Realm of Beasts by Angela J Ford

At a glance, Realm of Beasts by Angela J Ford looked like exactly the kind of story I'd enjoy reading – and I'm a sucker for any kind of tale where there is a bonded relationship with fantastic beasts. But ... and yes, there is a but... The novel failed to deliver on all fronts. 

The premise sounds interesting – an unlikely pair must get over their differences to stop the ominous Master of the Forest from destroying a literal paradise. Tor Lir is a man of so much mystery, he doesn't know what his name is (so he goes by Tor Lir – the Nameless One). Citrine is a fiery enchantress who is looking for a place where she can settle with her fantastic menagerie. Their paths cross when they bump into the guardian Novor Tur Woodberry, who I'm pretty sure was based heavily on Tom Bombadil, and who sends them merrily off on their quest To Save The World.

Of course, Citrine and Tor don't see eye to eye most of the way, and there's predictably a bunch of Awkward Romantic Tension. I'm not going to go further into the plot, because this is pretty much the bare bones of the story.

But what didn't work for me at all was the writing. The syntax was often peculiar and awkward to the point where the meaning becomes ambiguous. A good line edit could have fixed this. But it wasn't just that – the writing itself doesn't flow cohesively. Characters' motivations are not well developed, nor anchored within the the story and the setting. The fact that every time Woodberry's name is mentioned, it's written in full ... And repeated, often, when a good pronoun could've worked. Random occurrences take place or characters behave in certain ways that don't feel plausible. Focus on better direct and indirect characterisation would most certainly help. And unfortunately it's beyond the scope of this review to fix.

Pacing was also a massive problem for me – the set-up took so long that by the time the characters were ready to go questing, I was no longer invested in the story, and in fact found myself paging ahead to see whether the chapter was almost done – never a good sign.

Ford shows a lot of promise, and she clearly has a highly detailed world, and I do believe that if she teamed up with a savvy developmental editor to help tighten the story and, most importantly, characterisation. With deeper, more layered writing, this series could be something. But it's not for me. Not in its current shape and form.