Didn’t know how this series would be, but thrilled to discover it. Great characters and story line that keeps you guessing along the way. On to book 2.

I very much enjoyed this first book in the series and heartily look forward to the next two. A little sexism here: I rarely read fantasy by women; primarily because they usually don't get men right. Having said that, this young woman. Jean Lowe Carlson seems to understand men very well. I didn't find myself confused by her male characters. By the way... I'm sure women have the same issue with female characters written by men, but as a man I don't notice. This is great high fantasy that is interesting, swashbuckling and addictive. I have already purchased the next two books and am looking forward to digging into them.

This is one of the few books in recent memory that pulled my right through and made me prioritize reading just so I could figure out what happens next. The character development was extremely strong. I enjoyed the gritty tone and the authors willingness to speak plainly. Excited to continue on to book 2

This is an interesting novel with much going on, both visible and behind the scenes. It is very involved and requires attention to all the different aspects taking place. In some ways, it is like a Wheel of Time story. I say that with all truth but not as flattery. I did not care for or finish the interminable and often boring Wheel of Time.I found it compelling but very complicated. It makes you want to read to see where it is going.Be aware that this is the first book of a series. Also, be aware that language can be very strong with some vulgar words and insinuating phrases. Also, be aware that every character has some sort of lustful need and expresses it throughout the story.Barring that, it is pretty good.

I started reading this book a week ago before bed and ended up staying up half the night not wanting to put it down. Even though I don't understand how to pronounce most of the names or some of the words that are being said I get the very gist of the situation and love the action. I say this book has claws cuz it'll grab you around your heart and make you want to keep reading more and more to find out what's going to happen next. I gave this book a five stars because I have booked number two already and I can't wait to read it.

As a long-time fantasy fan, I’ve read a lot of mediocre books. This is certainly NOT one of them. In fact, with today’s plethora of unoriginal, uninspired fantasy, this book stands out as a remarkable exception to rule. Jean Carlson’s command of the English language is extraordinary, and her sweeping use of all its subtleties makes this story a joy to read. The plot has good depth and complexity without being heavy and cumbersome. This story has all the themes of an early, classic fantasy novel, but also has originality. Her characters are realistic, have depth, inner conflict, and project all the messiness of what it means to be human. If you’re looking for a great story, I ‘d definitely recommend this series.

Epic.I know some of you think that means “awesome.” For the purpose of this review, epic means far-reaching in scope.This book is one hundred percent set-up for the meat of this series. That has a place, sure, but I’m not a fan when a book doesn’t truly have a problem and resolution.The cast is epic, and a few of them weren’t all that interesting to read. This is the reason I’m often put off by epic fantasy. I want the story of the people who engage me.But the world, religion, and strife have been expertly drawn by Carlson. Some of the character are incredibly compelling and I’ll be picking up the next book because I must know what happens with Elohl and Olea. Maybe Ghrenna and most certainly the queen.If you love epic fantasy, you would give this five stars. If you expect every book to hold a complete story, you’ll understand why I could only grant four stars.Now, I’m off to read Bloodmark.

Overall this was a pretty good three book series. The characters and story were engaging. There were some elements that were unique to the genre, which sometimes made them a little mysterious but at the same time unexplained. I think this improved from book to book and will improve through the future books the author is planning. It’s the nature of developing a new world and new magics to explain to an audience, while keeping the story interesting and not boring them with anecdotes and flashbacks. I’ve seen some negative reviews about typos and grammar, but I don’t find these same things as negative when you consider the author is relatively new at writing. If anything, it was refreshing to see the changes in the writing and story development in books two and three. It made me appreciate the author’s care for her work. And since there has been some re-editing, some of the issues that others complained as distracting are no longer at issue. All in all I will keep reading the future books the author puts out because I personally found the story and characters to be interesting and like-able. Everyone has their own tastes so YMMV. Best books I have ever read, no, but I feel like they were well worth the few bucks I spent on them and the hours I spent reading this series were well spent.

I'm enjoy this story Immensely. Good characters and a nicely clever political machinations and cruel intent. The writer can spin a good tale. It's slow to start and a lot of names and titles to remember quickly and a few all the sudden characters but important to know. That the main reason for four stars. I hope book two will push it to five. This is a very good read and I recommend anyone who lives fantasy to read. Now I'm to book two for me. Keep writing Ms Jean Lowe Carlson, you spin a good tale and after book two I will check ou t your other book.

At first I thought this book was finicking. And I had to look that word up to write this review. I am not a native English speaker, but for over 20 years I have been studying/using it, and still had at least 2 words per page I did not know, also confused if that is an English word I don't know or a word made up for the novel.Then as the story went on, it became easier to follow the text, as the story unfolded and you got to know more and more.The story I liked very much. It was original, I never could guess what's going to happen, free of cliché storylines. Also I liked that it is built up as a puzzle, putting the little pieces together one by one until first small chunks, then bigger parts connect and you start to get a picture. The world of the novel is built up properly, you can feel that it is thought out entirely, from small details to big ones.The characters are also well-rounded, even side characters.The ending is a cliffhanger, it is not finished at a good spot, but good thing is that books 2 and 3 are out, so you can read continuously.

Slightly less wordy than Game of Thrones, but has a good story line. Would be an excellent canadate for a Reader's Digest condensed book. Good characters to get involved with, though they never do what you expect. Story advances slowly because the story is told by several different people. Unanswered questions can add suspense but too many just add confusion. Why bring a totally off the wall faction to the storyline when there are two or three just being wrapped up, especially if the new ideas and problems are not necessarily part of the plot. The language is terrible. As the author you can decide what type of character your people have so in my opinion there is no reason for EVERYONE to be so bad mouthed, It removes any respectability that that person was offered upon meeting. I won't be continuing the series, unless there is a Reader's Digest version coming out.

I’m currently reading the final book in this trilogy, Goldenmark, but figured I would give my review of the books overall.Starting out, it takes some will power to stick with these books. The wording is often times hard to follow, forcing you to reread sentences from time to time to get what she is saying . Often times sentences are log winded a loaded with words you expect in a science digest and not a fantasy book (like the word “sluiced”.....she uses this a lot). Thoughts are often twisted together and redundant at times as well, forcing you to stop and think about what she wrote. Lots of the character names and places have similar spelling so it’s easy to misunderstand things from time to time. Thankfully there is a glossary of characters, places, and languages (yes, she uses a different language from time to time) to keep things understood. Often times characters do things that seem to make so sense to me or appear out of character for them or will not do something you would expect them to do. Occasionally you see a simple solution to a problem and wonder why the characters go off on a wild tangent instead. The series also take off in an extraterrestrial direction later down the road that really makes no sense to me and completely comes out of nowhere. People often times for reasons I can’t understand have knowledge of things going that I can’t for the life of me understand. The characters are well defined and many you will love and some you will hate. But as they keep explaining bloodlines, history, and subtle character history comes up, it is often hard to connect people to each other, events, and family and historic connections. In some cases the connections take a book or two to register....in one case I didn’t realize a blood connection in 2 characters until a casual mention a book later.My advice, take your time, read it slowly and absorb it as you go. It’s a great trilogy, but it takes work and some effort to truly enjoy it. I will say the 2nd and 3rd books flow better than the first, so if you get frustrated after this book, rest assured book 2 is an easier read. I almost quit this trilogy a few times, now I am a quarter of the way thru the last book and eager to see how this all plays out......

Took me a while to get through the beginning of the story. Lots of names, lots of character building. The story focuses on 4 different characters and switches characters after every chapter. The many names were hard to remember until past a quarter of the story when you start to memorize them. The writing is really hard to understand at times, words don't flow well together sometimes so I've had to re-read a paragraph 3-4 times to understand the imagery and meaning. There were character POVs I liked and didn't like in the beginning, after reading a few chapters I stopped reading for a few hours or days because it's a little slow (personally) for character building or I didn't like the oncoming character for the next chapter.Around half-way in the book the plots start to gain some ground and that kept me hooked longer and around 70% of book I read until I finished the story. The story is awesome, I started to love each character pov and how each of their unique experiences expand the plot and build the story and world even more. I had a Sanderson Avalanche moment where so much was happening and character stories start to overlap and arch. By the end of the book I was hooked into the series.This epic fantasy is gritty, but not overly gritty. There are scenes that describe violence gruesomely, sex and lust are prominent in the story, but not in a bad, overly saturated way. I would personally lean it a little bit towards something like The Sword of Truth series then something like Stormlight Archives.Even through there were some hard to read writing, the slow beginning and some characters I didn't like, I thoroughly enjoyed the story, pacing, and characters (some more than others) by the end of a book. Already bought the other books right after finishing the story. I'm not a hard grader, I'll give 5 stars if I enjoyed the story and this kept me excited.

As with a lot of fantasy books lately, this one has been compared to the works of George R.R. Martin (other people too, but I can’t judge how accurate those comparisons are having not yet read those authors). Unlike those other books, I think this is a valid comparison for this one. In this case, there aren’t quite as many characters to try to keep up with (this is a good thing – I’d be worn to a nub if all books were as complicated as the Song of Ice and Fire Series) but the plot is nevertheless complicated enough to hold your interest to the end.Ten years ago the Kingsmen, a group of Alreshemni sworn to protect their King, were called to come to the capital of Alrou-Mendera and re-swear their allegiance to their King. A group of five of their children who possessed special powers, went secretly to the capital guided by a vision of one of their members to retrieve an object that should have been able to protect all the Kingsmen. Unfortunately, when they brought back the box they had risked life and limb to retrieve, the ring it was supposed to contain was not in it. They failed. And their elders were lost, entering into the palace and disappearing in a single night, never to be heard from again.Not only that but the group of five children – Seventh Seals on the verge of passing their final tests to become proper Kingsmen themselves – were caught by the King’s men (or people who appeared to be the King’s men), forced to tell where the younger children had been taken, separated and forced into service in the King’s army. Sometime in all this, they had tattooed themselves with the black markings that marked them as Kingsmen, although they were technically not supposed to be marked until they had passed their eighth seal.Now one of the group of five is dead, and the others are scattered. Elohl, more or less leader of the group is just being released from ten years in a military unit known as the High Brigade which does all its fighting in snow-covered high passes on the border. His twin sister Olea is captain-general of the King’s guard in the capital. His beloved, Ghrenna, whose talent is prophetic visions, has deserted from the army and joined a thieves’ guild. And Dherran, whose main talent appears to be fighting like a berserker, has left the army and now wanders about the countryside engaging in prize fights. But things are changing. The old King is dead, and his daughter is about to be crowned QueenThe new almost-Queen asks Olea, captain-general of her guard, to find out what happened at the Kingsmen Summons, and she begins looking – again because she had already begun to explore the mystery with the Dhenrya’s now-dead brother two years earlier. She learns some things but not enough before she manages to anger the Dhenrya and get herself put into a cell in the palace. About this time Elohl and Ghrenna make their way separately to the capital. They discover that not all Alrashemni were Kingsmen and that at least one secret order of Alrashemni is willing to help them. But we also learn that there have been layers and layers of plots and betrayals and that these are still going on. And the Dhenrya’s life is in grave danger.An intriguing story unmarred by typos or grammatical errors. Includes a pronunciation guide and lists of characters, places, and things at the end.

Blackmark by Jean Lowe Carlson is book one in The Kingsmen Chronicles. Blackmark starts off with gripping you from the start with an intense scene. A young Elohl is on a mission, and one he has been told that he cannot fail. He must find a certain artifact that wills aide him and his fellow Kingsmen in the situation that they have unjustly found themselves in. His journey is full of danger at every turn, only for him to find himself on the sharp edge of failure itself. Captured, he and the others who were left behind are given a choice- serve the crown or take the ax. Elohl “choses” the service. Now he has been released ten years later and goes in search of his sister, and the others who survived being taken. Inked with the Blackmark of the Kingsmen, he is called a traitor and hunted by assassins. Elohl and his sister soon find themselves deeper in danger than they could have ever imagined. As the pieces come together creating a picture that endangers many should the truth come to light.Blackmark is the first book that I have read by Jean Lowe Carlson, and this book was truly an engaging story. The author engages you from the beginning. Answering questions that are piqued earlier in the story. The characters are well developed and engaging. I love how unique each of the characters are. They each have their unique gifts and talents that assist them in their lives and lines of work. They are not perfect and it is makes the story even more engaging. You see danger be close at hand to them with each step that they take, but more often than not they don’t see it. I like how each of the character gets a designated chapter so we are able to follow along with what is going on with them. The story builds so well like this, and I love how it comes together.There really isn’t anything that I don’t like about this book. The mystery, the suspense, the thrills are fantastic. I love how the characters work together, and the flashbacks that we get to help build the story and bring us up to date on what is going on in the present. I appreciate the fact that not everything goes perfectly for the characters. It makes the story so much better and more believable as a whole.I am rating this book 5 out of 5 stars. I cannot wait for the next book in this series. If you are a fan of epic fantasy novels, you love George R.R. Martin and other great authors then this is the book to pick up. It will engage you and keep you page turning long into the night.

