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fantasy

reviews May 12, 2021

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

The Shadow of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga 1) by John Gwynne

A century has passed since the gods fought and drove themselves to extinction. Now only their bones remain, promising great power to those brave enough to seek them out.

As whispers of war echo across the land of Vigrið, fate follows in the footsteps of three warriors: a huntress on a dangerous quest, a noblewoman pursuing battle fame, and a thrall seeking vengeance among the mercenaries known as the Bloodsworn.

All three will shape the fate of the world as it once more falls under the shadow of the gods. (publisher)

I was very excited to read this, and I wasn’t disappointed!

We have 3 POVs: Orka, Varg and Elvar. Orka, a former warrior, wants to just live a peaceful life with her family. But that life is disrupted when her husband is killed, and her son stolen. Varg is a former thrall (slave) who wants to avenge his sister’s death and joins Bloodsworn, a warband. Elvar is a daughter of a jarl who joined a warband in search of glory.

I have to say that there is a fair number of characters. And I can already see myself wondering who all these people are when reading the next book. I kept wondering how these 3 main characters will get together.

It took me some time to warm up to Orka but in the in she was the character I was most interested in. I wanted to, and still want to, learn more about her past. At first, she seems very strict and harsh towards her son, and you could tell there’s a story behind that. I found Varg to be the less interesting, many of the other characters in his group were far more interesting. I’m interested to see how the betrayals will affect Elvar in the future and how that storyline evolves.

I liked the world-building and writing. By looking at the cover you would think there are a lot of dragons but that wasn’t the case. Maybe in the next book? This was my first read by Gwynne, even though I’ve had Malice for some time. But I can’t wait to read the next book.

4/5

Published: Orbit (May 6, 2021)
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley

reviews April 18, 2021

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire 1) by Andrea Stewart

Magic. Revolution. Identity.

The Emperor’s reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands.

Lin is the Emperor’s daughter and she spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright – and save her people. (publisher)

I was so excited to read this and I had heard so many good things about this but sadly it didn’t live up to that expectation.

Okay, first of all, there’s a lot of POVs. Lin is the emperor’s daughter, Jovis is a smuggler trying to find his wife, Phalue is the governor’s daughter who has a girlfriend named Ranami who sides with the rebels and then Sand, although she only gets about 2 chapters. The only storyline I was interested in was Lin. Well, Sand was interesting, but she had so few chapters that I didn’t really see the point of having them on top of all the others. Phalue was totally pointless and don’t understand what she added to the story.

I just didn’t connect with any of the characters. The chapters were quite short due to the constant POV change, which didn’t help to connect to them. I felt that I didn’t learn to know these characters or the world. There were many little islands, and one of them sunk, but that’s about it.

I liked the concept of the shards and how you can control people through them, but it was just… lacking something. Can’t say what it was exactly but something. Mostly I was just annoyed with the constant POV change. The first part of the books is very slow before the pace picks up.

I was so surprised that Jovis was looking for his wife who went missing like 7 years ago. Because I thought he was a teenager or so. And in all the flashbacks they were kids. I was just confused, and I never got how old they really were, but it was weird.

Everyone else seems to love this so maybe it’s just me.

2,5 stars

Published: Orbit (April 8, 2021)
Format: eBook
Pages: 435
Source: Netgalley

reviews January 28, 2021

Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long

Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long

Hessa is an Eangi: a warrior priestess of the Goddess of War, with the power to turn an enemy’s bones to dust with a scream. Banished for disobeying her goddess’s command to murder a traveller, she prays for forgiveness alone on a mountainside.

While she is gone, raiders raze her village and obliterate the Eangi priesthood. Grieving and alone, Hessa – the last Eangi – must find the traveller and atone for her weakness and secure her place with her loved ones in the High Halls. As clans from the north and legionaries from the south tear through her homeland, slaughtering everyone in their path Hessa strives to win back her goddess’ favour.

Beset by zealot soldiers, deceitful gods, and newly-awakened demons at every turn, Hessa burns her path towards redemption and revenge. But her journey reveals a harrowing truth: the gods are dying and the High Halls of the afterlife are fading. Soon Hessa’s trust in her goddess weakens with every unheeded prayer.

Thrust into a battle between the gods of the Old World and the New, Hessa realizes there is far more on the line than securing a life beyond her own death. Bigger, older powers slumber beneath the surface of her world. And they’re about to wake up. (publisher)

Hessa is an Eangi warrior-priestess who gets punished for disobeying a direct order to kill a lone traveller. After her village is destroyed and believing to be the last Eangi left, she vows to kill the traveller and fulfil her task. But during her quest, she learns things about the gods that threaten her lifelong beliefs and her devotion to them. Old gods are trying to get back their power from the new gods.

