Review
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply superb, surpassing J.R.R T' by a country mile!! 26 Jun 2012By Clive ButterfieldFormat: Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified PurchaseValarie Douglas has just become one of my favourite authors! "The Coming Storm" is not a really good book, it's a GREAT book! Yes, it's a tale of Elves, Humans, Dwarves, Goblins etc, Yes I know Tolkien is the benchmark. But to my mind, if Valerie Douglas had written this book first, Tolkien would have had to up his game to get published. I found the plot made sense, the characters we meet are relevant and help to move the story forward, sideways and sometimes backward...
If it is the point of a book, that having started you want to finish it, then having read it, you don't want the story and characters to cease. Then by that benchmark, this is a great piece of work. I have my Kindle set to show me what percentage I am through the book I am reading. Valerie is one of those authors where you see that you are, say 52% and you cry because even though it is a long story, I didn't want it to finish and at 52% I was already saddened that I was over halfway through what was becoming and now is one of my favourite books. There are no spoilers here, no reference or hint at events. If you read my review considering whether to get this book. Please, please take my advice, do yourself a favour and read it!
Review: The Coming Storm by Valerie Douglas
Posted on 21/05/2018 by Hannah SteenbockIt all began on Facebook. I don't even remember who started the thread.
We were talking about horses in real life, and horses in stories and Valerie mentioned Smoke, a horse in one of her stories. A stubborn gelding with personality and grit, and I thought I'd really like to read that tale.
And so I bought "The Coming Storm", and started reading it on my vacation, a few days ago.
It starts out deceptively slow. It even takes a few chapters before we meet Storm and then he's just the annoying horse of a friendly side character.
Naturally, he's annoying one of the main characters, and a few chapters later, Storm saves her life. And he does more. He takes Ailith to the man who will become her best friend and ally, and he carries her through many adventures and close scrapes.
Of course, there's also much traveling, tension and terror, a terrible threat and fierce battles, as well as magic. There are Elves, Dwarfs, and Men, a High King and Wizards, there are politics and intrigue, and there is unspeakable evil.
There is everything that matters in an epic fantasy tale, and more. There is even a dragon, although I won't say more than that about it.
For more detail, you will simply have to read the book. But be prepared. You will need some tissues at the end, and you will need to go to Amazon and buy the sequel.
Fair warning.
Enjoy.
From the Inside Flap
The mother bear had put up a terrible fight to save her cubs, as such will do when their young were threatened. All around the clearing the dirt was torn up, the underbrush crushed and the trees marked with blood and fur. It had been a valiant but futile effort on the part of the bear. Little remained of her and her offspring except for the blood, the shattered bones and a few traces of offal. They stank but not nearly as much as the reek of something else, something that chilled Elon's blood.
"Kobold," he said, quietly into the unnatural silence of the wood, mute testimony to the fact that the predators that had done this still remained somewhere near.
They hadn't reckoned on kobolds. Although there had been reports of something killing down here, they'd thought it was perhaps a young orc or a boggart. So far from the borderlands, it would've been more likely by far to be a rogue bear.
It wasn't the bear that had gone rogue.
Every sense was alert, his eyes as much on the destruction here as on the least twitch of a branch against the breeze.
Around him, the eyes of the other Hunters scanned everywhere, down in the shadows, up into the branches and all around. Bows were strung and arrows were notched against what they couldn't see.
"Aye," Colath said, kneeling in the dirt next to a particularly noxious heap of offal and scat. Looking up, he gave Elon a significant look. "More than one."
Elon looked closer, not that he had any doubts as to true-friend's assessment. The signs were unmistakable. The coldness in his belly spread. Colath, his true-friend, paxman and most trusted companion, was vulnerable down there. Especially to kobolds, who ran low to the ground.
"Kobolds don't travel in packs. Something's wrong here. Get back in the saddle, Colath, and quickly."
From the Back Cover
Elon of Aerilann, Elven advisor to the High King of Men, helped negotiate the treaty between Elves, Dwarves and men. He suddenly finds that fragile truce threatened from without by an unknown enemy and from within by old hatreds and prejudice. With the aid of his true-friend Colath, the wizard Jareth and the Elven archer Jalila, he goes in search of the source of the threat. Ailith, the Heir to Riverford - fights her own silent battle. Her father has changed,something's wrong, but her quest to discover what has changed puts her life and very soul in danger and leaves her only one direction in which to turn. To preserve the alliance Elon may have to choose between his Elven honor, his duty and more...
About the Author
Valerie Douglas is a prolific writer and a genre-crosser, much to the delight of her fans. A fan of authors from almost every genre from Isaac Asimov to Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, she writes classic fantasy, romance, suspense, and as V.J. Devereaux, erotic romance. Who knows what will pop up down the road!Happily married, she's companion to two dogs, four cats and an African clawed frog named Hopper who delights in tormenting the cats from his tank. You can find more information at valeriedouglasbooks.com"While we have the gift of life, it seems to me that the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die - whether it is our spirit, our creativity, or our glorious uniqueness."Gilda Radner US actress & comedienne (1946 - 1989)
