SFA seems to fill a void in this reader’s number of genres; it’s the internet’s answer to Harry potter. Four teenage main characters all training to become adventurer’s one day in an RPG cliche world. Sounds rather simple? It is at first, but quickly the plot evolves – political disputes, awkward hormones, breaking stereotypes (we have a princess who is a thief for example, a classic good looking hero type in Rai who incidentally finds he makes a better cleric than anything), moral questions, intrigue. It’s a slow starter, but once the story opens up and the character’s become comfortable with the reader things quickly take off. The story thrives on the chemistry between it’s characters and dialogue that brings a smile to the reader’s lips. The icy Wisteria Ling for example butts heads wonderfully with her hotheaded bodyguard Rakam, the intelligent Princess Averi flirts shamelessly with smooth talking Rai, and Fell endeares himself to all readers by being so hopelessly sweet. Rakam, as mentioned previously, is definitely for me the book’s stand out character. Initially he began as merely a sidekick for antagonist Torrent, but his character growth was monumental – evolving from an obnoxious bully into a shrewd, loyal, noble warrior. So if the writer’s are reading this, they’d better bring him back.  The book could benefit from more detailed updates – the updates per week are short and as a result forgetful. The novel works better read in one. Also the world in which the character’s inhabit seems to have been neglected – the context is rather dubious until the end where things slot into place.

We follow these character’s through their year at Eastridge, with the interlinking plots finally climaxing at the end of the story – not without a few cliffhangers for the second book of course.

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