Return of the Guardian-King

Author: Karen Hancock

Genre: Life, fantasy, adventure

Series: Legends of the Guardian-King

Number in series: 4^th (and final)

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 461

Time period: Fantasy

My overall opinion: While this wasn’t my favorite book from the series (I think maybe the second one was), it was a good ending, all in all. Didn’t love it, but it was worth a one-time read. :)

Shadow Over Kiriath

Author: Karen Hancock

Genre: Fantasy, adventure

Series: Legends of the Guardian-King

Number in series: 3^rd

My rating on a 1-10 scale: Probably a 7.5 or 8…I’m going with a low 8

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 463

Time period: Fantasy

My overall opinion: I admit, I’m still not entirely sure what to think of this series. They’re different from most other books I’ve read! Some of the fantasy is a little weird, and the author’s writing style isn’t my favorite. They’re books that I mostly enjoy while I’m actually sitting there reading them, but don’t desperately anticipate coming back to. There’s one book left in the series which I will read. However, Karen Hancock isn’t making it onto my (extensive) favorite author’s list.

The Shadow Within

Author: Karen Hancock

Genre: Fantasy (and according to the publisher, allegory)

Series: Legends of the Guardian King

Number in series: 2^nd

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 445

My overall opinion: I enjoyed it! More than Light of Eidon, the first book in the series. I’m glad I decided to keep reading despite not loving that one. This one had plenty of excitement, and either the creatures were better explained, or the first book laid enough foundation for figuring out what they were, cause it wasn’t so confusing. I’m looking forward to finishing this series at some point.

Light of Eidon

Author: Karen Hancock

Genre: Fantasy, allegory, life

Series: Legends of the Guardian-King

Number in series: 1st

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 432

Time period: Fantasy

My overall opinion: This was a book that I randomly found at the library while looking for Irene Hannon’s books. It was interesting. Definitely an author with a big imagination! Some of the things could have used a little more explaining, I thought…some concepts, some creatures. I figured most of it by the middle of the book, but more description would have been nice. There were also a few (or maybe just one, I can’t remember) bedroom scenes where it could have been cut off a little sooner. It didn’t get explicit, but it was still a tad more than we needed to know. There were some similarities to Christianity, which is, I believe, why the publishers call it an allegory.