A classic fantasy of the old school: medieval technology and culture, external attack by demonic forces, magic as much a problem as a solution, too-good-to-be-true protagonist who is so superficially flawed that even he overlooks himself as a hero. All those, plus the women warriors that so many now demand and at least an attempt to break out of the LOTR elves, orcs and dwarfs alternate races rut. The warrant knights are a fresh twist on knights errant.Lots of characters with lots of back stories. Yet May stayed focused on the task at hand.What’s not to like? It’s all too easy. Gavin, despite his internal angst and boorish behavior, is a self-sacrificing champion of all in need. The solution of the runes puzzles come to him (for a very good reason, we learn late in the tale) and he heals all his friends. I almost cheered late in the book when a good guy finally died. It was getting silly.Gavin has several antagonists during the story, but when he actually faces them his victories are too easy, even the one who got away to provide a hook into the next book. Makes you wonder if it’s all about marketing. Maybe we should blame Tolkien.The usual Smashword ebook readability issues. Fewer typos than usual for them, but still had occasional pagination stoppages.A fun read. Good heart; good storytelling. Writing: 3Story: 2Satisfaction: 3Not bad for a first book but definitely trope heavy and the plotline is pretty obvious. 200 years ago, before he died, King Arek placed five gems in a tablet and sealed them with secret runes. Only the one who knew the name of the runes would be able to remove the gems and that person would be the new king. No one has solved it yet. Gavin Kinshield is the descenant of Ronor Kinshield, a celebrated hero and the champion of the deceased King Arek. He is a warrant knight, basically an honorable mercenary knight for hire, and though he has no desire towards the throne, the King's tablet calls to him and he solves them as the names come to him. The kingdom is a'twitter with rumors and speculation as to who is the rune solver but others are plotting how to steal the gemstones and subvert the rune solver's rise to power. Brodas Ravenkind is the bad guy who wants to be king. He's a wizard who uses gemstones to hypnotize people into following his orders. Using his powers, takes control of the Viragon Sisterhood (an organization of female battlers), and forces its members to stand watch at the rune cave, hoping to ambush the rune solver and take him captive. Daia Saberheart is a sister of the Viragon Sisterhood and she follows the rumors for the rune solver, fearing that someone else will beat her there and do the new king harm. She wants to protect the new king, not knowing that her sisterhood is doing the exact opposite. Any thoughts you may have on how this plot turns out is probably correct. There really weren't any surprises. That's not to say that this wasn't an enjoyable read though. Sometimes it's comforting to see something expected. I thought it was a good read but there were still some parts that needed work. For one, the bad guy was pretty one dimensional. He was bad because he wanted to be king and he was perfectly okay with killing and torturing to get there. I also thought that the love story aspect was really weak and the book would actually have been stronger without it. The world that May has created seems really interesting (the blacksmith and his race for instance) and I wish that more of it was explored in this book but unfortunately it's pretty limited to the view of the main characters.
What do You think about The Kinshield Legacy (2005)?
Good book. Not really my favorite genre, but I enjoyed it for a change (& it was FREE)!
—adlee
The first few chapters were good, but I lost interest in it and couldn't finish it.
—chrisslovescurt
Read it in a day. Rambled a little but enjoyed it.
—vee
It is one of the best books I have ever read.
—chaton
