Alliance: The Paladin Prophecy Book 2

I don't normally write reviews but this felt like a special case. Before you read this book, be warned, there are periods of extremely long and boring sections. The overall book is fairly decent, but with all the long and boring explanations one might just give up on it. Now I finished the book because I believe in second chances. What I am trying to say is that there will be points where you will want to fall asleep, but trust me, the ending makes up for it.

This book series is unlike anything I have ever read. It's exciting intelligent and above all else the list could be used by anyone in everyday life.
I like that the author never reveals his hand until the exact moment he means to. It really keeps you on edge while reading.
I enjoy the development of the characters in the story and the way he portrays them. I would definetly

Great read, and continues on the Paladin Prophecy saga. However, I felt that the author took too long and slowed the reading and interest down. There were only a couple of "real excitement" chapters. Then, at the end, just a cut-off. I felt as if the author just ran out of time to complete the book and said "to be continued".

great series so far. story really draws you in, then bam! it's over. cannot wait for the Next book in the series. book one set things up nicely and then this book just moves things along to draw you in then leaves you hanging, but in the best way.

I should have realized before I started reading this novel that I probably wasn’t the target audience. Still, I try to read a wide variety of fiction so I gave it a shot. What I found was a young adult fantasy (or perhaps science fantasy since it is based on some seriously shaky science that doesn’t seem to have any basis in the real world) that has many of the failings that I typically find in the genre.

For one thing, the characterization left a bit to be desired. The characters were fairly stereotypical and generic. Characters are the life blood of a series, and none of these characters were compelling enough for me to root for them, especially Nick, who was the typical meathead type of lumbering jock. The background of the story is convoluted and not well explained. Some of the terms that the characters used such as “The Never Was” and “The other team” seemed childish to me. So much of this novel was formulaic from the pre-teen love triangle to the betrayal from within to the evil authority figures. The novel was ultimately forgettable and didn’t stand out to me in any way. On the plus side, the writing was pretty solid and I don’t have any quibbles about the author’s ability to write prose. Given that I’m not the target audience, take this review with a grain of salt.

Carl Alves – author of Battle of the Soul

True story. I am reviewing this book for the publisher. Now that that's out of the way, my obligation to them is done. Prior to receiving Alliance, I had never read the Paladin Prophecy (TPP) , so of course I had to read it first. It is one of the most riveting, intelligent piece of fiction I have ever read. Wow. Off the bat, let me say I'm partial to TPP. Mark Frost is a great writer and if there is ever any need for evidence, read The Paladin Prophecy! It grabbed me from the beginning to the end and didn't let go once! Mark treated the reader like intelligent people. That is something that stood out to me, particularly. He didn't over explain something and he didn't really set the scene of a piece on information with a lot of jibber-jabber. The info just flowed as the book unfolded in a precise intelligent manner. Nothing was ever surprising disclosed. Off the bat, the powers that Will West possessed wasn't like, "OMG, I have these powers, woooooaaahhhh", It was more like, "yeah, I already had these but it's improving". So refreshing. After reading many "the one" books, it was nice to see a different spin on the one. Plus, "the one" wasn't really just one, too. Awesome! But it still kinda felt like he was the one. This is great cuz I like my hero to have most of the limelight! Score!

Enter, Elise, Nick, Brook and Ajay! Yaaaayyy. He has a posse with their own, let's say uuummm, special skills? uh-uh. Awesome plus there is a burgeoning love connection that isn't the focus of the book, score! Love stories are great but this book is way more than that and that's how I like it! I will not reveal much about what happens in the book but, Wow! Mark really hit the cake on this one. I was all, "Nooooo. Oh wait, I have book two" at the end of book one. I just loved it! It was good to read something I did not have to slave through just because I had a commitment to it. It was amazing and I opened Alliance excited to know more.

Alliance. The kids re all are awake (aware of the shtuff happening around them). Oh, Will West is so amazing. I have a crush on his smartness. sooo awesome. He was all like evasive and smart in book one which i like. I don't want him to be stupid even if it is for the progress of the book and trust me he wasn't. He did have a learning cuz but who doesn't when shtuff goes down but he was all prepared. Ok. Alliance. Alliance to me was great but wan't as good as TPP. Maybe it's because I'm so enamored with the intelligence of TPP but oh well, it was great and revealing, sorta. You have to read it to understand, that Allaince was only the logical conclusion, that's why it was revealing-ish. It wasn't predictable per say, but if you're smart,with info from book one you can connect the dots and factor in the new information. I loved it and can't wait for book three to come out! I know, it'd be even more brilliant than the past two books! Go Will West & the Alliance!!!!!!

Check out The Paladin Prophecy on the store, Random House Books, and Barnes & Noble .

Check out Alliance on Barnes & Noble and the store

You won't regret it!

The Story-

Will and his friends are staying the summer at the Center. Will is learning to develop his powers, knowing that the Knights of Charlemagne might not truly be gone. The group fears that creatures from the Never-was will return and overwhelm them. The only person they can question is the boys' locker attendant, Nepsted. Nepsted is revealed to be a former Knight and agrees to spill his secrets if Will brings him a key that will release him from the boys locker room.

Will, Nick, Ajay, Brook and Elise realize that the key must be hidden deep in the underground tunnels beneath the lake. Will gets a job at the castle on the island, hoping to break into the one known entrance to the tunnels. While working, Will learns from old documents that his family once owned the Center and were influential in the Knights of Charlemagne.

