Seven in Ocean's End

(Book One of the Age of Desolation)

by
E.L. Reedy

American Book Publishing, December 2003

340 pp., ISBN: 1-5898-2188-2

Genre: Fantasy
Reviewed: 9/21/2003

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

Month of High Summer, Second Day, 3000 V.C.

Elainia found what she was looking for. The ground was covered with hundreds of tracks of all sizes and shapes, but as far as she could tell, none of them were prints of recognized animals.

Astania closely examined a set of tracks that appeared to have been made by a creature with clawed hooves. "Look at this! There must be hundreds of them!"

Elania studied a similar set of footprints. "Judging by their sized, shape, and depth, I would estimate that this creature has six legs and weighs fairly close to six hundred pounds."

"But where did they all go?" Riana asked in worried confusion. "There is no way that we just missed them in the middle of the night! Even had they flown, we should have seen something."

"I don't like this at all," Astania added with growing apprehension. "I smell something odd, something dead, and something else, old, yet some how familiar . . ."

"Something of Chaos is what you smell, something I had never hoped to smell again in my lifetime," Elania said. "Ladies, it is time to ride; we have seen enough. This is no single Demon out for a stroll; this is an invasion from the Realms of Hell! We must reach Ocean's End with Godspeed and warn them of the true approaching storm."

"What is it?" Astania asked, as the three of them leapt back into their saddles. "What could make so many tracks?"

"Ever seen a Demon horde?" Elania asked Astania.

"No," Astania replied nervously.

"Well, you may just get your chance; it seems that we are now somewhere in the middle of an invading force."

Without further conversation, the three Sisters of the Hunt rode north with the speed of the wind.

Synopsis

Ten years quickly pass and the old friends are finally reunited with a new set of fighting skills (one a monk, one a wizard, one a warrior, and one a huntress). But the times have been changing and a demon slowly awakens to call forth a dark cloud of evil that will soon quickly approach the peaceful town of Ocean's End. An ancient prophecy states that Seven shall stand as One as Hell's Gates swing wide.

As the new millennium dawns, far to the south, this same Gate is blasted opened and the demon horde pours forth to cover the hills like blood spilling from a decapitated body. The four, along with some of their comrades; Elania Silverleaf - an Elven huntress, Thaldin Stronghammer - a Dwarven Axe Master, and Riana Kenton - an Human Assassin, must face the approaching army of demon spawn and come to the realization that the Age of Desolation has finally arrived . . . and nothing will ever be the same again.

Seven in Ocean's End is the first book in the Age of Desolation, a four part series by new author E.L. Reedy. This is the first published novel by E.L. Reedy. Seven in Ocean's End is a fantasy tale of demons from Hell versus a group of humans, elves and dwarves that live together in peace.

Review

First time authors often get bogged down in too much character development, too little character development, too much description, not enough dialog (helps keep the story moving), and many other mistakes. The same cannot be said for E.L. Reedy's first attempt and putting words down on a page.

Seven in Ocean's End starts off with introducing the four of the main characters as children. The reader feels and instant bonding with all four characters and the writer does an excellent job of building the anticipation of their first meeting after ten years of training.

I had a hard time putting the book down until this point. But as the story moves along, the middle of the tale slows down as character building occurs and as the climax slowly builds. I enjoyed this part of the book, but would have liked to have seen a little more action here.

The conclusion is extremely faced-paced and full of plenty of action and battles, enough to sate the most voracious of fantasy readers. The characters are very believable and E.L. Reedy has done a wonderful job of creating a world where two oceans meet. I do like the concerted effort of human, elves and dwarves to live together in harmony. But as in all Fantasy tales, this lovely time of tranquility is short lived. The Age of Desolation series promised to be one that will keep the readers begging for more...and more.

I really think that Seven in Ocean's End is an excellent first book from an up and coming Fantasy author that must not be passed by. Bring on the Demon Hordes, for the Age of Desolation has begun!

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.