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Book Review: The Forest's Keeper by E.E. Hornburg



The Forest's Keeper book cover


I received an advanced reading copy of this novel for my unbiased review.

The Forest's Keeper by E.E. Hornburg is the third book in The Cursed Queens trilogy. I have not read the first two novels but I found this to be a lackluster fantasy novel that fails on several levels. The book follows a young woman, Rose, who becomes heir to the throne of Marali because her eldest sister, Eira, is warding off a curse in another castle and, somehow, this prevents the eldest sister from fulfilling her duties to the kingdom. Rose does not want to rule once her father dies; she would rather be a member of the palace guard. Unfortunately, the novel's weak writing skills and uneven narrative make for a disappointing read.

From the start, the author's writing skills leave much to be desired. The prose is often clunky and overly simplistic, lacking depth or nuance. Numerous grammatical and structural errors jar the reader. And although perfect textbook grammar is neither necessary nor desired for fiction, writing clearly written, easy-to-understand prose is vital. For example, a reader cannot help but stop short at "On his horse at Rose's side, Cal looked at the mountain with furrowed brows, his sharp blue eyes taking in the area and strong chin." Or, "But the one mocking her crouched to the ground as she giving Rose nabbed her crutch and sack, along with the other Shadowslayers." The dialogue is similarly uninspired, with characters speaking in wooden and unnatural ways, such as the protagonist using "hurl" instead of "vomit", which is more suited to Wayne's World than a fantasy world.

The book's narrative is also poorly constructed, with uneven pacing and odd narrative choices making it difficult to get invested in the story. There is a particular moment where the novel jumps from a traditional fantasy narrative to a romance narrative. To be clear, I love a good romance novel as much as anyone and I don't mind some hot sex in a fantasy novel (I'm looking at you, Sarah J. Maas) but it has to serve the plot and the characters. The sudden jump to graphic sex left me disoriented and confused. Even worse, the author made laughable mistakes in word choice, using "taught" instead of "taut" in two instances.

Overall, The Forest's Keeper is a disappointing, poorly written, and forgettable novel that fails to reach its potential. I would suggest the author take Stephen King's advice: "You have to read widely, constantly refining (and redefining) your own work as you do so. If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” The lack of writing skills and uneven narrative make it a difficult read, and it's hard to recommend to anyone looking for a satisfying fantasy adventure.

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