The group uses all of their newly honed powers to break into the tunnels. Things are normal until they discover a lost city where creatures from the Never-was once dwelt. Inside the city, is a laboratory where horrible experiments were performed. The group gets more than they bargained for, and the information they learn puts them deeper into danger. Plus, one of their group might be a traitor, and the black caps are circling like vultures.

My Thoughts-

I really loved this second book. So many of the questions from book 1 were answered, and they were not normal answers, they are totally creepy and weird answers.

The characters are all further developed, each practicing to enhance their powers and fight against evil. They form a deep bond as they work together, which is all the more crushing when you find out one of them is a traitor! Great twist. Will finds out things about his ancestors that are shocking and I found it interesting trying to relate Will to his past. Luck was with him when he was raised by his alternate parents.

This series is getting good, and I can't wait to see what the next book brings. All the twists and turns keep going and going, and just when you have one answer, another question pops up. Plus, we get our Aussie guardian angel back. 4 stars!

While the first book in the series, THE PALADIN PROPHECY, is set up as a thriller, Mark Frost’s ALLIANCE showcases all the best attributes of an old-fashioned quest. If you like young adult, adventure, conspiracies, and stories about slightly sinister boarding schools for children with ‘special’ talents, then you’re going to enjoy ALLIANCE.

Now that Will, Elise, Ajay, Nick, and Brooke are aware of what they can do, they start to stretch their muscles, and apply their supernatural skills to finding a key that will get them some answers from the locker room attendant, Jolly Nepsted – who actually lived through the events that set everything in motion. This key-in-exchange-for-answers seemed like an obvious plot device at first, but Frost turned it around toward the end, demonstrating that there was an actual foundation for Nepsted’s reluctance to share his knowledge with the group of bright-eyed kids just offering to help.

However Frost got them there, the quest is the brightest part of the novel. As in any good conspiracy story, there are a ton of unanswered questions; Will and Co.’s adventure deep, deep, under the island near their school sheds a little light, though some aspects of the greater fight are lost in the detail. Frost does a wonderful job describing what they find down in the bowels of the earth in both its scale and spookiness, and it’s fun to watch the kids exercise their abilities as they navigate what might just be the lost city of an ancient race. They find more than a key in the mysterious underground hospital, and it’s both horrific and fascinating at the same time – not quite a surprise, but creepy nonetheless.

Will does a nice job of recapping most of the events of THE PALADIN PROPHECY in the first chapter of ALLIANCE, but reading the first book provides some context for the relationships among the characters which develop extremely fast, partly out of necessity. When you spend a semester communicating telepathically, naturally you’re going to become close. I rolled my eyes at Will’s secret glee when two girls demonstrate interest in him at the same time, but it’s hard to fault him for being a teenage boy. The romance aspect of the book is not subtle, but I did get drawn into the not-quite-a-love-triangle, and felt somewhat smug at its resolution.

The ending of the novel itself is a little abrupt, but I definitely look forward to finding out what happens next.

"After exposing the sinister underground society of students known as the Knights of Charlemagne, Will West stays at the Center over the summer to explore his newly developing physical and mental abilities. Meanwhile, his roommates investigate the Knights' shadowy purpose and discover unsettling information about their own backgrounds. Will and his friends must quickly figure out what's going on and separate friend from foe as they prepare for the coming fight."

This is the second book in the Paladin Prophecy, the YA series by author Mark Frost and it continues the group's search for answers to the mystery and the purpose of the Knights of Charlemagne. It's a bit slower paced than the first book with less running away from or fighting with bad guys and more exploring in some rather strange places. That isn't to say it's not as good as the first book but, rather, that it's more 'laid back' if you will, spending more time fleshing out the back stories of Will West, the school, and the knights. In many ways, this felt like a set-up for the next book so it won't come as a surprise that it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.

Despite its slower pace, Alliance is still quite a fun read and just as hard to put down as the first book. The gang are all as likable and witty as ever and we get a chance to see them develop more of their powers. There are also hints of coming battles and the purpose they are expected to play in them. Although Alliance isn't as exciting as Paladin, it does a great job of setting the stage for future events. I am really looking forward to the next in the series because, judging from the events and hints in this book, it's gonna be a doozy.

Now, most people give out vague responses on these reviews, for good reasons as not to give out spoilers, but more oft then not, they honestly don't give credit to the entirety of the book. I got the first book yesterday, 550-ish pages, give or take, and read it in 3 hours. After that, I re-read it again in 3 hours. The very next day I went right back to the library and grabbed this book. It was read in 2 hours. I have not read a book this suspenseful, manipulative, calculating, perfect, astronomical, and every other word that can be used to describe something that was so perfectly blended together that it made your heart wrench with terror at every bump, that made your eyes glisten with unshed tears at the pure agony the characters go through.
I would, and have, recommended it to every single person that I know reads atleast one book a year, and quite vigorously too. Reading is my passion, dare I say, my addiction. Homework, work, sleep, etc. all are pushed aside when I get a good book in my hands. This book is for anyone over the age of 14. Any younger and I fear the witty humor might be lost. This book is very cynical in its wording, no holds are barred to those who are faint of heart. Careful ye who tred upon this series, for thou will not recover from the wound layne upon thy soul. 5/5, Would, and have, read again, and again, and again.
I ask one, and only one, question. Are you ready for reading something that will up-heave your world?

This book started out slow but that may just have been because it took me forever to read because of all my school work. but OMG the ending was not expected in this book, total cliffhanger can't wait to read the third book in the series. I wonder what will will do.