Raemil Darkness Rising: Book One by L.M. Page is a fantasy novel with magic, magical and mortal characters. It is an interesting and suspenseful read.
Raemil is the daughter of King Farramand of Caelin Castle and sister to Prince Serrin. Her mother, the Queen had fled after Raemil’s birth. It was rumoured the princess was disfigured and unlikely to survive.
Raemil, now seventeen, leaves the safety of the castle to go on a quest to rescue her brother.
Two years earlier Prince Serrin was captured by the powerful mage Horsham. Most of his army perished in the battle. When the King announces he will not go after Prince Serrin, Raemil secretly plans her own mission to rescue him.
With her beloved horse Black and the cloak that she uses to permanently hide herself from view, she sets off.
Raemil is desperately underprepared for the harshness and the reality of the world outside her sheltered life. She hides under her cloak as the townspeople shun her, calling her a witch. Unbeknown to her she does indeed have magical powers, which she discovers by accident.
Lestadt is also on a quest, to avenge the death of his family. Raemil and Lestadt paths collide and for a time they travel together.
Then there is Horsham, who wants control of all the lands and has released magical creatures, beasts and dragons to gain control. The villagers are terrorised, their villages burnt. Pain, suffering, death, hunger and war are now all across the Kingdom.
In another part of the land, three mage sisters are searching for an answer to end the violence. They are also looking for their missing sister Kyler and her lost daughter. If they could find them, they could combine their magic powers and halt Horsham’s destruction.
There were a lot of characters to get to know. As it is book one in a series, a lot of the subplots are unresolved, which I found a little frustrating. I realise it will all come together in future books.
I did enjoy the adventure and await the fates of Raemil and Lestadt. Just who is the missing daughter and will good triumph over evil?
There are quite a lot of graphic fantasy scenes and violence and although it is used in context, the book may not be for everyone.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace club members are reading Raemil Darkness Rising – Book One by L.M. Page. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.
Raemil; Darkness Rising is a well written fantasy novel full of danger and adventure in perilous other worlds where ancient magic and demons abound. As Raemil undertakes the journey to find her lost brother she uncovers her own magical powers and shows great courage in the face of adversity. The vividly portrayed imaginative world is suspenseful and intriguing and characters are well explored. If you enjoy a magical fantasy novel, then this one could be worth reading. Be warned though, this is not a stand-alone novel, and you will need to read the sequel for follow up because there are many unresolved threads.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace for allowing me to read and review Raemil:Darkness Rising.
It was a well written fantasy novel with plenty of adventures and fun amongst the magic.
I think that I need to read the other novels in the series to fully understand what it all means.
As well written as it was it just want my cup of tea.
Raemil doesnt know her true past, why she is so different, why fear follows her when people see the real her. All she knows is her prince brother was captured by their enemy, her father is doing nothing to rescue him and she wants to both save him and see the world outside the castle walls.
This is a story of learning about ones self, of friendship in hard times, betrayal and a simmering war.
I look forward to the next installment.