Book Review: Crown of Vengeance

I almost never have time to read books anymore, but once I started reading Crown of Vengeance, I found myself squeaking time in whenever possible. After having my reading interrupted a million times, I finally convinced my wife and kids to leave me alone long enough so I could finish the book and boy do I have something to tell you.

If you grew up reading fantasy like myself, I’m sure you often found yourself day dreaming about whatever you just read, putting yourself in the world and fighting the bad guys (or good guys). Stephen Zimmer grew up doing the same thing, so it’s so surprise that he couldn’t resist writing a story about some chosen people who were going about their normal lives in Lexington, Kentucky when a fog comes out of nowhere and transports them to the world of Ave. Unprepared, and with no survival skills the people start off split up, but find themselves banded together and tossed into a boiling over conflict headed by a man known as the Unifier.

Even though I couldn’t find myself being able to finish the book as quickly as I had wanted, it wasn’t the writing that kept that from happening. I solely blame my hectic life for forcing me to only be able to nibble at this delicious story a few chapters at a time until I was able to finally just take the whole thing in a big final sitting. The characters are each so well done and given distinct personalities that I think gives the readers at least one person that us the reader can relate to. Zimmer is no slouch when it comes to details. Because I read before going to sleep, I often found myself having vivid dreams about the world of Ave. Not really the characters in general, but just the landscapes, which Zimmer painted in my head as if a picture with his words. I dug the different races and species that lived within the world of Ave, which had such a feeling of our world, but with a slight twist to make it just foreign enough.

I’ve always been a fan of epic fantasy, and starting of this new series with Crown of Vengeance didn’t let me down at all, I can’t wait to dive into (and hopefully finish much quicker) the second book in the series, Dream of Legends. You should definitely give this Pluto Award winning book a shot.

by Ryan Thomason

Husband, Father, Geek and Usher Syndrome Advocate. I'm a man of various talents, a master of none. I serve as one of the WPR Overlords so if you ever have any issues/questions, just let me know.

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