REVIEW: Masters of the Veil by Daniel A. Cohen

 

Author: Daniel Cohen

Series: The Veil Trilogy

Pages: 300

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Amazon: Masters of the Veil $2.99

Synopsis.

Life can't get much better for Sam Lock. Popular, good-looking, and with a future as a professional football player. every guy at Stanton High School wishes he were Sam. That is, until his championship football game, when Sam accidentally links with an ancient source of energy known as the Veil and reveals his potential to become a powerful sorcerer. Sam is whisked off to Atlas Crown, a community of sorcerers who utilize the Veil as a part of everyday life. Once there, he trains beside a mute boy who speaks through music, an eternal sage who's the eyes and ears of the Veil, and a beautiful girl who's pretty sure Sam's an idiot. As it becomes clear Sam's meant for power magic-the most feared and misunderstood form of sorcery-people beyond Atlas Crown learn of his dangerous potential. An exiled group of power sorcerers are eager to recruit Sam, believing that he is destined to help them achieve their long-held goal. If they succeed, they could bring about the downfall of not only Atlas Crown. but all humankind.

REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars

Masters of the Veil is a book which synopsis captured me from the moment I first read it and I knew I just had to get hold of it. Thankfully it lived up to all of my expectations.

Mr. Cohen has weaved a fantasy story in a wonderfully detailed setting with characters that are so likeable that you can’t help but be engrossed by the story he is telling.

All popular, good-looking Samuel ‘Sam’ Lock wants to do is play football, it has been his lifelong dream to go pro but during the championship game everything goes wrong – time freezes and his team lose the game at the last moment and if that isn’t bad enough he realizes he is to blame as he has linked into the Veil, a magical world he had no idea even existed.

Sam finds himself whisked off to Atlas Crown, a place he could only imagine in his dreams and it is here he finds out who and what he actually is – a sorcerer and a very powerful one at that. He will train with other sorcerers to harness his powers and learn to wield his magic.

Sam to me was a typical teen, at times he came across as cocky, arrogant and self-centered but at others there was vulnerability about him. I felt for him and how his world and dreams had virtually been turned upside down in a single moment – he had been taken to a place he wouldn’t have thought existed or where he belonged but he adapted and trained with his sole purpose of hopefully returning home and having things return back to ‘normal’. I liked him as a character and appreciated his handling of the unusual circumstances.

The world Mr. Cohen has created is fascinating and unique; I felt it took a while to get clear answers and an understanding of what was going on but it was a nice journey to get to the point where Sam’s true purpose was outlined and understood. Each of the ‘bad guys’ were also fleshed out well with their sole purpose to take down Atlas Crown and use Sam to help do this.

Masters of the Veil is filled with adventure, intrigue, magic and mystery. Each of the characters were wonderful, I especially enjoyed mysterious Bariv, knowledgeable May, Master Rona and Glissandro Thicket who is mute and communicates through his horn.

There is a possible relationship in the works between Sam and Daphne but it is definitely not at the forefront of this story, we also have Cassiella vying for his attention.

Overall, the delightful world Mr. Cohen has created kept me riveted and wanting to know so much more. The writing was wonderful and each of the characters likeable, they are people I wanted to get to know more about and the setting was truly wonderful. If you are after a fun, adventure filled ride with action, magic and intrigue then Masters of the Veil will be for you.

Masters of the Veil is part of a trilogy; I’ll definitely be picking up the next book in this series.