Book Review - A Leaf And Pebble by Andrew Monroe

A Leaf and Pebble by Andrew Monroe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review.

"A Leaf and Pebble" is a for the most part engaging fantasy novel that follows the adventures of Nil and his friend Volant as they try to stay two steps ahead of the authorities who believe they have stolen a Toron stone which wields immense power.

The good: Nil and Volant are wonderfully drawn characters, and by the time I was finished reading, I felt like I was rejoining old friends every time I cracked open the book. The world of Balteris is huge and they seem to travel everywhere; for the most part each section of the world is clearly defined, although I did get a bit confused in some instances. Monroe has done a really good job creating this world out of his imagination, from the topography and geography to the different "tribes" as it were, to the monsters inhabiting it and the magical powers some yield. Great detail is given and all of it is appreciated.

The not so good: It doesn't work as a stand-alone book. I realise that it is the first part in what is probably a trilogy or multi-book series, but for me it ended very abruptly, and one of the main characters seems to fall off the face of the earth over the last couple of chapters. There were quite a few spelling and punctuation errors, but those are easily rectified.

Bottom line: "A Leaf and Pebble" is a long-ish book, at about 450 pages. Ignore the fact that it took me two months to read, as I've not been in the mood for reading much lately; something like this could easily be read in a week or two. Fantasy has always been difficult for me to get into, but when I did open this book I immediately was brought back into the new yet familiar world Monroe has created.

Seven Skills out of ten.

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