I requested and received an e-ARC from NetGalley and Tor/Forge Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

I love that the author included a pronunciation guide with the e-ARC version of this book, I thought that was an amazing idea and appreciated not having to fumble with the names of the characters and worlds that A.K. Larkwood created.

I found this book to be quite slow at times, I put it down a lot and sometimes I wasn’t sure if I was going to pick it back up. I am glad that I did; in the end I enjoyed Csorwe’s journey and I would have always wondered how it ended for Csorwe and Tal.

My Review: This is one of those books that really piqued my interest, but wasn't sure what to expect from this debut author, so I was really excited to be able to read it early. Unfortunately, I really struggled with this one, it took me nearly a month to read and I was struggling so much with the ebook that I decided to try the audio book, which helped some, especially with pronunciations. The world is quite vast and encompasses several world that are connected some way, maybe like a portal/wormhole like way, but not a lot is explained. I am still confused as to the mode of transportation as well, I can't tell if they are airship like or something else. The descriptions of the characters also leave a lot to be desired, I really struggled to be able to picture anything in my mind, possibly Csorwe is an orc like character but don't take my word for it. With that said, the character interactions are great, I loved the relationship that develops between Csorwe and Sethennai, the way it develops and changes throughout the story was really appreciated. Unfortunately, that couldn't save the full story for me. It was rather tedious to read and I really had to push myself to continue reading, hoping for a payoff. Some issues are resolved but clearly it leads to another book in a series but I find myself hesitant to take on another.


My Rating: I really struggled with this one, if we had gotten more scenes of the learning part of Csorwe's life, or had a little better world/character building I think I would have really enjoyed this one. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me and I give it a rating of Two Paws.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When I'm reading a book there are so many times I think to myself, "this would be a good part to put in my review" or "I definitely have a strong feeling about how this went down"... But then when it finally comes time to actually write the review, my mind goes completely blank. I'm over here wondering who the main characters were again? And how did it end exactly? Even though I just finished it, my mind can't wrap around what exactly I was thinking would be so perfect to write about only days ago. So then I put it off and now here I am weeks later still not knowing exactly what I want to say. So bear with me a little bit, I'm going to do my best for this review.

I think the strongest feeling I have for this book is that it was a really slow and confusing read for most of the book. Looking back on my notes, it didn't actually start picking up until about the 75% mark. In fact, had it not been for the last 1/4 of the book, I don't think I would have given this even a three star rating. It felt like I was waiting for something big to happen or to feel connected with the characters in some way but it was all I could do just to follow along with the story. The large ten year gap in time between sections didn't help either. Csorwe, our main character, is apparently a badass sword wielding assassin after we see her again ten years later, but I think that skipping her journey to become this instead of the meek sacrifice to the Nameless One was a big mistake on the author's part. This gap in time only made me feel even less connected with the characters and I was just supposed to take it for what it was that she knew how to suddenly kick ass and kill expertly. 

Another note I had was that there was too much going on with the setting and plot. I couldn't decide if it was all fantasy, or if there was some science fiction thrown in there? At first it seemed like it was all fantasy elements but then there were flying ships which felt really sci-fi. There are characters with tusks, wizards, religious zealots. And the names! I got so lost trying to remember all these extremely difficult and hard to remember names! I had to write down most of them so I could keep who's who straight in my mind, as if I wasn't already reading at a slow enough pace. It came down to there being just too many different elements going on to try and wrap it all up neatly in a package of less than 500 pages. I can imagine if this was an epic fantasy that we slowly got to learn about each race and species of living creature and the planet system and how things work in the big picture, but when trying to be concise, we are left with a really confusing jumble of ideas that just aren't fleshed out enough to be convincing or relatable or even entertaining enough to want to know more about. Honestly, if it could have all flowed like the last 1/4 of the book, I would have easily given this five stars. It's like once we had a clear direction for the story to progress towards, it took off. Things started making sense. The characters became likable and hateable, respectively. I think that the last part of the book could be the only reason I would even consider picking up the second book when its published.

