Review of PAX by Meg Davis (see her website)

Booklocker.com, 2004

The elf queen is ready to go to war against the evil that has overrun her land and broken the golden circle--the alliance between dwarves, humans, elves, and immortals. Her generals are anxious to begin the battle but she holds out--the prophesy foretells that the lost princess shall reunite the circle--and lead the armies to victory. But the princess has been lost for years and is widely thought dead. Without the princess, any war is marked for failure. Unfortunately, she cannot wait. Already, the forces of evil march against the dwarf kingdom where she has send her son to talk alliance.

Pax, daughter of the vanquished king, has lived and trained with a wise woman. She's grown now, but unaware of her fate and her history. But Pax is the promised princess. Of course, prophesies only go so far, and Pax will have to step up to conquer the evil that killed her powerful father.

Teenaged author Meg Davis aims her fairy-tale-like story at a young audience. PAX is a simple story of good against evil, coming of age, and a mild romance between Pax and the elf-queen's son, Dangaril. Despite her youth, Davis is a good writer and her prose makes for an easy and quick read. The conflict between Pax and Dangaril, and Pax's suffering at the loss of a close friend add to the emotional stakes, but I would have liked to see more character growth on the part of Pax--so that we could see why she deserved victory over evil. After all, her father, leading vastly larger armies against a weaker enemy, failed. Pax's success needed to be explained through her personal struggles, failures, and growth.

It's great to see young writers succeed and Meg Davis shows a lot of potential in this enjoyable tale.

Two Stars

Reviewed 4/11/04

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