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<\/a>The Wielder Conflict: Book 3 of the Wielder Series<\/a> by Franca Ogbonnaya<\/a>\nMy rating: 3 of 5 stars<\/a><\/p>\n
I found this book so confusing and difficult to get into because the prologue was far too short and did not contain enough detail to explain what was to follow. As the third book in the Wielder series it was definitely not a stand-alone novel of course, and the action was far too fast for this older reader for about four chapters. I kept thinking: What is a \u2018wielder\u2019 and who are all these strangely named characters? Part way through chapter 5 I began to follow the usual plot of \u2018good versus evil.\u2019 It is definitely a story that is aimed at very young adults, even early teens.<\/p>\n
It is fast-paced, full of action and exciting, with suitably balanced scenes between concerned friends and comrades during calmer moments. The \u2018bad\u2019 characters were suitably ruthless and cruel, while the \u2018good\u2019 were understanding and kindly. A section in the story that I particularly found amusing was the twist when the wielding (magical?) powers return to Danai. This seems to be a kind of legacy from her recent ancestors and she becomes Not-Danai for a while. She causes the horrible mad-queen, Kallesa. to retreat in fear, followed by Lieutenant Gray and his men.<\/p>\n
I enjoyed the fantasy idea that the author has created about sorcery and wizardry being things that can be taken from their owner, and used as weapons in open battle or surreptitiously against ones enemies. It reminded me of the books by Frank H Herbert, Mervyn Peake and J R R Tolkien; fantasy writing favourites of mine. Overall the narrative is well written and much of the dialogue seems, hopefully, believable to contemporary youth like my grandchildren. However, there were several annoying editing errors in both the narrative and the dialogue, with too much unnecessary repetition that spoiled it for me.<\/p>\n