Land of Strength and Sorrow by Cassandra Fear: A Tale of Fantasy Exploration

Hey, all, it’s Alexa! So I know it’s been an age since I posted and for that I do apologize. An ugly conglomeration of internet outage, school work, and general life busyness kept me from being able to post on more than one blog at a time, but that is finally (probably, temporarily) over AND I HAVE RETURNED. But anyways. We are here to talk about books not me, so without further ado, I introduce to you, Land of Strength and Sorrow by Cassandra Fear.

Description from Author Website:

One cure can save them all…

Princess Jovi’s sheltered life has taught her nothing about Orendor, the kingdom she will one day rule. Longing for adventure isn’t the same as being thrust in the middle of one, which is exactly what happens when the Frost Mages attack the castle in Kingsperch.

Determined to save her kingdom, Jovi must gather an army of brave warriors to defeat the Frost Mages and protect the people she loves. She seeks help from the bravest Mammoth Rider in all of Orendor—her fearless uncle, Meical.

Jovi will endure harrowing trials she never imagined she’d face, but as a daring new enemy emerges from the darkness, Jovi will discover a startling truth about herself that might open the door to a brand new future.

Will she choose the lives of many, or the heart of one?

Plot:

I like the classic, fantasy-quest structure of this story: it feels familiar, but contains more than enough monkey wrenches to keep the story unique. The sidetracks of exploration were fascinating in and of themselves, however, because the characters were on such a tight deadline, I found the meandering, adventure feel a little strange. Jovi and team were on the clock to come to her kingdom’s rescue, but there were several tangents here and delays there, lingering around to see different parts of the land, when they really needed to get a move on if they were going to beat their deadline. Plus, several of these tangents caused what felt like continuity errors, changing things about the story or characters in ways that just didn’t seem to fit with what I had already been told.

All-in-all, though, it’s an interesting storyline and the kingdom is really cool to see. Just the timing of some of the events felt off, since it was a time-crunch, rescue fantasy and not quite an exploration story.

Plot: 3 stars out of 5.

Characters:

Unfortunately, I didn’t really get along with most of these characters. Cappa, the main man, felt too forward for a guard and that really bothered me. I’m a big fan of the super knightly, gentlemen types in fantasies like this; I mean, they can be funny, but not too forward, and in my opinion, Cappa fell too far on the latter side. Though he never really did anything, I just didn’t like the way he treated Jovi and it made it hard for me to trust him.

As for Jovi, one moment, she’d have me cheering for savvy teen representation; the next, she’d make a decision that left me absolutely baffled. I finally figured out what it was: Jovi was a quick thinker, but she was often even quicker to act. So, if she took the time to think before she leapt, she could actually make some pretty good decisions; however, too often, she acted even before she could think. In the beginning, I could understand why her emotions led her to make those kinds of decisions; but towards the end, my brain just couldn’t follow. So you might say Jovi and I spent the book on a bit of a seesaw. 😛

As far as the other characters, sadly, I had trouble visualizing them as real. All of the adults talked, thought, and acted very similarly to the teenagers, and the only person I really ended up liking was Malador. He was actually pretty cool (pun only partially intended 😉 ), but I feel like giving more details about that would be spoilery, as it’s pretty amazing to discover who he actually is throughout the story.

Characters: 2 ½ stars out of 5

Writing Style/Setting:

Like I said above, this kingdom is really fleshed out and the setup is amazing! There were several creatures/magical systems I almost never see—and some I had never even heard of! I think if the land had been explored when they weren’t on such an intense deadline, I would have enjoyed the wonders of the kingdom a lot more. But as it was, all I could think as I read was “we have a deadline though!”; and only looking back, did I see how unique and interesting the kingdom really was.

Writing Style/Setting: 3 stars out of 5.

All in all, we come in at just under 3 stars out of 5. Overall, many parts of the story were certainly enjoyable; there were just also other things that made it difficult for me to love the book completely. However, if you’re looking for a noteworthy exploration of a fantasy world, this would certainly be a good choice. So, if you’d like to pick up a copy of yourself, find it here on the author’s website.

What’s a unique fantasy you’ve read? How’s life been for you in my absence? Haha, can’t wait to hear from you and I’ll see you in the comment section.

~ Love, Alexa ❤

Notes: I voluntarily and honestly reviewed a free copy of this book.

Content: Cursing. Descriptive makeout sessions and the like.

Lessons and Values: Doing one’s duty and helping one’s people. Learning from those who are different from you. Experiencing the world and broadening your horizons.