Book Review: The Battle that was Lost (Ringlander, #0.5) by Michael S. Jackson
ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art illustrated by: John Anthony di Giovanni
The Battle that was Lost by Michael S. Jackson
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Series: Ringlander (Book #0.5)
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 104 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: 13th October 2022 (Self-published)
An action-packed one-sitting read, The Battle that was Lost is an introductory novella to the Ringlander that shows glimpses of Jackson’s skill at writing actions and a fast-paced story.
The Battle that was Lost is the prequel novella to the Ringlander series by Michael S. Jackson. Even though I have owned the first novel in Ringlander, The Path and the Way, for quite a while now, I still haven’t got the chance to read it yet. Why? I have no excuses except to blame it on the constant fluctuating reading mood and overwhelming TBR pile and review requests. Because of this, I thought I might as well give the 50 pages-ish (the last 50 pages of The Battle that was Lost are preview chapters of The Path and the Way) prequel novella first and see how I feel about it.
The entirety of this 50 pages novella is packed with battle scenes, and I think the battles were well-written. Jackson has a way of pulling readers into feeling the frantic and scary situation of close-quarter combats. However, I will also mention this. Flashy or well-written action scenes alone aren’t enough for me. I need to care for the characters to feel immersed in the battles. And unfortunately, due to the low page count, even though there were flashbacks implemented for the main characters, there weren’t enough focus and characterizations to make me care about the character’s ordeals. I have a feeling one or two characters from the novella do appear in the main novel, and although I can’t confirm this as of now, I have an inkling I will enjoy The Battle that was Lost more if I have read The Path and the Way first.
But overall, if you’re curious about the author’s writing style, The Battle that was Lost is a good novella that will serve the purpose of introducing readers to the author’s prose and storytelling style. I look forward to reading The Path and the Way, and then I’ll let you know whether the novella improved or not after that.
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