Seeds in the Wind by Billy Wong

Seeds in the Wind was one of those books that I read a few years ago and just knocked me off my feet. You have Alfred, a Baron who was living a happy life until Emperor Nebulus comes with his army and invades his barony on behalf of his God Metheld. In one fowl swoop all of Alfred’s family and land are gone. Alfred goes to the capital to get help from the king, only to find Prince Colin in his place and unwilling to help him. So he sets off to a bar to drown himself in his sorrows. While bashing the head in of a bar patron (yes you read that right, he was bashing a guys head in because he said the wrong thing) a woman by the name Dandelion stopped him and agreed to help him take down Nebulus and the God that sent him there.

This is where the story really gets moving! You see Dandelion is a very strong warrior and not only does she agree to help Alfred, but she starts training him too. I love this! The book doesn’t make Alfred this unstoppable Baron, it makes him human. He isn’t perfect, he was comfortable in the peace his barony had so he didn’t think it was important to train with intensity. The fact that he had to be trained in order to try and take back his barony was fantastic and it was not done in a slow paced fashion either.

Once he is ready he goes back to the outskirts of his barony with Dandelion and attempted to recruit people to help him take back his land. He meets opposition because the townspeople are afraid, but they come to an agreement. If Alfred and Dandelion can take the fort back alone then they will have allies to help him take back the rest of the barony. So they have no choice but to try and take back a fort alone….them vs 20 soldiers. The odds seem daunting but they succeed. Alas this was not the end of the story, this was just the beginning!

The rest of the book is full of battle, magic, a fallen angel, and a God. It was so hard to put the book down. There were never moments that felt rushed or like they were added in just to take up pages. You are left to get to know Alfred, Dandelion, Colin (the prince), and  Sherry (the knight first class) in a very organic way. And by organic, I mean that you get to know who they are when they are put to the test. For example, you first met Sherry when she saves Alfred in battle.

So if you love books that make it almost impossible to put them down this book is for you. As I mentioned before there are battles, magic, a fallen angel, and while all of this is happening you get to see Alfred evolve into a warrior. You have female characters that are more than just a love interest. They are fleshed out and are strong warriors in their own right. Overall, I think this book was seriously well written. I have not read other books by this author, but this book really makes me excited to read more by him. You become invested in these characters and how they are going to survive. This was a fantastic beginning to a new series.