From the bestselling author of the Keeper Chronicles, comes the Keeper Origins.
Before Queensland dominated the continent of Tallus, before anyone called themselves a Keeper, no one looked beyond their own small corner of the world.
But Sable, a reluctant thief with the power to sense the truth, would do anything to escape hers. Trapped in the slums, she’s spent years trying to pay off the … Trapped in the slums, she’s spent years trying to pay off the debt she and her sister owe a vicious gang boss.
She finally slips out of his clutches, traveling with on odd set of companions:
- a dwarf with a reluctance to go back home,
- a man with miniature, mysterious, glowing tree,
- a kobold with a tendency to over-help,
- a playwright with a knack for getting stories out of people, and
- two people with magical powers suspiciously similar to the monstrous, mythical baledin.
As Sable travels with them, she finds a taste of the freedom she’s always wanted, and discovers that her power to sense the truth in people’s words may be more powerful than she ever imagined.
But her freedom is short lived. Out on the edges of civilization, they come face to face with violent raiders. Stepping out of the nightmares of Sable’s past, these warriors are more than they seem, and herald the coming of a devastating army.
To have any hope of fighting off this looming danger, Sable must to return to the city she fled, and along with her companions, attempt an impossible task—uniting the Merchant Guild, the Northern Lords, and the powerful Dragon Priory.
Can Sable convince the land of the coming threat? Or will the approaching invaders destroy everyone and everything she loves?
Pick up the first book of the Keeper Origins Trilogy today, and begin the tale of how an orphaned thief escaped the slums, united a nation, and brought a mighty Empire to its knees.
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The Keeper Chronicles: The Complete Epic Fantasy Trilogy was one of my top 5 reads for 2019, so when I discovered JA Andrews was releasing a prequel trilogy I was all over it!
This first installment bring me back to all the things I adore about her writing style. The way she uses words to convey emotion is phenomenal. Through out Sables journey I experienced an array of emotions as if Sable herself was speaking directly to me. < see what I did there lol have to read the book to get it. 😛 I loved the back stories for all of the characters and hope that many of them will continue to appear throughout the trilogy. The world building sets us in a much different time than we were in the Keeper Chronicles. It's stunning to see how different yet familiar the universe is. If you love books full of underdogs, betrayal and hidden magic, you're going to love this series. I am on edge to discover how the next two books unfold!
I love Andrews books and her characters are always so complex and compelling. This book is no exception. Sable is the perfect heroine and I felt deeply for all her troubles and trials. The book moves along at a good pace and kept me reading through the night till I was done. I hesitate to call the ending a cliff hanger, but it is clear this will be an epic series. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
Raven’s Ruin was awesome. I’m not sure if I liked it as much as Dragon’s Reach, the first book in the series, but I completely enjoyed it nonetheless. Sable is one of my all time favorite MCs and she just keeps getting better and stronger in each book.
Can’t wait for book 3 to come out.
This is an amazing origins story which takes us through the life experiences of three siblings orphaned at a very early age, seeing their parents killed before their eyes and their whole village razed to the ground by the Kalesh even though at the time all they saw were brutal men in black. Sable the eldest of the sisters does all in her power to protect her sisters and ends up working off a debt she had with Kiva, the gang boss of the Vayas, who bullied her into becoming his best thief. She went on dangerous assignments in order to keep her sister Talia safe, but she had hidden a lot of information from Talia and when she found out she went right into the hands Sable had been trying to keep her from in the very dangerous and cut-throat environment of the docks where they lived. In the end Sable had to escape the life she was being forced into, and she did this by joining up with a troupe of actors who were leaving Immusmalma after the festival. Travelling with this group brought her the closest she had ever gotten to family, they were loyal and looked out for one another even though they bantered amongst themselves all the time. The group was a mixed group made up of a dwarf, an elf, a thief, a novice from the abbey, two scholars and a lady, later joined by a rascal and a kobold and they all had baggage from their past. The story is grimdark in parts where the Kalesh attack and burn the villages but also humorous and light during the travels and preparations for their next show. Many of the troupe had special sensory powers which some might call magic including Sable who could always feel who spoke the truth and who was lying. I loved the characters and the fact that the three sisters were so different to one another, I also loved the Kobold Pernicious, and also enjoyed the thrill of the build up to the ending of the story but I felt so sorry for Sable whose only wish was to ever protect her younger sisters but never seemed to get a break in life, and no matter how hard she tried she always ended falling into the wrong hands. The desperate ending to book 1 has just left me wishing I had book 2 in my hands right away as I just need to read on and find out what happens next! Will Sable be able to get out of the mess she has found herself in? Things are looking very dire for her once again.
This is the first book in J. A. Andrews new series. If you read her last series, “The Keeper Chronicles”, then you know what a talented writer she is. She weaves a story that keeps you enthralled. This story is no different. Sable, Ryah, and Talia are sisters who have suffered tragedy in their lives. Each girl is different in their dealing with what happened to their parents in how they live their lives. This is the story of Sable as she grows into Issable from Shadowfall. It tells of her slavery to the mob king, Kiva, her attempts to escape as well as save her sisters. In the end, she exchanges one form of slavery for another. I loved this story! The characters are wonderfully filled out, relatable and likable. The scenes are well painted for your imagination to soar. This book will capture your imagination and keep you wanting to know what is going to happen next. If I could give this book 10 stars, I would. I highly recommend this book to those of you who like great books set in another world. It really is a great book. I loved it.
