Review: Soulkeeper (The Keepers #1) by David Dalglish

Rating: 9.5/10

Synopsis

Devin is a Soulkeeper, a preacher in the religious order that follows The Sisters. He is as devoted to his job as any, as such Devin is the first to learn when the Gods have awakened. These are not his Gods, though, but demigods and dragons from ancient myth. Devin can hardly believe it, until he sees the effects with his own eyes. The black flood. Faeries. Giant man-eating plants. And a moving mountain that threatens to crush his village.

Now Devin is pressed with a new task: protect the people from these angry, divine beings. He will not be alone, though, as he has a group of friends just as dedicated to save the human race – including one who has taken advantage of the recent change in circumstances to learn powerful magic. Devin and his crew must pull out all the stops if they are going to keep the human race alive.

Review

I enjoyed reading Soukeeper very much, as there were just so many different aspects of this book that appealed to me. From the characters, to the dialogue, to the writing style, there was just so much to enjoy about the book. This is my first David Dalglish book, and I immediately added his previous releases to my TBR (seriously, go check my Goodreads).

My favorite part of this book is the character set. The story contains many interesting characters, both human and non-human, that carried me through the book and kept my interest. There is Devin, the main protagonist, the Soulkeeper-cum-warrior who has dedicated his life to the people and is not going to stop just because some Gods and their minions have decided to return. Tommy is Devin’s brother-in-law, and he plays the role of mage in the book – having discovered powerful magic exists in their new reality. Adria is Devin’s sister, and she is a Mindkeeper. Also a member of the order, but her job is as someone who comforts and heals people in their time of need. Adria plays an important role, too, as she realizes she can now heal people instantaneously. This is a kind of traditional trio of heroes (Warrior, Mage, Healer), which the author uses as a base to build the remaining characters.

Our heroes meet some friends along the way, as well, that add to the personality of the team, my favorite being Jacaranda. After Devin rescues her from dire circumstances she becomes part of the squad, and she is such a firecracker. Her boisterous personality brings a ton of joy and fun to the team, and she becomes incredibly important.

In addition, there are monsters. So many monsters: Giant owls, man-eating plants, faeries, and many more. Even dragons make a cameo. Add in Gods and Demigods, one of which is a murderous sociopath bent on the destruction of the human race, and this is a character set that cannot be beat. I love how diverse and interesting the characters are.

While this amazing set of characters is the base of the story, the writing is what carries the book from there. I loved David Dalglishes’ writing style; it felt so smooth and effortless. One word flowed so easily to the next, making the book so easy to read (and hard to put down). The descriptions were great, and I felt really immersed into this world. Dialogue was on point, as well, and I cannot remember thinking one time that something a character said awkward or out of place. The story is full of great plot devices that move the story along, too, that I never really questioned any of the characters’ actions. I love writing that grabs ahold of me and keeps me interested immersed in the story; David Dalglish has provided that in Soulkeeper.

One more big positive is the ending of the book: it was enthralling. Not only does it wrap up this book rather nicely, but the best part of it is that it sets up the next book to be even more epic. As much as I liked Soulkeeper, I love even more the fact that it looks to be the precursor to a story that is going to get bigger, deeper, and better. That feeling of anticipation is a major plus, and I cannot wait to read Ravencaller (Book 2 in The Soulkeepers series).

The only thing that kept it from a perfect score is that I am unsure if the God-Demigod relationship to this world is fully explained. This actually happens often with books where all-powerful beings are involved: they do not always act like all-powerful beings, and without a full explanation of that it remains a bit of a mystery to me. This is not a big enough flaw to make a huge difference to me, as the rest of the story was just so good.

Soukeeper is so good, y’all. I love just about everything about it: the characters, the writing, the plot, the ending. The longing it created that will last until I read the next book in the series is real. I highly recommend this book for all fans of fantasy.