When second son Alexander Valentine loses his brother to an assassin’s arrow, he discovers that his family protects an ancient secret and reluctantly finds himself at the center of the final battle of a war that was supposed to have ended 2,000 years ago.
Pursued by the dark minions of an ancient enemy, Alexander flees to the mountain city of Glen Morillian where he discovers that he is the heir to the throne of Ruatha, one of the Seven Isles, but before he can claim the throne he must recover the ancient Thinblade. Seven were forged by the first Sovereign of the Seven Isles and bound to the bloodline of each of the seven Island Kings in exchange for their loyalty to the Old Law. Each sword is as long as a man’s arm, as wide as a man’s thumb and so thin it can’t be seen when viewed from the edge.
Thinblade is the story of Alexander’s quest to find the ancient sword, claim the throne of Ruatha, and raise an army to stand against the enemy that has awoken to claim dominion over all of the Seven Isles.
Another Young Adult Fantasy Pros: Good story, Moves fast. Likeable characters. Good magic concept.Cons: The writer could use some basic English training. He has a few quirks that slow things a bit. Do you really want to know the menu for each meal? His writing style often dropped me out of the “suspension of disbelief” I look for, a bit like a root in the road that trips you up.Notes: Amazon really needs to label more books Young Adult. i.e. No explict sex. No main characters get killed. The good guys…
Needs editing I hope, for Mr. Wells sake, that he takes the time to go over this story with a good editor. The premise is a bit of a cliche, but interesting nevertheless. However, the book seems to suffer from “Mr. Perfect” syndrome. The worst thing to happen to our hero is the death of his older brother in chapter one. Once this happens, his parents immediately, and correctly, know why the mysterious assassin came (2000 year old secret story is still believed and 100% accurate), and their retainer has…
Thinblade is a great story I’m no expert, but I’ve read almost everything in this genre that wasn’t produced by an author that churns them out by the dozens. This work reminds me of some of the better Brooks Shannara stuff (but more complex) and is reasonably comparable to Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry, sans Kay’s beautiful use of language. You won’t become quite as attached to some of the character’s the way you would in Hobb’s stuff, but there were a couple of scenes in “the pinnacles” that got to me. Unlike GRRM’s stuff,…