Oh. My. God! This one is definitely getting on my top books for the '18 list! Even if it was published quite a long ago, it was read by yours truly recently and boy did I love it!

In the first book of what promises to be a spectacular trilogy, we see a story from three different perspectives. One from a young boy, one from an older girl, and one from an estimed noble with quite the dark secrets. All three of them are magnificent, full of suspense, political intrigue, and soooo much betrayal, it could put that HBO series we all know thanks to over-advertising (yes, you all know which one I'm talking about) to shame!

And Devin Madson did that without cheap tricks and way too much show of cleavage - and other naked parts - or gore. She presented her story in such an artistic way, one that old anime fans and rpg players can really appreciate. It was like an oriental DnD campaign, with all the plot twists and mishaps, coming to life on the pages, and I just couldn't get enough! I know it took me a while to review this, but trust me, if it wasn't for my OCD tendencies and the full review list, I would have done it aaaaages ago!

One can only wonder what's in store for our heroes and what kind of new alliances will be created and/or broken in the next book. I certainly can't wait to find out, and I recommend this to anyone seeking a story that combines western and eastern characteristics, and an action-suspense-packed plot that doesn't disappoint whatsoever!

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***

i don't really have much to say about this, to be honest, except that i found it extremely dull and boring and possibly the most generic high fantasy i've read in a while. millions of tropes and nothing new or unexpected. i guess you might like this if you aren't really familiar with the high fantasy genre, but this was so Typical it wasn't enjoyable at all. the only non-typical thing was that the world was based off feudal japan rather than medieval europe, but to be honest half of the time you couldn't really tell and it didn't salvage the plot or characters.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I was pleasantly surprised picking this up as it was really good.  Fantasy is usually a hit or miss with me and this was definitely a hit.  The characters and dialogue are what make the book for me.  The setting was interesting too, it wouldn't be my normal choice but it worked really well. Looking forward to book 2.

Interesting but not enthralling

The books are set in a pseudo ancient Japan but with some individuals having psychic powers. For his scene setting, Mr. Madson owes a lot to Laim Hearn and earlier to James Clavell, and as well to Chinese wuxia.

In ancient Japan soldiers walked, but this is a fantasy Japan. None the less, Mr. Madson does not know much about horses if he thinks that soldiers ride stallions. Managing the remount herd would be a nightmare.

Despite it's obvious potential, with three POV, the book lacks intensity and I will not seek to read the remainder of the series. 

I received a review copy of "The Blood of Whisperers: (The Vengeance Trilogy Book 1)" by Devin Madson (Cloudburst Books) through NetGalley.com.

I so wanted to like this book. I really did. Especially with the crazy amount of high reviews. But I just...couldn't.

It has witty banter and a focus on world building, but it explodes with too many POVs and important characters. It causes the introduction to take over half the book, then makes the action at the end seem incredibly rushed. 

I wasn't attached to any of the characters except for one--and you're not even really supposed to like any of them.

In actuality, though, it reminded me very much of Game of Thrones.  It was complicated, long, and half the time you could skim and not miss anything truly important. But the story over all was entertaining and fresh.

It just wasn't for me. But it could be for you if you like long, involved fantasies like Game of Thrones and The Wheel of Time. 

Thank you to NetGalley, Devin Madson, and Cloudburst Books for a free copy of The Blood of Whisperers in exchange for a free review.

First off, the world-building in this book is SO refreshing. Finally, a story that's not based on some fictional medieval Europe, but rather a fictional feudal Edo. Also, the story is very well written and thought out. The characters are complicated, they have many facades, and each chapter reveals more and more information about the situation and each character's motives. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this book, stopped around the 65% mark when Monarch was about to make a big sacrifice to trade for safe passage with Malice. I couldn't watch Monarch do it for vengeance, nothing is worth that kind of sacrifice, not even revenge. I nearly put the book down at another previous point, when Hana almost got raped in prison, but I skipped a few paragraphs and read ahead. Gosh...I'm guess I'm really squeamish about these things. Perhaps when I get over it, I'll pick up from where I left off, or maybe I'll read the ending first and go back to read the whole process. Nevertheless, I will revisit this series (even if I cheat a bit) and find out what happens to these major players. But oh...I really hope it's not a tragic ending.

An interesting new voice in Sufi for me, I very much enjoyed the book and will look for more from this author!