Adversarius Shadow of the Rose – LDS Women's Book Review

Adversarius (Shadow of the Rose)

Author: M.L. Chesley

Publisher: Hellfire Publishing

Published: December, 2012

ASIN: B00AJA967O

ebook

FTC FYI: We received an ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by Mindy and Sheila

Goodreads Summary

Two kingdoms, two goals.

The king of Relavia is determined to wipe out his warring neighbors in Paridzule, a worthy adversary for over five hundred years. News of an arranged marriage between his son and the daughter of his lifelong enemy has fueled the temper of Relavia’s tyrannical king. What he doesn’t realize is the true measure of his son’s honor and how far he is willing to go to gain peace.

Mindy’s Review

Shadow of the Rose, is a very enjoyable story. However, at times in the beginning, I struggled with names I couldn’t pronounce, phrases repeating, and too much introduced all at once, but I liked the characters and the story is engaging once I read further and got into it more. There are many characters to keep track of, but the two I enjoyed the most were Black Rose, and Nightshadow. They were both very intriguing and Nightshadow especially, was awesome. She was raised as an assassin, and the events of the book have her changing her mind about her upbringing. I also thought Farrehn was a great character, for a half-ogre.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars. The different story lines did keep my interest, and the book reads at a quick pace. There is a cliff-hanger ending, and I’m excited to see what happens next.

Sheila’s Review

Adversarius: Shadow of the Rose(Book One) is a High Fantasy novel with a lot of action and a lot of characters. At first, I had a hard time keeping track of all of the many different characters and their names. After that was figured out, it was more of a smooth read for me. There are many characters that would vie for status as “main” characters because you have several story-lines going on in this novel. Some of my favorites would have to be Nightshadow, the woman assassin, and the priest named Rose( there is nothing feminine about him!) They had some of the best lines and plots in the book. Of course the evil villain, the King of Relavia, Li’endrin,is about as bad as bad gets. I didn’t see any goodness in him at all. Anyone that did what he did, to his own children, is an awful creature. Speaking of creatures, there were many different kinds in the story, including dragons and ogres.I really did like the half-ogre, Farrehn. He made me laugh a lot, and really did have a good heart.

There is a lot to like about this first novel, by Author M.L. Chesley. If you don’t get distracted by the strange names and the many characters, you will find a good fantasy that will keep you involved. Be ready for a cliff-hanger at the end,which will leave you itching for book #2 in the series.