so easy to get into, and to learn about the characters. The writing helped things along, so even when we were greeted with new info it didn't feel overwhelming and by the end you get a full understanding of why things were set up the way they were.
I read the ebook version, so I didn't flip back to check the names, and honestly you don't need to. If you have a physical copy though, then flip back if you feel like it, but I think it'll be more useful for the sequel, to remember who everyone was.
The main characters (and some of the side ones) made enough of an impact for me to remember who they were each time they appeared on page.
The pacing was nearly perfect, a tiny bit slow at the start, but when Elliot met Sophie it started to pick up.
Also, I need to compliment the translation, it's wonderfully done and made for a very smooth reading experience.
Now let's get into the characters, starting with the man, the myth, the legend, ELLIOT!!!! Cue crowd cheers.
The whole time Elliot was giving Jason (of the Argonauts) and I was living for it. Like, yes you ARE the best and you CAN do anything, flaunt it! I will accept zero Elliot criticism! You don't get him like I do!!!
You'd think he'd remind me more of Hercules, but no, trust me it's Jason. But he'll be a better hero than Jason when this series is over, mark my words.
Yes, he's a little arrogant, but which great hero isn't? He also shows that he cares a lot about his friends and would die trying to protect them.
He's smart and kind of reckless when angry, but honestly that just makes him a better character to me. And yeah, he's definitely my favourite.
My second favourite is John Long Arm, you can't get any better than a former pirate/bounty hunter, you just can't. He's also a loyal friend (all of Elliot's friends are, really, but John is special). If John doesn't make it till the very end of the series you can expect me to start a riot.
Next fav is Velhisya, I think she's a cool character on her own and I can't wait to see what she becomes in the future. I ship her with Elliot too, I'm just saying.
Last favourite (but don't worry, I love them all) is Walter. Some of you are going what??? But LISTEN, if I wasn't meant to like him why is he blonde and with a tiger too??? Just screams power to me. Yeah he's a villain, AND WHAT ABOUT IT?
I don't know if I'm hoping he survives as the series goes on or not...on one hand he's a good villain, on the other I think the people (and non-humans) of that region deserve some peace.
Speaking of non humans, there's centaurs and elves and pegasi and giants. The world building is vast, and judging by how this book ended, it'll be expanding more on the lore in future installments.
I have to mention that I cried approximately three times while reading, once when a certain someone died near the end, and the other two times because the prose was so beautiful it made me tear up.
Finally, if you want politics - The Return of the Knights has it, if you want a found family hero's journey type of story - TROTK has it, if you want a world with elements from Greek Mythology - TROTK has it, if you want characters you can root for - guess what, TROTK has that too!!!
Please pick up this book so we can scream about it together.
*Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
I had such a fabulous time reading this, I didn't want it to end.
The beginning did feel a bit scary, because you're greeted with pages full of character names and there's a lot of them, but the book itself wasn't confusing at all.
It was so easy to get into, and to learn about the characters. The writing helped things along, so even when we were greeted with new info it didn't feel overwhelming and by the end you get a full understanding of why things were set up the way they were.
I read the ebook version, so I didn't flip back to check the names, and honestly you don't need to. If you have a physical copy though, then flip back if you feel like it, but I think it'll be more useful for the sequel, to remember who everyone was.
The main characters (and some of the side ones) made enough of an impact for me to remember who they were each time they appeared on page.
The pacing was nearly perfect, a tiny bit slow at the start, but when Elliot met Sophie it started to pick up.
Also, I need to compliment the translation, it's wonderfully done and made for a very smooth reading experience.
Now let's get into the characters, starting with the man, the myth, the legend, ELLIOT!!!! Cue crowd cheers.
The whole time Elliot was giving Jason (of the Argonauts) and I was living for it. Like, yes you ARE the best and you CAN do anything, flaunt it! I will accept zero Elliot criticism! You don't get him like I do!!!
You'd think he'd remind me more of Hercules, but no, trust me it's Jason. But he'll be a better hero than Jason when this series is over, mark my words.
Yes, he's a little arrogant, but which great hero isn't? He also shows that he cares a lot about his friends and would die trying to protect them.
He's smart and kind of reckless when angry, but honestly that just makes him a better character to me. And yeah, he's definitely my favourite.
My second favourite is John Long Arm, you can't get any better than a former pirate/bounty hunter, you just can't. He's also a loyal friend (all of Elliot's friends are, really, but John is special). If John doesn't make it till the very end of the series you can expect me to start a riot.
Next fav is Velhisya, I think she's a cool character on her own and I can't wait to see what she becomes in the future. I ship her with Elliot too, I'm just saying.
Last favourite (but don't worry, I love them all) is Walter. Some of you are going what??? But LISTEN, if I wasn't meant to like him why is he blonde and with a tiger too??? Just screams power to me. Yeah he's a villain, AND WHAT ABOUT IT?
I don't know if I'm hoping he survives as the series goes on or not...on one hand he's a good villain, on the other I think the people (and non-humans) of that region deserve some peace.
Speaking of non humans, there's centaurs and elves and pegasi and giants. The world building is vast, and judging by how this book ended, it'll be expanding more on the lore in future installments.
I have to mention that I cried approximately three times while reading, once when a certain someone died near the end, and the other two times because the prose was so beautiful it made me tear up.
Finally, if you want politics - The Return of the Knights has it, if you want a found family hero's journey type of story - TROTK has it, if you want a world with elements from Greek Mythology - TROTK has it, if you want characters you can root for - guess what, TROTK has that too!!!
Please pick up this book so we can scream about it together.
*Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*