Secrets of the Egoles Nest by Daniel B. Royer

‘This monumental Science Fiction Fantasy tells us the story of Aben Egole, a young, sheltered boy living in North Carolina with an absent military father. When Aben is approached by a powerful young mystic who shares with him a secret about his incredible heritage and also an organism that will spark his own potential his life changes forever. With the help of a mystical dynasty of Astroknights and his military father, Colonol Ivory Egole, Aben begins a whirlwind off planet adventure. With their new lives just beginning and Abens altered DNA causing powers to manifest as his emotions and experiences change him, the two of them become caught in a battle of good vs evil and an inevitable confrontation with the most dangerous warlord in the Universe’ A nice

introduction to the world of Sci Fi and Fantasy for any young reader, it has a little bit of everything. There is so much creativity throughout the story it’s obvious Royer has an incredible span to his imagination, his real challenge is whether he can focus it and truly draw us in before he whisks us off to his next fantastical thought. I’d have loved the earlier pages of the book to have a bit more personal information about our main protagonist Aben. We know a little in terms of he goes to school, we start in North Carolina, we are in a time of GPS and so forth but we don’t hear much about his emotional state, his hopes or dreams or really many of his inner thoughts at all. With Aben, I found I was more than interested enough in what he was about to go through to want to know more about where he came from but we were already moving on at break neck speed. More time in the beginning would also add some context to the dialogue, as there are times where it seems a little mature for even a very smart 13yr old. I don’t have kids, I don’t know how they are talking these days and Aben has been raised in strict and structured military family so this is only going off my personal view of 13yr olds today, but it seemed the all powerful mystic and the little boy spoke with similar levels of respect and confidence where one might expect awe or confusion considering the outlandish circumstances. Whilst you don’t get the contrast that would help with characterisation what you do get is the potential to push a younger child to a higher reading level due to the intelligence of some of the language used. ‘Secrets of the Egoles Nest’ is easy to read and moves at a swift pace. Royer has jammed a lot in to this, the first book of the Egoles series, to establish and build his world in great detail. It’s a fascinating collection of moments with secret agents, bad guys, superpowers and everything a young reader loves, with that being said I think most kids would jump right into this and I’d recommend it for anyone between the ages of 8 to 15. I also think this would be a good book to read to your child as Royer raises the challenges of raising a young adult and so does not dumb it down. Your kid will finish this book having learnt some new words and having had their imagination stretched, I guarantee it. As an adult it was tougher for me to appreciate (I’m reading Joe Abercrombie and Patrick Rothfuss, somewhat darker authors writing for a more mature audience) so I give it 3 stars but I think a younger reader would give it 4 stars and be really looking forward to the next book in the series.