Crown of the Realm by D. Dalton

This young adult fantasy book is about the return of ancient evil in which the Crown of the Realm was stolen. The main character, Derora Saxen was oblivious to that fact. What she does know, at her young age, is that she wants to be a warrior. As part of this endeavor, she set out from her village with her best friend Kelin. But by helping a stranger, she was pulled into an age-old feud which would determine her destiny. The good guys in the story are the elves, and the bad guys are called chemmen.

I am fascinated by the way Dalton weaves fantasy with reality. Some of the characters clearly have down-to-earth, modern-day human qualities, and this is evidenced in their dialog. Then there are other characters who are dwarves and elves who clearly denote a fantasy world. I like how she gives characters unusual names like Kaleb and Vlade. Though I am quite a bit older than the intended age group for this book, the quality of writing and the sheer imagery took me back to the days when I read the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. I found myself absorbed in this book. In fact, this is the kind of book that you don't want to put down. I spent every free minute reading it, and was annoyed when I was called away to do a household task.

I don't want you to think that Crown of the Realm is a mere copy of the famous fantasy books mentioned above — quite the contrary. It is blessed with its own identity and signature sense of humor. The author is a master at employing archaic language to establish the setting and let the reader know that he or she is in a different realm — a magical place. Here is an example: "… mayhap I'll go even later because I'm missing some sleep!" Though I have not read every fantasy book out there, I can say that it is unusual for the main character to be a young lady. Der's (Derora's nickname) drive and zest for life as she meets the challenges throughout the book are a breath of fresh air and a testament to women's modern-day place in non-fantasy society. Indeed, there are many lessons to be learned from this book. I came away feeling more courageous with a greater desire to help others — quite unusual when you compare Crown of the Realm with your run-of-the-mill fantasy book that is read for mere entertainment value and little else.

Crown of the Realm, the first of five books in the All Things Impossible series, is a must read for fantasy buffs, as it will open new doors and broaden your horizons. For those just getting your feet wet in the realm of fantasy fiction, this is a good place to start because there are plenty of references to our "non-fantasy" world for you to get your bearings. None too often, a fantasy author will devise a marvelous, fantasy world, but will forget to clue the reader in on how that world came to be and fail to give the reader sufficient references to the real world. Well, this is not the case with Crown of the Realm: I always knew where I was while reading this book despite the new and exciting concepts. If you like reading e-books, you can download this book free at the author's webpage: http://www.allthingsimpossible.com/ or, if you prefer a physical paper book, you can buy it from Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/All-Things-Impossible-Crown-Realm/dp/0578023253. If you have a sharp eye for typos (I found none), you might want to consider notifying the author about them, as she will send you a free bookmark for your troubles.