Strangers of Tempest – Tom Lloyd

J A Myers
Dec 5, 2018
3 min read

Lynx. The first character introduced and we follow him throughout, making good and bad decisions about his life and for others. But when he sees a young girl in need of rescue, we are reassured of his honour. The man we meet in a cell, beaten to a pulp and actually feeling the after effect of a fight isn’t a character I would have expected in this new world of mercenaries. He follows orders as long as he is getting paid for them, but he will not pass over the need for money if it clashes with his morals. This is an admirable trait.

I did enjoy this book, but it was an odd sort of read. Not what I was expecting at all, but in all honesty I thoroughly enjoyed it. I like it when something surprises me as much as this one did. Now I didn’t realise until recently there was another book, so I shall be reading it soon. I loved the main character, Lynx, he is mysterious at first. Something about him just feels right, his heart is in the right place. But I did want more, I wanted him to go through more. I wanted to see him break under the pressure, just to see how he would deal with it. Perhaps this happens in the second book, but I wanted to see how low he would go to get what he wants. The use of magic was incredible, it was simplistic and easy to understand, it didn’t try to be outlandish, giving the reader that sense of fantasy without trying too hard.

The depth of the plot lines are slightly disorientating halfway through. There is a lot going on and a lot to know as it flicked from the past to the present day in odd chapters. Most of the story takes place underground, which is a fantastic atmosphere. It feels confined and claustrophobic. It’s fast-paced, but it doesn’t shove you over the point to get to the next, it does give you chance to see the point the author is getting across. It gives you chance to care about the character, but I think it might give a little bit too much away in certain parts because it wants the reader to be involved with everything that’s going on, but perhaps taking a step back it might give the reader a chance to be thrilled and surprised a little bit more.

The language is very adult, so I don't think its appropriate for anyone under the age of seventeen to read this book, but of course its your decision. For anyone who loves to judge a book by its cover, the cover of Tom Lloyd’s Stranger of Tempest is by far the most beautiful on my shelf, and the inside is just as stunning. I loved this book and I am looking forward to reading the second in the series, it’s on my Christmas wish list.

Next is Jon Grahame Reaper Trilogy. I will be spending a few days on this one as I have read all three, surprising I know, compared to the previous four books in the list. But there is a lot of content to cover, so I will release it a little bit at a time so there isn’t pages and pages for you to read. I will keep it as spoiler-free as humanly possible! But this is going to be one hell of a rollercoaster. For all your Post-apocalyptic fans out there, this might be the one for you!