Dark Lair Trilogy: Wyvern by Mr D J O’Brien
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Wyvern is book one of The Dark Lair trilogy of fantasy tales.
The reader is introduced to a world at war in a battle against a Dark Lord.
The prologue introduces the reader to Brinn, a baby boy gifted with magical powers from his parents, whom he lost on the night of his birth. Years later, Brinn is a soldier in an elite specialist group known as Pathfinders.
A great battle is being fought between East and West in this imaginary realm. Hoping to secure aid from a neutral kingdom, the Princess of the West is sent to make a marriage-bargain. However, she is kidnapped; Brinn and the Pathfinders are sent to rescue her.
What I liked:
I liked the idea of The Pathfinders and events with this small band were some of my favourite parts of the story.
The book description and the prologue also intrigued me; however, I didn’t feel that the book description truly reflected the tale that I read, and assume it is more an overview of the whole trilogy.
What I didn’t like so much:
The world-building was a bit hit and miss; while there was a good map at the start of the book and a sprinkle of magic throughout the tale, I thought that it reflected our human world too closely, especially the eras of the Crusades and the European medieval period. I thought that there were lots of missed opportunities to give the rare magic and fantasy elements a much larger role.
The author tried hard to give the multiple storylines equal attention, but as they reached the denouement it became a chaotic tangle with a late introduction thread about lost crystals which, given the book description, I had expected to be a main theme throughout the tale.
There wasn’t enough difference in the characters’ individual dialogue to make the main characters stand out, and there was a tendency to overuse contemporary clichés.
I was looking forward to the role of the wyvern and other mythical creatures—yes there is also a dragon—but sadly both have only one small part each, which was odd considering the book title.
The quantity of characters was overwhelming, with many walk-on parts. Cutting back on the minor players would allow the much needed development of the main characters; I wanted to like Brinn and learn more about him, but the huge cast swamped him.
Overall:
There’s the potential for a good story within these pages, but to make it shine, I would suggest further editing, perhaps with the help of an experienced development editor.
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Book description:
The lost crystals of power have been found, now all they need is the Key…
The Prince of Shade stirs and grows impatient. The time is close… soon he will be free, and the world will burn!
War plagues the lands anew, and unity is lost. Three thousand are the years that have been counted since the Evil was vanquished. Three were the races who stood against the hated Foe, and three the number of crystals used to bar the door to his prison.
But the glory days have gone. The mighty heroes are no more, and the races no longer commune. Man has turned against man, while the true enemy grows strong.
Time… runs short…
Soon the torment will begin… again!
Dark Lair Trilogy:
Save a princess, win a lost war, defeat Evil, and stay alive…
Rosie Amber 
ahhh. Sounds like the author tried too hard to cram too much into book one. Large cast books are hard to get right in the balance of things. Sherry
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Yep, always room to skim a few characters with a large cast.
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Great thoughtful and insightful review, Rosie.
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Thank you.
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