Review : 4 stars Fun adventure for kids/boys age 10-12

Kaylen is a Fourteen-year-old Cave Elf who lives an extremely sheltered life, sequestered at home in his underground town. His parents have never allowed him to go further than the front yard, where he works in the family gardens and occasionally gets taunted by other kids passing by for reasons he does not understand and his parents will not explain to him (something kids can definitely relate to). 

After he finally convinces his parents to let him leave the house and send him to school, he arrives there to be told that his kind are at war with the above-ground humans and that school is essentially for training young people for combat via magic and weaponry. While questing around trying to figure out what he’s good at, Kaylen discovers he possesses the rare talent of animating and controlling skeletons, which I have to admit is a pretty fun magical power. 

Pros: Kaylen’s Rising is a solid adventure with a pretty typical coming-of-age theme set in a world that, about halfway through, I realized reminded me of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. As a tabletop RPG veteran, this is probably why I enjoyed it as much as I did. If I had to compare it to something, it would be the Dragonlance novels I read when I was a kid. From vampires to giant scorpions, all sorts of wandering monsters make an appearance in Kaylen’s journey, yet it does not feel cluttered. There’s some court intrigue and mysteries to solve, enough to keep you guessing but not too much for younger readers to keep track of.  

Cons: Kaylen is fourteen, but the book is written for younger readers/pre-teens. Preteens usually enjoy an older protagonist so that isn’t really an issue for that age group, but I wouldn’t generally recommend it for readers older than 14. 

I’m a reader who enjoys the ‘show don’t tell’ method of storytelling most, and this book has a lot of tell. That didn’t really affect my enjoyment of the story, it’s just not my preference. It certainly didn’t stop me from getting sucked into it and reading to the end.   I’ll be looking for the next one.

For more information on Kaylen’s Rising, check out the main page.