Stars: 2.5 out of 5.

When I read the blurb of this book, this sounded like it should be right up my alley. Unfortunately, the execution was decidedly underwhelming. And the opinions of my Goodreads friends are split on this one. One absolutely loved, and another one DNFed it. I'm tending to agree with my second friend on this one, though I managed to finish the book, and I now think that I shouldn't have bothered.

I have several issues with this book, so let's talk about the biggest two.

First of all, this book feels rudderless. This less of a cohesive story than a series of events that happen to Aelis. A bear attacks the sheep, some mercenaries bring cursed gold, then a villager seemingly goes crazy and attacks his brother, then all of a sudden we get a detour to kill a Demon tree... You get the picture. Aelis isn't the driving force behind this story. It feels like she is just a leaf being dragged along the current of things that happen around her. She is reacting to external forces all the time. 

And this isn't a bad thing, if done well. In fact, there are book that managed to create a compelling story around a protagonist who had no agency of his/her own. Unfortunately, this is not that book.

The problem is that Aelis has no stakes in the events that happen around her. She has no goals to reach and, honestly, nothing to loose. So there is really no sense of urgency in the unfolding story. Which also means that the story meanders without a clear goal, just like Aelis and Tun in the wilderness. I grew bored following them, to tell you the truth, because I didn't particularly care if she caught up with the crazy brother. And even when the stakes seemed to finally get bigger (like the discovery of a rogue enchanter a few days away from the village), I was already too disengaged with the story to care.

And that stems from the second issue I have with this book - the character of Aelis herself. To put it bluntly she is a pretentious and extremely unlikeable. She is extremely condescending to EVERYONE around her, just because she went to the Lyceum of magic, and they are "simple peasants". Yes, because her having purely academic knowledge and no field experience in pretty much anything is so much better than the experiences of people who have been through a war, or who learned to survive in a harsh environment since their birth. 

I would have been better able to stomach this if she learned and evolved throughout the book, made mistakes, got her nose bloodied, and came out humbler and wiser on the other side. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen. In fact, there is no character growth for Aelis whatsoever. She is just as unlikeable at the end of the book as she is at the beginning of it. 

So I finished this story, but I have no desire to continue with this series, because I really don't care about Aelis di Lenti and her overinflated ego.

PS: I received and advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This reminded me pleasantly of Adrian Tchaikovsky's <i>Spiderlight</i> and <i>Redemption's Blade</i>. I will definitely keep an eye out for the next book in the series.

What a let down. Unbelievably flat and dull. I slogged through just to finish, not out of any enjoyment or interest in the story.

The only positive things I can say are that the premise and worldbuilding have potential that may really come to fruition in later books in the series. I also always value a world that allows casual queerness, so I appreciate that. That's it.

As for what I didn't like:
-the plot was wildly slow and mundane. This wasn't marketed as a cozy fantasy or slice of life story, so I spent most of the book just waiting for ANYTHING interesting to happen. It felt like cozy fantasy, but without the warmth and charm that make those books successful and enjoyable to experience.

-The characters all feel flat and each seem to have a couple token qualities that check various boxes and that's about it. There wasn't a single character that felt relatable or endearing.

-For a book about necromancers, I definitely expected a million times more necromancy. If you want to read this because you want a story about necromancy, find a different book.

-The pacing is weird. Scenes in the story are often interrupted with random flashbacks that don't seem to add any value or context to the overall story. It feels like the main character constantly stops what she's doing to basically be like "ah, this reminds me of when [this thing] happened... but anyways." It's disruptive to the story, especially when the asides aren't even adding anything to the experience/understanding/etc.

The synopsis for the sequel to this book sounds much more like what I expected this book to be, so maybe that would be a more rewarding read. I will not be finding out. Maybe if this were marketed differently and my expectations going in aligned better with what I read, I would have enjoyed it more. But I kinda doubt it.

Two stars, but only because one stars are reserved for books that I found super problematic or I actively hate. I don't care about this enough to hate it.

When I first heard about this book, it sounded amazing and it definitely didn't disappoint. The Warden is a scifi-fantasy novel about a necromancer named Aelis de Lenti. Aelis is of noble birth and a graduate of an esteemed necromancy school, but finds herself in a little village called Lone Pine doing busywork. Once she beings to become familiar with the residents of Lone Pine, Aelis learns that things are not as they seem and the little village needs a Warden more than she previously thought. Again, amazing, amazing, amazing. I can't wait to read more from Daniel M. Ford in the future and can't wait for the sequel!

Fun and dare I say cozy. I was expecting something more grim and dark when I heard this deals with necromancy but I really enjoyed the spin the author puts on it. I’m excited for the next book!

As a D&D player, this cosy fantasy romp was right up my alley. It's perfect for a low-stakes read after a day that left you with a busy and cluttered head.

It was mildly boring. We were constantly pulled in different directions that eventually I just didn't care anymore what was going to happen. The MC also seemed annoyed about being pulled in so many directions. It had the cliff-est of cliff hangers that I've encountered in a long time. But I don't know I'll bother to read the next one.

This accessible and sometimes cozy fantasy appeals to a broad range of readers, especially fans of Dungeons and Dragons. The pacing and plot moves forward in a great and intriguing way, despite the lower stakes (which some people might really enjoy!) The main character is super fun to read and queer to boot. Overall, a super fun book that many fantasy-loving folks will appreciate!

This first of a series introduces appealing new wizard heroine, (Necromancer/Enchanter/Abjurer) Aelis de Lenti.

She's given a 2 year posting in remote Lone Pine village, where her new home is a ruined roof-less tower. She makes the best of it, and gradually wins the respect of the villagers.

After cursed gold shows up, bringing danger to the village, Aelis seeks its source with the assistance of orc trapper Tun.

a great classic fantasy story with some engaging scenes

thank you to netgalley and to the publisher for this review copy.

4.5 stars

I’ll just say it here: I felt an immediate draw into this story. It had this sort of classic fantasy feel to it, following a wizard settling into a new position and going over old lectures and lessons. So there’s an academic aspect, but then there’s also a bit of community, as well as some magic and mystery and action and travel/adventure.

The story elements all started to weave together, with all sorts of events happening that left Aelis thinking that she needed to look into it more, but then even more dangerous or more pressing issues would arise. It made it delightfully difficult to figure out what was going to happen too easily, and I loved that.

But I will say that at times it felt like the story was coming together a bit slowly, and so that might not be something that is appealing to everyone. Even when things felt a bit slow, I was still super interested and invested, because I was growing attached to all of the characters, because there’s the whole community of Lone Pines, as well as traveling merchants and mercenaries and such. It was such an intriguing and diverse bunch of people to learn about.

Tun, Pip, Rus, and Maurenia were some of my favorite secondary characters in this story.

It really did feel a bit like a Dungeons & Dragons adventure at times. There are similarities when it comes to the different schools of wizardry. And I guess I could say that it would have been nice to have a little more description into the actual act of spellcasting, but overall it was still handled decently enough.

I realize that this story, the characters, the magic system, the writing, might not be for everyone, and that is totally fine and valid. I just know that I had an enjoyable time reading this book, and I have added the sequel to my to-read list, so we’ll see what happens with that next year.

There were a lot of elements that were familiar to me in this story but also sufficient on the peaks-of-interest and exciting wizardry/action elements. The plot seems a bit cliche as it follows the ‘esteemed city-girl/wizard’ being assigned to act as warden in a small armpit of a town – but she’s also a badass necromancer. The townsfolk fear her and her powers and shy away when she walks through town. Though after quick-thinking and using her powers to save the life of one of the townsfolk, she earns her a slight degree of respect. Then the plot somewhat spins off into a fugitive hunt in an unforgiving fantasy forest filled with danger.

Aelis is determined to give her house, and her school a good name by strictly representing the rules and skills she has learned. We are often met with flashbacks to her classroom days and her strict instructors battering lessons into her, as she’s presented with a given situation where she needs to apply those lessons. This can upend the pacing a little, but also provides context about why Aelis is the way she is.

There are some very interesting secondary characters as well. Maurenia, The half-elf and love interest of Aelis, who just happens to stroll into town with her band of mercenaries shortly after Aelis arrives, and Tun – the strong-silent type who just about steals every scene he’s in :no spoilers:. Tun is such an awesome character

The world is mostly confined to a small town of Lone Pine, dense forested ‘Ruins of the old world’ kind of woods. Ford does well on setting the atmosphere there in Aelis’s tower and within the tavern and the surrounding trees.

The second half of the book steps up the suspense, wizardry, and action. The magic system is not complex; wards, necromancy, and doesn’t spare a lot of the ‘how’ and that it just ‘is’. Some interesting villains emerge and their sinister plots revealed. And once you thought it was over, there’s a little thread that leads off of a cliffhanger for book 2!

This book is perfect for the Skyrim fan, or the casual D&D player. There are lgbtq themes but it’s light on the romance. Wizardry, shapeshifters, demon trees, undead, and all the good stuff! The audio narration was very well done if you’re looking for a nice Fantasy audiobook as well.

Filed Under: Adventure Fantasy, Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery
Tagged With: Book Review, Daniel M Ford, Fantasy Books, The Warden, Tor Books

I did not expect cozy fantasy from a book about a necromancer, yet here we are. Faced with sexism, Aelis de Lenti, is assigned a post in the middle of nowhere instead of the prominent city post she deserves with her achievements. Although this book is action packed and plot heavy we still get to experience Aelis making friends and forming relationships while her unimportant post turns out to be more important than she thought.

Something about cozy fantasy makes me want to put the book down between each chapter and savor the story. This is no different although you can push through and read it quickly since there is so much always going on. Aelis has very little downtime in what is supposed to be an irrelevant posting.

I'm happy to report that Daniel Ford sees women as people and writes Aelis well. She is unlikable in the sense that she was raised in a wealthy family. Due to her privilege and inherent power she often comes across as entitled but learns, grows, and forms friendships anyway.

I would recommend this to most readers. For those who love cozy stories and want to get more into Fantasy and traditional Fantasy readers who want something a little cozier.

3.5 stars
While I did enjoy this book, it didn't feel like anything special. But I can't figure out why!
The story is solid and there are some really, really good moments but it just did not grab me.
I plan to continue on with the series and hopefully the next book will really pull me in.

Aelis de Lenti, daughter of a wealthy and powerful family and top student at the Lyceum, has been assigned a lonely outpost in the quiet village of Lone Pine. The isolation and terribly conditions grate on Aelis, but she tries to make her home among the rural people and do her job to the best of her ability. Sneaking suspicions and sudden oddities make it clear, however, that Lone Pine, and possibly the whole country, are at risk, and a skilled Warden is exactly what is needed. Original and fun, The Warden is a good read for those graduating from YA. Simple and straightforward, with enough excitement and romance to keep the reader engaged, though not challenged. The setup for the next book takes away some of the enjoyment of this one, however. It would be nice if quality books could be allowed to stand on their own without an obligatory cliffhanger.

Daniel M. Ford starts an excellent series about Aelis de Lenti, fourth daughter of a noble house, who is a newly graduated Magister of the Lyceum, She is assigned as The Warden (hard from Tor) to Lone Pine, a remote border village, whose inhabitants are afraid of her. As she tries to help the village, complications happen with a troupe of adventurers, a pile of cursed gold, and a murder attempt by one brother against another. In the badlands a, there's a gang of brigands under the control of a witch who has warped their minds. If that weren’t enough, there's real evil left from the war that she will have to deal with in the next book. Very enjoyable. I look forward to her next adventure.

Imgur Link goes to Instagram graphic scheduled for May 3rd
Amazon Review pending system review
Second Youtube Review will be posted within the week in a Fantasy Wrap-up Video on the channel

This is one of those Fantasy books that I feel like has been very misrepresented both by it's cover (which is beautiful) and it's pitch. The Warden was a cozy fantasy about a wizard sent to a 'back-water' town to become their Warden. This role puts her into basically the position of a sheriff or justice of the peace. She also works as the town medic and assists the town with tasks from reading and writing letters to fixing fences when needed. Unfortunately for Aelis, this town where she is to take up this job is frightened of her. Mainly due to the black robes and Necromancer colors she bears. She graduated with certification from three schools, but the Necromancy school is her primary and scariest one. Over the course of the novel we see her begin to win over the townsfolk, find new friends, and uncover a dark plot.

First off, there is no way this isn't D&D inspired. It could be hard to see for someone who is not familiar with the systems of Dungeons & Dragons, but if you are it's obvious but delightful. Mr. Ford has adapted the idea of the spell slot (that mechanic in D&D that limits a spellcasters abilities per level) into the magic system here. In addition the schools of magic are very much true to the same system that D&D has. For that this book won for me endless marks - I am a DM and lover of Dungeons & Dragons and I just want to get this out of the way. This book is for people like me.

Now to the rest of the book! The characters are fantastic and well drawn. What I would call our primary cast is clearly the strongest and most developed but the others give just enough intrigue and have enough dimension to add to the story. A lot of interesting setup for future books can be seen in these characters, while also helping the cozy feeling of the book with a tight knit, friendly cast. The story itself is much the same! The first portion of this is Aelis arriving and finding her Tower in ruins. Thus we follow her as she begins to make friends, find improvements and performs small tasks. It's not till nearly 40% that we see the meat of the plot begin to appear but it felt so relaxing and fun till that point that I didn't mind at all.

The ending of this book did have me enraged. Not because it was poorly done or because I didn't like it but because CLIFFHANGER MUCH? This is one of those rare occasions where I am so mad I have to wait for another book that I almost wanted to dock a star from this - which would have been unfair so I did not - but what a way to end it! I laid my ereader down and shouted at my husband "WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THAT?"

Final thoughts - ignore the 'action packed' phrasing and the dynamic cover, which again IS BEAUTIFUL. This book felt farm more reminiscent of something like Legends & Lattes to me. Sure there is some fighting and some action later in the book but the vibes and the feels sink this into the Cozy Fantasy genre for me. I recommend this whole heartedly to fans of that genre and my fellow Dungeons & Dragons nerds. This is a fantastic new book to start a new series and I'm pumped to get my own copy, and also anxiously awaiting the next book!

The Warden by Daniel M. Ford
The Warden #1

Aelis de Lenti has just arrived at her destination at what seems the end of the civilized world Her wizard’s tower is in disrepair, a goat her wannabe roommate, and nothing as she had expected it would be in Lone Pine. She feels she has been given a job beneath her capabilities but will do her best to fulfill her duties for the next two years. Aelis’s experience reminded me a bit of graduation from nursing school, putting in my request job in the operating room, but instead being sent to neurosurgical intensive to work nights. Not sure if she or I was best qualified to the jobs we were given…

What I liked:
* Aelis: strong, intelligent, diligent, capable, wise, willing to do her best and to learn
* The flashbacks to her educational experiences and how they played a part in her decision making
* Meeting the villagers of Lone Pine
* The fantasy elements woven into the story
* The way Aelis seemed able to find the essence of issues and then handle what needed to be done whether dealing with a bear, doubting and fearful villagers, outsiders, glamours, injuries, demon trees or…just about anything
* The action scenes
* Feeling a part of the story and caring about the outcome
* Wondering what parts Tunbridge, Rus, Martin, Phillipa, Emilia, Maurenia, the Dobrusz brothers, Elmo, Otto, and some others may play in the future
* That this is a book I can recommend to young adult readers as well as adults
* Curiosity about what will happen in book two

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Having to wait for book two

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? I think so though it felt aimed at a younger reader than I am

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

2.5 stars

I added The Warden to my to-be-read list based on the cover and the keyword necromancy. And yet this book delivers only slivers of those two elements. My disappointment in this book may partially be based on inaccurate expectations, however, the story was incredibly flat and underdeveloped.

