Book Review: The Sentinel's Song

Fantasy. 349 Pages. 4 Stars

Synopsis:

Sabra needed an army of warriors.
She only found one.

Sabra has spent her entire life studying, practicing, and preparing to become Segzein’s Crown Princess. Prepared to take on the burden of the crown – and give up hope of ever finding love – Sabra is confident that she’s ready to lead. But just as the crown is within reach, questions about her bloodline give rise to fighting within the kingdom’s clans, and the most indignant of them all gives Sabra an ultimatum: Sabra must step down…or he’ll reduce the kingdom to ashes with the use of ancient forbidden arts.

Sabra wants to fight, but when the dragon brings her kingdom to its knees, she decides there’s only one path she can follow. She must find the Segzein’s eighth clan – the Sentinels. Her only problem? They’ve vanished into thin air.

Against her advisers’ will, Sabra goes in search of the missing warriors, determined to stop the dragon without capitulating to his demands. And she finds…one warrior. But only one. And to Sabra’s shock, that one warrior has a surprisingly familiar face.

Will the missing clan’s survivor be enough to defeat the dragon? Or will Sabra’s future and her kingdom perish?

Author’s Note: The Sentinel’s Song is the tenth book in the Classical Kingdoms Collection but can be read as a stand-alone. It was previously published as “The Princess and St. George’s Dragon” in novelette form but has been rewritten as a complete novel and set in the Classical Kingdoms Collection World. Buy The Sentinel’s Song today to experience magic, mystery, and clean, passionate romance as you venture with Sabra into her danger, love, and her people’s hidden history.

My Review:

I’ve read all of Fichter’s work, and admittedly she is one of my very favorite authors. So, I was super stoked for another read. I usually end up dropping everything to pick up the latest release, as I did with this one. And this time, I was even more excited because this stemmed from a short story she’d done before I’d ever found her. She took the story and expanded it and then added it to her Classical Kingdom’s collection, which meant I finally got to read it! And, of course, I love the Classical Kingdom’s collection! Furthermore, I’d never read a St. George and the Dragon retelling before, so I was really curious about the story.

First, guys, that cover!! Isn’t it so cool! I love the colors and the world behind her! And her dress is beautiful.

When I started the book, something about the Segzein culture reminded me of The Green-Eyed Prince, the novella that starts the whole series. Segzein fascinated me. The kingdom was one of my favorite parts of the whole story, and I wish we could have spent even more time reveling in it, though to be fair, I do feel like we got a really solid sense of the kingdom as it was. I loved the different spokes and how each one depended on the other and how they each had an expertise. I wanted to explore them all and learn so much more. I also really thought it was neat how the kingdom settled very nicely into the overall Classical Kingdom’s world–those touches from the outer kingdoms were some of my favorites in the book, too!! I won’t spoil, but YES FICHTER! That connection was brilliantly executed!

I was drawn in by the smithing and training, the swords and staffs, the mystery culture that had basically ceased to exist. And the singing! What a cool thing to twist in together! The whole concept of the Sentinel’s Song was so cool. I loved trying to unravel the mystery of what had actually happened, searching the histories and the people Sabra leaned on to navigate the story. Figuring out what had transpired and how the pieces fit together for the present dilemma was a huge part of what I loved in the story. Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t really know much more than a very broad outline for the original fairy tale, but the mystery element in this fairy tale was very refreshing.

It’s no secret I love Fichter’s characters. This cast felt different to me for some reason, though I’m not sure I can articulate why. I appreciated Sabra’s tenacity, kindness, and loyalty in pursuing truth and justice. And her love for her people. That was clear. Her compassion really made her stand out, too. She was a lot of fun to follow. And the little servant boy who followed her around like a pup was really sweet. I liked his character a lot. He was rambunctious and mischievous, but loyal as all get out. And it cracked me up when he met his match! George was quieter, more reserved. I really enjoyed when he came to Segzein and seeing Sabra and George rekindle their childhood friendship–gotta love the childhood friendships, guys!! When we got out to his own home, he seemed much more distant. He closed off a lot. I know not every character can be outgoing! But I felt like I didn’t really ever get to know him, who he was, what he cared about, what he wanted. Just his destiny and a few facets of him. I wanted to get more inside his head and see what he was always thinking about. I did love his interactions with Serkan, and I loved his grandparents, too. I would have loved to see more of them, too.

I was very invested in the story. I stayed up way too late on more than one night trying to read as much as I could XD I wanted to know more. And I yelled at Sabra to sing for like half the book! I was waiting for the climax to come crashing together! It felt like a long-time coming, though I enjoyed the journey to get there. The dragon never quiet clicked for me. The Justine’s as a whole felt like they were missing something–something small, just a fraction of an inch off. I don’t know if I just wanted to understand them better or what. I loved how their history unraveled and their connection to the past and the present and the Sentinel’s and the world at large. But I struggled to understand the culture of the larger group–not the select few who guarded their history so well. And Sabra’s guard disappointed me. I really had hoped to see him return at some point and contribute in a meaningful way.

There were a few parts where the politics confused me, too. The first time around, I misread a passage and so it took me half the book to figure out I had the marriage laws backwards. Whoops! But even then, I didn’t understand how the basniin’s got power. Mahzar became basniin, but I don’t know how or if it was by design or just arbitrary. I feel like he would have orchestrated the whole thing, but I never understood what his purpose was. It was hinted at several times. If he won, bad things would happen, but I wanted to understand him as a character more deeply. What exactly did he want? What motivated him? Was he just following his law as a legalist or was there something deeper there? Some heavier motivation? And how did he inspire his entire clan to follow him in enforcing the horrendous, unjustifiable acts of violence that he did? Weren’t there any of them who disagreed with his interpretation of the law–or his highly destructive ultimatum? I don’t know. Just something felt…not quite what I had hoped for a few elements of the story.

That said, I did thoroughly enjoy the book, and adore Fichter. This one didn’t quite live up to some of my other favorites of hers, but I’m still gonna buy the book and probably reread it at some point! And I do recommend it for anyone looking for a sweet romance, fun adventure, and satisfying mystery.

There was no foul language, clean romance, and non-graphic romance. I’d recommend the book for early teen and up.

Book 0.5 (a novella) in the Classical Kingdoms series is The Green-Eyed Prince (4 Stars)

Book 1 is Before Beauty (5 Stars)

Book 2 is Blinding Beauty (5 Stars)

Book 3 is Beauty Beheld (5 Stars)

Book 4 is Girl in the Red Hood (4 Stars)

Book 5 is Silent Mermaid (5 Stars)

Book 6 is Cinders, Stars, and Glass Slippers (5 Stars)

Book 7 is A Curse of Gems (5 Stars)

Book 8 is Neverland Falling (5 Stars)

Book 9 is Breaking Neverland (5 Stars)

Book 11 is The Seven Years Princess (5 Stars)

I have read and rated the above on Goodreads. Check out the links for more info.

The Becoming Beauty trilogy should be read in order; however, most of the others are technically stand-alones. That said, I’d still read them in order since there is some crossover between characters.

Here is a picture of the reading order as posted by the author: