Lichgates: Book One of the Grimoire Saga (a Young Adult Fantasy Series) [Kindle Edition]

In Lichgates, S.M. Boyce shows--in grand style and with a debut novel, to boot--that she is capable of joining the ranks of the genre's greats.

Her characters are charismatic and endearing. Their story is compelling. Her world overflows with magic, drama, adventure, and layer-upon-layer of intrigue and suspense. Boyce's storytelling is so rich and deftly executed that I found myself bouncing between pure amazement, unadulterated enjoyment, and absolute, perverse envy. She is that good.

Are there flaws? Of course--the fact that we must wait for the second book!

In fact, forget what I said earlier--Lichgates immediately places S.M. Boyce in the pantheon of fantasy writers. It isn't all wine and roses, though. In addition to the epic story Boyce must complete, she now has to contend with the monster of expectations that she, alone, is responsible for creating.

Bottom line: if you read only one new book this week ... this month ... this year, read this one.

The Grimoire: Lichgates is the first book in The Grimoire Trilogy. In this first book the author, S.M. Boyce, throws Kara (the main character) and the reader into an entirely new work called Ourea. To get to this world, Lichgates are necessary. They are portals linking our world to the dangerous, yet beautiful, kingdoms of Ourea. They are scattered all over both worlds and it is through one of them in the Rocky Mountains that Kara stumbles.

Upon falling into an underground library, Kara finds waiting for her an old red leather book. The book is very magical. On it is a necklace with a pendant that looks like four crescent moons configured in the shape of a four-leaf clover. This book is so magical that there are blank pages throughout, but when asked the right questions the pages flip to sections and words appear with an answer.

This book is one of Kara's only defenses against what lies in wait for her in Ourea. Upon opening the book, she has become the center of every kingdom's focus; she is the Vagabond. Her purpose in this strange world is to reunite the four kingdoms in peace, fulfilling the goal of the first Vagabond who died a thousand years before.

This concept really caught me from the beginning. Like I said I was hooked from reading the first chapter alone. It takes a lot to do that with most books. Part of what kept me reading was the fact that this book doesn't wait to get the reader into the action. There is no lead in chapters, no foreshadowing, no mercy. Kara is hiking one minute and in Ourea fighting for her life the next. Every time throughout the book it seems that there will be some time to relax (for the characters and readers alike) something happens. It's almost impossible to put this book down. Lucky for me I was able to force the book down, which allowed me to savor every experience it held; there are many.

I loved many elements of this book. First off, the setting made me want to visit Ourea. I know this is impossible (not only because it's not a real place) because if I went there, I'd most likely die (more on that soon.) Ourea is like the worlds of most fantastical stories. It has its beautiful landscapes, luxurious castles, and even a dreary kingdom no one wants to acknowledge. Its landscapes include forests, a kingdom nestled on top of a vertigo inducing multi mile high cliff, and even a kingdom found in a magical dome on the bottom of an ocean guarded by sharks. And it's not just the places themselves that I fell in love with, it's the way Boyce's words describe them. I can't do it justice in my own words, you'll have to take my word for it or read the book. Her words paint a picture of every aspect allowing the reader to soak in the images.

The setting wasn't the only exciting part of the book. There are also the various creatures of the land. To mention a few there are griffins, dragons, something Kara says is similar to a squirrel, and one of my favorites a flaer named Rowthe. I liked him a lot because he's a huge dog like creature. Of course he has a unique ability, but I'm going to let you find that one out, it's just really cool.

The characters Kara encounters are very hard to figure out. This helps the story be what it is more than anything else. The Grimoire from the beginning warns Kara that she can't trust anyone in Ourea. A lot of the times it seems like the characters can be figured out and trusted, but then there's either a subtle or drastic hint to the contrary. As a reader I was always jumping to conclusions about a character only to change my opinion soon after. I'm still waiting for a character to make a turn for the worse, but we'll see if that happens.

Kara's journey takes the reader all over Ourea and she meets a variety of good and evil. She even has encounters with the evil King, Blood Carden. He is the father of Kara's companion Braeden. I guess I should have mentioned him by now. Carden is the ruler of the Stele, the banished kingdom who reeks havoc on Ourea even through a banishment. Braeden, his son, escaped from his father's kingdom twelve years earlier and has been hiding elsewhere ever since. But the ever present question in my mind was whether or not he was one to be trusted. When would the evil in his blood consume him, if at all? For most of the book I kept liking and trusting him, but wanted to keep an eye on him for Kara's sake (not that I could have helped here, that's just silly she's in a book.) There is also a growing connection between Kara and the mysterious Braeden which leads to some complications in the relationship of him as protector and one of her few friends.

To wrap this up, The Grimoire: Lichgates is on my top five favorite books I have read this year and possibly in recent years. I keep reading great books so this list should be extended to at least ten. I loved the story, I loved the setting, I loved everything about this book. The only problem that I had with it is that I didn't have the next book to read. I only hope that the day comes when I can read book two, then book three, sooner than it will.

I just did not understand the story at all. It was more about death then fantasy. It was also very confusing as well. I was glad that this book was free as well.