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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm not sure how I rate this book. On one hand, it's very exciting but on the other there were more cliches than expected.

Annev lives in a society that sees having a disability as being the sign of a follower of the evil God. Unfortunately, he was born missing an arm, something that can get him killed. Good thing a magical priest discovers him as a baby and uses magic to help blend him in.

I was expecting something different. The description says that he's destined to be the next dark lord. This never happens in the book. The closest is when he accidentally causes destruction. That doesn't count. I was looking forward to him turning against his people because they were horrible people who thought stoning people for having missing limbs was a good thing.

In the end, I found myself not caring for any character's fate.

Copy received from Netgalley for an honest review.

Justin Travis Call's new novel, Master of Sorrows, is a fast-paced read about a new fantasy world. The plot stems around Annev, who dreams of becoming an avatar (a group of skilled men who travel the world collecting magical artifacts and securing them at the academy where he's being trained). Of all the people in Annev's class, he is probably the single best potential avatar, but he keeps failing the final exam because he has a tendency of trying to play by his own rules and not the expectations of The Academy.

Part of Annev's moral compass comes from his intense relationship with Sodar, the village priest (who has more tricks and lies up his sleeve than anyone can guess). Sodar has taught (and protected) Annev since he was born. In Annev's world, anyone born with a physical impairment is perceived as cursed and both the infant and her or his parents are killed. When Annev was born, he was born without one arm, so while his parents were killed for having the one-armed child, Sodar had saved Annev. Of course, one of the main questions that is answered within the book is why. Using a magical prosthetic, Annev has lived his entire life knowing that he's just one accident away from his dark secret being exposed to the world. Will he become an Avatar? Will his secret get exposed? Why did Sodar spare his life? These and so many other questions are answered in this exciting new first novel in The Silent Gods series.

I definitely look forward to seeing what the rest of this series brings for Annev and his friends. I want to thank the publisher for the opportunity to preview a copy of this prior to publication. Even though I received the book from the publisher, my review is competely my own.

I received a copy through NetGalley for review.

3.7 for me so close to being a 4.
This was an interesting book.
It has a rich backstory, with complicated gods and religion, where magic is both hoarded and despised, considered evil and those able to wield it, the same.
The only reason I didn't rate it higher is because it didn't really reach out and grab me or keep me on the edge until 70% through.

Annev is a sheltered youth, raised by a kind priest who saved him at birth for being killed for having one arm. All who are maimed are claimed my the dark god Keos. His parents were killed after his birth an act called "Breaking the vessels of Keos" a ritual of being stoned to death.
He is raised in secret in the same village that would have sent its Avatar Masters to destroy him as a child. He's worked his entire life to become one of these Avatar Masters. Who seek out artifacts, and magic welders and kill them to purify the world of darkness. Knowing this, his missing arm is concealed by a magical prosthetic. He must also hide the fact he is a magic user, all while secretly learning to control it. Both if ever known would end his life as he knows it.

Annev lives a life that balances on a dangerous edge. While he is the subject of a prophecy, and the darkness seeks him out, it's still unknown if he is the one to lead it or break its hold on the world.

I liked this book. It felt a bit slow to me at points like somethings could have been sped up or maybe edited out. But the world building and creation of religious backstories and gods was incredibly well though out. And the ending was set up in such a way that the continuation with the antagonist is going to be really good.

Master of Sorrows by Justin T. Call, an book that quickly draws you in, could almost by YA. A young man who strives to do his best despite people and circumstances being against him, when he learns that the forces of darkness are seeking him, whether to kill him or make him their leader is not clear.

***ARC received from Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

The synopsis poses you the question, what if our hero and the threat of evil were one and the same? How will our hero chose, guided both by those that want to protect him and the world and influenced by the hate he experiences and the evil that wants to use him. Master of Sorrows sets up what is bound to be a long sweeping fantasy story that stumbles at times but ultimately sticks the landing on the start of something that could be amazing.

The book starts out really strong, telling of the birth of a young baby missing a hand, setting up the main conflict of the first book. Of those that wish to see the baby killed and those that have waited for the coming of the vessel. Its a tried and true fantasy element and works just as well here as it does in other stories. Before getting into the meat of the story we get the back story of the gods, Keos, Odar and Lumea or at least the start of the back story. They are woven throughout the story giving back story as needed to progress the many story as needed. I have always loved these elements of a fantasy novel, that don't try to overwhelm you too much at one time, instead work them in so that they fit into the story itself.

The main part of the book follows Annev as he attends school preparing for his final exam to move from Acolyte to Avatar. I liked Annev well enough even if at times he and the other younger characters felt a little too juvenile to me with their behavior. It didn't detract from the overall story but when the behavior popped up it stuck out more than it should have. There is also an animosity between Annev and some of the other characters that never felt fully fleshed out. By the end we know why Kenton hates him, but I never really got the same with Fyn. Its mostly just nitpicking things on my part, same with the romance. I understand why Annev is enamored with Myjun, but it never really feels returned. The romance just felt tacked on to lead up to something bigger in the end. Its a trapping that fantasy novels sometimes fall into, this one if victim of that, but I like where it ended. I want to see how it plays.

One of my favorite things about this book is the way it treats magic and deformities, particularly magic which is usually seen as something you quest for not something that people actively work against. Annev is raised to hide the deformity he was born with, how it affects how he thinks of himself and his motivations are driven by it. It will be interesting to see how it if further explored as the series continues.

My biggest issue was pacing, the book started out strong but the time spent in the village and academy really dragged. The book suffers from being stuck in one place for far too long but begins to pick up once Annev leaves from the first time. But its the trapping of a fantasy novel that clearly has a much bigger story to tell, being stuck getting through the initial set up to the bigger parts that are waiting in the next books.

A strong start to a new series that I look forward to reading more of.