Cover Image: Master of Sorrows

Master of Sorrows

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I am honestly shocked this is a debut fantasy novel. The pacing was perfect, the setting rich, the tone laid out perfectly. For this being Justin T. Call's very first book, it's nothing short of surprising. Usually you walk into debut fantasy books worried you'll run into a ton of info dump, and over explanation of the small things and just generally getting bogged down.

Thanks Netgalley for letting me read this one early! I enjoyed it immensely.

Review cross posted!

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Master of Sorrows is Justin Travis Call’s debut novel. I was intrigued by the lines from the book blurb on Goodreads: But what if the boy hero and the malevolent, threatening taint were one and the same? This is an anti-magic fantasy in which magical artifacts, when found, are confiscated and hidden away as they are considered to be tools of the dark god.

The hero is Annev, a boy born without an arm in a world where those with physical deformities are presumed to worship the dark god. He manages to survive in this anti-magic world only through the use of a magical prosthetic arm. Annev is driven by love and loyalty instilled in him by his surrogate father/mentor, Sodar. Early on Annev feels surges of power and hate when he touches objects of magic. He and his friends are schooled in becoming warriors and must pass a test to become an avatar. they fail, they are forever forbidden to leave the hidden village of Chaenbalu. Only avatars may leave to hunt down magical artifacts. The descriptions of this test are quite well done. If

Annev has a love interest, Myjun, that falls quite flat. She espouses the anti-magical dogma sanctioned by her father. Despite the fact that Annev is diametrically the opposite of anti-magical, he maintains his crush on her.

The very long “readings” from the religious tracts slow down the book and I found I simply skimmed them.

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Did not finish. I couldn't orient myself around the fantasy dump at the beginning of the novel. It was too dense and disconnected me from the story. I spent so much time trying to figure out the specifics of the world that I didn't have the energy to invest in any of the characters.

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“Master of Sorrows” is a Asian inspired epic dark fantasy featuring a reluctant hero who readers can easily gravitate towards and his journey. Unfortunately for me, this was a bit too slow paced for me and there just weren’t any characters that wowed me. In addition, more often times than I would like to admit had put this down to pick something else to read. I don’t think it was about the novel itself but more about me not being in the right mindset to take on this story. More likely than not, I will definitely consider giving this another try in the near future.

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Welcome to Chaenbalu, where a deformity earns you and your family a death sentence, because clearly that means you're the spawn of The Great Evil God.

This story follows Annev, a 17 year old boy found in such a circumstance as he is born into the world without his lower left arm. I quite enjoyed as we learned more about the Gods and the magic system, and how they battle against Annev and his driven dream to become an Avatar of Judgement.

Master of Sorrows really kept me reading. It was well worth all my groggy mornings! I was constantly left wanting more, eager to turn page after page. I found the conveying of facts a bit awkward at the beginning, the information being knowledge that Annev should have already known or asked some time before, but I otherwise thoroughly enjoyed it and found it a fun read! I knew I would love it from the goodreads summary alone. And the fact that it arrived to me extremely fast. It was a sign from the Gods.

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I really enjoyed this book a lot. The world was crazy and was well built. Annev is a fabulous main character who's going through normal teenage things, like girls and rebellion against parental figures, as well as hiding a pretty damn important secret.

I cannot wait for the next book.

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Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Silent Gods series. I got an eGalley for this from NetGalley to review.

Story (4/5): This is a pretty typical type of fantasy story. Our main protagonist, Annev, has been trained by a secret society, the Academy, that “recovers” illegal magical artifacts from people in order to keep people safe from these artifacts. Annev was raised by a priest who has been like a father figure to him. Unfortunately, Annev is one of the few who can also perform the very magic that is forbidden and ends up torn between the severe beliefs of the Academy and the worldly beliefs of the priest who raised him.

The story moved pretty slow, although I liked the idea behind. Annev is destined to be a destroyer but, because of how he was raised, he is much more compassionate than his fellow Academy members. It’s an interesting conundrum.

Characters (5/5): I thought the characters were the high point of this story. All the characters are very well done and likable, even the side characters. The characters meant to be “evil” have enough depth that you can understand where they are coming from as well. I enjoyed the partnerships Annev had both with the priest and with some of his fellow classmates.

Setting (4/5): The secluded village where the Academy is located is a pretty typical setting. I enjoyed when our characters ventured out of the city towards the end of the story and encountered more interesting and deadly terrains.

Writing Style (4/5): This book is well written and easy to read. The writing flows well and the dialogue is witty. My only complaint is how slow things move. When you look back at the story you realize very little actually happened until pretty late in the book. Despite this I did enjoy getting to know Annev and the village he lives in.

