This is R.L. Balladrael’s (https://balladrael.com) debut novel. Icara’s Flight was published in March of this year and is the first book in her Chronicles of Kesperen series. It is the 23rd title I’ve completed reading in 2025.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence, I categorize this novel as R.

Icara Svi is a young woman who has lived by the rules of her society. That is, until she finds her father’s body in the wreckage of a spacecraft. The problem is that he supposedly died nearly seven years earlier in an accident that brought shame to the family. Icara can’t let this anomaly go and begins to investigate.

Icara had been training for the religious order that follows Vana. Pursuing the investigation will put that at risk. Perhaps even her life. Following Vana makes life good. You have everything you want. You are told how to live. You are taken care of as long as you follow Vana.

Those Outside struggle to live, getting by however they can manage. Icara enters that world to find answers. She is looking for a pilot who knew her father. What she finds is a young man who herds avicamels and who may have ties to rebels. She hopes he will lead her to the man she is seeking. Along the way, romance blooms. As she digs deeper, she finds that the society she knows is built on lies.

The 8 hours I spent reading this 266-page science fiction novel were interesting, though there were times the plot did not flow as smoothly as I would have liked. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 3 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Icara's Flight, the first installment of the Chronicles of Kesperen, by R.L. Balladrael is a great fist of series.

After discovering a crash, Icara life is completely turned upside down. With her life and legacy now in question, she goes on a journey to understand her father’s true identity, the way she discovers everything she has known about her existence has been a lie.

Icara’s ARC is well developed and the world building is so intriguing it leaves the reader hungry for more, I cannot wait to read the next installment of this series.

Thank you, Mantarray, LLC, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 5 stars
Audio Release Date: Mar 14 2025

Tags:
#MantarrayLLC
#IcarasFlight
#RLBalladrael
#ChronicesOfKespren
#YarisBookNook
#netgalley