The Crown’s Dog by Elise Kova

The Crown’s Dog by Elise Kova

Expected Publication: November 22nd 2016 by Silver Wing Press

A coastal summer is turned upside down by a violent murder, and a quest for lost pirate treasure turns into a hunt for the killer.

Jax Wendyll is the crown’s dog. As punishment for the unspeakable crimes that tourment him to this day, his life has been conscripted to the Empire Solaris. However, in an Empire afflicted by peace, his duties are relegated to unquestioningly aiding the antics of the youngest prince, Baldair.

Erion Le’Dan, a nobleman’s son, expects a quiet summer visit to the Imperial Palace, his only agenda to visit with his unlikely friends. But Jax’s discovery the legendary pirate Adela Lagmir’s old workroom inspires a hunt for her long lost treasure.

The pursuit of Adela’s truth takes the three men to the Imperial summer manor, built along the old pirate mainstays. When Adela’s trident is branded into a murdered servant, Prince Baldair’s summer amusement of treasure-hunting becomes a hunt to find the killer. But, as mysteries compound, the ghosts of Jax’s past may not be the only things haunting them.

Note: I received an ARC copy of this book in return for an honest review. This in no way influences my opinion.

When I woke up the other day to this book sitting in my inbox, to say I was excited was an understatement! I was reading the last of Crystal Crowned at the time and I absolutely loved all of the books in the Air Awakens series. So, to be getting novellas, aka, the chance to revisit this world before the events of AA, I was sold!! I couldn’t wait to find out more about the founding of the guard – in particular Jax!

I found it extremely easy to forget about the fact that this book was only a novella rather than a full sized book. It was easy to get lost in the story itself and the characters. I loved witnessing the interactions between the founding characters of the Golden Guard, as well as the brief glimpse we get of the relationship between Aldrik and Baldair and how it was previously. It definitely helped to highlight how far they had come in the AA series as a whole!

What I also love about this book is the fact that we got to see Jax and more inside of his head. We meet him at a time when he is extremely vulnerable and struggling to deal with what he had done etc. It was easy to feel sorry for him – I just wanted to wrap him up in bubble wrap and never let him go! I loved being inside of his head, and I hope that we get to see more from his perspectives in the next novellas to come!

I also enjoyed being inside Erion’s head. We didn’t really get to see enough of him in the AA series, despite the fact that he seems to be the person to keep most things (including Baldair) on the ground. He is the voice of reason, but still can’t avoid an adventure with Baldair. His constant thoughts of what was right and proper did seem to get a little irritating after a while, especially because his parents weren’t with him! At the same time, I guess it is something that had been ingrained into him, so its a habit!

Baldair. I really do love him, you know. I wish he was real. He seemed like the same Baldair here, as he was in the AA series. He probably grew a little more series in the AA series, but the main frame of the character remained the same. He was the same charming character that we all love with an amazing sense of humour!

I do feel like the plot suffered a little bit to focus on the characters. It was, in places, a tad slow and I feel like some things could have maybe been fleshed out a little more… although its supposed to be a novella. I did enjoy the plot overall and the conclusion was AMAZING!! I was not expecting to happen what happened!

I really enjoyed this novella and I cannot even wait for the next two! I really want to meet some more members of the Golden Guard and find out how they were recruited into the exclusive guard! I gave this book 4/5 stars!