James is a pretty good friend of mine that I’ve met through Facebook. He’s the one who introduced me to the takeover events and has been a huge help in launching my first novel. When I won his book in a takeover event – okay, not just his book, but a signed, paperback copy of his book, The United, I was so stoked.
The United, Book One of the Realm of Light Book Series is a fantastic adventure. It’s a fantasy novel and James is so creative with all his world and race building – especially when it comes to the myths and legends in this book. It wasn’t what I expected at first – and yes, this is a good thing. The focus of the book in the middle shifts from at first when you think it’s going to lead into more of a high fantasy style, but in the middle it stays focused around the main group of characters set in the modern world. It’s about their friendship, their relationships, and love, all the while this backdrop of a fantasy plot and a terrible threat is hanging over their shoulders.
The United is a clean novel, one that would be completely suitable for teenagers to read and I found that refreshing – few books are like that these days. It’s a story about friendship, relationships, love, destiny, life, problems, teamwork, relying on your friends and family for help, and getting through the pain of loss and grief.
It ends tragic and yet sweet, on a perfect note and it leaves you as a reader feeling satisfied and complete and yet there’s a hint of more on the horizon. I became attached to these characters and fell in love with them, journeying with them as they lived their lives through this book.
There were some grammatical errors that I spotted, but nothing that pulled me from the story. I also found a few details that didn’t make sense – after one character loses someone they love, it felt as if the possibility that they could move on with another character that previously had no romantic ties to them was rushed and didn’t make sense. There was also a lack of descriptions and details sometimes, where details were skipped over and it was a bit hard to follow some of the information in the plotline, specifically in the “dream sequences” as I call them.
Nonetheless, these are the only issues I found with The United – all books have them – and it’s a very clean, good story that everyone in the family could enjoy reading.
As my final conclusion, I really enjoyed reading James’ book, The United. It only took me about a week to finish it when I had time to sit down and start it, and it was a compelling story that made me want to continue reading it until the end.
3.5 stars for me and I highly recommend you read it! J
You can find it on Amazon at this link:
