Riders by Veronica Rossi

Having never read Veronica Rossi’s Under the Never Sky series, I was incredibly excited to read this and discover what was essentially a new author for me.  I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews for this book before it was published – some of them saying that it wasn’t on par with her previous writing, but not having anything to compare it to (and even if I did), I can say that I really enjoyed Riders.

The main character of Riders, Gideon, is trying his hardest to achieve his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger.  However, when he suffers through an horrible accident, he wakes up with the realization that “Hey – something isn’t right here.”  He has a weird cuff attached to him, and he has powers that he never could have dreamed of – along with a new identity.  See, Gideon is now War – one of the four horses of the apocalypse, tasked with saving humanity from an ancient evil that is threatening to destroy everything.  The horses are all brought together by this strange girl, who is incredibly mysterious, and of course – Gideon falls for her.  I don’t really have a problem with romance in fantasy novels (in fact, it tends to make them better sometimes), so it wasn’t a big deal.  I didn’t think the romance between the two of them was overdone or too sweet – it was just the right amount of romance that you would want to see in a book like this. 

Riders has some deep ties in fantasy and some science fiction, and the way that the two of these genres tied together made for an explosive story about working together to save the future of humanity from evil.  The concept for this novel just struck me as unique and exciting, and it honestly didn’t disappoint me.  The story did have its moments where it was a little slow, but I didn’t really mind, because the overall writing was engaging and beautiful.  The characters were full of energy and had great personality – especially the main character, Gideon.  The supporting characters are easily likable, too.  It’s rare that I find a book where I actually like both the main characters and the supporting characters, so that was a real treat.

Also, the world building in this was spectacular.  I felt like I was part of the story, and I loved the attention that was paid to detail – it made for an incredibly imaginative and exciting world.

All in all, Riders is a fantasy adventure that I really enjoyed, and I will definitely be looking into reading Veronica Rossi’s other books.  I really can’t wait for the sequel to Riders, either – I hope it’s just as breathtaking and enjoyable as this!

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.