A Book Review of Exodus Rising by Bryan Davis

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Adrian Masters continues his relentless march toward the bitterly cold Northlands of Starlight. Ravaged by a deadly disease and accompanied by two children, Adrian carries Marcelle in a vegetative state, hoping Alaph, king of the Northlands, will supply a way to reunite her near-death body with her wandering spirit.

Time is of the essence. Invading soldiers from Major Four are marching toward the Southlands village to do battle against the dragon slave masters, but two great dangers await—the inescapable disease and the unpredictable Benefile, ageless and mysterious white dragons who will kill any infected humans.

All the while, Drexel, the murderer of Marcelle’s mother, has taken on an impervious disguise as a male Starlighter and is using hypnotic powers to gain control of Mesolantrum with his sights set on the entire kingdom. Adrian and Marcelle must battle to free the slaves on one world and protect their own world from Drexel’s malevolent plan or else the freed slaves will return to Major Four only to find another slave master. Performing both tasks seems impossible.

Hope remains in the guise of the little Starlighter Regina. Guided by Cassabrie, Starlight’s great liberator, Regina hopes to accompany Adrian step by step to thwart the plans of slave masters on both worlds.

Series: Tales of Starlight (Book 3)
Genre: Adult Fantasy

Publisher: Living Ink Books (June 21, 2013)

Page Count: 464

What I liked: This tale is definitely a worthy conclusion to both this series and its companion series with a satisfying bittersweet ending. Mr. Davis doesn't disappoint. I thought the book would end earlier than it did but I was pleasantly surprised to find another twist that honestly shocked me to the point my mouth fell open.

Adrian and Marcelle are an adorable couple with such cute banter. The good characters are endearing and the villainous ones you despise. Drexel is a scum bag. Just saying. Of course I loved the dragons and startligher abilities. They are both unique. The worldbuilding alone of this book can keep you interested.

What I didn't like: It felt like the characters were telling each other "I'll tell you the whole story later" too much, and that annoyed me a bit. And I thought it was kinda weird that the characters just accepted it all the time and weren't just a little bit more curious or insistent to know about what in the world was going on.

Content Cautions: There is some sexual innuendo at parts, but it's nothing too severe. The demise of one of the villains is a bit graphic, and there is some gore in the fight scenes, but it isn't anything extremely severe. I'd rate the villain's death at PG-13 level, but the other gore isn't. 

Over all I give the book four stars! :) Thank you, Mr. Davis, for another good book. :)

About the Author: 

Bryan Davis is the author of the following young adult fantasy series: Dragons in our Midst, Oracles of Fire, Echoes from the Edge, and Dragons of Starlight. He also wrote I Know Why the Angels dance, a contemporary novel for adults.

After laboring as a computer geek for 20 years, Bryan followed a dream to become an author. He began by writing a story to motivate his seven children to gain some excitement about writing, and that story grew into a novel. After spending the next eight years learning the craft and enduring more than 200 rejections from publishers and agents, he broke through with his best-selling series Dragons in our Midst. He is now a full-time author and lives with his wife, Susie, and their children in western Tennessee.

You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and his website! I also have an interview with him I had on the blog!

Other Books by Bryan Davis:
Tales of Starlight:
Tales of Starlight Book 1: Masters & Slayers
Tales of Starlight Book 2: The Third StarlighterDragons of Starlight:
Dragons of Starlight Book 3: Diviner
Dragons of Starlight Book 4: Liberator

If you enjoyed this review, you can find more over on the Book Reviews tab of click the link. :)

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