The Starless Crown (#1,061) by James Rollins is a bit of a change for him; it's pure fantasy. It intertwines the tales of several disparate characters from a world's varying lands and cultures who will soon find that their own desperate situations are linked to one another. There's the second-born prince who will never rule and has proved inconvenient for others; a young girl on a scholarship at her kingdom's exclusive training school for future religious and alchemical leaders with unexpected gifts; and a convict escaped from a remote desert mine with a priceless artifact coveted by a cult of dark wizards with the ear of the king. Rollins spins a story full of perils and impossible escapes to reveal their common mission. It's obvious when we arrive at the end of the book that this is only the beginning; there will be more adventures to come.
One of the outstanding features of this book for me is the incredible variety of fantastic beasts Rollins has created. Most of them are brutal foes of our intrepid heroes, made more real by the illustrations included in the text. It must be Rollins' other profession as a veterinarian which make these creatures seem so alive on the pages. I have to admit that the only place I cried reading this novel was at the death of one of these fantasy animals, it was so poignant.
James Rollins is such a great storyteller I can't wait for him to get back to writing the next part of this fantasy epic. It the meantime, I'll just have to console myself with his Sigma Force series!
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