My biggest complaint with this book is the painfully underdeveloped magic system. Based on other reviews and quick googling I discovered that most of the magic system in this book is based on Dungeons & Dragons. I am always hesitant to pick up books that I know are based on D&D because, in my personal experience, they tend to get a bit lazy with the world-building and magic systems because of the ties to existing concepts. The Warden offers no explanation for any of the potentially interesting elements of the world or magic system. There are seven classes of magic (you guessed it they're based on D&D) that have no clear distinguishing features. At one point Aelis literally refuses to explain the differences between the classes because it's, in her own words, "too complicated." That line alone almost had me DNFing this book 75% of the way through. Our main character Aelis is seemingly mediocre at her magical specialties. Except for necromancy which doesn't even come into play until the very end. Descriptions of Aelis using magic are reduced to an incredibly bland "two syllables" or a random name for the spell she is using that means nothing to the reader.

Aelis was a fine main character. At times I really appreciated her stubbornness and self-confidence. But she could also be incredibly arrogant and entitled, especially when dealing with the villagers of Lone Pine. I found it off-putting how much she looked down on them and how comfortable she was manipulating them with light compulsions. Though I recognize that the villagers were cold to her, I wish the story had focused more on Aelis earning their trust and their Warden rather than having her run off on a drawn-out quest. None of the side characters were particularly compelling as most of them fell into easy stereotypes. Tun was definitely the most interesting character and I enjoyed his banter with Aelis a lot. The romance was predictable and I don't understand why Ford bothered trying to create a will-they wont-they banter-filled dynamic when it was such an insignificant portion of the story.

The writing was pretty solid and I have hope for future installments of this series (I will not be reading them though so not that much hope). However, there were a few quirks that really drew me out of the story. The writing relies predominantly on "telling" with very little of the descriptive "showing" that I prefer. Aelis also talks to herself out loud as a way to reveal things to the reader which is incredibly strange and unnatural. What really kills the pacing of the story is the amount of flashbacks. It will be the middle of an action scene and Aelis will have a sudden, detailed flashback to her time in college. They make no sense and happen way too often to the point that I started skimming them. This also seems to be the only attempt at exploring the details of the magic system which is just lazy.

I was originally charmed by the surprisingly cozy vibes, but then the book strayed from everything that I was interested in. The "mystery" quest element was dull and wasted the story's potential. I appreciate how all of the elements of the book connected together, though it may have been a bit too neat and easy. The Warden feels like it ends 15% earlier than it actually does. The "mystery" element is wrapped up, there is a conflict with the big bad, and we get a few interesting details to hold our interest for the next book. But then the author decided to start book two at the very end of book one just so that it could end on a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger felt a bit cheap because there was such a natural place to end the story about 40 pages earlier. I had to drag myself through the last bit because I was just ready for the story to be over.

The Warden is a fine fantasy book though not particularly original or interesting. I feel a bit harsh giving it 2.5 stars, however, I never actively enjoyed my time with this book. From very early on I was only reading this to finish it.

Having recently graduated from the Lyceum, Aelis is sent to the small border town of Lone Pine as their Warden. Aelis is used to a life of luxury as a De Lenti, and finds the way of life out in Lone Pine difficult to adjust to. There is little use for her magical skills out in the sleepy village and Aelis is bored and frustrated. Until a traveling party of adventurers appears in Lone Pine with a lot of gold from the borderlands. People begin to behave strangely and Aelis finds perhaps her necromancy and other magical abilities might be needed after all.
I struggled to get into this book to begin with. I found the author's writing style, in particular their sentence structure, a bit jarring. As I continued to read the book I found that I became more interested in the character of Aelis and her story and I found that this stopped being a problem.
I ended up really enjoying this book. I loved the magical system, the way that the magic operated and the different schools of magic that could be learnt. I enjoyed the characters, I thought they were very well written and felt well rounded and believable. In particular I found Aelis’s personality very engaging and interesting. The book is written from a first person perspective and I enjoyed being in Aelis’ head.
The author managed to give just enough information to keep me interested and the story moving, while at the same time keeping me wanting to read to discover more.
I did enjoy the romance in the book, but I would like Maurania to be given a little more of a personality and a back story than she currently has, this is the first in a series though so it may very well come.
I felt like I was on a Dungeons and Dragons campaign while reading this book, which was such a fun feeling.
Overall I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a fun fantasy, or D&D Campaign.