Summary (4/5): This is a well done fantasy that I enjoyed. It was a bit of a slow read for me; both in pacing and in how long it took me to read it. However, I enjoyed the characters and story a lot and am curious to see where this story is going. Even though it was slow, I continued to enjoy it and never wanted to set this aside or stop reading it. I plan on continuing with the series.

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Master of Sorrows is the debut from Justin T. Call and it is spectacular, I was completely absorbed from page one! This book has everything you need in it magic, swords, betrayal, dark secrets, and of course the prophecy.

I can’t get over how well-crafted this novel is. There is so much lore and back story hidden here and its easily given to you with out feeling like its just a huge info dump. There are passages that are from the history books teaching about the gods of the land. Which I thought was a great way to give the back story without hurting the narrative.

The host of characters here is wonderful and its easy to follow and to get behind the main character Annev, whose POV is used for the entire story. According to prophecy he is to be a villain, but his upbringing has him fighting against that. I really enjoyed his character and spent enough time in his thoughts to understand his outlook and his desire to fight against the prophecy.

Justin’s writing style is very easy to read and is very engaging, you will find yourself reading more in a sitting than you realized. I truly had a hard time putting this one down at the end of reading sessions.

In short this was a blast to read and I highly recommend it to all.

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This was a book that I just couldn't get into, it wasn't the right genre for me. Thanks for the advanced copy #netgalley #masterofsorrows

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This book was received as an ARC from Blackstone Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

My time was totally invested in this book because of the dark twist of being destined for the Avatar, Criminal life. The paths crossed and the secrets of burdens. The feeling of belonging, destined for one path but trained in another. The tension and drama all throughout the book got my jaw to drop wide open and my heart to almost stop completely for almost 15 minutes. Annev was in predicament throughout the entire book discovering and accepting who he really is. I believe our teen book club and young readers will be receptive to the familiarity of this book and I know will have a lot of discussions as well.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

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I really enjoyed this!

The premise is appealing, and the story itself was fascinating. I absolutely adore school/academy settings in fantasy books, and this one did not disappoint. I also really love morally-gray characters, which populate a lot of this world. I'm anxious to see where the story goes next.

Will definitely be picking up a copy once it's out!

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My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed each of the 448 pages of this book. Justin T. Call has begun building a truly fascinating world here, and it was a true joy to learn a little about it here.

The way that the people of Chaenbalu view people who are physically imperfect is actually an established trope within the fantasy genre (think of Tyrion in GoT [aside: there is a really fantastic article from a 2016 issue of Disability Studies Quarterly written by Colleen Elaine Donnelly titled Re-visioning Negative Archetypes of Disability and Deformity in Fantasy: Wicked, Maleficent, and Game of Thrones, which is 100% worth reading if your into this stuff – I cited it in a scholarly article I’m currently shopping. It’s really good stuff.], many Bond villains, Shakespeare’s Richard III, etc. you get the point, right?).

The thing that I love about Call’s handling of this trope is that he leads the reader toward the idea that this sort of thought process is nonsensical. Annev does hide his own deformity, but he is also one of the few people in his village to not look down upon others who are visibly marked. Even the girl he loves shares the general populace’s views on these matters – something which Annev feels more and more disturbed by as time goes on.

Despite the book’s length, the story of Master of Sorrows is actually told at a breakneck speed – the entirety of the book takes place over the course of a few very significant days in Annev’s life. In this very short period a remarkable amount of change happens in his life. He learns about his own past, something of the world outside Chaenbalu, all sorts of prophecy and lore, and plenty of new information about people he knows and loves. Essentially his entire world is flip-turned upside down.

There’s so much going on that I found myself pleasantly surprised that Call was able to not only keep everything straight and moving at a consistent speed, but that he was able to pull me as a reader through it all without a hitch. I never had to pause and look back at previous pages to try and figure out just how the hell we got to where we were. In a story that is working on such a grand scale, I think that is a pretty great accomplishment. He’s a hell of a writer – I’ll just leave it at that.

What I particularly enjoyed about Master of Sorrows is the way Call began to lay the groundwork for something that already feels epic in scope. This books reads like the kind of grand, sweeping tale that will keep me coming back book after book. I find myself not even married to a particular outcome for Annev as yet, but no matter how things turn out for him, I have found that I definitely want to stick around for it!

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Am I going to buy this book? Yes. Am I sad that personalized hardcovers are sold out on his website? 100% super-sad. I really loved this story, and as mentioned above, I’m really looking forward to the next installment, Master Artificer, which I know from his really well-designed web page is in it’s completed first draft phase.

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Dark fantasy with a considerable amount of violence, written from the male perspective. Clearly the first in a series -- the book ends at a reasonable stopping point but there is clearly more to come..

