Corus the Champion Review

Author: D. Barkley Briggs

 He was once the greatest champion in the land.

Then he disappeared.

With Nemesia's defeat, the Barlows have helped turn the tide in the Hidden Lands. But the victory is short-lived. An even greater evil stirs in the north with a fierce new army bent on destruction. As the twins, Gabe and Garret, discover their own special powers, a thin thread of hope emerges: long ago, a fabled king was rescued from death on our world and hidden on Karac Tor. Who is he?

Each brother has their part to play. Hadyn must travel north to warn the land barons, which leaves Ewan with a bitter choice. Will he sacrifice what is most precious to discover whether Corus lives? Even more important, if Corus is alive, can he wake the Sleeping King of legend...before it's too late?

Characters: Excellent. I enjoyed getting to learn more about Hadyn and Ewan’s brothers, as well as seeing the return of several old friends (particularly Cruedwyn Creed) and meeting quite a few new friends. I also liked that I got to find out more about Corus.

4/5

Location: Very good. The locations were clear and easy to visualize, creative enough to impress me, but with enough basis on Earth that I could get a very good picture of them.

5/5

Plot: I have mixed feelings about the plot of this book. On one hand, it’s even more exciting than the first book, with many more twists. On the other hand, I disliked the fact that in many places, there would be several chapters with one character, and then we’d go back to a different character and have missed out on so much. I also had a hard time figuring out how much time had passed. Overall, I enjoyed it, but there were a few things that I had issues with.

3/5

Other: This book was even better than the previous one, and it’s definitely a must-read series. I especially liked the use of Arthurian legends in the story.

Overall Rating: 4/5

The Book of Names Review

Author: D. Barkley Briggs

Characters: Very good. The characters were very realistic, but still unique. I felt like I really got to know them throughout the book, though I did feel a bit detached from them at times.

3/5

Location: Excellent. The friend who recommended this book to me said that the location was good, and I’m definitely not going to argue. I can’t think of anything that should be changed about it.   

5/5

Plot: Very good! Though I felt like it started off a bit slow at first, the plot was engaging and fairly well paced throughout most of the book. There were plenty of plot twists, particularly towards the end of the book, and just the right amount of humor.

4/5

Other: I really enjoyed this book! Though there were several parts of it that I, being quite familiar with this particular genre, saw coming, I thought that overall it was quite original and interesting!

Overall Rating: 4/5

A Quick Update

• On June 26, we went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. I had a lot of fun, especially since I got to go on a roller coaster, Apollo's Chariot, for the first time. I was completely terrified, but I also loved it enough to go on it a second time! (My family actually went on it a third time towards the end of the day, but by that time, all I was really interested in was eating dinner.) We also went on all three water rides. My favorite was the Roman Rapids, on which we all got completely, totally soaked, from head to tennis shoes. (Wet tennis shoes and socks, by the way, are very uncomfortable.) We wanted to go on the new roller coaster, the Verbolten, but it was closed. But since I had a good time, I'm not super upset about the ride being closed.
• Unfortunately, after we returned from Busch Gardens, I got sick with some very annoying allergies. They actually kept me in bed for much of Saturday, which was annoying since I wanted to get in some last minute editing and writing before July. However, the next day I was feeling well enough to get in quite a bit of writing, and I'm feeling much better now.
• Before I got sick, though, I got to have a very fun day with one of my friends from Bible Study. We started out the day with helping at her church's VBS (quite fun; we were working in the preschool craft room and didn't really have to do much), then went to the mall and the Sweet Frog, a frozen yogurt shop that's my new favorite ice cream/frozen yogurt place.  Then I stayed at her house for dinner and went home after Bible Study.
• On July 1st, I started Camp NaNoWriMo. For those of you who don't know, Camp NaNoWriMo is a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. It's the summer version of NaNoWriMo, which takes place in November and I did last year. So far, it's going very well. I'm about a day ahead of schedule, since on average I've been able to get a few pages over my daily goal of 15 pages. My plot is a fairy tale remake that combines Rapunzel and The 12 Dancing Princesses. I'm really enjoying it, since it's something I haven't done since I first got into writing. I also like figuring out all the different character's personalities; it's definitely reminded me how even though I'm the author, my characters can still surprise me. (For example, I have one character, Pansy, who's proving to be much more important than I expected. Which is a good thing, because I happen to very much like Pansy.)

Well, that's about it. Thanks for reading, and I'm sorry for not posting sooner. I've been meaning to, but I forgetting and doing other stuff instead. (And procrastinating, I'll admit. I'm not proud of it, but it's the truth.) Thanks again for stopping by!

-Sarah