I just finished reading Blackmark by Jean Lowe Carlson. It was so amazing it just became one of my top 7 favorite epic fantasy series.Mrs. Carlson filled her story with great characters, mystery, intrigue and action. It took me awhile to really get into it but once it grabbed me I could hardly put it down. I don't discuss contents of books for fear of telling too much and ruining the pleasure of discovery for someone who has yet to read it. The publisher's description usually tells enough.I do like to inform readers of certain aspects of a book that some might take issue with. This book does contain very mild sex scenes, some crudity, and a good bit of profanity. While the profanity issue would normally lower the star rating for me, it is what I have come to expect from today's stories when characters are soldiers or law enforcement officers. If you cannot get past the profanity you are going to miss out on an amazing read. I am so glad that I continued reading.I've been needing some new authors to take the place of 2 of my favorites who have passed away a few years ago and Mrs. Carlson just filled one of the vacancies. I'm looking forward to reading more of her writings. In fact, I am getting ready to start reading the 2nd in the series 'Bloodmark'.I did receive a free copy of Blackmark from the author but this review is voluntarily given. I want to thank Ms. Carlson for giving me this opportunity to read this book and find a new favorite author.

Very enjoyable read that I couldn't put down. While nearly right away I felt drawn in with certain characters, feeling as if I knew them, I realized through slowly drawn out character development how right I was on some for the wrong reasons; and misjudged others.Warning to those who enjoy instant gratification and simplistic storylines, or if you want quick consumption, this might not be your cuppa. Care is taken not just to build characters but storylines for them individually and as a group. There's mystery, some surprising and some fun to say, "I knew it!"Magic, loyalty, trust, quests, royalty... it has a Terry Goodkind feel without being so dry and heavy. Maybe a better comparison would be David A. Wells with his Seven Isles series crossed with Jeff Wheeler and his Kingfountain series. Both spectacular... and this series has the same potential.I look forward to more in the series!

I was given this book for free to read and leave an honest review. I have never read anything by this author before and I can honestly say I will read everything this author writes going forward. Blackmark is a epic fantasy story that hits every element one expects in a great fantasy story. Intrigues, murder, plots, suspense, hope/despair, love/hate, and magic. Her description of other land's and it's people, provide the reader with a way to envision it for themselves. There are several main characters in the story, highly developed, and each has a pivotal role within the story lines. Ms. Carson has total command of the way a story of this format should flow, along the lines of G.R.R.Martin's writing. The characters mesh so well and I can't say I prefer one character over another. I was breathless throughout much of the story waiting to see what would happen next. Fantastic story, I highly recommend it. And now, I am off to read the sequel, Bloodmark, and more late night reading.

One of the best fantasy books I've read in some time.I would give this book 5 stars except for the persistent--easily avoidable--errors. Most of these are what I would call mechanical errors, such as words missing or transposed. This type of error is easy to make when your brain is running ahead of your fingers. The grammar errors are more disturbing, as anyone with the oeuvre of Ms. Carlson should have a firm grasp of her own language. Yet she often--perhaps always--uses "lay" when she means "lie." And even more troubling, she frequently has errors with past participles, writing, for example, "they had went" rather than "they had gone." This is elementary school grammar and an error that should never be made by anyone who reads, much less a prolific writer.So, Ms. Carlson, please, please, please, before writing your next book, hire a competent editor or proofreader.

Wow. I think I have just found my new favorite series. Ok, some detail. This book takes a bit of the feel of Game of Thrones, and slows it down to a place that you can understand the different peoples, and their lives. I love that there is still mystery about the characters while you feel as if you get to know them well. And I think the thing that makes me the happiest is that Magic is introduced to this book. But not an "oh, by the way, I will to call the power of lightening", it is subtle, and you start to see early on how there are aspects of magic all around, bit it is almost as if the masses have forgotten it. And you slowly start to see it come into play, but, sticking within the reality of the world created. I love it. You should read it.