This book is the first on The Serpentine Throne series, the story took me a bit to get into it, but there is a lot of things going on and twists and turns to keep you engaged. I love dragon stories, this one was good but the way it's written could be improved. I would've liked it more if it was longer. Mariynne is an interesting character, there is a side of magic to the story that I felt it flat in this book, but probably will get more into in the next ones, the ending kind of felt rushed, more like a prequel of sorts to what is about to come maybe. Overall let's see how the next one goes.

this was a great start to the Serpentine Throne series, the characters were great and I enjoyed getting to know their world. I really enjoyed reading this book and looked forward to the sequels.

The beginning felt a little slow, so it took a it to really pull me in. Once it grasped me though... I was enthralled by a beautiful story. Great for any fantasy lover.

I found this book has a slow beginning and I feel like the whole book was like an introduction more than a story itself, nevertheless, I found the story intriguing and with a lot of really well-worked background.

Wow, this was the most jam-packed fantasy story I've ever read! At a little over 200 pages at that! I commend Stradiotto for her ability to build a world with plot and a depth of characters, but it slightly missed the mark with me. I believe that had she better paced the story, it would have come together a little better. Nevertheless, a great quick read.

Would definitely recommend this for anyone who loves high fantasy. I found myself staying up late each night just to finish one more chapter.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Call of the Storm Sorcerer is the first book in The Serpentine Throne series. Since it's the first one, I'd say that it did a pretty good job starting off the series. It had some pros an cons throughout the book but I think it has great potential. For example, the world building was pretty good and I'm hoping that the next book, or future books, will dive a bit more into that.

Meaning I would also like to see more information about the relationships between dragons and the people. As well as the caste/magic system in this book. I'll admit that I'm still a little confused and would like a bit more information for it all to click inside my brain.

Then there's the characters, which I liked but haven't found someone to love (just yet). I mean Mairynne is nice and all but I want to see more from her. Heck, I want to see more from anyone in this book. They are okay but I don't want to read a book with just okay characters - ya know?

Other than that, I did like the twists and turns when I got to them. They sort of kept me on my toes but I would like to see more action throughout the series. Just to keep me intrigued/entertained enough to continue with it.

In the end, it was good start and okay book. Definitely going to dive into the next book to see what is going to happen next.

Call of the Storm Sorcerer (The Serpentine Throne, #1) by Susan Stradiotto
Publisher: Bronzewood Books
Genre: Sci Fi & Fantasy
Publication Date: April 19, 2021

Call of the Storm Sorcerer (The Serpentine Throne, #1) by Susan Stradiotto is a fascinating book!

I loved the characters and found the story to be so captivating! This is one of those books that you can read again and find my goodness! Hopefully this will be released in audio format so I can lose myself in this world on my long runs!

I look forward to the next book in the series!

I'm so grateful to Susan Stradiotto, Bronzewood Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Those that like the fantasy genre will definitely welcome this new world into their lives. Definitely if it continues as a series.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I just want to say, I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t.
This has some truly slow pacing, and is overly descriptive. The prologue was confusing but interesting, and then the start of the book was clearer, but lacking in energy and action. The first bit of action that seemed like it would move the plot was at 25%, but it was off screen and not addressed with any urgency. I enjoy a good political thriller, but there wasn’t something the dialogue seemed to be driving towards right away. I almost stopped reading at 24%, because up to that point, there was mostly sadness at missing her parents, skirmishes with her sisters, and general shaking of fists to the sky with a “why me?” bent as she is expected to inherit the throne. If she was a little more interesting or there were a little more conflict earlier in the book that helps to drive the plot, this would be a more engaging book for me.

I loved this storyline! I saw it had some negative reviews, and I think it could be because it was a little hard to get into for me in the beginning. I found myself a bit confused and overwhelmed at all the information piled into the beginning. I couldn’t keep track of all the characters at first, but as the story progressed, it became so much smoother—flowed better. Of course, that is my own personal opinion. I already have read the first chapter in the second book, due to getting a copy via NetGalley for an honest review, and let me just say, I know the second book will be just as good possibly even better! I’m really excited to read this entire series and find out what happens. The descriptive words throughout the novel are beautiful, and I love all the magic.

I was not a fan of this book while it was a quick read I feel like nothing happened. The characters are not fully realized and aren’t like able.

I wanted to give it a 3.5 but I suppose 4 stars is close enough...

This book is very fast paced and exciting which means that I was drawn in right from the beginning.

Characters: Mairynne is basic, but still unique which was very refreshing. So many YA protagonists sound the same, and have the same goals/character arcs and I liked that she stayed true to her beliefs. Kind of confused about some of her reasoning's and some of the side characters stories (they felt a little 2D) but over all it was pretty good. The romance was not exactly developed, it felt forced. I think that Thalaj and her needed more time together, and honestly a good friendship (not just mentioned but displayed).

Plot: I like how it wasn't exactly a typical YA plot, but it still managed to be cliché. Not that I don't like cliché tropes, I definitely do, but I think there could have been more development of side plots and stronger character arcs (for everybody but Mairynne). It was a very quick read which is partly good partly bad (felt very rushed, I wish the tension was played up more).

Writing: Honestly I loved the world building. Susan Stradiotto may miss a few things and over complicate other things, but all in all the world is pretty fleshed out and interesting. However, there are aspects that could be deeper. Yes, explain the caste system, tell us how you want to change it, but play up the plots and twists as you do so. I was looking for some good political problems and although the main issue (Mairynne taking the throne) is well done, it just doesn't have the right amount of backstabbing, coups and other political drama for me.

