Review: First Rider's Call - Kristen Britain

Series: Green Rider 2
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 736
Published: April 2011 Gollancz (re-published)

Karigan G'Ladheon was a Green Rider, one of the King of Sacoridia's magical messangers. With evil forces at large in the kingdom and the messenger service depleted and weakened, can Karigan reach through the veils of time to get help from the First Rider, a woman who has been dead for a thousand years?

My thoughts:

This is then book 2 and a little time has gone by since the events in book 1. Karigan felt the need to come back to the capital and become a real Green Rider and that is what she is now. And of course even if the danger was averted in book 1 there is still the danger of the wall that now is broken in the north. And of a presence that is dangerous and mad and he wants destruction. Yes a crazy bad guy, one has to love those.

Karigan has come to terms (sort of) that she now is a rider, and she is good at it. She has grown a bit since the last book but I do like the fact that she is not perfect, she still has got her fears. She is also learning how to become a better fighter. Other characters are Rider Alton who is up in the north trying to fix the wall so no evil things can get through. He may not be around a lot but I do like him. King Zachary is trying his best to hold his people together and he does not need to do much for me to really like him..a lot. Through a journal we meet Alessandros who came over with ships 1000 years ago to conquer the lands. And he was not a nice conqueror. But I sure liked learning more about the history of this land, and there are also clues what it all has to do with Karigan since her name is whispered in the win. A mystery, I can't say more.

This book is sure long but there are a lot of things happening and a lot of things explained. In book 1 we learnt about a war but here we get to learn more. And it's fascinating. The history is rich and I want more, especially about the place the evil people came from (not that all were evil but let's just call them that.)

Then we have the crazy bad guy who unleashes wild magic and things get weird. I also talked about a hint of romance in book 1 and here there is more, not romance, but looks, smiles and thoughts. Enough for me to wish with all my heart that Karigan can be with the one she loves, but alas no, for it's the king. And this is not a fairytale.

Conclusion:

Wild Magic and adventure. I liked book 1 and I enjoyed book 2 even more. Because this is why I enjoy fantasy, rich history and a world built on that history. It's a nice fantasy story that does not get too violent, sad or bleak. And it made me want to read more.

Rating:

I enjoyed it.

Cover:

yes the horse is back

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