I don't want this to be a bash on the book at all. Like I said above, I actually really enjoyed the ending. Its so different from the rest of the book it almost feels like two different people wrote the book and switched half way through. Maybe at that point I was finally getting used to the writing style, and the character names and just the whole flow of it in general, but it really felt like a shift in the writing. I think that I won't write this book and its companions off just yet. It might be worth another read (skimming over the beginning a bit) but I might check out the second book and see if it is anything like the last part of this one and if it is, maybe that could save this series for me. I just know that there are a lot of other amazing books out there that I am looking forward to reading before I take this leap again. I hope that this book is perfect for someone else out there though and that its just the right amount of everything they love in one book.

I absolutely LOVED the premise of this book and was so excited to read.

The beginning had me hooked but unfortunately it fizzled out and despite trying to push through several attempts to finish I had to DNF at 45% because I was just skimming and not enjoying it at all.

My main qualm was that the world building felt quite shallow and I didn't fully comprehend how everything worked or even what races and magic systems there were. It wasn't until a bit later when we learnt about the serpent race that I was interested in them but everyone else no idea.

I also had no connection to the characters and feel like we were constantly told not shown who they were and what drives them. Csorwe is very distant to us emotionally and I was really hoping we'd see her full transformation from chosen bride to traitor assassin but suddenly there's a five year time jump and we don't really get to see the full extent of her training or any transformative events that could shape and change her so drastically. We are told her training is over but even at that stage she did not feel fully fleshed out.

The plot is relatively slow moving despite lots of time passing in the book. While this could be deemed a more realistic timeframe in line with reality it is quite boring to read about and I felt I needed more action and less dialogue to keep me hooked.

2.5☆

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. ARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All of my opinions are my own, and are in no way affected by the exchange.

DNF @ 82%

I am really sad about this. I was so goddamn excited to read this book. I figured the little pitch was so incredible enough that there was no way I couldn't NOT like this. Unfortunately this was a chore to read. I tried to read the ARC but the language/names were so damn hard to pronounce that I waited for the audiobook to come out so I could read along. This helped but I really was not into the story until about 35-40% through the book. That is a SIZABLE chunk of a book to be lost in the sauce and not caring. There were huge time jumps of years so we missed out on Csowre's training to become the "master swordwoman/assassin/spy" that she was stated to be. We didnt really get to see any of what made her so badass which was disappointing. I kept waiting for the plot to get engaging or for me to care about the characters and it never really happened. I thought I could push myself to the finish line since I was so close but it's really a chore for me to read this.

This story is magical with its original plot! I love fantasy and this let my mind jump to new worlds and experiences. I would recommend this to those that have a penchant for adventures. The characters were interesting and had depth. I felt like there were plenty of interesting characters to jump into and know more about. Definitely see this as a series. I would rate this a three out of five- only because the build up and investment of the storyline took time to build up anticipation. All thought and opinions are my own. This ARC was provided to me by Netgalley.

DNF @ 16%

I really tried to get into this one but it was just so boring. The world building is really weak and we barely get any idea of what the world is; I don’t want to know the whole world at the start but you’ve got to give us some kind of insight into the world to understand what’s going on.

The characters were very flat; they have almost no personality and there’s no explanation as to why the characters are acting in the way they are. There was just no development.

I just couldn’t convince myself to carry on with it...

The Unspoken Name is the first book in The Serpent Gates series. Definitely loved the world building and will read more from this author

"Nothing in this world has earned the power to frighten you, Csorwe.

This book was provided to me by NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

The Unspoken Name is the first book in The Serpent Gates series. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable read and includes wonderful diverse characters. Though a predominantly high fantasy novel, there are elements of sci-fi and space opera, which I’ll touch on.

First a little on the series. We do not yet know how many books there will be, though we know there will at least be a sequel (I’m already excited!)—a user on Goodreads asked A. K. Larkwood how many books there would be and she responded with ‘There will be a sequel featuring Csorwe and the gang. After that, I don't know yet!’.

While this is the first time I have written Csorwe, it is a name that may confuse you when reading this review, so, in Larkwood’s words, this is how to pronounce it ‘Csorwe's name is pronounced "ksor-way" to rhyme with "doorway"’.

Before discussing the book, I want to touch on the cover. I saw the cover on NetGalley and thought ‘wow!’ I know people say don’t just a book by its cover, but the packaging is important. Whether we want to admit it or not, it does attract us. This cover is beautiful: excellent colours, main image, font and text. The tusk intrigued me, and I did wonder the significance of it. I imagined elephants, like the Mûmakil (Oliphaunts) in LotR or other mysterious beasts. It turns out that one of the races, orcs, in the book have tusks, which are often decorated.

Csorwe, a young orc who has lived at the House of Silence for most of her life, is known as the Chosen Bride, prophesied to be sacrificed to her God, The Unspoken One, at the age of 14. Shortly, before she is due to do her duty, and sacrifice herself, a powerful mage, Belthandros Sethennai, arrives to ask a boon of The Unspoken One. He asks whether the Reliquary of Pentravesse, a small box said to hold the knowledge of Pentravesse; knowledge that could unlock almost unimaginable power, is still intact. It is.

When Csorwe is to sacrifice herself, Sethennai instead offers her a choice, sacrifice herself or betray her duty and her God, and travel with him as he both searches for the Reliquary and a way to back his home, his city, Tlaanthothe.

The story is told in what I perceived to be four sections, each roughly 25% of the book, and therefore the pacing was very good. Though, I think the book would have benefited from a little more pace at sections. There are also two mage-on-mage fights in the first quarter of the book and I’d have like to have seen Larkwood take the opportunity to be a little more creative and descriptive in those—one especially. That said, the storytelling is sublime—this is a beautiful world and I really bought into most characters.

The world is, in fact, many worlds. All different. Some dead and deserted, others teeming with life, and they are wonderful to explore—I hope we visit more in the sequel. One example is Echentyr: a dead world which is home to the snake goddess Iriskavaal—yes, huge sentient snakes exist, so large in scale that Csorwe could fit in their eye socket of a smaller one. There is also a Precursor world which is barren and desolate but full of mystery. In contrast, there is Tlaanthothe, which is large, lavish and full of life and Grey Hook, a place somewhat unruly. There is also magic, including the dark art of necromancy, many races, a wide array of gods, whose presence is very much tangible, a multitude of cultures and religions (not all explored obviously) and much more. Larkwood has created something remarkable and wonderfully rich in creativity.

I mentioned earlier that there is a touch a sci-fi in this book and, for me, it’s down to travel. To travel between worlds, one must navigate the Mazes and Gate, which they do on ships that fly and can also navigate the water. The Gates are not gates in the style of TV show Stargate, where you dial a gate and go directly from one world to another, you must navigate gates and worlds to reach your destination. None of this feels out of place at all, Larkwood has done a brilliant job of blending genres.

Regarding characters, I wrote earlier that I bought into most. Tal was the one character it took me until almost the end of the book to like—I don’t mean like in the sense I’m fond of him; I mean like in the sense I liked reading his interactions—there are plenty of characters in books I don’t like but still enjoy their interactions (a recent example would be Andross Guile in the Lightbringer series). I can’t pinpoint why, and Tal isn’t a badly written character by any means, and I didn’t not enjoy him, but there was something missing. I usually like a roguish character and Tal has some fun sarcastic comments, but something wasn’t there for me and I’m not sure why. The best I can come up with was that I didn’t understand why he was like he was. There was a part much later in the book where I felt I knew him more, understood him and bought in.

As for all the other main characters Csorwe, Sethennai, Shuthmili and Oranna I thought they were wonderfully written (there are a variety of side-characters in the book too who play a vital and meaningful role). Sethennai and Oranna are both self-centred mages yet have their charms. I particularly liked Sethennai early in the book, he’s an interesting character who you will ask a lot of questions about. However, Csorwe and Shuthmili are my two favourite characters. Csorwe has always been alone but had no emotional attachments, other than a feeling of owing Sethennai something until she meets Shuthmili, herself a loner, destined to fulfil a particular duty within her society and an extremely powerful mage who is somewhat feared. It was enjoyable watching the growth of both characters. The question of choice is a topic explored in The Unspoken Name. It is in this where we see the growth of both Csorwe and Shuthmili, as they become independent, make their own decisions, challenge authority and live with said decisions.

Csorwe is an Oshaaru and her people worship the Unspoken One. Csorwe is a Chosen Bride, someone who will be sacrificed to the god on her 14th birthday. But on the day of the sacrifice, a stranger called Belthandros Sethennai makes her an offer that she can’t refuse and helps her to run away.

Sethennai is a wizard in exile and has his own reasons for helping Csorwe; she can help him to return to his land.

I have mixed feelings about this one. It had good things and then the not so good things. But it’s not a bad book by any means, especially for a debut.

I liked the world-building and it’s impressive but there is quite much to take in. The book is divided into several parts and I liked the first part most where it focuses on young Csorwe. But the transitions between parts were somewhat awkward with time-jumps. Fast forward a few years and suddenly she is all trained to fight. Then 5 years have passed, and she has worked with Tal for 5 years and they hate each other. We’re missing huge chunks of her life and I didn’t connect with her, or the others, because so much happens behind the scenes. It just made me detached from the characters.

It dragged a bit in the middle and I felt the book could have been shorter. And if I’m honest, the most boring thing was Csorwe’s love-interest Shuthmili. She’s a super talented wizard who must be kept safe. And who had a non-existing personality. I just couldn’t understand why her?

I realize that I’m making it sound worse than it was because it wasn’t bad. There were lots of good things in it. But I really wanted to like it more. And since this was a debut book, I’m interested to see where the author will go from here.

The book had a great start and I was invested but it just fell on tropes to become a romance-driven story. The world seemed very interesting and seemed to hold a lot of potential and it feels like that evaporated as the book went on.

I really enjoyed this book for it writing style and characters-- the world was lush and descriptive, and even though I was encountering fantasy tropes that I had not personally read before, like the gates an the Maze, I could really see how they fit into the world. Tal and Csorwe's interactions were dynamite, and I wanted more of them, along with more of Shuthmili, although I will say, she was really quick to trust Csorwe after being saved, and that felt a little like the plot was being rushed. Which leads me into my criticism-- the pacing of the whole book felt extremely off kilter. It felt like I was reading an entire trilogy compressed into one book, which is concerning when I know more books are to come. Everything felt disjointed, and plot points kept wrapping up way earlier than I expected, leading me to always wonder what was coming next. Even though everything was well written, I just never could sink myself into the plot when I didn't know where anything was going. Overall, I enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to the continuation of the series-- I just hope the pacing comes together in future entries.

This story had a fantastic slow buildup and wonderfully developed characters. I really enjoyed the world and magic system and would be totally down with reading more by this author!

Not bad at all! "The Unspoken Name" doesn’t waste any time; it’s action-packed and full of plot twists: old gods, adventure, assassins... there's something for everyone.
The worldbuilding mixes elements of classic fantasy and sci-fi, creating a setting that is fresh and deviates from the usual patterns – although it’s a little vague in some parts, but there will be time in the next book(s?) to shed light on the loose ends.

The narrative tropes are engaging but not as original: the story is based on the search for a mysterious Reliquary, and the main themes are destiny, chosen ones, sacrifice… same old, same old.
However, the plot is still entertaining and well-constructed, and some of the ideas have great potential (the mythological system is especially fascinating – in this world gods like the Unspoken reveal themselves in unpredictable ways to say the least; I hope we’ll get to know more about them and their cults).

Most of all, I really appreciated the characters. Every single one of them has a distinct personality and their dynamics are the driving force of the story: the mystery surrounding Sethennai and his relationships carries the whole plot; the friendship/rivalry between Csorwe and Tal is a breath of fresh air; and the burgeoning f/f romance adds a touch of sweetness.

Except for some slow passages (maybe due to a temporal jump that was a bit sudden), the writing is quite fluent and the narrative structure manages to show the points of view of multiple characters while never losing focus on the protagonist. So all in all, very well done and it can only get better – looking forward to reading the next book!

The Unspoken Name is an amazing sci-fi fantasy book perfect for adult readers which is getting pretty rare.

It's a dark and fascinating story with old-world kind of gods, wizards blended with skyships that travel through sci-fi world inspired portals.

The characters and the world-building are fantastic, blending fantasy and sci-fi together naturally.

If you're looking for an engaging fantasy book with unique world-building and a thrilling story you should pick this one up.

"You think the gods give a shit what happens to us?"
•
This is quite a long book, so much longer than what I usually enjoy reading, but I found this quite a good read. The main premise is that Csorwe, the Chosen Bride of the Unspoken, has been living and training for her eventual sacrifice to appease a god of certain death. It was the way it was in her world, and she believed it was an honor and duty to die for her faith. Until an odd wizard came to her rescue on the day she's supposed to die and ~hires her to be his right-hand sword.

That is the first quarter of the book. That is also basically what was in the blurb, and it was enough to reel me in (plus the additional info that the heroine is gonna be queer) and made me request for the ARC. I'm glad I did bec I did enjoy it.
•
"There was always a chance, if you were prepared to wait and didn't have a lot of pride about surviving in the meantime, or leaping on that chance when it came along."
•
What are the parts I liked? The worldbuilding is complex, and I felt like the author more or less achieved balance in the narrative worldbuilding and plot. There are parts I found dragging, though, (bec really, I can't expect the complex settings to just make sense, esp since this is just the first book in a series, i think), but I wasn't too bored to DNF.

I also liked that the characters were well-rounded. From the heroine, Csorwe, to the ones she eventually crossed paths with, had believable drive and intentions, and had flaws and strengths that were true to their personalities. I liked that Csorwe blundered, and that she wasn't the most powerful, or most brave, or even the most morally-aware, but just a girl who has had to survive so much, and was surviving a lot still.

There are deaths of certain supporting characters too, so be aware of that, but it wasn't too jarring or gory for me (and I'm admittedly weak-willed) and I kinda liked that the book didn't shy away from killing off characters. There's a lot of crossing and double-crossing in this book, and I expected deaths to be part of this to raise the stakes.

What I didn't like was that it was too long. I appreciate that the 4 parts it had been divided into could possibly work like a separate book each (Parts 1 & 2, i definitely could see are able to stand on its own, but Parts 3 & 4, I don't really remember the distinction bec it was so intense I just breezed through the demarcation) but 400+ pages is just too much for me, personally. I also didn't feel like Csorwe was described enough as an orc girl, like the blurb clearly stated. In my mind she's just a girl with tusks, but not v orc-like. Sometimes I even forgot she had tusks and imagined her deadpan deliveries as Billie Eilish, but that's on me. LOL
•
"My suspicion is that I like you."
•
Because I am more of a romance than fantasy reader, I wanted so much more from the wlw romance parts between Csorwe and Shuthmili. But yeah, so many things were going on at the same time as their budding feelings for each other so I guess what we got here is fine. I appreciate the slow-burn realizations from both of them, as well as the ~mistake Csorwe did towards Shuthmili, bec it added a depth to the existing conflict, as well as a stronger drive for our bride-turned-assassin to overcome the shit they've been thrust into. And Shuthmili had to make her own decisions, and get past her own shortcomings too. That was great. :)

I hope to see more of them (being happy!) in the next book.
•
"Nothing in this world has earned the power to frighten you, Csorwe."
•
I enjoyed this book and will recommend to friends who like SFF with a lot of action and magic. The queer rep is also good; and the twists and resolutions for every character I cared about (cared about enough to love or hate, that is) was satisfying to me. Looking forward to the next book! *while also hoping ti wouldn't be as long. LOL.


*The eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review. It doesn't affect my opinion of the book. Thank you.

This was a really original and unexpected blend of science fiction and fantasy that I enjoyed very much. It tells the story of Csorwe, the chosen bride of the Unspoken One, who is destined to die for her god when she reaches 14. When magician Sethennai comes to her for a prophecy, he offers to take her away and train her as an apprentice instead.

The Positives: I thought the world building here was top notch and I loved the science fiction elements of that world, which I wasn't expecting at all. The opening part of the narrative feels very much like a fantasy book with elements that you would expect - chosen one, quest, magical training etc. Then, part 2 begins and the science fiction kicks in with a punch and the whole book suddenly becomes way more original and interesting. I really enjoyed following Csorwe and her development through the narrative and I particularly enjoyed the push and pull between her and Tal, who is snarky and fun. The plot was intriguing and the hints throughout to powerful beings were great.

The Negatives: The narrative can sometimes feel a little bit choppy, particularly in the first part, which jumps around a lot and covers a lot of time in a short space. This lead to each part having a little bit of an episodic feel, which took me a bit to get on board with and won't necessarily be for everyone.

Overall, I thought this was a fascinating and exciting read that I know I'll be thinking about for a long time to come and I will definitely pick up any more books in this world.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It's hard to describe this book. It's hard to rate and review this book. Sometimes, it was hard to read this book, but I'm glad I did.

There was something undefinable but comforting about the sense of familiarity I felt reading this book. Whether that comes from playing and watching tons of fantasy video games and tv shows I'm not sure, but it was definitely more like those things than like any other fantasy novel I've read. Sometimes that made the book incredibly fresh and fun, and sometimes, like I said before, it was not an ideal reading experience.

The pacing and structure are not the traditional act structure. What feels like the main action climax comes at about the 75% mark, and the rest of the book felt like those video games that allow you to play more quests, just to stay in the world a little longer. It was...kind of great? It won't work for everyone, but it actually did for me.

What did not work for me was the multiple povs. I think there ended up being four non-main character povs. Which drove. Me. Up. The. Wall. They showed up unpredictably and weren't balanced. it was more like encountering a cut scene in a video game, but I found it incredibly hard to power through them in print form. More than two povs and povs from non-main characters are a pet peeve of mine, though, so ymmv.

All in all, despite a few rough patches in the writing, I really enjoyed this and I loved Csorwe, Shuthmili, and even Tal. I'll definitely give the sequel a try whenever it comes along, and I'd be interested to see what else this author has to write.

*A little note about m/m content: there is no m/m romance in this book. What there is is a storyline about the main character and a secondary character who has a few pov scenes extricating themselves from an emotionally abusive mentor.

This book was really hyped and I had some great expectations about it, and I think that this was the main problem with this one. Mind me, I enjoyed the reading, and I enjoyed it a lot but I was expecting something more captivating. And, even if it’s true that this is not a perfect book, and that I have some problems with it, it has a lot of good things in it and so I decided to try and do a bullet review for this one, hoping to make a little bit of sense of all of this!

The Good!

