Book Review: King's Warrior by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

   A few years ago, (sometimes in 2013, I think) I downloaded a free kindle book. It was my first kindle book, because I only had a kindle because it came free on my new computer. As such, the only time I actually read the book was when I had my computer and there was no internet. Basically, it took me a really long time to read. Read it I did, however, and now I'm going to write a review of it! (I'd put in a plot synopsis, but it is really long. Go here if you want to know what it's about.)

   A reviewer of this book likened it to Tolkien in its scope and plot. I agree. The world is grand with lots of history and characters and creatures. The world is also big, which means there's lots of walking time. It's not as bad as Tolkien, where he spends pages getting them from one place to another, but there is still a good deal of walking. However, walking allows time for characters and that's a good thing about this book. The characters are fairly well mapped out. None of the characters seem wooden or just thrown in as plot devices. They are fully fledged characters, full of pain and stupidity and moments of brilliance.

   What about the plot? The plot is pretty simple, yet complex. There's a lot of stuff going and from multiple points of view. We have the main characters off on their quest (and then they get separated a few times) as well as having the King keeping lookout for attack and the villains attacking. This isn't really spoilery, this is epic fantasy. There's always going to be a group being attacked and a group on a quest and a group of villains attacking. There are certain things about Epic Fantasy that don't change, and this book has all those things.

   And that's part of my problem with this book. There's nothing overly wrong with the book in itself (save for a little bad dialogue and some blatant exposition). As far as books go, I've definitely read (and written) worse. The thing is that this book just feels like it has been done before. There's so much stuff so very similar that it almost feels like a rehash. Maybe as the series goes on it will feel a little bit fresher, but I finished this one and just felt like, "Okay, that was an epic fantasy novel". I don't think that's a good thing.

   So: would I recommend this book? If you like the genre, go for it. If your a bit tired of the same old, same old... there's not much new here.