Kaladorn. Slave born. Rohana knew her destiny. She’d been born to serve her king, to live and die at his command. She hadn’t questioned when he ordered his armies into the frozen North, to fight a queen who threatened the South. Except, Queen Ilaria has never been a threat to their nation. On a frozen field of battle, Rohana learns the truth. And she has one moment to make a decision. One moment, … make a decision.
One moment, for a slave to rewrite the fate of two empires.
This novel features characters from the first two novels, and introduces new characters. It is a stand-alone novel.
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**** SPOILER ALERT ****
In “High Protector: Knight Protector, Book Three” Ford juggles three, count ’em, three romances. Two that were covered in the first two books of the series and a third introduced in this volume. As is to be expected the author does a fantastic job of detailed world building and rich character development. Particularly that of Queen Ilaria.
The story is set against the backdrop as the “Winds Of War” ( Thank you Mr. Wouk! ) blow across the northlands as the Southlands military forces under King Agalyn begin to prosecute a war just as winter is coming ( Thank you Mr. Martin! ) to the Northlands. Well, Ford kind of twists the old saying about a battle plan not surviving contact with the enemy just a touch. Or rather, Herr Hitler may have pointed out, from personal experience, to King Agalyn to watch out for Generals November, and December….Muwahahaha!!
All in all, this is a very good continuation of the story that began in “Squire Derel.” I look forward to the next volume in the series where the author details the aftermath of the war and how things shake out. I would highly recommend reading the first two books in the series before tucking into this volume.
In the interest of transparency: I was given a review copy of this book and I am voluntarily sharing this review.
It is my own honest opinion.
This is book three in the Knight Protector series and matters are coming to a head, as King Agalyn of the South has decided to invade the lands of the North, ruled by Queen Ilaria, who he says has threatened their lands. The portents are supposedly good to invade as winter starts, as this would be unexpected and the North will be unprepared for an invasion. Rohana is in charge of a small unit of soldiers, but as she is Kaladorn, she is slave born and her only path was to serve her king and live or die at his command. She was presented to the priests as a baby and they decided her fate, but she is happy with her lot, as other lives could have been much worse. As a slave, even in charge of a unit, she is at the bottom of the pile and ignored in preference for those higher born and free. She is ordered to take her unit to lay siege upon a castle keep, which is dragon proof, without even a sword that can kill these creatures, being far too low in importance to need one!
Queen Ilaria has been warned of the invasion into the north by Knight Protector Brynja and elf mage Ceinwen, after Brynja’s village was invaded by dragons and priest inquisitors from the south, who were looking for the elf in the mountain. Ceinwen’s dragon Aeron flew them to the elf tower and queen’s palace, to notify her, but not many of her advisors believe them! A war has come to their lands and with winter fast approaching, the army of the south will struggle to win, but they have a few secret weapons that could even defeat dragons, vast armies and an experienced and ancient elf mage. King Agalyn has taken his army to war for his own selfish reasons and besmirched Queen Ilaria’s name. Rohana ends up rewriting the fates of the two lands, as she learns the true reasons behind the invasion and the king’s real nature, and has only a split second to make a decision that will change her own future beyond anything she could ever imagine.
A slave, a full blooded elf and the Knight Protector who rescued her, are all key to what happens in the battel between north and south, and have the weather as well as new relationships to contend with. A mix of old world wars with the addition of fantasy creatures and magic. Women’s roles are at the top of the storyline and mixes groups of characters, all in different situations and making what could be life changing decisions, in a man’s world and the prejudices they all face. Lots of new characters to add into the story and important in different locations, as the war begins. More complexity in this book, as multiple storylines collide and tell the story. Interesting to see how Brynja and Ceinwen have grown to work so well together, even her dragon has started to like her, not that he will ever confirm that! Some light moments in a story of war, bloodshed and loss. A great addition to the series and has ramped up the action no end. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
Our heroine has never questioned orders, but there is always a first time.
This is book three of the series, but it works pretty well as a standalone. The essentials are presented pretty quickly. That being said, the story line is definitely a continuation, so it might be best to start at the beginning.
This story offers an interesting blend of science and magic, such as energy weapons, elf magic and dragons. The setting is fascinating and we get to another piece of it in this story, which was really nice. Our characters are well developed with solid backgrounds and distinct personalities. I love that we get another viewpoint to the main plot in this book. There is still intrigue and action which keep things moving at a good pace. Overall, highly enjoyable and I am definitely looking forward to the next book.
Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout for review purposes. –
High Protector (Knight Protector, #3), my twentieth read from author Rachel Ford. Each book in this series the action really dials up from its predecessor. This epic fantasy book is so well-written & enjoyable, no matter the genre a Rachel Ford book can be counted on to be entertaining & enjoyable. I look forward to the next book in the series, Blood Succession (Knight Protector, #4). “I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.” (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).