Book review: Priestess of the Eggstone (Jaleta Clegg)

Priestess of the Eggstone is the second book of The Fall of the Altairan Empire. I didn’t read the first book, Nexus Point, but had no trouble picking up the novel and jumping right into the story. Dace is a lively and compelling protagonist with a penchant for finding trouble and fortunately, the wits to get out of trouble. The novel initially focuses on two characters, Dace and her co-pilot, Jerimon, but eventually the cast expands to include a former love interest (Tayvis), Jerimon’s sister (Jasyn), and a tarot-card reading benefactor (Lady Rina).

Jaleta Clegg has clean, descriptive prose, and she slips us easily and effortlessly into Dace’s head. The pace of the story is generally brisk, but felt uneven at times. It seemed to take awhile for Dace to realize just how much trouble she was in, but the later sections felt rushed, especially toward the end of the novel. The sniping conversations between Dace and Jerimon in the first half of the novel got tedious quickly (as a parent, I can put up with “Did not” “Did too” for only a very short period of time) but mercifully, that tapered off in the second half of the novel. The ending, although it made sense for the story, lacked the heightened tension of most of the novel and felt like air slowly deflating from a balloon.

The novel itself is primarily science-fiction, with a light brush of fantasy through the introduction of the more primitive Sessimoniss race and their god, the Eggstone. I enjoyed the Priestess of the Eggstone and would recommend it for anyone seeking a fun ‘Indiana Jones’ style adventure through space.

Disclaimer: I received this novel for free to review through LibraryThing.