Fantasy is something I enjoy because it has such a broad range. Most people enjoy that good old magic and dwarves and talking animals brought to us by the famed Christian authors, JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. But I like to see the other subgenres within fantasy and I think I found that in this little tale.

The Spectra Unearthed by Christie Valentine Powell, is the first installment to what seems to be a great fantasy series. It centers on Keita Sage, a princess with the ability to shift herself into an animal. That’s not a concept unseen in fantasy before but I thought Powell did a wonderful job at bringing it to light in this story.

Keita is an awesome character, one with spunk and attitude but just enough determination to steal your heart. Its not hard to fall for Keita, I started rooting for her right from the start. She’s a strong female with a great set of morals and an ideal leadership attitude. I think she makes a great model for how female leads should really be portrayed.

Keita is the star of this book but she’s not the only thing there is to love. There’s a great amount of creativity pumped into this piece, for a book that's not 500 pages long its hard to imagine the full extent of the fantastic world Powell has built but her style of writing and crafty way of listing details makes the length of the book melt away in a good and a bad way. I really enjoyed everything about this book but I did wish there was more. Maybe I’m used to fantasy being upwards of 100k words or maybe this story was just that gripping. Either way, this was a book that did not disappoint as it captivated my imagination and stole all of my attention from the first page.

The detail and description in this story was spot on but I think the best parts were hidden in the snippets of action we got to see along the way. It’s all very brief, and I would have liked to see it extended a bit, but it was easy to follow and definitely a thrill to read. Maybe the story will be lengthened in the next installment? Maybe we’ll see more exciting animal/human fight scenes and explore the depths of Powell’s amazing imagination even further.

If you enjoy fast paced books with incredible, well-rounded characters, then pick up a copy of this book fast. Creativity is at an all high in Powell’s fascinating story, you will love it from beginning to end.