All in all, I liked the book, but I wanted more from it. There could have been more detail, more action, more cliffhangers, but even as it is now I really want to read the next one, so maybe there is enough suspense after all!

I unfortunately didn't love this book as much as I'd hoped I would. The premise sounded incredible and really interesting. It had the potential to be an exciting and fast paced fantasy novel, but for the most part I felt confused and I was constantly rereading over bits to try and interpret things.

There's not a lot of action, but there's a lot of world building. I can understand with it being a new series that the scene has to be established, but I feel it was a little too much. The terminology wasn't explained all that well and that added to my confusion. I kept getting lost.

I considered putting this book down, but I thought that it would get better towards the end. Admittedly it did in the last quarter, but I also found that really frustrating because I felt like I really had to earn that ending by pushing through the first 80% of the novel.


Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Call of the Story Sorcerer is the first novel in the Serpentine Throne series. There is a nice mix of magic and mystery in this story and I feel this series has amazing potential. This novel is a lot shorter than most others of the same genre and does a great job setting up the plot and an introduction to the characters that will play a role in the future novels. I did walk away still a little confused about the world-building with the castes and magic, but I figured this could be intentional and the missing pieces would be filled in during the later novels. Even with some unanswered questions, the story is easy enough to understand and enjoy.

Mairynne Evangale is a princess of the Konō (an emperor of Nantai) and the youngest of three sisters. After her mother died, her father disappeared soon after. Although she is not the oldest, laws in Nantai allow for the ruler to designate their successors and Mairynne was deemed the next in line. The main part of the story begins with her preparing to ascend the throne. Not only does she not feel ready to rule, she also does not want to take the throne away from her father as she believes that he is still alive. She struggles with the expectations for her to quickly ascend the throne and her belief that there is no need to take the throne if her father is still alive to rightfully claim it.

This story involves some star-crossed lovers, although it doesn’t explore this part of the story in detail. I am hopeful that this storyline gets more depth and detail in the next novel in the series. Thalaj is the first guard and as someone not from the upper classes, he cannot be with the princess (soon to be Konō). While it is obvious that the two of them like each other, I did not feel connected to their angst as it was more or less told to me compared to me seeing it play out on the page. Again, I am hopeful that Thalaj’s character will be explained more as he was there and I felt he had potential, but I just did not feel connected to him.

I think as part of the entire series, the pacing makes sense, but just based on this novel alone, it is very slow. I got through over halfway before it felt like anything happened and I was finally drawn into the story. It was an interesting contrast to the intense opening prologue where there is a sense of urgency with the historical moments. The opener drops the reader right in the middle of the action without context and the reader gets to try and put the pieces together. It felt like a movie, in a way, where it starts right away, then the credits, and then the story resets to take you to the main story where the opener will be tied in later.

Overall, this is a captivating read as the reader moves through the world-building and character introductions to get to the story. I will admit that I had some difficulty keeping the characters straight in my head as there were a lot of them. However, the important ones appear multiple times and soon the reader figures out which ones to focus on. The terminology used is also a little overwhelming as the reader typically needs to piece it together in context rather than exposition. Depending on the reader’s style, this could be determined either a positive or a negative. For me, I did not mind it, but it did require more thinking on my part than I thought I would need to do. Once the plot picked up, then I did not care whether I fully understood every detail and instead became anxious for the adventure to begin. I am very curious to see what happens in the next novel as this one showed potential for a fantastic series!

**I want to give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Bronzewood Books, for a review copy of this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Thank you Netgalley and Bronzewood Books for the ARC but all the opinions were my own.

I enjoyed this book but I expected more action from it. It was well written, the world really well thought out, and the characters were well developed. It was a quick read which was great and it made me want more to happen throughout the story. I'm looking forward to the others in this series to see if my thoughts change!

This book is the first on The Serpentine Throne series, the story took me a bit to get into it, but there is a lot of things going on and twists and turns to keep you engaged. I love dragon stories, this one was good but the way it's written could be improved. I would've liked it more if it was longer. Mariynne is an interesting character, there is a side of magic to the story that I felt it flat in this book, but probably will get more into in the next ones, the ending kind of felt rushed, more like a prequel of sorts to what is about to come maybe. Overall let's see how the next one goes.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this title. An act I don't make a habit of doing. The synopsis was intriguing, and I do love the concept, which is why I'm giving it an extra star, but I couldn't connect with story. The opening prologue was very good and peaked my interest, however it fell flat for me after that. To put it simply, I just couldn't find something or someone to connect with to pull me into the story.

I may try to read this again sometime in the future, but for now it's a not clicking for me.
DNF at 21%.

*I received this title as a free advance digital copy and this does not influence my review or opinion.

I enjoyed this book and cant wait to dive into the next one. The world has great history and depth and I enjoyed the dragon aspect to the book. It is a take I haven’t read before. The magic system is intriguing as well.

This is a political story.
The prologue lets us follow the first emperor of Nantai as he prepares to be separated from the Rui dragon that lives inside him. The description of the process is very reminiscent of certain medieval tortures.
This had me all prepared to follow along on the action that would follow such a thing, but then it jumps many years into the future to follow the ascension of Mairynne to Empress after her mother's death and her fathers disappearance.
Mairynne however is convinced that her father still lives and doesn't want to take the throne. If you like almost entirely political stories, this one is for you, though based on the ending I imagine the rest of the series will have more action if that's what you crave as well.