D is for Doomsday Book 1 of The Elf Saga by Joseph Robert Lewis #atozchallenge

Doomsday 

Elf Saga

Book 1

Amazon Summary:

This is not your typical epic fantasy. When Jenavelle learns that the world is about to end, she must assemble the greatest warrior women from five different nations to stop the dragon apocalypse and restore the balance of nature before time runs out. But then Jena finds out that she's adopted, and that's when things get really weird.

Explore a world of sword and sorcery that's as classic as it is bizarre with JENAVELLE, a knight who's sick and tired of epic fantasy clichés, AMINA, a warrior princess with a fondness for romance and swashbuckling pirates, NIYA, a hard-drinking mercenary who really hates faeries, TOMOE, a samurai shaman who is struggling with her recent resurrection, and LOZEN, a beautiful hunter whose hobbies include fine cuisine, high fashion, and excessive violence.

These adventurers have curses to break, corpses to raise, and wars to end. Every shadow hides witches, ghosts, and living nightmares, and every quest forces these heroines to deal with their parents, for some reason. And each of them must return to her homeland and learn to harness the magic powers of the dragon, unicorn, faerie, kitsune, and jaguar!

Discover the world of Vaenos, where dragons are weapons of mass destruction, faeries are pests, mermaids are monsters, and everyone has long pointy ears. With elf heroes inspired by historical female warriors, this exciting twist on epic fantasy is recommended for fans of classics like Lord of the Rings as well as the modern style and humor of Supernatural, Buffy, Hellboy, and Archer.

My Review:

I am a huge fan of Joseph Robert Lewis. I've reviewed quite a few of his books, and read a whole lot more.  I've been fortunate enough to have him here for an author spotlight.  So I was very excited to be able to read the first book in his Elf Saga series for this years challenge. I was not disappointed. 

Doomsday comes in 5 parts. Each one is told from the first person POV of one of the MCs. I really like how this switching up of voices helped to flesh out the character who was speaking. You also got to see how the other characters saw their fellow adventurers. I think it helped to give an more rounded view of each character. Since you not only see how they feel about each other, but how they view themselves as well. 

Each part explores a new part of the world that Lewis has worked to build. The new land being explored corresponds to which character is speaking. I think this really adds to the story as a whole. Each MC has certain skills, ideas, personality traits, strengths, beliefs, etc. that are in huge part shaped by the land they grew up in. I think the only one this doesn't completely apply to is Jenavelle. We start off in her homeland, but as the blurb says, she's adopted. Yes, a lot of her beliefs are based on how she was raised. But through the rest of the novel you can see from the perspectives of her friends that she seems to be fighting who she was raised to be versus who she was born to be. After the first part you don't get a chance to see into Jena's head anymore so saying this is exactly what is going on inside it isn't possible. But I really think it is based on her actions and how she changes throughout the book. 

I love the worlds that Lewis builds, this new one is no exception. There is so much detail. Both in the land itself as well as the different cultures he creates. Also the extra characters that walk in and out of the his main characters lives. I would love to read their stories. Not only to find out more about them, but also their world as well. In a perfect world a reader could thoroughly explore each and every nook and cranny of a world like the one the author has created without having to wait for another book. Sorta like how you can click on a word and Kindle pops up the definition. Maybe something along the lines of just clicking on a character and finding out more about them. lol. Yeah, I know. I know. Not going to happen anytime soon and how much more work would that be for the author..., But it really would be an awesome new way to interact with the characters in a book.  Fortunately there are 3 more books in the Elf Saga series. So I can get at least my fix for exploring the world more filled sooner rather than later. 

The only thing I that wasn't my favorite about Doomsday was the fact that it was told in present tense. Not my favorite tense. I tend to zone out when I'm reading. Especially if the book is really good. With the present tense sometimes it's a bit harder to do that. When a book is well written, like this one, that doesn't happen as much. So it's more a personal preference than a reason not to read a book. 

On a side note that applies to his other novels as well as this one. I love how Lewis always has strong female characters in his books. He doesn't just take a male character and change the pronouns. They are well thought out and have their own personalities. I think in Doomsday he has really shown his ability to not only make a strong female heroine, but also the very different varieties of strong females that can be chosen from. The MCs in Doomsday really run the full spectrum. It's not just their outfits that make them stand apart from each other. He has given them each a very different voice and I think that in telling each part from a different MC he really shows that. 

I once read that he writes his female characters to be ones that his own girls can look up to and admire, or something along those lines. I think he has definitely achieved that in all his books, but especially this one. Not only are there female heroes but that there are so many to choose from.

 I recommend Doomsday to readers of all sexes. if not all ages, there are sex scenes so I wouldn't just hand it to a younger reader. However if you're an adult who likes fantasy and adventure Doomsday is well written and a great read. Definitely a 5 star book. I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series.  

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and decided to review it for the A to Z Challenge 2017.