Review of Kaldera

[Nisha Ward]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Kaldera" by Dean Kruger.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Kaldera: Changed by Darkness is an interesting book. Reminiscent of Dungeons and Dragons, it’s both a traditional fantasy novel and not. In many ways, it follows the usual fantasy novel path. There’s a villain of magical origins, a king pledging to defeat it, and a princess who finds herself in danger. These are all staples of the genre, but where it differs is in the characters it follows.

Written by Dean Kruger, the book follows select commoners and soldiers as they seek to stop the Night Witch and her terrifying servant, the Bloodgriez. Taking place over a few days, we see our heroes experience great loss and great triumph as they seek to overpower this witch and protect the town of Gorgana. Centered around multiple characters, we come to learn about their loves, their lives, and the sacrifices that go into ensuring the continuation of a kingdom.

What I love about this book, enough to give it 3 out of 4 stars, is the very character-centric nature of it. While the events of the book depend upon our heroes taking on the Bloodgriez and the Night Witch, much of it hinges upon the actions of people like Princess Shimmera, Marla, a local healer and faerie friend, and Arid, one of the king’s most trusted knights. While they are not the only characters, they represent the variety of people whose lives depend upon the success of this mission.

That’s not to say that the plot is bad. In fact, it reminds me of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. It’s a great mix of high fantasy and a narrative style that’s less flowery than Tolkien. In fact, I’d dare to say that it’s easy to read. Kruger makes a point of it, in fact, while retaining the language of fantasy with passages like,

“Caster at first was confused but slowly smiled at her content that the wounded hapless victims had a place to recover. He stood there for a minute contemplating the satchel, then tossed it on the table.” (pp. 141-142)

There’s also a sense of grotesqueness to the book that I really like. Descriptions of transformations and creatures are often gross, not to say anything of the sheer violence of the novel. While many may be turned off by that, I think it works well in the book’s favour, giving it a sort of charm.

However, while the above reasons are why I gave the book the rating I did, I would be remiss not to mention why I took a point away. For one thing, there were many errors. They were minor in nature, but I can’t give the book a full rating when it has so many.

For another, I do think it has too many character points of view. While I did like, for example, the contrast between Princess Shimmera’s perspective and that of the local blacksmith, Granger, I thought the inclusion of the king and the bard, Caster, as point of view characters to be a waste of words. They added very little that another, more important character could not, making them redundant to the greater plot of the book.

That being said, it was quite an enjoyable read. I had a lot of fun with Kaldera, and I’m looking forward to the sequel. Readers of fantasy, particularly those who may also like to roleplay in games, will like this too.

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Kaldera
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[Blessing Odii]

This is one kind of book I would to add to my library. I would love to read about the magic and Night Witch in the book. Nice review.

[Reading_Jack]

this sounds like a movie. I also love fantasies and I hope to enjoy this one. thanks for an honest review.

[Cici Stride]

Thanks for telling about the book! I've never actually played Dungeons and Dragons, but I've been curious. It would be nice to read a book with a similar feeling. I really like stories that let us know the characters, too. Thanks for all the great info!

[Mbenma Esther 080]

I enjoyed reading every bit of this review. This is a work well done by the author. Thanks for the review.

[Aisha Yakub]

Seems like a great fantasy book. Thank you for the review.

[NetMassimo]

This seems like an engaging fantasy novel despite the many points of view, so I hope the author does proper proofreading. Thank you for your great review!