#corean chronicles

Alucius is born into a herder family, the herders are seen by outsiders as mysterious people who keep to themselves and may or may not have a special power called ‘Talent’. Those not born into a herder family are often distrustful of those who are, as they do not understand them.

As a young boy, Alucius proves that he does possess Talent, and is quite powerful with it, he is cautioned to be careful not to let outsiders know about his skills to prevent being used by those with ill intentions.

When he turns 18, Alucius is drafted into the militia, and this is where the plot starts picking up. Due to his talent, Alucius soon becomes an invaluable trooper while still keeping his Talent secret. During a battle, however, he is taken prisoner by the Matrites who are invading his homeland. The Matrites are a matriarchy who force men to wear collars that can kill them instantly. Alucius is forced to join their army due to these collars. Alucius now faces a choice of using his secret Talent to attempt to escape, or face never seeing his family again.

The story takes a while to pick up, so I would not recommend this book to those who are looking for a quick read. However, if you are looking for something to slowly enjoy, then this book would be perfect. This would also be suitable for fans of military fantasy.

There are several other books in the series, the second book (Darkness) picks up almost where the first book left off so there are no disjointed time discrepancies for the reader.