Book Review: The Circle of Tivedon, by Ryan Shorten

            This week, I woke up thinking I could use a nice juicy YA paranormal romance. Unfortunately, there were none in my queue. So if you’ve got a story about vampires, werewolves, fairies, Bigfoot, and teenage romance, please send me an email. In the meantime, we’ve got The Circle of Tivedon, by Ryan Shorten—a fantasy adventure with plenty of swords and sorcery. When the story establishes itself, the voice shines through fairly clearly, but it struggles a bit in the beginning to find itself. The villain’s a bit cardboard-y and the jumping POVs can be a little confusing, but for a book with so many characters, The Circle of Tivedon differentiates them pretty well. Humor and voice blend together to create an engaging, if simple, adventure story.

There are no ice women in this book, despite the cover art

            We meet our hero, Jayl, as he and his sister Myah arrive in the city of Tivedon to attend school. Accompanied by a pair of magical Sigils around their necks, they’re in Tivedon to learn all about diplomacy and government—skills that will aid them as they take their father’s place one day in governing their home province. The reader is plunged almost instantly into a character soup as we meet the other students and the teachers. As far as beginnings go, it lacks tension and I don’t feel like there’s a reason to care about most of the characters that are introduced—save Jayl’s roommate, Heret, whose awkward introductory monologue did the job of helping the readers connect to his character.

            As classes begin in Tivedon, Jayl devotes himself to studying . Soon, he’s amassed quite a collection of information on the evil Rimyaroth, the villain who—spoiler alert—we met in the prologue. He encounters a mysterious wizard in the city market and obtains a magical monocle, as well as a bucketful of hints that the Sigils the students wear aren’t just there to swipe you in and out of your dorm. Magic, which we’re told is illegal, is afoot in Tivedon. Despite it being illegal, no one seems too concerned when they see their teachers, who are supposed to be instructing them in good governance, use it like there’s no tomorrow. But it’s a good thing they’ve got magic, because word soon gets out that the evil Rimyaroth has returned. One of the teachers sends Jayl, along with the two bullies who have been picking on him, on a quest to find the magical talisman that can be used to defeat Rimyaroth. And so the adventure begins!

            The author says this book is supposed to be YA, but I honestly feel like it’s better suited for a middle-grade audience. Jayl’s voice didn’t really have the maturity or hormone levels I’d expect to find in a high-school kid—he felt like twelve or fourteen at the oldest. Same with Myah and the rest of the characters. The storyline—shy kid discovers hidden powers, stands up to bullies, makes friends with new people, fights an absolute evil—is a middle-grade storyline. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this—look, it’s the same story we see in books I love, like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. But some minor editing would ensure this book was fit for the 5-8 grade demographic and would probably improve its marketability.

            High Points: The humor. Provided by characters like Heret, this book contains plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The characterization. By the time Jayl’s voice really came through, I ended up liking him a lot more than I had at the beginning. The clarity of the plot. You know who the bad guy is and you know what the characters have to do to defeat him. Not all plots have to be like this, but the author makes clear what he wants to make clear and doesn’t clutter up the book with extraneous plotlines. Foreshadowing. All major events are foreshadowed.

Low Points: First chapter character soup. Makes it hard to get to know the characters because it doesn’t introduce them in a memorable way. Character names. The dump of foreign names you get at the beginning  makes it hard to understand who they are. Climax. It could have been drawn out a little to make it feel more climatic.

Did I like this story? Yes. Would I read it again? Yes. Would I recommend it to people who like YA fantasy? Probably not, but with some minor changes I would recommend it to my twelve year old sister. My rating? As YA fantasy, I’ll give it three stars out of five. As middle-grade, I’d give it four. As a book? Three and a half. 

--Liz Ellor, O43

You can get this week's book here