The Keepers Six by Kate Elliott (Copyright 2023). Reviewed by Rhonda Allen. The Premise I thought was interesting, but felt the execution was flawed. As a reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy, I relish well done world building, a necessary part of most Science Fiction/Fantasy books as they usually take place in or on another world or in a different time of alternate universe. The Keepers Six starts out with a mother’s search for her kidnapped son (kidnapped by a dragon no less). Terminology for locations, rules, hierarchy, and such are thrown at the reader without much explanation in the beginning. When they are sort of explained by one of the characters, it’s usually through long exposition that introduces even more terminology the reader is seldom familiar with. A good 60 percent of book seems to be devoted to these explanations. About 2/3s of the way in the plot begins to jell with hardly any tension between characters. Though some readers may enjoy the sometimes fascinating world building, I was very disappointed.
I just wanted a good story with empathetic character and an understandable plot. I hope you have a better experience than I with this book. The Keepers Six is 208 pages long and published by Tordotcom.
