A review by kayshiddenshelf
The Return of the Knights by Gregory Kontaxis

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

3/5 Stars
 
 I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Readers will be pulled in with bloody battles, classic fantasy tropes and political intrigue all set within this Greek fantasy epic. Originally published in Greek, The Return of the Knights is book 1 in The Dance of Light series and Gregory Kontaxis’ debut novel.  
 
The story follows the conflicts between the Queen of Knightdorn and leader of a rebellion, Walter Thorn. Walter is a ruthless man, who will stop at nothing to obtain her throne and his victory appears close at hand. After suffering several losses to Walter with no hope in sight, a young man named Elliot arrives with a plan that could save the Queen in her hour of need. 

Elliot is a young man trained by his master and raised in a small village towards one purpose in life. Despite his humble upbringing he demonstrates great skill and loyalty to the Queen of Knightdorn. Yet, while he shows great skill with combat, and strategy; he is also rash, arrogant, and at times naïve. To me, this made Elliot a believable, yet flawed protagonist. I found myself both rooting for and against him at times due to his behaviour or choices, which makes sense considering Elliot is seventeen years old throughout the story. 

Walter, on the other hand, quickly caught my interest. He is unapologetically cruel and efficient in his quest for the throne. The means he uses to punish and the POVs we saw from his character demonstrated a calculating mind and remorseless heart making him a compelling villain. 

I also found the political scheming, strategies, betrayals, and the tensions within the plot were well written. All these developments were enticing in their complexity, and yet it felt like we only scratched the surface. The same can be said for the rich world, lore, and mythical creatures. The scope of the world feels large, and carefully built while maintaining an air of mystery. 

I was also surprised by how quickly I was pulled into the world, story, characters, and the severity of their circumstances. Within the first 20%, Gregory Kontaxis drops readers right into action, and history making this complex political intrigue accessible. 

Not only that, but it also features a Knights, animal companions, the chosen one and band of misfits tropes, war, reveals, twists, and much more. 

However, as a character driven reader I found the choice of storytelling took me out of the reading experience at times. It felt plot driven, lacked character growth I often crave, and relied on telling rather than showing. 

Despite this, the complexity of the world, plot, and the fantastic action scenes remained enticing and shows that Gregory Kontaxis is an author to watch. 
 
 I look forward to continuing the series to see what happens next and recommend this for fans of plot driven political fantasy with a refreshing lore.