Reviewed by Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite

Bruce E. Arrington’s Josh Anvil and the Unbreakable Bonds is the fifth book in the Josh Anvil Series. When Daskel mercenaries attack fourteen-year-old Josh and the Canyons of Crat on Leiasam collapse, they bury him under hundreds of feet of rock, and everyone believes him to be dead. Even the gargoyle ruler Partizan confirms that there are no signs of life, and the news of his death spreads quickly across worlds. His friends grieve his loss. What they don’t know is that Josh's Life Guide, the power tree known as Tiaom-end, places him in a state of preservation for thirty days to suppress his dark personality, capable of causing unimaginable destruction. Meanwhile, alien scientist Twirzog creates a dangerous clone to impersonate Josh on Earth. Josh must wake up in time to prevent a catastrophe. But will he be able to broker peace with the alien leader Polvesenth, remake the already devastated homeworld of Reodaistideu, and delay Earth’s reset?

Josh Anvil and the Unbreakable Bonds can be read as a standalone novel. The author provides summaries of what happened in the previous books, making it easier to connect with the characters. Bruce E. Arrington populates the story with elaborately developed characters navigating vividly drawn landscapes, including humans, humanoids, cyborgs, dragons, and aliens. The worldbuilding is magical, and the author fills it with details about life-forms, dangerous threats, and conflicts between aliens and humans. The idea of a ship that expands itself by tapping energy from Tiaom-end is just one of the author’s imaginative creations. The storytelling is cinematic, and I loved the short chapters that make it a breezy read; the timely paragraph breaks create an enjoyable rhythm to the writing; and the descriptions pull you into the well-imagined and skillfully written world. This is an enthralling fantasy with a phenomenal conflict and memorable characters.