Sunday, January 8, 2023

Elven life in space brims with futuristic technology and magic

The Boyhood of Kaede: The Empire of Elves Book 1, blends Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Japanese mythology into an inventive adventure featuring elves, giants, orcs, ogres, goblins, witches, and dragons. For this adventure, they no longer live on their home planet but have traveled into space. Mars is now home, and travel by spaceship routine and space pirates are a real threat.

 


About The Boyhood of Kaede

The premise of The Boyhood of Kaede uniquely pulls together a strong Sci-Fi theme. Elves build a fleet of spaceships and search for a new home planet. A few of the ships experienced FTL drive malfunctions and couldn't make the jump, but no one discerned this until after the jump. At the heart of the story is the flower elf, Kaede, son of Prince Hiro, who is the son of the Emperor, Takahiro. Kaede shows extraordinary abilities from birth both intellectually and physically. As a toddler, he acts and sounds like a very clever twelve-year-old, and at the crux of the story are those who want to dethrone his family.

Book Review

Author David Applegate delivers a linear plot brimming with believable futuristic technology mixed with magic and a slew of characters providing several layers of subplots. These characters and their history is often introduced through strong dialog. However, he lays out the historical backdrop for this story in the prologue, so don’t skip it. I would like to see the prologue developed into a prequel trilogy for this book series which include Power Games: The Empire of Elves Book 2 and Into the Elves’ Mound: The Empire of Elves Book 3 .

 


I recommend The Boyhood of Kaede to readers who enjoy Sci-Fi/Fantasy. It is a unique story many will enjoy. With that said, in my opinion, the book could use the gentle hand of an editor. It meandered at times, with verbose descriptions distracting from the plot, and I would have enjoyed a little more world-building.

 

As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer, and I received a free review copy of this book and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it.Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

About author David Applegate

David was born in Sydney, Australia and currently lives in Brisbane. He attended QUT, where he studied computer science. David has travelled to Europe and parts of Asia. As a boy, he dreamt of Elves, spaceships and magic. He now intends to share the exciting journey of discovery and adventure with you.


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