Calen Bryer is coming of age in the village of Milltown, and that means The Proving is just around the corner. He and the other young men around his age will be split into teams and sent into Olm Forest for three days and nights, and the team that emerges with the head of the most dangerous prey animal will be declared the winner, and grow in status within the village. This is a test of courage, fighting skill, and teamwork that not everyone survives. Calen enters the forest teamed up with his good friends Dann and Rist, but none of them are prepared for what they find. Their discovery kicks off a series of events that eventually puts his entire village at risk, and results in all 3 of them becoming embroiled in a centuries old war. A war fought between Jotnar (Giants,) Elves, Dwarves, Uraks, and even Dragons. We've seen most of this before, so does this all add up to another great epic fantasy series or is this just another fantasy series in a crowded genre?

Sadly for me this was the latter. There was nothing wrong with the world building, or even the characters, but there was also nothing special either. I never really grew to care about Calen, and even though the blurb for this one tries to position it as avoiding the typical fantasy trope of a main character "chosen one", it seems to embrace every other trope there is. This does seem to be the lowest rated book in the series, so there is hope that the characters become more interesting over the rest of the series. However, in such a crowded genre, that makes this series a bit less appealing. I was really in the mood for a traditional swords & sorcery fantasy series, but this one did not sate my appetite.

Derek Perkins does a decent job on the narration, but it still wasn't enough for me.