I know it’s been a while since I posted anything and I’m sorry if you thought I’d deserted you. In truth I’ve been busy writing a new book and am revising it before it goes to my editor. I’m hoping to get it published before Christmas, but with NaNoWriMo in November, it may be doubtful. I’ll share more about it another time. Anyway, enough about me for now. I’ve read an amazing book and wanted to tell you what I thought.

First off, here is the great cover:

I hope you like it as much as I do! Here’s the blurb:

Deeds done in the heat of battle cast long shadows.

The most famous man in the history of the Temple, retired Commander John Farmer, has left the militia behind. War looms and John must answer the call to serve, but his terrible secret could destroy everything. A broken mage trying to rebuild his shattered life, he must somehow regain his abilities, or everyone and everything he loves will be lost.

John must face the crimes of the past to become the hero he never was.

I don’t know about you, but that really grabs me!

And here is my review:

The Wayward Son, a companion book to the fantastic Forbidden Road, part of the Tower of Bones series, follows the story of John Farmer, the father of our hero in the series, Edwin.

This book fills in some of the gaps from Forbidden Road as John remains in Aeoven while Edwin is fulfilling a task in the dangerous country of Mal Evol.

The characterisation of John is a work of art. Jasperson has crafted him to perfection so you almost feel what he does and go through the ups and downs, the happiness and sadness, the worry and the contentment with him. Having read the Tower of Bones series, I could even see some of John’s traits in his son. The supporting cast were just as realistic, especially Cane and Marya, whose emotions are every bit as powerful as John’s.

I was pleased to see how the plot revolved around John and his life in Neveyah, meeting his friends, and following his career. Of course this is what was expected, but so often companion books tend to bring in too much of the other book and I’m extremely happy Connie didn’t do this. Another good point in this book’s favour is that you see and experience events that were only alluded to in Forbidden Road. I particularly liked how a sub plot concerning one of his friends weaved its way back to John, like a spider constructing a complicated web around him without the reader knowing he was the prey.

The pacing was well timed throughout, never rushed and definitely not slow.

The world of Neveyah was expertly crafted by the author in the Tower of Bones series and she was true to it in this book. However, she does take you to different areas that hadn’t previously been mentioned and, in my opinion it gave the realm even more depth. She describes the surroundings just enough to leave the rest to the reader’s imagination.

This book was a page turner for me, as the previous books in this series have been, and I resented going to sleep as I wanted to continue reading.

The only downside I could find was that I would have liked the story to continue a bit further, up to a particular event in Forbidden Road. This is just my personal choice, but the book did finish at a satisfactory point.

I think this is Connie’s best book to date (and that’s saying something!) and if you haven’t read the Tower of Bones series, you need to get them and this. As epic fantasies go, this series is one of the best I’ve had the pleasure to sink into the world of and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend all the Neveyah books.

If I could I’d give The Wayward Son more than 5 stars!

Click the title to go straight to Amazon so you can buy this for yourself.

About the author

Connie J Jasperson

Connie J. Jasperson lives in Olympia, Washington. A vegan, she and her husband share five children, a love of good food and great music. She is active in local writing groups, an editor, and is a writing coach. She is an active member of the both the Northwest Independent Writers Association and Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and is a founding member of Myrddin Publishing Group.  Music and food dominate her waking moments. When not writing or blogging she can be found with her Kindle, reading avidly.

You can find Connie on her blog, Life in the Realm of Fantasy