Dragon's Reach - JA Andrews

Before I get to the rest of the review I want to strongly suggest that you read the previous trilogy (The Keeper Chronicles) as well as the side stories first. The best part? You get all 3 books narrated by one of my all-time favorites Tim Gerard Reynolds in a publisher's pack so there really isn't any reason not to take the plunge...

As a fan of the Keepers I was super excited to get to see the events firsthand that helped shape the world I just enjoyed living in so much. It took me a little while to settle into the story, this is my first time listening to Kate Reading and I tend to listen at high speed (1.4-1.5x), but once things began to click I buzzed right along. Part 1 is really all about building up the relationship between Sable and Talia and their complicated relationship with Kiva (puke).

Part 2 was where I really was able to get into the meat & potatoes of the story, when the acting troop was introduced I found myself being drawn in by the characters. This far along in the story is about where I got swept up in the first books and, one by one, I began to identify with each of the rag tag bunch, getting drawn in by their stories just like I did in the first series with Ayda and Duglon. It almost makes me want to run off and join the circus...

As the book drew to a close I could feel JA drawing the lines of the story together, through the subtle callbacks and little tidbits I could see the parallels between the characters in the story and the ones in their plays and even sympathize a bit with their antagonists. You begin to see magic being wielded more and more and are introduced to all kinds of new critters including an amazing little kobold. I have a feeling we will get some bloody vengeance in the next book and I can't wait to see the fireworks.