The D'Karon Apprentice: Book of Deacon #4

Joseph R. Lallo

Nov 2015 · The Book of Deacon Book 4 · Joseph R. Lallo

About this ebook

The D’Karon Apprentice is the long awaited sequel to the acclaimed epic fantasy, The Book of Deacon Trilogy. It is a direct follow up to The Battle of Verril.

It has been months since the Chosen finally defeated the D’Karon and the Perpetual War came to an end. Once warriors, Myranda, Deacon, Ivy, and Ether must now take on the role of diplomats in the ongoing task of preserving the unsteady peace between the lands of Tressor and the Northern Alliance. Generations of war have left a deep distrust between the people on both sides of the border, and any sign of treachery or hostility could cause a new war to flare. If that happens, the weakened Northern Alliance will have little hope to survive against the military might of their neighbor to the south.

A mysterious figure, long slumbering and forgotten, has stirred in the wake of the Chosen triumph. She is not pleased to find the D’Karon no longer answer her calls, and she sets out to find them once more. This woman, a powerful necromancer with deep knowledge of D’Karon magic and little concern for the world and its people, spreads chaos wherever she goes. Her bloody swath through the southern lands is just the spark the volatile world needs to take to flame once more.

To keep their lands from descending back into a war that will claim the lives of untold thousands, Myranda, Deacon, and Myn must venture into the heart of Tressor. Escorted by a Dragon Rider named Grustim and surrounded by fear and distrust, the road ahead will not be difficult, but the chosen have fought too hard and lost too much to lose it all to this dark apprentice…

Ratings and reviews

Edit: Google won't let me break this into paragraphs. I have added 10 underscores (spaces didn't work) and a "#" to the end of each original paragraph in hopes of making things a little clearer._____#_____Full Disclosure: I was a recipient of a free, advance copy of this book. That said, Joseph's instructions required I promise to leave an honest review, so that's absolutely what this is._____#_____I'll jump right in with the best part of this book: Turiel. In my mind, she may be the deepest, most nuanced and multi-dimensional character that Joseph has created. Through the majority of the narrative, I had little idea what she would do next. As the story unfolded and the reasoning behind her actions became more defined, I found myself feeling sympathetic to her position - sometimes even secretly hoping she'd emerge victorious in some way._____#_____That said, I felt that the other characters were showing their age. Joseph has progressed significantly as an author and storyteller since the original trilogy, and has since created some great characters who live outside of a simple black-and-white definition. In this story, however, it regularly seemed that the Chosen (and their counterparts from the original books) were too singly focused on their originally-defined dimension. With such clearly established motives, there was rarely any guessing as to what they would say and/or do in a given situation. When contrasted against Turiel, that missing level of depth became all the more apparent._____#_____One other issue I had with this book was the pacing. The setup and basic trilogy recap took about 1/3 of the story before things really started getting interesting for me. While broken into several, clearly outlined scenes, the chapters felt long, and the delineation they offered didn't really seem any more important than that of the individual sections._____#_____Continuing with ways in which Joseph has progressed, the action sequences were much clearer to me than those of the trilogy. During my first read of those stories, there were several situations in which I found myself getting lost in the characters' movements through the massive battle set pieces - having to backtrack several pages to regain my mental footing. I only encountered a similar situation one time in this whole story, and it didn't take me hardly any effort to resume immersion once I found where I'd gotten off track._____#_____What keeps bringing me back to Joseph's work is that his stories are great. The worlds and mythologies are engaging, and the characters are often memorable. The grammar and editing are always top notch and his writing style is clear and accessible to a wide audience. The D'Karon Apprentice fits excellently alongside his other offerings, both in and out of this particular series._____#_____Bottom Line: If you've read the other books in this setting - especially the main trilogy - you will not be disappointed. If you haven't, go buy the Anthology and start reading from the beginning, then come back to this one thereafter for an interesting continuation to the original saga.

I was fortunate enough to be given the chance to read a review copy of this book. This is a phenomenal continuation of the original Book of Deacon trilogy. I highly recommend this series for anyone interested in Fantasy/Fiction/Magic genre. The series is deep enough to keep us older readers fully engaged, and easily "clean" enough for young teens. It encompasses all the emotions of life, and delves into moral dilemmas while keeping a fast, energetic pace that will have readers dying to turn the next page.

UPDATE: I faithfully pre-ordered this book & waited with baited breath for it's release... AMAZING!! This book brought the continued story of now familiar characters into a new conflict and fleshed them out even more. The new character of Turiel is written beautifully. Only a good author can make you love AND hate a new nemesis all at once. WONDERFULLY WRITTEN!!

About the author

Joseph Lallo, though having written several novels, was slow to consider himself an author. Educated at NJIT, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering, the world of Information Technology is where most of his bills were paid until Sept of 2014 when he finally became a full-time author. When not writing, he owns and operates BrainLazy.com along with two friends. There he posts random rants and editorials regarding the world of humor, entertainment, and technology. He made his home in Bayonne, NJ, where he had lived all of his life until the success of his books allowed him to buy a home in Colonia, NJ.