Sea of Shadows starts off Kelley Armstrong's newest YA series, Age of Legends and it was quite an interesting read! It was by far more different than her previous YA series, which in fact, took place in her famous Otherworld series. Here we are in a new world with new rules and in a different time. The time in unclear, as it usually is with fantasy novels, but the story was still engaging and intriguing.
Ashyn and Moria are the Seeker and the Keeper of the Forest of the Dead. It's a rare thing, having twins. So the girls are treated as special. This year Ashyn is to go into the forest and basically help the dead move on. Their village sends traitors and the like into the forest to die basically. But if after the time, the traitors or whoever are still alive, they are given a pardon for their crimes. But surviving the forest is near impossible.
It's not long before Ashyn has finished her task and returns home. Moria, was not allowed to go because she is the Keeper and it's not her job. She's a bit sullen over the matter, but doesn't hold any resentment towards her sister. But she comes back with a boy her age, Ronan. Instead of just setting him free, the village locks him up. Strange things happened to Ashyn and the people she traveled with. Many of them simply disappeared. And that night, the village is attacked by shadow stalkers.
And this is where our story really begins to take off. Moria and Ashyn are separated for the majority of the opening. Ashyn travels with Ronan and Moria travels with Gavril--a guard from the village. He and Moria are constantly arguing with one another. The two are too much alike and they butt heads constantly. While Ashyn and Ronan are pretty much the opposite. Ronan has his own story to tell, but I feel like we didn't get all of it. We got a little of his background story, but I feel like there's still more to come. In a sense, the guys of this novel are some of the most mysterious characters.
The four encounter some monsters along the way of their separate journeys and when the sisters are finally reunited, it's only to be set with an even more dangerous task. This story is far from over, in fact, the ending is really only the beginning of the rest of the series. It definitely sets us up for what's sure to be an extraordinary series!
Moria and Ashyn were definitely different from one another. Moria was more the aggressive sort whereas Ashyn is the sweet and almost timid kind. I also enjoyed Gavril and Ronan, perhaps more Ronan. He was a bit easier to understand his character. Gavril was a harder sort to read. He wasn't quite standoffish, he's just very secretive. I also enjoyed the girls' animal companions! Moria travels with a wildcat named Diago and Ashyn has a wolfhound named Tova. These two are definitely animals, but their loyalty to the girls was endearing. Plus, they are extraordinary animals too, not your average ones either!
The pacing to this one was pretty good. It's told in third person point of view, ranging chapters/sections between Moria and Ashyn. There were a few moments were I felt the pace started to lag a bit, but then there was usually an exciting scene soon to follow, so all in all, it was a pretty good read! And I look forward to seeing where the rest of this adventure takes us!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
Sea of Shadows: Age of Legends, Book 1
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*NO SPOILERS*This book took me COMPLETELY by surprise and ended up on my “Top 5 2017” list in the sidebar. As a Booktube-a-thon pick, this book has been on the back-burner for quite some time now. And I am so mad at myself for not reading this book when I first got it! Seriously, I will forever hang my head in shame☹. This book is so easy to read because of the writing style and short chapters, I jumped right in and couldn’t stop reading! Half-way through I even re-searched if there were other books to the series because I was loving it that much! If I read a series I usually buy them all at the same time because I’m a fast reader and don’t like waiting for the next book. Moria is my spirit animal and I just know that we would be best friends! These characters are so easy to relate to and are super compatible together. Everything just fit perfectly! I was also super impressed by the plot and it was exciting to read about something new and fun. When reading I couldn’t figure this book out, I usually guess what would happen or come up with crazy theories, but this book left me in the dark. So each new development was a total surprise to me! Its momentum kept me going to see what would happen next. My emotions were all over the place while reading this book, sometimes I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry. It didn’t hurt that the cover art was also fantastic! This book has my heart and I don’t want it back. Unfortunately, I don’t have the next books in the series on hand right now, but I will surely remedy that soon!😉*SPOILER ALERT*I CALLED IT!!!!! Honestly, I had a bad feeling about Gavin from the start. I even wrote down in my notes that I had disliked him when he first made an appearance. So come to find out he could have been behind it all? I was thrilled that I had predicted at least one thing! It seems totally plausible too, he hates the emperor and he has a bad reputation already, so why not? I liked Ronan though, and I’m really rooting for him and Ashyn to be together. I also loved the bond that the two girls had, I’ve always thought it would be cool to have a twin. The way that the girls and their bonded work together and know each other so well is pretty amazing. I was super proud of all of them for being so brave and helping each other get through this tragedy together, even though Gavin is under suspicion right now. I want to know why the scene with Belaset and the human traffikers was in the book. It was just one more challenge they faced and it really seemed out of place. Why mention the king at all? Couldn’t we have done without that information? I, for one, didn’t see it coming that Gavin’s dad was still alive and a very powerful sorcerer. But like I said, I’ve had a funny feeling about Gavin all along, although I do think he has true feelings for Moria. He has messed all of that up now by lying to her. Let me know if you agree or disagree with any of this in the comments below!
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Top reviews from other countries
Julie-Anne
Good new series from Kelley
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 3, 2014Jonathan Oakey
I've read and enjoyed quite a lot of Ms Armstrong's books and so ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 19, 2015
S. Sjoberg
Kelley delivers again
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 11, 2015
