Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club! Without giving any spoilers away, as always, we will be discussing Sacrifice Of The Season by Daryl Parker. This book was a gift from Johnny because the author is someone we are very familiar with. Daryl Parker was a former contestant on season two of Top Shot! Lol when we learned he was a novelist, I just had to read whatever it was he created. Surprisingly to both me and Johnny, Sacrifice Of The Season is a full blown fantasy novel! Before we begin our discussion, I will be placing a trigger warning on this read for general violence. Now, let’s get to it:

John’s beloved Grandpa Jack is dying. He can’t pass away without telling one last story, though, and it is an important one. John’s brother died mysteriously in their youth and Jack claims to know how. He also must leave one final quest to John that he cannot complete himself. To understand fully, Jack needs to tell John about his own strange and fantastical youth. A childhood of adventure, goblins, and unlikely friends. It all began in Cobbs, West Virginia…

Young Jack lived with his entrepreneur father, doting mother, and little sister Abigail in Philadelphia. The patriarch, Thomas, invested in Cobbs as it was an up and coming mining town and it was an offer too good to pass up. So, the family uprooted their life in the city to the frontier town of Cobbs where his father would oversee the mines. Cobbs is nothing like Philadelphia and Jack notices how odd the townsfolk act towards him and Abby. They are rude to the point of being cold to Jack and simply adoring of Abby.

As the family settles into their new lives, Jack adjusts and even makes friends with a boy in the mining camp. He also takes a shine to one of the helpers at the mine, Lucius, who has one blind eye and a horribly disfigured arm. During one of their excursions to ship product, Lucius warns Jack to trust no one in Cobbs. Jack had no idea what this was in reference to, but he was soon to find out.

At the annual harvest celebration in Cobbs, a game called Fox Hunt is played by the children. A name is called and that child is the “fox”. All of the other kids are hounds and they must find the fox. This year, little Abby gets the honor of the fox and beelines for the corn fields to evade the other children. Abby is but five years old and can’t get too far and Jack immediately feels concern when she isn’t found quickly. As the minutes pass by, none of the other kids can find her either. Abby has seemingly disappeared without a trace.

Thomas calls for a search party and a handsome reward for anyone who brings Abby home safely. Jack’s mother is beside herself and he wants to make himself useful by joining the search. But, first, there is someone he must talk to. Someone who knows Cobbs better than anyone and its potentially dark secrets. Lucius. Yes, Lucius knows exactly who or rather what took Abby and he knows first hand the danger she is in because he experienced it himself when he was a boy. Abby is in another world altogether. A world called Lumis.

Lumis is the land of the Ba’ath. They are Mother Nature’s right hand men and women and served as consultants to humans from the beginning of time through their infinite wisdom. As centuries passed, some members of the Ba’ath grew bitter towards mankind who would not take their advice and create great catastrophe. These members formed their own alliance based on the desire to cleanse the human world. They also need help with their bidding and summoned terrible wights as well as transformed children into goblins to assist in the cause.

Lucius explains that Abby is still alive, but she is not herself. To bring her back to Earth as the little girl she once was, the creature who transformed her must be slain. Time is of the essence as the rogue Ba’aths solidify their plans to overtake mankind and are all but ready to perform their spell. Their quest is dangerous and could be an instant death sentence for Jack, Abby, and Lucius. However, they must try. Will Jack and Lucius succeed and save life as they know it? Read Sacrifice Of The Season to find out!

As you can probably tell, this book is definitely not what I would normally read. I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t enjoy it though! In fact, Sacrifice Of The Season was so different than what I read that it had me hooked lol. I couldn’t wait to open it up and continue hearing the tale of the magical and deadly in a small frontier town. Yes, it was far fetched to the point of almost being goofy. But, it was still a good story none of the less.

I was actually fairly impressed with Daryl Parker’s writing chops. He was able to emulate an old mining town perfectly and it felt like I was right there with Jack in Cobbs. Yes, this book was riddled with typos as I expected it to be. BUT, it was still a good story none of the less! If Parker’s writing wasn’t as good as it was, Sacrifice Of The Season could have been a failure of epic proportions. It wasn’t and I’m honestly eager to read the next book of the series.

Part of the success of Parker’s writing was through the characters he created. It was easy to love Jack who was so brave and would have gone to the ends of the Earth to save his sister. He did one better and went into an entirely different dimension! Gruff Lucius was also a very successful character and it was exciting to read every twist and turn of their quest. They were an unlikely pair, but they complimented each other beautifully.

Overall, I am going to award Sacrifice Of The Season with a six out of ten stars. It was much better than just average and I consider it an excellent try at a first novel. If you are looking for a new fantasy read or if you just love the show Top Shot, I’d highly recommend it!

Who is a random author that you love? What is your favorite fantasy novel? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah