Hoping for more!

As with all her writing, Michelle West has produced a dense work in this return to the world inhabited by denizens of the House War novels.
I had to back peddle my thinking just to catchup to the here and now of this seventh book of this series.
Jewel ATerafin and her den-kin Carver Rae are the central springboards for what is to follow. I was challenged by the pacing of the tale but rewarded somewhat for my perseverance.
I read all that I can of Michelle West / Sagara and although the Chronicles of Elantra are my personal favorites, I'm hoping to become more convinced by these new contributions to the House War series. Looking forward to what will be!

A NetGalley ARC

Interesting, but not my cup of tea. It was the Mercedes Lackey like cover art that grabbed me, I made the mistake of judging a book by its cover.

Michelle West continues with the House Wars in volume eight, The Firstborn. An amazingly complex fantasy saga is falling toward the end, the War due out mid year. Jewel ATerafin, the Terafin, must not only maintain the business of her house, but also weave together a team who will defend the world against the awakening of the gods and the presence of a god on earth. Jewel has found some of the Firstborn of the world to support her, but has also lost some of her oldest friends and companions who came from the streets of Averallyn to the Terafin mansion.Jewel's powers as seer and sen are giving her power over the forest spirits and to defend her city. One of the best fantasy series I have ever read.

I love this series and I intend to keep on reading them. That being said there are some books that I like better than others. I was provided win an advanced electronic copy.
It took about 25 % of the book before something happened. Not that I expect this book to move too fast. Michelle West loves words and she will use 20 when 10 will suffice. For me that is not an issue since her descriptions help you to dive into her world. I love that we get to know some of the secondary a little bit better ( Ellerson & Cutter among others), sometimes they seem like place holders for Jay.

We know from previous books that Jay's message come in dreams and as her power grows these dreams will become more elaborate. At the same time I wish we would get the cliff notes version. These dreams can drag on a bit.

What I really loved about the first couple of books was the characters. It seems now we spend way too much time talking about the winter queen and places rather that people and I missed it.

That being said I enjoyed visiting this world again and will continue to do so

Michelle West admits that she is very bad at writing a short series, and this book bears that out. The seventh book in a series that was supposed to be two volumes, Firstborn is entertaining for those who have bought into the book series and a slog for those who have not. Really, don't read this if you haven't been entertained by West's books in the past or if you're expecting forward momentum - there isn't much. The story feels like it's on hold, but I'm not really sure why? Overall, I will wait until the series finishes and then maybe read from the beginning again so the middle books don't feel so tedious in the reread.

Michelle West once again shines. Very well written. Character development continues to impress even after 14 books. Eagerly looking forward to the next and last ;( installment.

I was provided a copy of this book in return for an honest review. I read everything this author publishes under any name. This may be the best book she has written so far. The review is (of course) spoiler-free, so I will write in generalities. First, every character has a story that is interesting. Not all of the characters have a major part to play in this story, but each has a defined part when they are present. That is one of my favorite parts of the writing. Second, the book is absolutely emotive. I cried all through the end, not because of what was happening onstage but because how the onstage action was going to affect characters not even present. Third, the writing is, as always, lyrical. Usually that is something that I do not enjoy, however, the author uses language in such a way that the flow of words feels perfectly natural. Finally, it is just a ripping good story. The action moves along well and combines perfectly with the character development. I still don't know how it will end or who will survive until the end. Oh, and the foreshadowing, if it is foreshadowing, for possible outcomes of some story lines is simply maddeningly nail-biting. I cannot say enough about this series and, in particular, this book. The wait begins....