Heather’s Bookshelf: The Ebon Knight (The Ebon Knight Chronicles Book 1)
Author: James Wood
Released: 11/13/23
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy
“The Ebon Knight” introduces two adversaries turned allies: The Knight of Light (Kelso Hart) and The Princess of the Dark (Ava Pentran). Both are complicated with dark events in their past and challenges facing their futures.
Kelso Hart, Knight of the Light, is outcast after a terrible tragedy and connected to Argenta, a sword with an evil mind of her own. Ava Pentran is the youngest Princess of the house of the Dark. Also exiled, she faces the evils in the world as a fierce fighter. Along with her warrior friends, the furies, they seek to destroy those who deserve it.
Initially set to fight each other to the death, things happen and the two become more infatuated than infuriated. As their relationship flourishes, those around them have other ideas. Soon the two realize they must work together if they are going to survive the evils of the world including the murderous spider Jesslyn,
Will Kelso and Ava find a way to work together to save themselves and those they love?
Trigger Warning: violence, reference to pedophilia and sexual assault, murder
Overall, I enjoyed this story. The two main protagonists are both multi-faceted and enjoyable characters. Ava is a badass. There’s no way around it. She is a strong, determined, dangerous and snarky badass. Kelso is what you think of when you think of a knight in shining armor. He’s brave, honorable, and loyal. He’s also a little shy and self-deprecating which makes his interactions with Ava super entertaining. My favorite parts of the story were the parts that followed the direct interactions between the two protagonists. The angst and the desire were perfectly palpable and I couldn’t get enough. Jesslyn was also a very clear, dark, and dynamic villain that added to the story and did not disappoint all the way through the epilogue. The author does a nice job in establishing a world that is both modern and fantasy with elements and terms that were both familiar enough and unique enough to make sense without spending too much time on minute details while still painting a clear world picture. I liked the idea of Argenta more than I liked the sword as a character. I would have loved to see more personality or plotting in a way that didn’t disrupt the flow of the rest of the story. However, the pacing overall was good and especially for an audiobook, the tale kept my attention throughout. Even the fight scenes (which I’m not usually a fan of) were written in a way that was interesting and easy to follow. The ending wrapped up the main story while also leaving open enough to clearly invite a sequel and the epilogue was especially intriguing.
Special shoutout to Kelso’s bulldog and the audiobook narrator - who did an absolutely amazing job!
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
An urban fantasy with dynamic protagonists and enough snark, action, and angst to keep the pages flipping.
Want to learn more about the author?
Check out my interview with James Wood
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