Jarom can hardly believe his ears as this story is related. His identity and life have been pulled out from under him. All of the trust and peace he has built up over the years is destroyed in a moment. The village council, however, decides that he should journey to a nearby kingdom to ask for help against the invading wizard. After wrestling with all of this new information, he agrees to the undertake the journey with his friend Allion.

Behind the scenes, however, are a mysterious race of "avatars" known as Entients who have other plans for Jarom. This is where the Crimson Sword comes into play. The sword is a powerful talisman from a long-since disappeared race of elven lords, and is rumored to have incredible powers. Jarom has dreamed of finding the sword since he listened to tales of its creation and disappearance as a child. With a little help from the Entients and his own imagination Jarom and Allion are soon searching for the Crimson Sword instead of returning to Diln (after they had been turned away at the border on their original task).

Another twist involves the awakening of the Demon Queen Spithaera who has loosed her own evil minions out into the world. The Dragon-spawn who are soon attacking and destroying cities across the realm are not the work of the wizard, as many assume, but part of a plot by Spithaera to take over the world. The combination of Jarom's quest and the Demon Queen's desire set him on the path to achieve his destiny,or die trying, while wrestling with his own personal demons on top of the actual ones.

Throw in assassins, secret cannibal tribes, a love interest for Jarom with a secret of her own, regular attacks by demonic creatures, and epic battle scenes and you have a active and complex story. Put this in the epic adventure category.

So did the former college QB choose the right profession? I would have to say yes. In general Thompson shows remarkable imagination. There are a variety of characters and they are well drawn for the most part. The plot is suspenseful, and has enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested. The imaginary world in which the story takes places is fleshed out enough to provide the necessary background, but is also left mysterious to create a sense of history; sense of having existed, of depth. The world seems complete and complex enough to provide for the continuation of the story. Obviously Thompson is no Tolkien, despite the similarities in story and genre, but he shows promise for a first time novelist.