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kittyg's review
3.0
*This is one of the #SPFBO titles in my batch this year*
I knew right from the start of this book that it would be a bit of a slow burn fantasy as it's divided across vast lands and quite a few viewpoints, and it's the sort of book I tend to enjoy. There's blacksmiths with secret pasts and big destiny, mages and dream-witches at war, duchies and pirates fighting for wealth and territories, princesses with hidden magic and new betrothals. Basically, it's got all the elements of a fantasy story and all the trappings to go alongside it. It starts off slowly introducing the characters, but soon grows in scope as you follow the different plots and how they come together, and it's a book I think classic and epic fantasy readers will certainly enjoy.
The main characters included:
Thomas and Aliss - Blacksmith and his wife who's accused of being a witch and attempts are made to burn her alive.
Rosinnio - a princess who's married to the Jarl from the pirate isles, a match not exactly made in heaven, but maybe an important one.
Duke Normand - a man with ambition to seize the land ruled by the dream-witches or priestesses and expand his territory.
Jarl Crawulf - married to Rosinnio and fighting the duchies.
Djangra Roe - mage assistant to Duke Normand and attempting to find out more about the Priestesses' realms and gods.
The pacing of this feels like a steady build up with a slower introduction to ease you into the characters. This is super classic in fantasy and not anything new, but it's a tried and tested technique and it works to gradually draw you in before the later action of the plot.
The magic is typically present but not particularly explained. There is all sorts of magic-use in this, and we see quite a few characters able to manipulate or communicate with magic of some form.
Overall, this is a solid fantasy book and I can't fault it for that, but there's also not really anything I haven't seen before, just remixed here. It's an enjoyable read and leaves promises of more to be explored, and I think if you enjoy fantasy worlds you'll like this, but it's not super unique from other stories. 3.25*s so 6.5/10 for #SPFBO.
I knew right from the start of this book that it would be a bit of a slow burn fantasy as it's divided across vast lands and quite a few viewpoints, and it's the sort of book I tend to enjoy. There's blacksmiths with secret pasts and big destiny, mages and dream-witches at war, duchies and pirates fighting for wealth and territories, princesses with hidden magic and new betrothals. Basically, it's got all the elements of a fantasy story and all the trappings to go alongside it. It starts off slowly introducing the characters, but soon grows in scope as you follow the different plots and how they come together, and it's a book I think classic and epic fantasy readers will certainly enjoy.
The main characters included:
Thomas and Aliss - Blacksmith and his wife who's accused of being a witch and attempts are made to burn her alive.
Rosinnio - a princess who's married to the Jarl from the pirate isles, a match not exactly made in heaven, but maybe an important one.
Duke Normand - a man with ambition to seize the land ruled by the dream-witches or priestesses and expand his territory.
Jarl Crawulf - married to Rosinnio and fighting the duchies.
Djangra Roe - mage assistant to Duke Normand and attempting to find out more about the Priestesses' realms and gods.
The pacing of this feels like a steady build up with a slower introduction to ease you into the characters. This is super classic in fantasy and not anything new, but it's a tried and tested technique and it works to gradually draw you in before the later action of the plot.
The magic is typically present but not particularly explained. There is all sorts of magic-use in this, and we see quite a few characters able to manipulate or communicate with magic of some form.
Overall, this is a solid fantasy book and I can't fault it for that, but there's also not really anything I haven't seen before, just remixed here. It's an enjoyable read and leaves promises of more to be explored, and I think if you enjoy fantasy worlds you'll like this, but it's not super unique from other stories. 3.25*s so 6.5/10 for #SPFBO.
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