Brief overview: In the town of Chaenbalu, those born with disabilities are considered marked by Keos and killed at birth. Annev is born with only one hand but through the intervention of a mysterious man named Sodar, is spared, and grows up in the Academy of Chaenbalu, where he trains to be an Avatar of Judgement (predominantly warrior-based skills). He wears a prosthetic arm because most of his teachers and peers would stone him if they knew. Outside of Chaenbalu, darker events are stirring. Who is Annev, and what role does he play? Will he ultimately be a hero, or a villain?

My impressions: I liked that there were no clear heroes or villains but instead many shades of gray -- hopefully to be unpacked in future books. The book is packed with action (and on occasion, a bit too much violence for my taste), and though set an academy, hints at a larger world yet to be unpacked. The author does a decent job of setting up inner conflict for the protagonist (Annev); however, at times, he and his peers make choices that are mind-boggling in their stupidity, and I'm torn between not buying the motivation and wondering if male teenagers can really be that short-sighted? Finally, I have mixed feelings about the portrayal of women in the Academy and of the "romance." They're there, but none are really portrayed in a positive light and I'd score this fairly low on the Bechdel test. 3-3.5 stars.

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I LOVED THIS.

I plan to write a more full review soon and post it on my blog, but I had to come share briefly just how much I enjoyed Master of Sorrows by Justin T. Call.

I can't believe this is a debut novel. The world that Call has built is equal parts complex and beautiful, nuanced and thrilling. The plot is fast-paced and the characters are deep and relatable. I didn't personally connect with the romance as much as I did the rest of the world, but I can hardly complain given that I was riveted to this story until the end.

Can't wait to spread the love for this one. All Epic Fantasy lovers- check this one out now.

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For me, this book was an simply an okay read. It took awhile to get through it because I had to force myself to keep going back to it to finally finish it. Honestly it was a bit of a slog and I almost gave up.
This book has a lot of potential, it just didn't live up to what I thought it was going to be like.
This is my honest, uncompensated review. Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy.

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ARC from NetGalley

2.5 stars. Like nearly every review, this is going to contain a bit of profanity, so gird your loins buttercup.

Slow start. It got more interesting towards the end, but it was a bit late. The characters in this story were almost entirely forgettable. I only really cared about Sodar. Everyone else was an asshole or an idiot. Well, I guess not Titus, but he was forgettable for other reasons. I spent most of this read side-eyeing and hating on the characters (looking at you Myjun).

I like the idea of the artifacts, and the magic system seems quite interesting. I like an antihero, but Annev just seemed like a twat most of the time. A twat doing stupid, stupid shit.

I dislike the passages of scripture. They were not done well IMO. When I read the first bit, I thought that the author was perhaps very much a novice in terms of writing, starting every sentence in a block of italic text with "and."

The names in fantasy books are important to me. I do not like to cringe, and the naming in this book made me cringe. It just seemed very fantasy name-generator to me, but that's just me.

All in all, it was an interesting read, but I couldn't recommend it. It isn't bringing enough to the table.

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I really love reading books where the main character is very conflicted and you can't tell if they are going to go towards being a goody goody or being one of the seductive villains that we love.

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Master of Sorrows is about a fighting school where boys are trained to steal magical artifacts and lock them away in the "vault." One particular boy, Annev, was born with one arm and would be marked as evil and deemed to die should this secret be discovered.

I give this book a 3.5, There is a lot of wordy "info dumping," particularly at the beginning, and it was hard to follow all the foreign names and places and what was going on. It gets easier as you go along, though. I appreciated the epic scope of the book, and it's set up to be fairly in depth. However, I didn't feel a deep connection to and love for the characters. The revealing bits were interesting, but not intriguing. Avatar testing was certainly the most engaging part of the story. I read another review comparing it to the Name of the Wind... This is also an epic fantasy read about an outsider at an important fighting school with magic being an element, but that's where the similarities end. The world building is not as intricate or fleshed out, and the characters are less dynamic. This book tries so hard to feel like an epic that it misses the mark.

In short, it's a worthy read with potential but not a fantastic one.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

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This book was really good. I have to admit that I wasn't really impressed though, but that could be because I think this is a debut novel. I loved the concept, but I was kind of underwhelmed with the delivery.

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I had a hard time getting into this book. I’m not sure why. I usually love this type of story but this was somehow off. First off, Annev is a bit annoying. His mentor, Sodar, has his best interests at heart after rescuing him from certain death as an infant. Annev is constantly questioning and mistrustful of his mentor. Everyone at the Academy seems to be against him although he would prefer to make alliances but is sometimes betrayed. Myjun, his love interest is a bigoted jerk. Why he loves her is beyond reason although in the end there is some redemption for her. I like the back story of the ancient gift giving but I just couldn’t get into this story. It was well written. The world building was good. The characters were well fleshed out and the dialog was realistic. I just didn’t like the story and I don’t know why exactly. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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