Book Review: The Quest for Freedom (The Conquest Trilogy, #1) by Matthew D. Devitt

The Quest for Freedom by Matthew D. Devitt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Non-stop Action! Action! Action!

The Quest for Freedom is the first book in author Matthew Devitt’s rough and tumble The Conquest Trilogy, and if you’re looking for a story that hits the ground running, is full of action, and desperate hand-to-hand combat, this book is for you. With its straightforward plot to free the enslaved humans, multiple supernatural/mythical races, and comrades-by-necessity elements, I was transported back to the days of classic DnD gaming and fellowship.

The main character, Fletcher Rush, is one of the humans whose ancestors had coexisted on the planet Affer alongside angels, demons, elves, and others until their collective success began to feel like a threat. Banding together, the other kingdoms overtook the humans and divided the survivors up amongst the victors to serve as slaves for all eternity. Four hundred seventy-three years later, Fletcher is the hero who rises from obscurity to free his people.

The action is truly non-stop as Fletcher, his sidekick, Ji, and the various companions they pick up along the way, battle their way across the planet to secure a future of freedom for the human race. The good guys are earnest and driven, with their focus on their crusade from start to finish. The bad guys are evil, entitled, and in charge, until Fletcher and company arrive on the scene. The fight scenes are plentiful, vivid, and, at times, graphic in their depiction of the damage inflicted.

The planet of Affer features different kingdoms of supernatural beings, with a variety of wild terrain in between for the heroes to traverse, but my favorite was the abandoned human capital of Admont. As a bonus, the author includes a wonderfully illustrated map of the world, as well as a simple pronunciation guide for many city names, places, and more unusual character names.

The book is not complex literature, just a bit of fun, and I would definitely read the rest of the trilogy. But I wish the author would stop using CAPS throughout to emphasize shouted or excited dialogue. We get it.

I recommend THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM to fans of epic fantasies that harken back to the early days of the genre and nostalgic DnD gaming.


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Book Review: Templar's Folly by Luke DeSalvo

Templar's Folly by Luke DeSalvo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A newly appointed spiritual guardian and a psychic witch join forces to defeat an ancient evil hidden on the island of Kauai.

Templar’s Folly by Luke DeSalvo is set on the lush island of Kauai, an exotic location steeped in Hawaiian mythology and lore, and the author crafts an intriguing, fresh paranormal story by introducing a powerful vampiric adversary straight out of Eastern European folklore. Malachi Monroe, a newly appointed Templar living on the island of Kauai, is tasked with eliminating a vampire who is stalking the daughter of a recent client, only to discover the vampire has a more serious motive than looking for his next meal. Dominic, the almost 500-year-old vampire, needs help killing his creator, an ancient vampire who is slumbering now but will soon awake to destroy humanity and the world, starting right there on Kauai, where he has been secretly hidden. Dominic needs Valerie, a young witch with unique psychic abilities, to help open a pathway to the underworld before Orion, his former mentor, awakens and Malachi’s abilities as a Templar to destroy him once found. But first, all three must come to trust each other before anything good can come from their alliance.

I loved the premise of this book and really wanted to love the execution as well, and while promising, this work needs more refining before reaching its potential. Malachi Monroe is an engaging main character, and several nice storylines support the plot; however, I felt like I was dropped into the middle of the book, with insufficient development of Malachi’s backstory or the world of the Templars. There are tidbits of information throughout, some even repeated, that help establish both, but the whole Lavaitus Corporation remains vague to me. Were the Templars in the story a modern branch of THE Templars? I liked the chapter epigraphs relating to Lavaitus’s policies, which provided additional insights. Valerie’s presence in the story is more defined, but I still had questions about her being a witch, a ghost hunter, a psychic, and her abilities.

The relationship between Malachi and Valerie is foretold from both their perspectives, so their meeting and immediate attraction were understandable; however, their instant declarations of love still felt premature. The feeling of rushing may be a product of the dialogue. Much of it came off as unnatural and disjointed, filling space rather than providing motive and direction.

The underlying plot is intriguing, and the fight sequences are vivid and exciting. Malachi could be a compelling protagonist if his traits were better established. He presents, initially, as engaging, lovable, and somewhat goofy, but he’s later described as classy, which doesn’t show up in his interactions with other characters. Lastly, the book still contains way too many execution errors, such as incorrect word choices, misspellings, typos, repetitive passages, inconsistencies in character names, and continuity issues. These are all the types of things that confuse a reader and interrupt the flow of the story that another pass by an editor can fix.

The bottom line, though, is that despite my quibbles, I enjoyed the story and would share this title, with my reservations noted, with friends and family who like this genre, especially those who like stories set in Hawaii.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

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