Book Review: The Sword and the Rose

The Sword and the Rose – Fun and Engaging Middle Grade Fantasy Series

Author: Robert Iannone
Rating: 5 of 5
Format: Kindle

M’Earth, King of all Aeriaana and its inhabitants of humans, dragons, and sea serpents, posses the Crystal Egg and its magic making him all powerful. Tranquility exists throughout the land, with one exception, the king’s daughter – Rose’Alynnia. At ten-years-old, she is as precocious as they come and the King decides it is time for her to learn perspective in order to be a wise and thoughtful future ruler. So M’Earth sent her off to learn from the dragons and the serpents their history and ways of the world. Years passed, Rose matures, and when a strange man comes to their world, she alone sees the evil within him. But is she too late, will the man take the Egg and control all that they had fought so hard to create?

Robert Iannone’s “The Sword and the Rose” has all the elements of a classic book for middle grade children. He wonderfully portrays Rose’s character, showing her wonderment as a child moving to adulthood as well as her flaws of seeing the world through a narrow perspective. Instead of telling readers how they should behave, they learn as Rose learns about her world, not from other humans but dragons and serpents which wonderfully conveys how we all can learn something from those who are very different from us. The archetype “bad guy” comes and Rose must sacrifice much in order to save the future of her world. Her transformation throughout the book is a wonderful lesson to young readers.

This is the prequel to a much larger series of books in this world. If you have young readers looking for something just a little bit different but still solidly based in fantasy, pick up this prequel. They are sure to enjoy the introduction to this world.

Note: A complimentary copy of this work was provided in return for a review.