OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Mirror and The Sword" by EJ Norris.]

The Mirror and the Sword: The Knight's Chronicle by E.J. Norris is an adventure/fantasy book.

The book is about young Tenny, a boy from Ked who is given a mirror and a sword by an old man, who reveals to him that what he believes is the truth about the country he lives in and the war that is going on is false. Tenny starts to get doubts about everything he knew after he saw the old man getting murdered, he hides the items and wonders what to do. When his family finds the items, he has to escape with them, and find the true king and the truth about his country. Accompanying him are his fiancé and the old man’s pet.

The author combined different writing styles and created her own. She made no grammar or spelling mistakes. E.J. Norris’ plot progress was either fast or slow, but almost never steady. Sometimes the details were so many your head would spin and others too little to understand what was going on.

E.J. Norris’ characters seemed to me a bit immature, but this was perfect since they were just teenagers. Her characters grew as the plot progressed but I still found them a bit immature. Tenny seemed to me a bit of an idiot, as he sometimes trusted strangers blindly while his fiancé reckless. My favorite character was the old man’s pet, which was loyal and brave, even facing off a bear.

The knight was barbaric as was the so called king. They were violent and cruel and thrived on violence and death. On the other hand, Joshua, the true king seems kind and gentle and a true pacifist but he isn’t afraid to fight to protect his people.

What I liked the most in this book, was how the author showed some things everyone should know. First, that no one knows everything and you shouldn’t brag, second everything isn’t always as it seems and third that you shouldn’t trust strangers blindly.

What I disliked in this book was the irregularities on the pace, which was sometimes fast and others slow. There were many instances where I thought it had gone too fast and others too slow. Another thing I disliked in this book was the characters’ behavior at the start, but afterwards, as they changed, I grew to like them.

Overall, I’d rate this book 3 out of 4 stars, as I believe that it could be better and would recommend it to anyone who likes adventure and doesn’t mind the pace going from fast to slow.

******
The Mirror and The Sword
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like kitsune1997's review? Post a comment saying so!

To you and the one or two others who have reviewed, thank you for your honesty. I'm glad you enjoyed the story. God bless and keep a smile on. EJN.

I enjoyed reading your very balanced and thorough review. This book sounds promising, and I may add it to my reading list.

Sounds like a very promising book. Did I read it correctly, they were just teenagers but they were already engaged? Well, it probably was explained in the book. I hope I get the chance to read it. Nice job on the review!

Nice, balanced review! I am glad you pointed out the inconsistent pacing, since pacing is important in keeping a reader's interest. Like KimmySchemy, I was also surprised - the main character is a boy, but he is engaged?

Sounds promising even though I think this one isn't for me. Great review.