ARC Review: Gabriel by M.A Abraham

Title: Gabriel
Series: Elven Chronicles, Book 1
Author: M.A. Abraham
Publisher: Smashwords Edition
Length: 183 pages
Publication Date: 2012
Available Format:
Source: ARC in PDF supplied by the author
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Get it @: Amazon

Book Description:

"He has returned from the wars a hero to his people, savior of their Empire and honored as such, but his world is empty, despite the peace he has won for his people. There is no light where he lives, no soft touch to comfort him, to push away the darkness of his memories. He lives only to serve his King and the world he lives in. He is the High Lord General Gabriel Eagle Claw, Commander of the Combined Elven forces sent into the outside world to bring their people home he travels with his troop to the valley where he has been told they await his coming. She is like a forest creature, wild and free. Warrior trained alongside her brothers. She guards the life and spirit of the forests that surround them, as well as those who live in the valley with them. She also guards a secret, for she is more than just a simple Elven maiden tending to the care of the elements they live in. Bur when blue eyes meet silver each knows they have met their Life Mate, but such things are not as quickly accepted as they are recognized. He would have order in his ranks, she must be free to mark her own trail, he would bind her, tie her, control her. She would test his patience and will to the limit, and challenge his rights to own what she would not give freely."

One of the main reasons I love the fantasy genre so much is for its epic worlds and descriptions. The adventures have a monumental feeling with a wonderful lore supporting the main story arc. That is exactly what I got when I read Gabriel.


I came across this book because I joined its Blog Hop that was hosted by Innovative Online Book Tours. The author, Miss Abraham, wrote my very first author guest post here on Journey with Words; and after reading the book’s excerpt I knew I wanted to read the full story.

The story revolves around Gabriel, the Chief of the Elven Military Forces, and his destined bride to be Eden, a free spirited Elven maiden that prefers to spend her days from tree to tree and fighting just like her brothers instead of conforming to the expected role she, as a woman, is supposed to fill. The couple’s conflict develops because Gabriel is used to be followed to the last word without hesitation while Eden is used to not follow anyone’s orders. Eden is a strong female character, one that is more than capable to go head to head with the most stubborn character of the book, Gabriel.

I did have a problem with the book at first, since the elven society in general has a slight air of male chauvinism that after a while it was beginning to rub me off the wrong way.

There is a constant statement that was driving me mad, every time that Eden excelled at something it is looked upon by the male characters with such shock, that it was beginning to wear thin. Her success was more impressive than normal because she is a woman. One of the first comments of this sort comes from Eden’s own father:

"I understand. I know Eden can be difficult. She has never followed any path a normal Elven maiden would have. She has always been one to make her home in the trees and her love of weapons was something encouraged by myself. It seemed a smart thing to do at the time. I was already training my son Lociel and she was just another student. It was a time of war and she needed to be able to defend herself. C'Liandra would have rather died than touch a weapon. Eden, On the other hand, is an exceptional fighter, especially for a woman." (Gabriel, pp. 29)

Now don’t get me wrong, Laurent –Eden’s father– loves her very much, but the mentality is there. However, as the series progresses there begin to be a switch in the balance empowering the women of the story that made me stick to the book until the very end. There is a good movement in the works and I only hope that it continues throughout the rest of the series.

The bottom line is that I enjoyed this book quite a lot. It’s a great fantasy, one that I recommend to anyone who loves the genre, and one that I definitively want to read the next book from.

Want to know more about the characters? You can check out the Book's Blog Hop, there is a special guest post by the author and an excerpt from the book.

Do you like this post? Please link back to this article by copying one of the codes below.

URL: https://soireb.blogspot.com/2012/05/arc-review-gabriel-by-ma-abraham.html HTML link code: <a href="https://soireb.blogspot.com/2012/05/arc-review-gabriel-by-ma-abraham.html">ARC Review: Gabriel by M.A Abraham</a> BB (forum) link code: [url=https://soireb.blogspot.com/2012/05/arc-review-gabriel-by-ma-abraham.html]ARC Review: Gabriel by M.A Abraham[/url]