YA Fantasy
From Goodreads:
It’s
Book 2 of The Pillars of Reality, the exciting epic fantasy series written
exclusively for Audible by New York Times bestselling author Jack
Campbell!
Someone
wants to kill Mari, a young Steam Mechanic in the Guild that controls all
technology. She has learned that her world of Dematr is headed for a
catastrophe that will destroy civilization, and that Mages really can alter
reality for short periods. Someone also wants to kill Alain, a young Mage who
has learned that Mechanics are not frauds as his Guild teaches, and that
Mechanic Mari is the only person who can prevent the oncoming disaster.
Narrowly
escaping death, the Mechanic and the Mage stay alive thanks to their combined
skills, an alliance never before seen. But it becomes clear that both of their
Guilds, the most powerful forces in the world, are trying to destroy them.
Other powers, like the great Empire and a mysterious secret Order, also seek to
kill or capture them, using every weapon from Imperial Legions to Mage-created
trolls, dragons, and rocs.
Trying to survive and learn the
truth about their world so they will know how to save it, Mari and Alain
realize that the answers they seek may lie in the dead city of Marandur. But
Marandur is guarded by the legions that have sealed it off from the rest of the
world for more than a century. Mari and Alain's only hope may rest with the
unseen Masters of Marandur.
This book came about in an interesting
way. It was written for Audible as
an audiobook. After
publication it is now available as a Kindle Edition and book one, The Dragons
of Dorcastle, comes as both an Audible audiobook, a Kindle edition and a paperback
edition.
I got a copy from Netgalley in
return for an honest review. I got
it because Jack Campbell was the author.
I have followed his adult series and really liked them all so I wondered
how he would do writing for the YA audience.
He did fine. The Hidden Master of Marandur is book
two in the series and I have not read book one. I was worried I would feel lost but that was not the
case. The back story and world
building is worked into the dialog in the story. While it is apparent that some of the character building was
done in book one I still had a very good handle on Mari and Alain. The plot is still be developed in book
two so that was also easy to pick up.
Since this is book two in what
appears to be a trilogy don’t expect anything to be solved. The Hidden Masters of Marandur expands
the back story, character development, world building and the plot as it sets
everything up for the next book.
The YA focus is provided by the
ages of Mari and Alain. Both
are 18. The story and the plot
would work with any age so don’t let the fact that it is YA stop you from
reading the book. Campbell
is telling a good tale with lots of danger, tension and some romance. This is one any age can enjoy.
This is fantasy and Campbell usually writes SciFi. I think there may be a small SciFi element in the future.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhyme. 
