The Riddler's Gift by Greg Hamerton

Title:  The Riddler's Gift
Author:  Greg Hamerton
Publisher:  Eternity Press
Publication Date:  August 2010
Format:  2 Paperbacks, Part 1 is 321 pages, Part 2 is 294 pages
Age Group:  Adult
Series:  Tale of the Lifesong

The wizards believed in Order but then one defied the rest and brought Chaos, threatening to destroy the world.  One sanctuary remains, a safe haven where one special person can develop the magic that might save them.  When Tabitha Serannon takes a ring that isn't hers and sings an ancient song, she releases a power that she doesn't understand and cannot control.  Will she learn to balance the Light and the Dark before it is too late?  Or will the entire realm fall under the rule of the Darkmaster and all hope be lost?

The Riddler's Gift is a fantastic fantasy tale!  It reminded me of the epic adventures written by Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan.  There are many characters to get to know and different story threads to follow but Hamerton has written them in such a way that there is no confusion.  Shifts between places and people flow easily.  Each detail is important and nothing has been left to chance in the connections between the stories.

The overall story drew me in quickly.  Unfortunately, I had very little reading time when I was reading the first paperback so it seemed to take me forever.  This had nothing to do with the story though -- I really wanted to be reading it!  I finally got some solid reading time when I got to the second paperback and devoured it in just a couple of days.  The small sections within chapters actually turned out to be a bonus for me when I was reading the first part because they were natural breaks where I could leave off even if I'd only had a few minutes to pick up the book.

The Riddler's Gift has magic, battle, good, evil, self-discovery, a guide, a journey, and even a bit of romance.  In short, it is everything one would expect in an epic fantasy novel.  It is also wonderfully crafted with the true voice of a story teller.

I am looking forward to continuing the adventure with Second Sight.

I received this book directly from the author in exchange for my honest review.

You can purchase The Riddler's Gift from Amazon.com as a two-part paperback:  Part 1 & Part 2 or the Kindle edition.

If you are in the UK, you can also purchase the entire story as a single paperback from the author's website or the publisher's website.  I don't know if either of these sites offer international shipping.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.