Taking A Lot In With The Alfaeren Legacy By Marc Jacobs

*All reviews I write are spoiler free*

The first thing I thought when I received this book in the post?

“Well what a pretty cover that is!”

I’m not going to lie about that. I love the watercolour-dragon scale design.

But we’re not here to judge covers are we? No. We’re here – or at least I am – to judge the pages in between the covers.

So let’s talk about The Alfaeren Legacy!

Title: The Alfaeren Legacy

Author: Marc Jacobs

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Series Status: Standalone (I think – will change if not)

Number of Pages: 380

(Found on back cover & Goodreads)

There are some places in Teynia none were meant to go, hiding secrets none were meant to find. But one morning, sisters Kali and Kilyn Middlethird stumbled upon such a place, and uncovered such a secret. They stood before an enchanted Gate left behind by the Álfaerëns long ago to imprison the Spirit, an evil capable of destroying all of Teynia. If only someone had told the Middlethirds about the Gate, they might not have opened it. Now, Teynia’s fate hinged on the Middlethirds, aided by Ice and the wizard Marac, surviving long enough to find the legendary Portal of Worlds, and the lost descendants of an ancient hero hidden somewhere within the Portal. To save their world, they would have to leave it. Their journey would lead them to Earth, where they would have to decipher age-old clues to find what they were looking for. But if Pennsylvania high school senior, Alexandra Castellano, failed to unravel a thousand year old mystery of her own, buried deep within her family name itself, Teynia would be lost to the Spirit, and Earth was next. And none of them would ever find out who they really were…

*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review*

This book was eventful, to say the least.

It was a bit of a rocky road for me. I did enjoy it. I really did. But there were a few issues that stop me short on the rating scale.

So, with this being a fantasy book based on two girls going on a great adventure including magic and dragons, it’s fair to say I was highly interested in the plot. It was dramatic, it was lively, it was action-packed. There was so much going on in this story.

But that’s where the info-dumping comes in. Every so often, there’d be certain points when so much information was revealed in one go, where entire pages would be taken up on explanations…sometimes it just stopped the flow of my reading. I mean, the book itself was a fairly quick read. But every time I came to a lengthy patch of explanations, it’d slow me down considerably and I felt like I had to be careful not to miss anything. This, combined with a lot of unnecessary name dropping (of both people and places that didn’t need mentioning by name)…well…like I said, it just seemed to stop me short.

Other than that, I really enjoyed discovering and journeying through the world. It reminded me slightly of The Hobbit, with the journeying through mountains, dragons flying around and magical elements. I wanted to learn more about the world – the places, how things worked, the creatures discovered there. And while taking this journey through the world with main characters Kali and Kilyn, there’s never really a dull moment.

All the way through the book, there’s something happening. Whether it be something that’s gone wrong, a problem being faced, an unexpected turn of events or simply some new information discovered, every single chapter had something important happening. Everything that might have been considered “boring” – eating, sleeping, the everyday necessities – were skipped past and moved on from. It felt like you were being told the story from an acquaintance of sorts, where they sit and guide you through the events, and brush over all the uneventful parts.

To me, the book definitely picked up about halfway through. By then, there’s a few different perspectives, and I found it really intriguing to see how all the different character’s stories link together. It wasn’t anything too complex, but it was certainly enough to keep me turning the pages.

So while I was sometimes put-off by the writing, feeling like it would be more suited to younger readers with it’s simple but lengthy explanations, the story itself I found rather entertaining. The plot was non-stop drama, and is enough to keep your interest throughout. I feel like this would be good for younger people who are a bit intimidated by the epic fantasy books out there.