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Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 08 Jul 2017, 16:16
by jemgirl202
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Dunston Blade" by John Nelson Daines.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines is a historical fiction novel. The story begins in England at the end of the reign of Henry III. In a small village there is a man named John Ivanson, who is the son a smith. John just assumes he will train under his father and eventually take over the family business. Until one day, a knight is traveling through the village. His name is Sir Cedric and he asks for shelter from John's family. Cedric sees something in John and asks John to be his squire. John realizes the opportunity and heartily agrees to go with Cedric. John's father gives John a beautiful sword he made from a special metal, a sword fit for a king.

Over the next few years, John follows Cedric into many battles to keep the peace in England. When John wields his sword he feels stronger and faster but isn't sure if that is from his training or the sword itself. The rest of the story goes through John's life and adventures of becoming a knight, fighting, and marrying the woman he loves.

Since the story is about John's life, the story mainly revolves around him. He is the most developed character in the story which was great. John is an honorable man who the reader roots for throughout the whole story. There are several other characters that are introduced that could have been more developed since they had such an impact on John's life. I would have liked to see more depth to those who were around John.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. Daines made sure he did his research on the time period. English history is a fascinating time period. However, since the novel is the adventures of John's life there is no climax to keep the reader wondering what will happen next. There were also several errors on every page. The errors were mainly missed punctuation, spacing and spelling. I was still able to read through the story with clarity. However, one of the major errors was the different spellings of characters names. For instance, on one page the character's name would be spelled Ralf and on the next page it would be spelled Ralph. This also happened with the character, Laila. Sometimes the name was spelled Laila and sometimes it was spelled Leila. This would cause some confusion at times.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I gave this rating because of the many errors throughout the book, the lack of development in the other characters and no climax. However, with some story editing and grammar editing this would be a fantastic epic about the life of John. It was very well researched and would be a fantastic read for anyone who enjoys English history.

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The Dunston Blade
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Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 20 Jul 2017, 13:29
by Kashif Irshad
Very nice

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 20 Jul 2017, 13:54
by John Cand
Awesome review! Despite the low rating this book sounds worth reading. Thanks.

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 20 Jul 2017, 14:27
by kandscreeley
Since there isn't anything to keep the reader involved, I don't think I would like this story. Sounds like it might be good for those who really like history, but I have to have some action in my history. Thanks for the review.

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 21 Jul 2017, 03:28
by Kelebogile Mbangi
No climax? Yikes... I was interested in reading this initially, but now... I'll pass. Thanks for the thorough review. :)

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 21 Jul 2017, 17:20
by LadyClaire
I really like that part about the Knight and the beautiful sword. I wish more detail were given.
Thanks for the review, though.

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 25 Jul 2017, 12:28
by Rosemary Okoko
The book sounds like a nice read. I wish the author got this book professionally edited. I don't enjoy reading books with errors. Thank you for this review.

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 01 Aug 2017, 00:15
by Naval Aulakh
The review is very good. I enjoyed reading it ?

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 01 Aug 2017, 17:15
by Izesicle
There's something sad about historical fiction getting the facts right but the reader is distracted by typos and misspelled names. If time was spent on research, time should have been spent on editing too.

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 02 Aug 2017, 17:35
by Donatelloo
Thank you for your honest review. I am never going near this novel. Thank you!!

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 04 Aug 2017, 12:43
by jemgirl202
Thank you everyone! Yes, I wanted to love this book and I would have loved if it just had some grammar and story editing. I think if the author goes through it and fixes the story, it will be a phenomenal read! His had some very good research on the time period!

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 05 Aug 2017, 14:24
by kislany
Great review! I might still pick it up, despite the many editing errors. The topic is interesting and it seems that the author really did his research, which is commendable.

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 06 Aug 2017, 12:38
by Quinto
I agree that this novel has an interesting storyline set at a time in English history. It has all the markings of being a best seller as a novel or on the silver screen. Meanwhile I get to sample it. Thanks for an excellent review.

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 08 Aug 2017, 13:17
by juliusotinyo
My favorite genre, so sad the story did not live up to your hype. I might still look it up. Great review.

Re: Official Review: The Dunston Blade by John Nelson Daines

Posted: 09 Aug 2017, 15:27
by Manang Muyang
The story seems to have a lot of potential. I hope the author can make it better to make sure it makes the cut (pun intended). Thanks for your candid review, jemgirl202!