Book Review: Liberty House #1

Rogue Community College by David R. Slayton

Publication Date: October 2024

Summary from Goodreads:

Set in the same universe as the Adam Binder series, Rogue Community College is a delightful fantasy with lots of magic and mayhem … and more than a few dinosaurs.

Isaac Frost is an Undertaker, a magical assassin sent to infiltrate and destroy the elves’ new school for wayward practitioners.

His efforts are thwarted, however, by his attraction to another student—an elf immune to Isaac’s cynicism—and by the school’s chaotic nature. Worse than that, the school itself seems to be alive, forcing Isaac to ask himself how on earth he’s supposed to assassinate a building.

Confession:

I had so such a good time reading this book! It was fun being back in this world, I loved all of the characters, the plot was awesome, and the romance very sweet. Just about everything you could want from a book. This is an offshoot of the Adam Binder stories, but you don’t have to have read that series to love this one, though it would probably help.

Isaac Frost is such a lost soul, and you feel that almost from the start. He puts on a brave front, because he has to in order to survive, but he is so lost and confused. He is a Phage which means if he drinks a tiny drop of blood from someone he takes on their magical powers for a short time. As far as he knows he is the last phage left. Part of his journey in this book is trying to find his people, which is a long and hard path. The rest of the journey is in finding a better life for himself, away from his brutal childhood. He finds a new family and a better life full of kindness and love.

The other characters in the story were great, especially the other students at the school. There are some characters from the original series, like Argent and Silver and even Adam makes a little cameo appearance. Vran also was in the previous series, but I didn’t really remember him. But I loved him in this story. He was such a great influence on Isaac and was able to help him find his way. I loved their little sweet romance, and was so happy that they had found each other.

The writing and pacing were great. The pacing lagged a little bit in the middle, but picked up and just went like gangbusters towards the end. I loved the witty banter between the characters and I loved how creative the different species were. The story was great and I was truly blown away by the ending, which was very bittersweet. The world building needed just a tad more. If you are not familiar with the world already, you might find yourself a little lost, but just go with it and you will be fine.

I have seen comments that this is both a standalone and the start of a new series. I am really rooting for a new series. I loved the characters, especially Isaac and really want to see how his life turns out. Also the other characters were great and I would love to see them more too. I highly recommend that you check out the Adam Binder series first, but you can certainly read this one first as well.