Castle Town 4

By: Anya Merchant

Narrated by: Giancarlo Herrera, Hannah Schooner

Prince Koa arrives in Twinfalls while Underqueen Avina turns her attention south.

©2023 Anya Merchant (P)2023 Anya Merchant

Attention grabbing

The story continues with an excellent plot with many twist and turns. The relationship and character development continues to unfold. Excellent writing.

Great slow burn, gatherers steam

it's a really good series that has a consistent world and escalates slowly but surely.

Wow!

Anya Merchant, you are perfecting your craft. This has got to be one of my favorite books from you so far.

Narrators, you gave a masterful performance.

Choices will soon need to be made,

Deeper and deeper the rabbit hole we go. Tension increasing, confusion clearing, and lines crossed. will actions speak louder than words, or will well chosen words win in the end? May it be peace talks or bloodshed, the path infront of our young prince is not a easy one.

Can't wait to see what choices he will make and what secrets come visible. My heart goes out to you young prince.

Epic Fantasy Series

Review is for the series as a whole.
Anya Merchant is known for her pseudo-incest stories with fantastical elements, although it isn't as prevalent in this series as some.

The prince (adopted) is on a quest to become more powerful and become king, so his mother won't have to service whatever slob is in charge. He also has relationships with women he's known since he was a child and an aunt (by marriage), but frankly the adopted mother is the only relationship that feels incestual.

I had low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised. The sex isn't as huge a part of the story as you might think. Instead, this is an epic tale of a naive (but privileged) young man who gains supernatural powers and allies and goes through incredible trials and tribulations in his quest to become king. There are huge, continent-spanning plot developments, and the author isn't shy about killing off characters at times. There is some humor to lighten the mood here and there.

One of the magic systems used in the series is interesting and a little different - it consists almost entirely of opening portals to other realms. You don't cast a fireball, you open a portal to a realm of fire, and the same goes for other magical effects.

I will say that I found the protagonist hard to like. Yes, he's the hero, and there are reasons to feel sympathy for him, and he does in some ways mature emotionally a little, but still... he's kind of a jerk and is overall selfish, impulsive and immature. On the plus side, props to the author for not having an overly perfect and flawless hero. Still, maybe he has a few too many flaws.

Overall, the series was pretty good, although I still prefer the "Domestic Decay" series.

Note: the 8-book series is complete.