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Mike Reeves-McMillan has a black belt, which holds up his trousers. He’s not sure why authors make such a big deal of these, but they are certainly convenient, trouserwise.
For someone with an English degree, he’s spent a surprising amount of time wearing a hard hat. He’s also studied ritualmaking, hypnotherapy and health science.
Mike writes strange worlds that people want to live in. He himself lives in Auckland, New Zealand, surrounded by trees.
Reviewed by Lit Amri for Readers' Favorite
Determined is a Realmgold or ruler of a realm with a struggling dynasty. When the Human Purity movement is on the rise and becomes more threatening, Determined seeks help from Victory, the Realmgold of the neighboring Koskant. An ancient magical treaty between their realms means there is not much Victory could do in terms of aid, but her elite corps of Gryphon Clerks might just be their only solution to the problem. Realmgolds: A Novel of the Gryphon Clerks is a fantasy tale by Mike Reeves-McMillan.
I am very impressed with the world-building right away; there are dwarves, centaurs, sky boats, and sky horses, as well as the ruling class of the human society called golds, silvers, and coppers and much more. This unusual world is an alternate to ours. The plot is clear and well-crafted with solid prose from start to finish. The premise is excellent. Realmgolds is more political than action-packed compared to other fantasy stories, but there are moments of combat and even romance. Author Mike Reeves-McMillan also nails the characterization perfectly. Determined is an inefficient ruler but readers will definitely root for him to overcome his obstacles. Victory is a strong and dynamic female character that I gravitated toward in no time and no doubt it will be the same for other readers as well.
However, the pacing of the story might not suit some readers. First chapter hits the ground running and only slows down in the end; you could say the climax of the story is the other way around. Even so, a fast, entertaining read and definitely a unique fantasy story that you don’t want to miss.
