Book Review: The Sheriff by Simon Fairbanks (published by Simon Fairbanks)
This short, quick read was delightful and I really enjoyed it! It is an action and adventure fantasy that pulls you into it’s imaginative world and the detective tale that unfolds. It follows the story of Sheriff Denebola, a lion who walks on two legs and who is sworn to protect everyone in the world of Nephos by the Maverick, a descendent of the Clown.
Nephos is a world in the clouds that was created by the Clown three hundred years in the past. The twelve magical races (dragons, witches, sorcerers, fairies, featherfolk, nightmares, nymphs, skinchangers, ghosts, mome raths, elementals and humans born with magic called The Gift) moved here from earth after the humans persecuted them for their magic. Denebola is one of twelve sheriffs who roam Nephos keeping order amongst the different races. As he is returning from a job sorting out some noisy witches, he is accosted by Toby, a human boy with The Gift.
Most of the humans descended from the original bunch who first moved to Nephos no longer have any magic. They live in small settlements, on floating clouds and trade useful items with other villages as they pass by on their clouds. Toby’s village has a problem which he hopes Denebola can solve – there is an ‘angel’ and a ‘demon’ currently residing there and the village folk have gone back to a fervent belief in the ‘old religion’ from earth, Christianity, which is frowned upon in Nephos – and especially loathed by the witches. Denebola, knowing full well that there are no such things as angels and demons in Nephos, goes to investigate. But there is a problem, as the village folk, brainwashed by the ‘angel’ and the devout village priest / leader believe that magical creatures are from the devil (even though they live in this magical world), and don’t appreciate Denebola’s help. He persists, with the help of Toby, to unravel the mystery, fights with the demon and discovers nothing is what it seems. This was a fun read and I loved the setting. Nephos, the world in the clouds, was beautifully depicted and the idea that all these magical creatures, so poorly treated when on earth, now all lived together was presented well. I could relate to the characters. All believable, some admirable and some despicable but all well-formed. The pace is excellent, and I was hooked from start to finish, reading this in a matter of days. I’m eager to learn more about the other races and places on Nephos, and I felt like this story was a good warm up for future books set in this world, as for me, there seemed a huge scope to explore this land of clouds further. I recommend this for young adults upwards, it is a clean, light hearted read and was a lovely change to some of the grimdark fantasy I’ve been reading lately! I received a free review copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. My rating: 4/5 Goodreads | Author website **My debut novel, an epic fantasy called MELOKAI, is out now! Available from Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Google Play Books, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Read more about my books here.**
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