Title: A Promising Fantasy with Room for Improvement

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I recently had the opportunity to delve into the world of Naeisus through Thomas Anthony Lay's book, The Age of Reckoning, courtesy of Netgalley. This epic fantasy entangled me in a power struggle between five races, all blinded by their greed for dominance. Their pursuit of the six shards, which combine to form the sacred Yultah Crystal, promises great significance but only to an individual with a pure heart.

Within this realm, King Aerth III, a ruler from the race of man, strives to unite the races under his passionate and wise rule. However, amidst this backdrop of change and constant conflict, as everyone fights for power, King Aerth III's ultimate goal becomes increasingly challenging to achieve.

The world and its races presented in The Age of Reckoning are intricate and richly imagined. Yet, at times, the complexity of the kingdoms and races can be overwhelming, leaving the reader yearning for a glossary or reference to better comprehend the intricacies laid forth by the author. While the characters are adequately described, enabling readers to distinguish them, the book launches into a whirlwind of action almost immediately, leaving little room for my mind to grasp the dynamics and scope of this vibrant world. As a result, I found myself having to pause and reflect, grappling with the abundance of information provided for the sake of understanding.

This book caters to fans of epic fantasy with a strong emphasis on world-building and descriptive prose. However, it must be noted that The Age of Reckoning is a slow-paced read, and at times, the descriptive passages prove to be more than necessary, slightly impeding the natural flow of the narrative. Additionally, certain situations transpire with rapidity, lacking the desired elaboration and depth.

Although the writing style is not extraordinary, it is undeniably easy to follow, making the reading experience accessible and engaging. Despite some shortcomings, the plot holds promise and displays potential for greatness. The concept at the core of the book is enticing and could have transformed it into an exceptional high fantasy story had the plot and world-building been further developed.

Despite my reservations, I am inclined to pick up the next installment in the series solely out of curiosity and the desire to witness the culmination of events initiated in The Age of Reckoning. Thomas Anthony Lay has laid a solid foundation, and I eagerly await to see how everything unfolds.

In summary, The Age of Reckoning is a commendable fantasy read that captivates with its world-building, even if it falls short in certain areas. For fans of extensive world-building and a patient storytelling approach, this book holds the promise of a memorable journey.

Though I tend to enjoy a good political epic, this one just didn’t really grab me. Unfortunately, the book didn’t really hold my attention, and I felt that the female characters had that “I was written by a man” vibe. The idea was fantastic, the execution could have been a bit better. Maybe if this continues into other books, I will read them to see how everything plays out. Though the writing style may have not been for me, I will be buying a copy for my brother who I believe would really enjoy this, and is probably closer to the target audience.
Thank you for the opportunity!

The book showed promise, and I found the concept intriguing. With more extensive world-building and plot development, it could have become a remarkable high-fantasy story.

The narrative of The Age of Reckoning follows the ambitious vision of a valiant King who endeavors to unite his land against all odds. The seemingly impossible task takes him and his loyal companions on an epic journey through the enigmatic world of Naeisus.

While the writing style was straightforward and easy to follow, it didn't strike me as exceptional. The battle scenes are astonishingly well-written and left me feeling as though I had been an active participant in the conflicts.

Despite its shortcomings, I intend to read the next installment out of curiosity to see how the story will unfold.

I already posted a review on Goodreads seperately, but I wanted to take the time to thank NetGalley for this too. I think this story has a lot of potential, but the execution is subpar. Interesting ideas, but the writing would just bore me out. Too easy, characters are too flat, motivations are not what they should be. The only reason this gets a star is because writing a book, editing it & publishing it for the world to see takes a big amount of courage (one that I will never have) and that effort alone warrants a star.

This book had a lot of potential. I really liked the idea since it could have been an amazing high fantasy story if the plot and world building were more developed.

I wouldn’t say the writing style is amazing although it is pretty easy to follow.

I think I will pick up the next installment just ‘cause I want to see how everything will play out.

A combined book of the three parts of the Age of Reckoning.

I liked the the different species in this series was a bit more interesting than the usual fae/human/werewolves mixture with having the earth giants, undead, waterfoxish types and dragons being thrown in the mix and the wolves just being the lycanthrope type rather than weres.

Book one was a lot more of politicing compared to the second two parts were there was a lot more fighting and reveals as to the gems uses and whereabouts.

The writing is very medieval english with the human sector which makes it a little harder to follow but the style changes to more modern as the story progresses.

I did really enjoy the idea of this epic fantasy and did like how the story wound up with some great character progression as well as a thought out world.

I’m wowed this book it’s truly incredible
If you’re looking for a high fantasy book. With lots of interesting characters and great world building. Stop looking and get this one.

The Age of Reckoning follows characters of different races who live in the world Naeisus. A place where a crystal with unlimited power was shattered into 6 shards. Each with a unique power, and now the reason for a never ending war. A man, who looks up to his ancestor from 1000 years ago dreams of finding peace. Would it be posible to end a 1000 years of hate?

This book has ir all. Action, mystery, politics, betrayal, strong characters. This might me it. All the characters where incredible. All of them were unique, strong and with dept. Lots of epic battles, unexpected plot twists and an incredible narration.
I enjoyed this book a lot! Even if at the beginning it felt a little slow … once the plot set it was impossible to let go.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this masterpiece.

It was granted by Netgalley, an arc of The Age of Reckoning in exchange for my honest opinion.

Naeisus is facing constant disagreement between 5 races all of them want to rule this world blinded by greed, fighting to gather the 6 shards, their combination will form the Yultah Crystal, but only will be revealed to the one with a pure heart.
King Aerth III rulling the race of man,wants nothing more than unite the races together, rulling with passion and wisdom, but everything around it's changing rapidly I'd very one fighting for power.
The world and races are a bit confusing I wish we had a glossary of some sort, to help us understand better the kingdoms and races, the characters are described enough for us to memorise and distinguish, but the book starts with lots of action almost right away. Wile I'm trying to understand the world. Gets a bit overwhelming. Had to pause this book a few times, being packed with information for us to understand.
This is a good book for people that like epic fantasy with tones of world-building and descriptive, I have to say that this is a slow-paced book, and unnecessar descriptive at times. Some situations happened to fast with no elaboration.
The plot it's interesting.

Age of Reckoning
by Thomas Anthony Lay
Fantasy, YA(?)
NetGalley ARC
DNF

Five races all want the six shards. The shards each have power but when combined they form the 'divine Yultah Crystal'. King Areth III wants to unite all of the races and the crystal to better them all, not just one.

The blurb sounded really good and being an omnibus, containing the entire series, I couldn't resist this book, but I only made it to 16%. It has the potential to be a great high fantasy, but as is, it follows the A,B,C,D, etc, outline. There are no descriptions or those little details (A1, A2, A3, etc) that pull you into the story. Everything was in a straight line and the mantra of 'we went here, we did this, and suddenly we were back, and we were able to hurry back' was how the story progressed.

And while the characters did have a few descriptions to them, they weren't life-like, they were plain and flat, and I couldn't tell you who was who. And the kids were too 'good', sweet little angels, very unbelievable. And sadly the settings weren't that much better. I have no clue what the 'castle' the 'land' or the 'woods', really looks like, the descriptions are way too vague.

The creatures were creative, but more detail into them, the background of the birds, and how the different races came in to being, would add so much to this book and bring it up a lot higher.

From what I read, the 'battles' weren't graphic so that's why I think it's for young adults, or maybe even younger.

A deep dive into the descriptions and backgrounds would change my rating because this book has a lot of potential with the right guidance, but as is...

2 Stars