This book started off interesting. You find out that two women in this family an see ghosts. Alright, I like ghosts. They see ghosts all over the place, but the author doesn't elaborate on these ghosts and that's when I kind of lost interest in them. They were put on the back burner for me even though they were supposed to be a big part of the book.

The author had a good concept, but it read more like a historical fiction than a fantasy to me. I felt like this one fell short to me, even though I had high expectations.

I loved the author's IMMORTAL MUSE, but found this first volume in what promises to be a long, long series too sedate for my taste. All the expected elements of an occupied territory novel are there, with few surprises except the lack of ingenuity and hidden rebellion on the part of the conquered. The main character doesn't have much of a problem until 1/4 through the book, then lots of exciting things happen in a very short period of time, then we return to a slow, meandering pace and tons of backstory. The ratio of drama to length is too slight for my taste, but other readers may adore all the time spent in this world and the incremental transformative journey of the protagonist.

“The problem with ghosts is that they don’t quite realize they’re dead.”

A Fading Sun is a paranormal, yet spiritual, revenge story that really displays the consequences of war. Our main protagonist, Voada, is from a tribal clan that was long conquered by the Mundoans. Now, Voada lives among them, in a place of power, where many of the less fortunate defeated people work as servants and slaves. Voada married a Mundoan man who is kind, and gentle, and everything she could ask for in a husband. Together they made two children who they love more than life itself. Yet, Voada never forgets the way of her ancestors and she has a gift that constantly reminds her of her roots.

Voada can see and communicate with ghosts. It is a family trait that she must keep hidden from all the Mundoan people. Voada will help these lost souls find their path so they are not stuck lingering in our world. The gift she has is easy to keep secret, until she meets a ghost who she is unable to communicate with, because it wants to help her find a new path.

Then one frightful day, Voada has no choice but to follow the ghost who is unlike any other she’s met before. Voada’s life changes completely while she is trying to learn the gift from her defeated people. All while a new war is beginning to ensure that the clans will never rise up and defeat the Mundoans. Voada is forced to take a side, learn more about her gifts, and fight, or lose everything she’s ever loved.

Trigger warnings: graphic violence and promises/threats of rape.

This story wasn’t bad by any means whatsoever. In fact, I really enjoyed the first third of this book and didn’t want to put it down. Unfortunately, once Voada began her journey, my interest declined and continued to decline until the last few chapters of the book. If what I said above interests you, you will probably totally enjoy this; it just wasn’t for me for some reason.

“Hearts are fickle muscles. They can lead you to be rash and too quick”

So. From my understanding, A Fading Sun, is a play on history and mythology, combining the likes of Boudica, a Celtic queen, and her battles mixed with the paranormal. Which is pretty awesome because Boudica is seriously cool as a historical figure and one I don't see represented, even loosely, in fiction very often.

But... that's where my excitement started to fade. 

First off, this book is described as a paranormal fantasy and while there are paranormal elements included, I would consider it a closer attempt to the epic high fantasies I've read akin to Lord of the Rings. And by "attempt" I mean that the author was kind enough to include a detailed glossary at the back of titles and people (it's seriously extensive), and completely unnecessary. Why? I didn't care enough to bother to check it. Instead, it seemed like more of an excuse to use hard-to-pronounce names in the vein of fantasy (and also one of the things that drives me nuts about the genre).

Not that I really felt anything for those characters listed beyond their names on the page, going through the motions. I never connected.

Following the glossary, there's a note about the book and its historical inspiration that I thought somewhat amusing, where it's insisted that it's VERY loosely based, except that it becomes VERY clear from the beginning where the influence lies. That's not a bad thing, mind you. I'm all for alternate histories and re-tellings and all that good stuff. But this seemed like an attempt to be fairly original by changing names of real-world places and events and I could tell.

To be honest, I probably paid far more attention to these things than I normally would have because I wasn't really hooked on the story. The first third of the book moved slowly, laden with info dumps and leaving me waiting and waiting for something to happen. And when that pace finally did pick up, the story fell into the predictable nature of the genre. The problem with reading fantasy (a LOT) is that I no longer tend to enjoy those tropes as much as I would have if I read it less frequently. Or perhaps I'm just more critical of work because of it. 

This isn't to say this was a bad book, exactly. I can't say I found it an entirely enjoyable experience reading it as it proved more of a struggle than not, but I can appreciate it as a spin on history if I think of it that way, versus a paranormal fantasy as it's described. If you have an interest in history, specifically Boudica and her conflict with Romans, you may find A Fading Sun an interesting read.