Sentinel
D.M. Paul
Reviewed by Jenny Salyers
Fox
Strongbox was considered special from birth. From a very
early age he
has been
in training to become one of the Elf King’s elite guardians known as
Sentinels.
His final test of his training takes him and his mentor Eldin out of
the elf
kingdom to a remote island to test his skill. On the return journey, an
unplanned attack by an elder black dragon leaves fox and the sentinel’s
bird
mounts wounded, and Eldin possessed by the spirit of the dying dragon’s
spirit.
Draco
(as Eldin has now become), learns of the location of the key to unlock
an
ancient and powerful artifact through the elder sentinel’s memories.
Draco
becomes obsessed with obtaining the artifact and the power that it will
grant
him.
Along
with the king’s high wizard, Fox sets off to Cloudville to stop Draco,
and
rescue his mentor from Draco’s evil control. Their quest is joined by
the two
agents from the Incantation Enforcement Agency as they search for the
location
of the artifact’s hiding spot (long forgotten where it was by almost
everyone)
and keep the hidden artifact as it was meant to be: buried away forever.
Sentinel
is the second installation in the One Wizard
Place
series. Author D. M. Paul masterfully weaves together Fox’s story with
events
that took place during the first book (One Wizard Place). As a
contrast
to One Wizard Place, the reader is treated to a more in-depth
exploration of the elf kingdom and the massive city of Cloudview.
At the same time, though, plot and character development do not suffer.
This
book has cemented in my opinion that this is one of the best new young
adult
fantasy series that I have read this year.