Official Review: A Cold Wind by C. J. Brightley

[Jax14]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Cold Wind" by C. J. Brightley.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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A Cold Wind, by CJ Brightley, is the second book of the fantasy Erdemen Honor series. The content is suitable for young adults and up.

Hakan is now king, thanks to Kemen's assistance in reclaiming the throne from the usurper Taista. A grievous injury becomes the start of Kemen's story. One that has him fighting for his life under the tender care of the healer Saraid, and two palace servants, Lani and Riona, who are keen to set eyes on the Dari warrior. The warrior with the dark olive skin and bright green eyes. After being nursed back to health, Kemen is tasked by the king to be his Ambassador and General in negotiating a treaty with the Tafari of Rikuto, as well as quelling the attacks from the Tarvil. Kemen seems to have his work cut out for himself-so much so that the question arises- can he find time for a love interest from an unforeseen quarter that he has always longed for, yet never believed himself permitted to have? And how will this affect his judgement on the battlefield, let alone play with the internal struggle between brain and heart?

As an avid fantasy reader, the idea of the book truly intrigued me. Unfortunately it fell a little short of my expectations. While I understand that the author has created this as a section in the series, I was expecting battles of epic proportions and heroic adventures, but instead received an unanticipated love story. One interspersed with loyalty among friends, fealty to the king, treason and faithfulness amid comrades, births, deaths, apprenticeship, the righting of wrongs and the enigmatic maze that is love. The author created a point of view for the two main characters which alternated between chapters, giving a more rounded insight into the layers of feelings creating the story. I did enjoy seeing the events unfold from a male and female perspective. I just felt that with Kemen being the warrior that he is, and feeling as much of an outcast, in looks and character as he did, that some of his thoughts and reactions were a little too deep or forgiving. The fact that he professed to understand a woman's deepest desires must be taken with a pinch of salt-for who can know these things for sure!

Some negatives are bound to crop up and the following were worth noting. Being the second book in a series has its downfall when concepts or labels which seem obvious to the author are confusing for the reader. Many times things, places or people were only explained a long time after their occurrence in the book which had me flipping back and forth between chapters, and in some cases even looking up descriptions of the previous books to try and place them into context. Character's names were occasionally shortened to nicknames, so going from Riona to Ria had me questioning whether or not they were actually different characters. I found the inclusion of Riona's previous relationship, while necessary to explain her reactions and underlying negative feelings of self-worth, felt drawn out, sometimes tedious in the repetition and a little obvious. The battle scenes, with descriptions of fights and weapons were written in an entirely different manner to the love story-they were far more believable to me. I was there in the middle of the action, while the blossoming of the romance just went on and on and on. The jumps forward in time were disconcerting too. Months would pass where nothing was noted and seasons passed by in the blink of an eye. My particular bugbear is editing and some glaringly obvious mistakes jumped out just to irk me-the use of lay (to place) as opposed to lie being used in the incorrect context, missing words in sentences like "succeeded only in producing a blinding..." and typos like using ss instead of is.

All in all I would rate this story 2 out of 4 stars. The story is likeable and well written with a good flow. It is however not easy to read as a stand alone, and feels as though it is a set up for later books in the series. So while the book may be beguiling for some, it did not hit all the right notes for me, thus ensuring that I will not continue to read the rest of the series, and the reason that the review did not receive 3 stars.

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A Cold Wind
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[kimmyschemy06]

That was a very honest review. I'm into warriors and things, however, I easily get confused so might find it not very easy to read.

[rssllue]

Very thorough review! It sounds like it has great potential to be a good story with just a little bit of work by the author. Nice job with your descriptions and opinions!