Way back in October we participated in the Wizard of Ends Blog Tour. With life getting in the way, I didn’t manage to finish reading the book until March 30th though. I had intended to write this review in early April but didn’t get to it until now. The good news is that a review of the second book in the series will be up soon too. (Warning: Do not feed the Spoilers!)
The sorceress Assassa believes the Land of Ends to be rightfully hers, but King Lanaran refuses to hand over his crown. In retaliation, the sorceress has conjured creatures of darkness to hunt the queen and end her life. Lashlor does what he can to help but it isn’t easy, especially as the Guards of Ends who protect the queen believe him to be false.
Lashlor is positive that a confrontation with Assassa will be the death of him. However, the king insists on his help and it soon becomes apparent that he may have no choice in the matter whatsoever.
The book is well written and starts off feeling like a political thriller set in a magical realm. The intrigue is abandoned early on, however, and the story morphs into a chase sequence and then finally into a full out magical battle royal with magic users slaughtered in some very imaginative and disturbing ways. It is an extremely enjoyable read until the cliff hanger ending; which means that you’d better be prepared to pick up Book Two of the series, “Dark Creature” to find out how the story ends. In fact, the two books read like a single book that has been cut in half. This sort of publishing practice harkens back to the “Lord of the Rings” and tends to work well if the first book has a strong enough hook, which “Wizard of Ends” fortunately does.
If you like your Fantasy sprinkled with political intrigue and all out magical mayhem pick up “Wizard of Ends” for free. Just keep in mind that you’ll probably want to buy “Dark Creature” as well.
Vanessa Finaughty is an author of many genres who now focuses on fantasy and science fiction. She’s published 15 books, of which 6 are fantasy. Vanessa grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and still lives there with her husband of fifteen years, her baby daughter and plenty of furry, four-legged ‘children’. Vanessa has always been passionate about books, and knew from a young age that she wanted to write them one day. She loves animals, coffee and the smell of wet grass, and hates liars, sweltering weather and long queues. Her interests include reading, photography, the supernatural, mythology, aliens and outer space, ancient history, life’s mysteries and martial arts, of which she has five years’ experience.
