Reviewed: July 21st, 2022
Released: December 20th, 2021
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Audiobook narrated by Jillian Yetter
Everyone knows magic isn’t real.
Alien invaders? Ha!
But something destroyed an entire skyscraper in a never-before-seen implosion. Can one skeptical security guard stand between monsters and magic that threaten the world?
Disillusioned with her military career, Red Hernandez crawled back to civilian life as a second tier security lead for an engineering marvel meant to cram more people into the tiny island of Manhattan. She expected her biggest struggles to be integrating back into a society where social media and closet space reigned supreme. But when mysterious forces destroy a building similar to the one she’s chartered to protect, in an implosive blast never before seen, all notions of a cushy retirement job go up in smoke.
With lives on the line, but big money pushing to continue construction, Red finds the steely determination that she’d lost in the desert of her past. Monsters lurk in the shadows, forcing her to re-evaluate everything she believed to be true… and all that she imagined.
Can one woman save the world, or will disbelief be her undoing?
The Guardian of The Palace is the action-packed first book in The Guardian League fantasy series. If you like magic intruding on reality, exploring new worlds, and a good chuckle, then you’ll love Steven J. Morris’s inventive tale.
Helen’s thoughts: 5/5
An absorbing fantasy adventure blending the mundane world we know with fantastical space travelling characters and world anihalating monsters.
Red is a wonderful character, no longer working for special forces, she is now a security guard for a tall skyscraper which is similar to one that has been just destroyed. She is a strong female character storming through a male orientated world, garnering respect wherever she goes. Which is fortunate as her skills are about to be used to save the world.
The supporting characters, Red’s friends Bear and Scan, are as well developed as the elf, troll and the goblin, who are the guardians. Morris has created a complex world where magic is known and accepted, and a strong cast of characters all of whom you’ll find yourselves rooting for. They certainly grow on you as the book progresses.
I listened to the audiobook version, and it does make it a little difficult following the timeline, which jumps around a bit, as we go back forth between the event and what preceded it, but Jillian Yetter does an amazing job narrating, and the story is so well written that once it gets going you are hooked.
About the author:
Engineer, husband, and father of three wonderful girls by day. Fantasy fiction writer by night (and other random times he’s not taxiing kids, pulling hair out of drains, helping with math and science homework, coaching soccer, remodeling rooms, and walking the dogs).
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If you enjoy fantasy books then you will love my epic fantasy Sentinal series. As a new threat against Remargaren is discovered, only one man can wake the ancient guards who can protect them, only he doesn’t know how. Start the adventure and stay for the journey. Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.
Helen Garraway 