The Healer's Rune
Book One of the Ceryn Roh Saga
by Lauricia Matuska
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Pub Date Feb 01 2022 | Archive Date Jul 23 2022
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Description
Three hundred years after a great war shattered the Council of Races, the warrior Rüddan have all but eradicated their cousins, the faerie Aethel. In so doing, they decimated the Dryht sages and enslaved mortal Humanity. In order to save her people from being wiped out by the Rüddan, Sabine, a Human healer, must overcome generations of bitterness, suspicion, and fear incited by a betrayal centuries old and forge an alliance among enemy races. But what chance does she have when one of those races is extinct?
Advance Praise
"A woman has the chance to help free humans from an elfin race that has tyrannized them for centuries in Matuska’s debut and start of a proposed fantasy series.
Sabine Rhyonselle is just one of the humans living in the village of Khapor 300 years after the War of the New Dawn devastated the world of Ceryn Roh. The Council of Races, once consisting of humans, the elfin Rüddan, the now-extinct Aethel, and the nearly extinct Dryht, is presently an alliance between humans and Rüddan. The latter, however, treat humans like slaves, enforcing edicts that prohibit reading or the practicing of magic—under penalty of death. After Sabine’s friend Mariel, who’s a healer like Sabine, is publicly executed for possessing scrolls with writing, mentor Auda reveals that Mariel had a record of the true history of the races. This may, for one, call into question humanity’s treaty with the Rüddan. Sabine later encounters and aids an injured stranger who knew her late father, who, she learns, may have been capable of magic and had ties to a rebellion against the Rüddan. It’s best Sabine avoid drawing attention to herself, but she certainly plans on defying the recent Rüddan order restricting births, which would require the healer to kill infants. Matuska combines evocative prose—“The early autumn sky blushed pale pink with the first glow of pre-dawn”—with darker elements, like the nearby ruins of the Dryht city. Sabine is a superb protagonist, overcoming oppression as a human and more specifically as female; she’s afforded far fewer rights than men. There’s an array of twists, involving everything from individuals’ origins and relations to one another to abilities wielded by characters both good and bad. The ending is bound to leave readers pining for a sequel.
Impressive storytelling and assured characterization; sows seeds for books to follow.
- Kirkus Reviews"
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9798985729900 |
| PRICE | $4.99 (USD) |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Roselyn M, Reviewer
I came across this book on NetGallery, the title drew me in. And OMG excellent! I literally could not stop reading. What an adventure! The next in the series cannot come soon enough..
Alice M, Reviewer
At a glance, The Healer's Rune is about a young human woman, Sabine, from a small village living under the rule of the Ruddan, a tyrannical race intent on wiping out humanity. After witnessing her friend's execution at the hands of the Ruddan, Sabine seeks out the truth of what really happened in the history of her country and how the human race came to be controlled. In seeking out these truths, Sabine gains access to powerful players in what could become the political uprising of a lifetime.
The Healer's Rune was an incredibly intense read, and it was the first book in years that I haven't been able to put down. There was more than one night that I fell asleep with my face in the pages, but I couldn't even bring myself to regret it in the morning. It was just that good! Sabine herself is a fun character with a sharp wit. As a healer, she has a strong sense of morality that lets her sympathize not just with her patients, but with her enemies and potential allies as well. Finally, I felt like I was reading a main character who was more than just a self-insert. Sabine has such a strong personality and commitment to her ideals, and both of those things helped move her character through the action of the plot flawlessly.
The politics of it all was really what kept me coming back to it, though. The power struggle between the Ruddan and the humans kept the atmosphere of the story tense with conflict, and the mysteries of what secrets Sabine was discovering had my brain itching to know what would come next.
All in all, an amazing read. I'm off to get my hands on the next volume!
Nic H, Reviewer
I was offered this book as an ARC by NetGalley and really enjoyed the world building of The Healer's Rune by Lauricia Matuska. The main protagonist is nuanced and I found myself empathising with her especially when she was faced by moral dilemmas. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is I felt that it slowed a little in the final third before rushing to what felt like an abrupt climax but I can understand that this is only the first book in a series the need to leave the reader wanting to know what is coming next. I can certainly say that I would like to know what is going to happen in book two!
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