Call Of The Herald is the first in The Dawning Of Power series and single-handedly restores my faith in the free Kindle book on Amazon. Though utilising a plot that is far from original, author Brian Rathbone brings his own unique touch and is able to create a convincing and well developed casdt of characters in a beautifully imagined world!

For hundreds of years, magic has been all but lost to the world but legend says that the return to the planet of a school of Comets will herald the arrival of a new age and the dawning of power in one individual who will prevent the Godfist from being invaded. The Zjohns have their own prophecy that says this Herald will be the one that destroys their Kingdom and wipes out their people so when the comets return, they set sail and attack Godfist in search of The One.

Catrin is just your average teenager but when a friend at her school is attacked by bullies and she wades in to help, she discovers that she is developing at once both awesome and frightening powers. Soon realising that the invaders are searching for her, she flees, with a select group of friends, in an attempt to locate those who can best help her learn the true nature of her abilities. Along the way, Catrin faces all manner of dangers and threats to her person but soon realises that her journey is only just beginning......

This is much better written and more enjoyable than the book in my previous review, The Queens Blade, and restores my faith not just in free Kindle books but also in new fantasy in general! It is not perfect and has some subtle flaws but overall, is definitely worth picking up and certainly made me want to purchase the other books in the series! I loved the characters, loved the way the plot twists and turns and found it both engaging and unable to put down!

My own personal belief is that reading high quality fare such as the collected works of authors like Robin Hobb and George.R.R.Martin has kind of spoiled all other fantasy fiction for me, as I am prone to compare everything else I read in this genre to my favourite authors, though Call Of The Herald aspires to such greatness and does a good job of coming very close!

Certainly this book hooked me very early on and kept me wanting to read more to the point that I will definitely be purchasing successive titles very near in the future! And that can only be the highest of recommendations as I am not one to spend money on my Kindle books unless they are really, really good!

Thankfully, this Dawning Of Power series falls into that category and proves there is fresh blood in the fantasy genre still to be found.....