The Axe of Sundering

I have to admit that I felt like I won the lottery when I received this from NetGalley. As with all the fans of this series, the wait was long, but we understand; the positive side was it gave me time to re-read the other books and enjoy the adventures again.

The wait was SO worth it! The story does not disappoint and is just as exciting as the other four books. This was full of action and emotions. I do hope there are more adventures to come for all of the characters. It would be fun to see more characters from the dark elves develop in other adventures.

I received the from NetGalley.com for my honest review.

It has been a long wait to go on another adventure with Alex Taylor! It was well worth the wait! The axe of Sundering did not disappoint me. What would you do if a friend asked you to help them, even if they told you it could be dangerous? Would you go? I liked that everything wasn't easy for Alex, he had his struggles, and he had to dig deeper to find his strengths. The book had an end, but also left it so that there could be more adventures to come. I love this series.

I was so excited to get an advanced copy of this final chapter in the Adventurer's Wanted series. Because I have been waiting so long, I had very high expectations. (Probably not fair to the author!)
While this wasn't my favorite in the series, it was a solid conclusion. It even left the possibility of more books in this world--it just wrapped up this series by defeating the evil they have been chasing. (Really since wizards and dragons can live for a VERY long time, it would be quite easy to write more just set a few decades later)

I really enjoyed that everything doesn't come easily to Alex in this book! He had to work hard, face failure, and lose to really grow as a character! The final resolution was over a little too quick for my liking, but otherwise a good book!

Alex now has the opportunity to help his mentor and the world's greatest wizard, Whalen Vankin as he faces his evil nephew whom he trained before Jabez took this dark path away from the ways of a true wizard. The secret to defeating Jabez before he takes over Westland is the legendary Axe of Sundering which has been secreted away. Alex must find it and face the powerful Orion Stone if he and Whalen have a chance of protecting the land.

This is a very solid better than middle grade, middle grade series and the latest book in the series captures the same magic as the books before it! I loved the cover and the title... they left you intrigued the entire book as you wondered how the Axe of Sundering would work. My only complaint was that a murky brown was used instead of a pop of color behind the axe so that we could see better that Alex was also on the cover. Even if Alex was just dressed more in a green it would make him show up better.

The story was just like the cover... almost perfect but with a few slow points where enough re-writing wasn't done to smooth away the info dumping or the slow weariness of travel. Ultimately Alex and Whalen are traveling to where Jabez is holed up in the castle Conmar... since he can sense their magic they must take it slow and steady to not draw attention to themselves. I really enjoyed the larger moments that were developed along the trail. There were some connective events that lead between the larger plot points that I thought lacked the charm of previous books.

This lack of charm has to do with there being NONE of the friends that Alex normally has with him and hence a lot LESS interaction with others. This isn't bad per se... its just really different! Instead of starting with people he's comfortable with Alex meets a couple new friends along the way. There are only two but I liked both characters and thought their first meetings were fun. A LOT of pages was spent with Whalen and this time there was a focus on how to treat an elder... someone who is MUCH wiser than Alex but whom he didn't always see eye to eye with. I enjoyed how he handled those differences. The sea elves were a particular favorite of mine and I liked how they were personified through a couple characters...

The world of Westlands is one of island nations and little cities that stand free of one another. We get a sense of the history of the place as Alex travels along a merchant route and they start to get glimpses of the troubles that plague the area. It was all very intriguing. Of course, we KNEW who was doing it and why but it was fun to see what antics the evil wizard would throw at Alex. If you enjoy a Hobbit or D&D sort of world then this series as well as this book are for YOU!

Two other things I struggled with a touch were development and pacing. I appreciate the friendships that Alex made but events along the trail needed a bit more development so that the pacing felt more exciting. While I loved the book and enjoyed what happened there were times I could put down the book and I wasn't plagued to come back to it. This makes me sad as I'm normally raring to read the next page of this series the entire time...

The incorporation of many details from past books for the end was incredible! The dragons made my heart sing and I was NOT disappointed in the dragon lord part of the storyline. Really the way the END CAME TOGETHER is why I'm rounding up to 4 stars and why I still HIGHLY suggest this book despite it's flaws. Some of the best plotting all jammed up at the end... I literally could not put it down once we got to the castle and KEPT READING to Jabez and beyond!!

Alex totally makes this series and this book! To have read as he comes to be a young man is so incredible and such an example to other readers... I really think every young man could read this series and book and get SO MUCH out of them!! I want to say though that he is a normal kid who didn't think much of himself or his life but through persistence and being aware of opportunities he made choices that took him down this path to being an honorable, wise, respectful, magical, intuitive wizard who is a joy for those of like honor to know and adventure with...

BOTTOM LINE: A Dragon Lord in the making!

Every step of the story is well told. You can really believe in the friendships between Whalen, Alex, and those they meet along the way. I enjoyed the deliberate pacing with the adventure.