Surprising Skyhammer

* Received from author for review.

I'll give this book a strong 3 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes because it had some great twists and turns in the story. 

Unexpected is probably the best word to describe the whole story because I thought I knew what was going to happen and then, WAM, quite the unexpected ending.  It's a very solid story but tends to feel a little rushed at times.  

It at first seems like it's going to be just your average adventure/fantasy story but then the world draws you in.  In this place every human has magic and if you're born without it you're seen as a freak.  The main character has no magic but makes a living as a relic hunter (finding alien artifacts that people pay plenty for.)  

The description of how magic is used and how it works is intriguing.  The magic for humans at least, comes from their King so you can't do magic unless you're within a certain proximity to the King.  Each human gets a slate made that is mixed with their blood and then the combination of will and drawing on the slate is how magic is performed.  

There are strange species on this planet that seems to be living peacefully in their own territories and most interactions between the groups seem to be tenuous with not very many good relationships especially the zombie like group that likes to eat people.

Skyhammer is not a perfect hero by any means.  He’s done some things that he’s not proud of and has a lot to prove because he has no magic.  Also he's hung up on a girl that left him a long time ago, doesn’t want to accept the important job he has, and has just been surviving mostly by relic hunting and selling the relics.

There is a new ritual that's been found that should bring magic to the entire planet and not just the territories around the kings.  Skyhammer, the main character, is of course interested in this because magic is all he's ever wanted.  

There are plenty of surprises as Skyhammer and his partner Higgins try to find out who or what is trying to foil the magic ritual.  Plenty of questions arise and it’s a race to find out who will survive and what the right thing is to do.

This is one of those stories where I thought I knew how it would end but well, let's just say I sure didn't foresee the book ending like it did.  This story is well worth reading for the ending alone.