The story is told from Hessa’s point of view, and she was a likeable character and a loyal to her friends. It was interesting to see how Hessa goes from being a devoted follower to question everything and doubting the gods. She hadn’t travelled far from her village before and now seeing different places and customs makes her question things more. During her journey, she meets Nisien, a Souldorni horseman, who is more cynic towards the gods and their powers. They become close friends, but it was nice that they stayed just friends through the book. I hope we learn more about Estavius in the next book.

I liked how big part the gods played in peoples lives. Like you could actually talk and interact, and occasionally fight, with them. Somehow that, and their actions, made me think Xena/Hercules world and the line from Hercules intro kept playing in my head: “… a time of myth and legend, when the ancient gods were petty and cruel…” Maybe that’s just me but yeah… Everyone keeps talking about the Viking style and all I can think is Xena…

What a great debut and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from the author!

4/5

Published: Titan Books (January 19, 2021)
Format: ebook
Source: Netgalley

reviews October 12, 2020

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

When Addie La Rue makes a pact with the devil, she trades her soul for immortality. But there’s always a price – the devil takes away her place in the world, cursing her to be forgotten by everyone.

Addie flees her tiny home town in 18th-Century France, beginning a journey that takes her across the world, learning to live a life where no one remembers her and everything she owns is lost and broken. Existing only as a muse for artists throughout history, she learns to fall in love anew every single day. Her only companion on this journey is her dark devil with hypnotic green eyes, who visits her each year on the anniversary of their deal. Alone in the world, Addie has no choice but to confront him, to understand him, maybe to beat him.

Until one day, in a second hand bookshop in Manhattan, Addie meets someone who remembers her. Suddenly thrust back into a real, normal life, Addie realises she can’t escape her fate forever. (publisher)

Curses, devils, doomed loves. What’s not to like? I mean you really should be careful what you wish for…

Addie is born in a small village in 17th century France. She doesn’t want to marry the man she is supposed to marry and ends up making a deal with that comes with a price. People won’t remember her and that can be difficult and not an ideal situation to have a relationship. Until she meets a boy that changes all that.

The story flips between Addie’s story through the years and the year 2014. The story starts a bit slow getting the back story, but it does pick up soon-ish. There’s no adventures and action like in Shades of Magic series.

My one problem was that nothing really changes with Addie. You would think that in 300 years she would change and grow up, but she doesn’t. I still loved the book but that was something I wish was explored better. I must say though that I liked the devil. But despite all that, I did like the book.

4/5

Published: Titan Books (October 6, 2020)
Format: ebook
Source: Netgalley

reviews October 3, 2020

Firefrost by Camille Longley

Firefrost: A Flameskin Chronicles Novel (Flameskin Chronicles #0) by Camille Longley

She’s a huntress: Sol d’Hillerod is sent on a desperate mission through a treacherous winter pass. She carries with her the only hope of her village’s survival, and she will do whatever she must to keep her world from burning.

He’s a monster: Lieutenant Kelan Birke has spent his whole life fighting for his freedom and his soul. As his control slips, and the war rages on, he knows it won’t be long before he loses himself entirely to the fire that flows through his veins.

Sol and Kelan are enemies in an age-old war, forced to depend on each other to survive a perilous journey through the mountains. As fire melts the ice in Sol’s heart, she questions everything she’s been taught to believe, and Kelan becomes more desperate to fight the flames that consume him. Together they discover that their struggle will have repercussions for both sides of this burning war. (publisher)

Flameskins have this fire “spirit” thing inside them called pyra and when they grow up it consumes them and takes over. They are feared, hated and persecuted for it. Flameskins and a kingdom called Tokken has been at war for a long time. Sol, a Tokken huntress, and Kelan, a flameskin soldier, end up travelling together and things happen.

I really liked the idea of flameskins and how pyra just takes control pretty much turns them into a demon. We get the story from both sides as every other chapter is from Sol’s pov and every other is from Kelan’s pov. The plot revolves mostly around Sol and Kelan and their relationship from enemies to lovers. I liked Kelan instantly and I did like Sol, but she was so hung up on her ideals at first.

My complaints are that there was little of world-building. We didn’t really learn about like the cultures and people in it. Sold and Kelan are most of the book alone in the mountains but still. But apparently, this is a prequel to the actual series, and I hope the world-building gets better in that. And I would have liked less focus on romance and more focus on world-building.

That being said, I didn’t want to put the book down because I wanted to know what happens next. So that’s a good thing. A great debut book.

4/5

Published: BooksGoSocial (September 21, 2020)
Format: ebook
Source: Netgalley