The Archcrusade: Tome One: The Archspawn – Pilgrimage & Prophecies by K.M. Hogenson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3 Stars

The Archspawn – Pilgrimage & Prophecies is the first book in The Archcrusade series and debut novel by K.M. Hogenson. This is an epic, 89-chapter book- making for a massive read. It is a high fantasy quest with action, adventure, magic, paranormal beings (eg: mages, demons, vampires, shifters, warlocks), danger, dramatic developments, a multi-layered storyline, agendas, a touch of fate/destiny, prophecy, and darker elements that you might want to make yourself aware of before diving in, especially if you have triggers.
There was just so much going on in this book that I am really having trouble choosing where to start with my review. So here goes….
Like I said this is a lengthy novel- 1350+ pages of story, 89 chapters, 172+ cast members (characters), over 30 individual POV’s to keep track of, and some very unusual character names to wrap our heads around. There was way too much going on here for me, making for a bit of a chaotic read- especially with so many different characters and perspectives to keep track of- so things did get confusing and muddled at times. While the plot was interesting, the plethora of perspectives, info dumps in some areas & lack of information in others, and the somewhat stilted dialogue (at times), really made for a choppy, lagging/dragging read. I really think that some of the individual perspectives/POV, especially the singular chapters, could have been condensed and that information passed on in some other, more streamlined way. While I appreciate the author’s passion, the heart and soul that they put into their work- I found that the issues I had made it difficult to connect with the characters and/or invest in the overall story. With so much to keep track of and get my head around, I just couldn’t find my ‘groove’ and lose myself in the story like I was really hoping to do. There were way too many things that interrupted the flow and/or pulled me out of the story. There were times I found my mind wandering because the story was lagging, so I repeatedly had to force myself to stay focused on what was going on. I feel with less POV’s and a few less chapters/pages, the story would have been far more engaging. I think a lot of these issues could have been picked up and sorted with more editing and several Beta reads.
This is only my personal opinion though, and now looking at some of the other reviews, I seem to be the only one who has had any issues — So if you love an epic fantasy, with plenty of adventure and don’t mind the issues that I found- then this just might be what you are looking for.
The story is set to continue in Book #2, so it will be interesting to see where the author takes us from here.
Happy Reading

Thank you, K.M. Hogenson!

Reviewed by @angelahayes

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