Reviewed by lindsey on
The Thirteenth Tower is about Emelyn, an orphan who works as a servant in a small village. A festival is starting the day the story begins, and Emelyn is looking forward to finishing her chores so she can attend. While she's working, she hears music nearby and goes to investigate. What she finds leads her on a long journey to discover herself and her past.
It doesn't take long for the plot to move forward, and I was instantly drawn into the story. It got a bit slow in the middle, as Emelyn and her companions were mostly just walking through the woods, occasionally running into something strange or dangerous. It picked up again near the end, and the final confrontation was well-written and more exciting than the previous few chapters.
Thought I had an inkling of how things would ultimately turn out, I was still interested to find out exactly what would happen. I felt a few things could have been fleshed out a little more, but hopefully this is going to be a series, so maybe those small things will be explored a little more in future books.
There also wasn't much character development, which is a shame. Emelyn, especially, had so much room to grow on the journey, and it was only at the very end that she showed any change at all.
The Thirteenth Tower is a fairly clean (only one very small scene at the beginning), middle-grade fantasy, with creative world building and an interesting plot.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 13 April, 2015: Finished reading
- 13 April, 2015: Reviewed