Oh my, did I go for a ride! Having read the Keeper Chronicles, and thoroughly loved the series, I knew I just had to read Dragon’s Reach! But boy oh boy, I was not prepared the emotional rollercoaster! The fabulous Ms Andrew’s draws one in so skillfully yet so subtly, that before I realised it, I felt as though I was living with the troupe! What starts of as a story of a young woman’s love for her 2 sisters, where she will do whatever she can to protect them and keep them safe, quickly escalates into a rich exciting tale of mystery, lies and betrayal. After the death of their parents and the destruction of the town they lived in, Sable flees with her sister’s. Leaving her younger sister, who is very I’ll, in the care of an abbess, Sable is forced into servitude to a ruthless goblin. Her greatest desire is to break away and take her sister’s away. The choices she makes, the decisions she takes, are so realistic and at times, heartwrenching that I wanted to give her a hug to reassure her! The friendships she makes with the troupe, with very diverse characters are beautifully captured and some great humorous scenes emerge. I just loved this story, every character is wonderful yet complex. And the ending! My word! Of all the scenarios I came up with, NOTHING prepared me for that! I was left totally gobsmacked! Wonderful, wonderful read!
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review
Dragon’s Reach is the latest Podium Audio adaptation of JA Andrews’ writing. This story takes place in the same world as the The Keeper Chronicles, which has exploded in popularly since the audiobook came out in September (The Kindle version has 2k+ reviews at 4.7 stars so I suppose it’s popular everywhere). Anyway, I jumped on that bandwagon right when the audio came out and couldn’t agree more with the hype! Therefore, when Dragon’s Reach was released in audio, it skipped past several others on my list.
What struck me most about this story was the artful pacing, and the lore that Andrews weaved into the story through the acting troupe. As I listened to this book, I felt like I had leaned over to watch one of those Youtube DIY videos that my wife is always watching. You know the ones where it’s filmed in semi-high speed, set to music, and for about ten minutes you watch a series of segmented steps develop, each unique and intriguing unto themselves, but then you begin to see the connecting lines as the artist or craftsman brings them together; it’s mesmerizing. That’s what this story was for me. As with The Keeper Chronicles, the magic in this story is unconventional when compared with most other fantasy—and not in a bad way. The bulk of the plot conflict rests upon the shoulders of the characters themselves, the interpersonal politics, and the desire to rescue people who don’t necessarily know that they need to be rescued (battling a sort of Stockholm Syndrome).
I also appreciate the slow build of the story. The scope of events begins as a localized desire of Sable to obtain freedom for herself and her sister (a great story by itself), but as the story advances, we learn one of Sable’s well-intended secrets, one that will propel her to take action that inadvertently uncovers something even greater. This progression increases the scale of the tension well beyond her immediate concerns. The incremental build of the story and conflict is expertly executed.
Lastly, Dragon’s Reach boasts award-winning voice narration to the tune of Kate Reading. You might recognize her voice if you’ve ever listened to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series or Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives, among many others. Trust me, you’ll enjoy every minute of this twenty-two hour epic!
This book had me hooked from the first chapter! I loved the author’s world building and all of the characters were very well written. Sable’s struggles to get her family back together leads her to many more places and people than she could have ever imagined, and then she finds herself in the middle of trying to save the entire land from the same enemy that took her parents a decade prior.
Dragon’s Reach is Epic Fantasy with a hint of romance. It’s a page-turner of a story that’s unique and unpredictable. There’s danger at every turn. J.A. Andrews creates colorful characters, brilliant world building, and witty dialogue. This is the first book in a new series and will leave you hanging. I can’t wait to find out what happens to Sable and the others!
First, I have to say that I owe the author an apology. I received an ARC and I am voluntarily leaving this review, which I should have done some time ago. What follows is from the notes I made while reading the book and when I finished it.
This is the first in a new series by Andrews, who by any measure is a prolific author. It is the story of three sisters who are left orphaned after the city in which they live is attacked. They live in the slums and the eldest of the three, Sable, does the best she can to provide. The city is ruled by KivaEventually she and Rhya, the youngest, leave to find better for the three of them, although Talia doesn’t go. Sable and Rhya run into a traveling troupe, first heading east and then back to the city for a play competition. In the meantime, they discover that Sable has a gift of being able to sense the truth. This comes in handy as the troupe encounter warring factions of the Kalesh empire and on their return trip to the city, they prepare to warn the people of the coming attack.
You must read the book to really experience first hand what I tried to summarize in one short paragraph and then be part of the ending and the launching point for the next book in the series, which can’t come soon enough – for my tastes.
Without a doubt, this was an extremely entertaining book, the kind of thing you can’t put down and want to come back to when you have even a few snippets of time. I read a lot of fantasy, including many ARCs and this one was a different experience for me for a couple of reasons.
Before reading Dragon’s Reach, I had finished another fantasy ARC. I think the author thought he had a good idea for a fantasy book and wanted to commit it to paper (or bytes) and focused on his story without really thinking how the story would be read. The readers experience matters and matters greatly; Andrews has the ability to put herself in the reader’s seat and writes the book for the reader. I didn’t have that experience with Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. I am sure there are many who disagree, but the detail in those series just killed me and I lost the storylines.
My second reason is a subtlety that makes a world of difference for me as a reader – it’s the names chosen for people and places. Character names like “Orianna”, “Talia” or the “Kalesh” flow easily. I tend to read at a good pace and there is nothing that bothers me more than a fantasy author who creates characters with complicated names that the reader invariably stumbles over. For me, it is like hitting a speed bump in a road. This is not so with Dragon’s Reach and Andrews’ work in general. For me, it’s a sign that the reader’s point of view is considered. The text flows smoothly and it is easy to follow this very rich story.
Andrews’ is clearly a gifted and prodigious writer who has now shared the first of a new series that is bound to be every bit as good as her other work. Read the book, be entertained, and then pace the floor waiting for the next in the series.
Enchanting!