Book I: A King’s Bargain
Legend of Tal
by
J. D. L. Rosell
Genre: Epic/Hero, Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery
Publication: June 1, 2020
Age Group: Adult
The legend of Tal Harrenfel is sung across the Westreach — and with each telling, the tales grow taller. But though he’s declared a hero by his King, Tal has never claimed to be more than a man…
After three decades of fighting warlocks, killing mythical beasts, and hunting enchanted treasure, Tal has had enough. Running from the deeds of his past, he retreats to his home village under a different name and meets an unlikely companion: Garin, a village boy who dreams of making a name for himself and seeing the world beyond their sleepy town.
When Tal receives a mysterious visitor, both he and Garin find themselves thrown into a sojourn across the kingdom. Soon, they become embroiled in the plots of monarchs, on the frontlines of an ancient war, and at the mercy of a fabled sorcerer.
Now Tal must live up to his legend, and Garin discover his own power, to survive the forces pitted against them…
Name of the Wind meets Witcher in A King’s Bargain, an intertwining sword and sorcery adventure and coming of age tale. If you like The Wheel of Time, The Dragonbone Chair, or The Stormlight Archive, you’ll love the captivating world of Legend of Tal!
From the outset, this book is an intriguing and imaginative high fantasy! Filled with wonderful prose, excellent world-building, and loveably flawed characters. A King’s Bargain is an epic hero’s journey entwined with a coming-of-age plotline that works on all the levels!
From Hunt’s Hollow to Halenhal and all of the places in between, this world is great! There is an incredible amount of world-building in the first few chapters of this book, but it isn’t completely exposition. Much of it is either gleaned through Garin’s conversations with Bran on the road or from quiet discussions between Bran and our loveable mage, Aelyn. It is very hard to write complicated political systems, particularly those in a fantasy realm, but the author absolutely gets it right in this book!
Garin is a wonderfully headstrong and intelligent young man who decides to leave home, but has no idea what he is in for! We’ve got Bran, a mysterious chicken farmer with a secret, who sets out on an initial journey to Halenhal hoping to keep his past a secret. Aelyn the grumpy elven mage is possibly my favorite for all of his no-nonsense behaviors. A few more characters are encountered along the way, including Falcon, a hilarious bard with a big personality, and Wren, a determined individual who follows a similar path as Garin in wanting to make a name for herself.
A tantalizing mystery awaits the weary travelers once they reach Halenhal and the Coral Castle. From here, the plot picks up quite quickly and doesn’t relent until the end of the novel. This book has all of the elements of high fantasy that I love, including mages, myth, magic, adventuring, great and legendary foes, vicious beasts, sacrifice, fellowship, and so much more! The action scenes are well-written, combining magic, swordplay, banter, and immediate danger for a fantastic concoction of fast-paced fighting!
Author J.D.L. Rosell is an imaginative and skillful writer! A King’s Bargain is a sweeping epic fantasy with a lot of promise for the next book! Overall, I absolutely enjoyed this book and would pick up another by Rosell in a heartbeat! This book combines excellent elements of high fantasy with well-crafted writing to bring the reader into a world filled with magic, mystery, and danger!
This is a great book for fans of The Witcher, Elder Scrolls, Lord of the Rings, all the RPG games, and any other lovers of epic fantasy stories!
Thank you to J.D.L. Rosell and Storyteller’s on Tour for the opportunity to read and review this book! This review is my honest opinion and I was provided a no-cost copy of this book.
J.D.L. Rosell is the author of more than seven books, including the dark epic fantasy series The Famine Cycle, the fast-paced LitRPG/Gamelit series The Everlands, and the sword-and-sorcery series Legend of Tal. He also writes some serialized books, including the Nordic epic fantasy The Frozen Throne, which has over 100k views on Wattpad.
Previously, J.D.L. Rosell earned an MA in creative writing and has written as a ghostwriter. Always drawn to the outdoors, he gets out into nature whenever he can and indulges in his hobbies of hiking and photography. But most of the time, he can be found curled up with a good book at home with his fiancée and two cats, Zelda and Abenthy.
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Glad to see someone else thought Aelyn lovable :p
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