Graham Downs reviewed Spear of Destiny by J.F. Penn (ARKANE, #13)
This Series Never Disappoints
4 stars
I've been reading ARKANE since the very beginning. I read the first three books when they still had their old, Biblical titles and covers, before J.F. Penn redid them. Back when I was still posting to that other social reading site (go there if you want to read my reviews for all the previous books).
I have mad respect for this author, and mad respect for the series. I've been following her journey since before she left her day job to pursue writing full time, and I feel like she and I have a lot of common... okay, now I sound like this creepy stalker dude, but I promise I'm not. I just think many of her experiences mirror my own, is all.
Something I really enjoy about the series is the fact that one of the main characters is South African, and even though the author isn't …
I've been reading ARKANE since the very beginning. I read the first three books when they still had their old, Biblical titles and covers, before J.F. Penn redid them. Back when I was still posting to that other social reading site (go there if you want to read my reviews for all the previous books).
I have mad respect for this author, and mad respect for the series. I've been following her journey since before she left her day job to pursue writing full time, and I feel like she and I have a lot of common... okay, now I sound like this creepy stalker dude, but I promise I'm not. I just think many of her experiences mirror my own, is all.
Something I really enjoy about the series is the fact that one of the main characters is South African, and even though the author isn't South African, this character's experiences are so authentic. He emigrated to the UK to escape the crime here, after experiencing a deeply traumatic event. And honestly, that it such a common story; I think every South African knows at least one other person who can relate. I know I can. So yeah, I like Jake.
I like Morgan too. Morgan's a scholar. She doesn't necessarily believe in any particular god, but she's witnessed enough of the supernatural to know that there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio.
This story's been a long time coming, but like all ARKANE thrillers, it's worth the wait because it's exquisitely researched. All (well, most) of the places the characters visit are real places which the author herself has visited, and it shows. Likewise, most of the backstory is real too, and resarched in great depth (there's even a full bibliography in the back matter), and then the author takes inspiration from that and runs with it to create the fiction.
Honestly, if you like this sort of thing, you'll love this series. Fair warning, though: although most of these books can probably be read as standalones, I would say you probably need to have at least read Book 12 before enjoying this one. But, I mean, they're not going anywhere, so why not start all the way from the beginning, at Book One?