The Royal Rescue: Royal Adventures Book One

The Royal Rescue: Royal Adventures Book One by Brandon Templeton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Outskirts Press Publication Date May 29, 2019, | 

Young Adult Fantasy| 388 pages

Synopsis

For ages, the land of Galafinasia has enjoyed a time of peace. Its people lived during the time of what was known as the Golden Age of Prosperity. Trade routes remained safe, and trade flowed freely between the races. 
However, no amount of peace can last forever. During this era of peace, everything remained in balance. Now, many dark forces are rising and threatening to tip the scales of that balance. The Shamans grow restless, angered at being forced to stay in their own territory. Their hunger for battle has reached the point of insatiable. The humans themselves have always resented the other races, and in these troubled times, that resentment is only building. What’s more, is that the Necromancers and the Dark Elves have feuded for centuries. Now, in the prolonged era of peace, tensions between the races grow ever more strained. War is upon the people of Galafinasia and the other races are doing nothing about it. They refuse to believe that the prolonged era of peace is coming to an end. However, war is coming, whether they like it or not.
Alliances will be formed, and loyalties will be tested. Families will be ripped apart, and blood will be spilled. Time is of the essence. The balance of the world must be restored so that peace can reign once more. Dark times are upon the citizens of Galafinasia and many won’t like it, but it’s coming, regardless of whether or not people choose to recognize its arrival. War must be fought, and evil must be vanquished if Galafinasia is to ever see an era of peace again.
In a tale combining fantasy, mythology, and a dash of reality, a wild adventure is spun. A vast new world of Galafinasia is introduced and you meet a young boy who will be at the center of more action and adventure than he ever asked for. This boy’s name is Maximus, and much will be asked of him. Pressures and expectations of a world that he never could have even imagined will be laid upon his shoulders. He can either rise to the challenge, or he could buckle under the pressure. What kind of man will this boy become? He will have many people around him, offering all kinds of support. If he is wise, he will heed it. This will be the first of the epic tales spun featuring Maximus. Max has a huge story to tell and that story begins inside the pages of this book.

Max’s life, up until two weeks ago, was as normal as a regular teenage boy’s. That is, until his home is attacked one random evening, and it is soon after revealed to him that he is the one and only prince to the Magi people, the people of the sky, and that he has to lead them into battle against the Necromancers who threaten his existence. This book is a grand (and long) piece of creativeness and imagination. The author not only delves into the wonders of magic and powers, but of a teenage boy’s coming-of-age story as well. It is the perfect mix of fiction, fantasy, and action. The main character of this book is, of course, Prince Maximus – a resilient, strong, brave, and honest young man. Throughout this book, we see him as he trains to become the most powerful Magi his race has ever seen. We experience hardships with him as he struggles to not only to control the power within him, but against his effort to become the king that his people expect him to be. All-in-all, I am glad that KayBee’s Bookshelf granted me the opportunity to read this engaging novel and review it.

As an amateur reader, I don’t usually pick up Fantasy novels in my free time, so I have to admit that reading The Royal Rescue was a little different for me. The first thought that went through my mind once I was emailed the copy of the book was, “What if I don’t like it because it’s just something I’ve never really read before?” but to say that I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. I expected something along the lines of Harry Potter, but I have to say that I am glad the author did not go in that direction. The fact that Templeton focused on not only the factors of magic and how it was used but on the aspects of war and the hardships of loyalties is what intrigued me the most. I liked the idea that the characters were just more than fighting machines with the advantage of powers. They were three-dimensional, human beings that dedicated their lives to protect those that they loved.

 The book stays true to its genre and it goes out of its way to explain the lesson that you can achieve everything that you set your mind to, just like Max dedicated his training to become the Prince the Magi people waited so long to have, and he fit the role quite perfectly. The only part of the book that I had a little bit of trouble with was the first quarter of the book. In this part, the author seems to mention a lot of what the characters are doing, but not exactly what they are feeling. It sounded a lot like a movie in the fact that we see what characters are doing, but never know what’s going on inside of their head. I believe that the author should maybe eliminate a lot of the scenes that might seem irrelevant to the plot of the story (like the ones mentioning Ralph, the friend that lives around the residential area of Salinor that we never end up seeing in the book) and focus on giving the characters more emotional and internal responses to situations so that readers can engage and connect with the characters more. It would even make the story a little bit shorter. I also noticed a lot of repetition of words throughout the book that made it a little bit hard to read and the flow of the book just come to a halt. It’s a young adult book, give us some more ‘intricate’ words!

It was an absolute pleasure to read this novel and to review it, and I want to not only thank Kaybee’s Bookshelf for providing me with a copy to do so, but Brandon Templeton, this amazingly creative author, for being brave enough to finish and publish the book even after people told him he would never make it as an author. I am so grateful that I got to be a part of this development and that I got to dive into the book and enjoy it as much as I know others will. I see a lot of promise within these pages, which is why I would recommend this book to all Fantasy lovers and rate it four out of five stars.

 Review provided by our Young Adult Alum- Stephanie L. 


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