“Two brothers. One prophecy. A world on the brink of destruction…
Kaiel Toranth is overflowing with regret. Absent during his mother’s final days he is determined to pass the Trials and join the elite Daemon Hunters, hoping to build a safer future for himself and his brother, Darien.
For centuries, the Summoners led humanity to heights undreamt of by their star-faring forefathers. But in their pursuit of power and immortality, ten Summoners opened a gateway to the Void and fell prey to daemonic possession. The war that followed destroyed the civilization the Summoners had built, and the Sundering changed the face of the world forever.
Three thousand years later the broken continent of Athmay still bears the scars of the War of the Summoners. When an unexpected battle with a daemon reveals Kaiel and Darien’s connection to a forbidden Summoner bloodline they find themselves on the run from friends and foe alike, for at the end of the war, seers foretold that the Summoners and the daemon hordes would return. And that an Empyros – the most powerful of all Summoners – would be born. If prophecy holds true, the brothers may hold the fate of the world in their hands…”
Title: The Blood of the Spear
Series: The Eye of Eternity #1
Author: Mark Timmony
Page Count: 602
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5.0
Date Read: December 17th, 2022
| This was one of only 3 remaining authors that have been on my short list the last couple of months that I wanted to get to soon as I could. I really enjoyed the first book I’ve read by Mark Timmony. I was chatting with a friend briefly when I found out he too was currently reading it. I really only had one major issue in the first half of the book which I’ll mention in the pacing in just a moment. But overall I really liked it. I had a strong vibe like the Dragonlance Chronicles or Twins series. This is clearly due to the similarities (not copies by any means) with our brothers in this story compared to those in the DL series. Not to mention that relationship and those characters are my two favorites in the DL world. I think the big difference for me was even though there were some similarities between these two, The Blood of the Spear just seemed a bit deeper and more fleshed out. The world building was done really well in the first book of The Eye of Eternity. Mark does a great job in describing our environments throughout the book making us feel like we are right there in the story ourselves. We also explore several different locations and cultures throughout book one, extending from small villages which seem normal at the beginning to very large cities later on. Not to mention a pirate cove and the deadlands where all sorts of monsters may dwell. The character development was nicely done as well. I certainly found myself irritated by a couple of characters through the majority of this book but I feel that was done on purpose so we can see their potential growth at some point. The way our original party interacts with each other is rather comical and relatable at times. We also have some really interesting and entertaining reveals as we learn more about our characters and the world throughout book one. The pacing wasn’t bad. The Blood of the Spear was a fairly smooth and easy read for sure. The only part that got me twisted a few times in the first half of the book was the decision to refer to a character by name several times but also by title several times as well. This was the conversation I had with my friend who was reading as I was trying to confirm this was the same person or if it was supposed to be two different people. Other than that, the pacing was great. We certainly had some building up in the first half of the book but even that portion was still full of plenty of action or intrigue. The second half really picked up though and the last 20% or so was difficult to put down as things really took off from there. The ending was great! I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here. All in all this was a great read and I am truly looking forward to reading some more of Mark’s works in the future. I do have my hands on The Eye of Eternity novella Starbinder which I’m hoping to get to early in 2023. I’d recommend this to just about any fans of epic fantasy. The magic is familiar but still unique enough in it’s own right. As previously mentioned I think fans of the early Dragonlance series would also enjoy this read as well. World Building 5/5 Pacing 4.5/5 Character Development 4.5/5 |
One Comment
This sounds like a good book. I will check it out 🙏