-The Worldbuilding. The author has done a great job with it. She creates a rich and very imaginative world, or a series of different worlds, really, because we have a lot of different worlds that you can reach with some sort of portals. It was fascinating and we get so see a lot because our characters are constantly on the move. They hop here and there and so we get to see a good chunk of the author’s creation. And people, let me tell you, that is good. Very good! The author shows us different things, places, and locations, she really shows them to us, and I had the impression to be there, with the characters. Fascinating.
-The writing. This was good too. Really, really good. It captured me from the start and hooked me up with ease. She is good with words and I enjoyed reading them.
-Csorwe. To be honest, she is not one of my favorite main characters ever, but she is coherent and well developed. You have the impression to be with a real person. And she is loyal to a fault, stubborn, and growing into a wonderful woman.
-Shutmili. I think she is the best character in the book. I loved her, she is strange, yes, but she has sass and she would surprise you!
-The rivalry between Csorwe and Tal. Sometimes it seemed a little bit too much, but I enjoyed it and, once or twice, it managed to make me laugh. And I cannot resist some banter!
-The growth. This is a coming of age story and all of the characters grown during the story, and it’s well done and I enjoyed it.

The mixed part

-Tal. I have thought about it for some time, but I don’t know if I like him or not. It’s not that I despise him, or don’t like him, and I enjoyed his banter and his rivalry with Csorwe. But… I like him? I dislike him? I simply don’t have an opinion.
-Oranna. Banter aside, because with her we don’t have it, I can copy paste what I have said about Tal. I don’t have an opinion on her. It’s not that we don’t see enough of them, it’s just that even if we see them around, and they are important for the story and all, they seem quite… I don’t know which word to use. I cannot say plain because they are not bidimensional, they have their own voice and the author did a good job, they aren’t just wallpaper for the MC but they lack something nonetheless.
-The time of the narration. Time flew by with this story. And I am not meaning our time while reading. I mean the time of the story. Years pass between a chapter and the next, especially in the first part of the book. And it’s not a bad thing, even if I would have liked to see more of Csorwe training, for example, I wasn’t too disappointed in it, and I appreciated that the author manages to pull it off without losing interest in the story.
-The choices. In more than a way, this book is a book about choices, about what would define us as persons, as individuals. And we are there with Csorwe for every choice she has to make, little or big. And we have a ton of them! And not just for Csorwe, but for Tal, Oranna, Shutmili, and even Sethennai. Choices are everywhere! But maybe it’s a tad too much. Because even if we have an interesting plot, with a lot of things happening, the focal point is the choices and it seems like all the things they have done, all the suffering, the hard choices, the growth are without a serious meaning (aside for personal growth, that is the best point to make choices, yes, but not maybe as the center of an adventurous book, if this makes sense at all for you).

The bad

-Sethennai. I had quite some problems with him because I didn’t like him. I may have liked him a bit at the beginning of the story, but I was always distrustful of him and the things didn’t get better with the continuing of the story. But personal taste aside, I think that this is the worst character in the book because he is not as well developed as the other. My problem was that we see how other people react to him, and everyone has a strong reaction, Csorwe is loyal and devoted to him, in a way that is almost pathological, Tal is a bit obsessed by him, and the same could be said for Oranna. And the other respect him, or fear him, but in strong ways. So he should be a charismatic person, I think, but even if we can deduce it from the way the others react to him, we don’t see it in him. We don’t see him being charismatic, or fascinating or whatever, and that for me was a big flaw.

As you can see the good and the mixed are way more than the bad parts, and I think that this is a good book. I enjoyed the reading and I was fascinated by it, but now that I have some time pass I think that is lacking something to make it really really good. I mean, I liked it and I would recommend it to you, but I don’t like it as much as I was expecting and even if I enjoyed the ride, now I am here wondering “and so, what?”. So much so, that I don’t think I am interested in continuing the series, even if this book has given me some pleasurable hours.

A great debut and a story I inhaled reading as fast as I could.
The author is talented storyteller and the story flow without any moment of bore. The characters and the world building are amazing.
I look forward to reading other stories by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine.