Good job with the characters & society-building

Guardian Dragons, Catherine L. Vickers, CreateSpace Publishing, 2013

(Reviewed by Paul Lappen for the Kindle Book Review)
Part of a series, this fantasy novel takes place on a very divided world.

Aarabassa is one of those planets where one side is always light, and the other side is always dark. A magic Wall separates the two sides, a Wall which none may cross, except for Guardian Dragons (keeping watch on the Dark side) and a powerful human mage called the Changeling.

Heather is the newest Changeling. She is an impetuous teenager who can't wait to try out her abilities. She turns into a huphin, a human/dolphin hybrid, and meets Prince Gadon, the huphin leader. Heather's friend, Prince Leon, tries to get her to slow down, but to no avail.

Meantime, Leon's father, King Alfred, has simply given up on everything. He is no longer interested in being King, or even in taking care of himself. His beloved wife, Elma, died several years previously, giving birth to Alfred's son, Raphael. Alfred is still in mourning. He knows it is wrong, but he can't help but hate Raphael.

The Master (the Dark side Emperor) is not standing still, content with simply hating the Light side. He is able to take control of humans on the Light side, and have them serve his wishes, knowingly or unknowingly. The mother and son duo of Rikka and Fedros are among them. She is a healer around whom the sick tend to die. She isn't incompetent; she is making it possible for the Master to feed on their souls, and subject them to eternal torment.

There is a lot of introducing of characters in this book, and not much in the way of action. That is quite reasonable; the author has to introduce the characters sooner rather than later. The author does a really good job with the characters and the society-building. I hope the action and the "sword and sorcery" will come in later books.

(The Kindle Book Review received a free copy of this book in exchange for an independent, fair and honest review. We are not associated with the author or Amazon.)