Reviewed by Mick

In a dungeons and dragons type fantasy we are taken upon a traditional journey of good battles evil. Our hero, Caleb Addrenax, is plagued by an ensemble of nasties that would try any protagonist's patience. Some of the hurdles facing our hero include (but are not restricted to) demons on hell dogs, some very hungry yetis, a village that likes company a little too much, the sea monster from hell, an island that lives (breaths and kills) and the traditional bad guy nemesis.

I like fantasy and I liked The Right Hand of Justice. Our author, Aaron, is only 16 years old and yet he already has an imagination that should keep him writing for the next decade or two. Although the writing tends to be a little thin at times the pace is fast and the action moves briskly. If you're an adult looking to read a story that will challenge your perceptions of the world or engage you in a literary quandary - this story may not be for you. Having said that, this is a light piece of work (although the length suggests otherwise) that reflects a young writer developing his craft and is worth a look.

I am not going to dwell too much on the style of writing, that will develop in time, but I might try and offer some suggestions as to where an author at this stage of development might go. I feel that the story genre is a little confused. Reading this story you get the impression that the author it not quite sure whether he is writing a poem or a short story. Much of the writing reflects a narrative that would best suit the story. For instance, "Hello. My name is Niklas and these are my partners Klynn and Rob. We run our little town of Edgeport. We hope you have a good stay because you will never leave."

Perhaps the author might like to try writing the piece again but this time structure the work as a short story. See how it turns out and decide which style reads better. OR just take one section of the work and develop it. For instance I quite liked the concept of the village that never lets people leave. Here is a story on its own. More care and development in the writing could work wonders for an idea that is already engaging and structured. Try forcing the hand to write quality before quantity, work harder with fewer lines.

I will also make a quick comment on a section of the story that I found frustrating. Characters were introduced without developing them or they served no purpose in furthering the story. Towards the end of the narrative we are introduced to four sea faring crewmembers who help Caleb sail the ocean and face the "bad guy". Each of the characters are systematically killed off in an assortment of grizzly deaths (sea monster fodder, quick sand, limb tearing trees and a loosed arrow). These characters could, and dare I say - should, disappear.

Undeveloped or "unnecessary" characters seem to be a common flaw in some early authors - even published ones. To illustrate this point I might refer to a published author. I remember reading a critical review on Chaim Potek's first novel, The Chosen. A large section of his book was dedicated to a hospital scene where the author spent an inordinate amount of time developing the characters and then promptly dropped them without furthering the story.

If Aaron wants to include the grizzly drama of a "living island" perhaps our hero could have a couple of close encounters without losing his life. If another character or characters are introduced, utilise them as a catalyst. Use them to drive the story line in an unexpected direction or develop them to make the reader feel for the characters as individual identities within the narrative - perhaps motivate the protagonist with hate or revenge.

My favourite part of this story is the ending. It is completely unexpected and a refreshing finale to this epic tale. The hero meets the villain and ........