Review of Etherio's Threat

[Josephe-Anne]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Etherio's Threat" by David Carreira.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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A grand adventure awaits in Etherio’s Threat: Key to Phodite’s Temple by David Carreira. Roy is a simple village boy who farms for a living. One night, he sees a strange orb of green light in the sky. The events that follow will change his life forever. Roy and his best friend, Lyle, end up leaving the only home they have ever known after the horrific murders of both of their mothers. Then the boys are chosen by a master swordsman and his apprentice to fulfill an ancient prophecy. The teenagers must learn to fight as they begin their quest to find a set of magical stones that are supposed to end all the darkness in the land. As time goes on, the two friends drift apart, and it becomes clear who is meant to be the hero. Meanwhile, evil forces are following them, waiting to thwart their mission and steal the stones. Such powerful objects will be dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands.

The cover image portrays three young men overlooking a series of hills. A green ball of light glows above them. The title is typed in a metallic font. While the artwork is intriguing, there is a bit of a disconnect between the artistic representation and the story’s concept because the image and font suggest a futuristic story, but the story's setting is reminiscent of medieval Europe. The main themes of the book include magic, adventure, mythology, friendship, betrayal, and emotional issues. Like many famous fantasy fiction novels, this book contains a map of its imaginary realm. There are some gory scenes and suggestive material in the text, but they are not excessive. Only borderline profanity is used.

The characters were very different from each other. Roy is pensive, methodical, and level-headed. On the other hand, Lyle is a more aggressive and compulsive individual. Hevik is a kindly older man; he was the best swordsman in his younger years. His apprentice, Lincus, has a more jovial personality, but he takes his swordsmanship training very seriously. Etherio is an evil mage with exceptional magical abilities. Valera is a feisty thief who becomes a prominent figure as the story progresses. In addition to those main characters, one minor character also stood out to me. Rathal is an enslaved elf who enters a competition to try to earn his freedom. Enough of each person’s backstory was provided so that I could understand their motives.

I liked the way the author described the characters’ inner thoughts and feelings so that readers could empathize with them. I appreciated the gradual and realistic depiction of the growing rift between Roy and Lyle as they both handled their grief differently. I also noticed that empathy was a major element in this story. Many of the characters expressed empathy for one another. Additionally, I found it interesting that elves were kept as slaves, like in the Harry Potter series, but the elves in this book were more humanoid. The mages in this novel also displayed magical skills similar to the wizards in J.K. Rowling’s famous franchise. Furthermore, giving the lighthearted dwarves Scottish-sounding accents was a nice touch.

However, this novel had a clichéd plot that involved young men embarking on a stereotypical quest to find magical objects. Even though this was the start of a series, and more information will be revealed in subsequent installments, there were too many subplots that were left undeveloped. In addition, the tone seemed much different in the last quarter of the book. It was as if the author was stalling to get to the ending by including lengthy emotional moments. I felt like I was reading two different stories. Finally, there were many avoidable editing issues that could be resolved with better proofreading. I found more than ten errors in the text.

In conclusion, I have decided to give Etherio’s Threat: Key to Phodite’s Temple by David Carreira a rating of four out of five stars. I deducted a star mainly because of the errors. Even so, this was still a very entertaining novel that was filled with all of the classic fantasy fiction elements, such as magic and mythological creatures. Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and Christopher Paolini’s works will enjoy this promising new series. After this book’s cliffhanger ending, I am certainly looking forward to reading the other installments.

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Etherio's Threat
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[NetMassimo]

This novel uses very classic tropes of the fantasy genre. I hope the author does proper proofreading, which would be important to convince readers to go on with this series and see if the story goes beyond stereotypes. Thank you for your great review!