A Prayer for the Necromancer wants to be an epic fantasy but fails to capture "epic" part of the fantasy. Reading much like the novelization of an anime series, A Prayer for the Necromancer would fair better as a graphic novel than as a traditional novel. While the characters are likable and the plot reasonable, it's the overly exaggerated writing that let's down the story.

I see a lot of potential in this book, but it still needs a bit of work. Loved the storyline and the method of telling a story was interesting, I'm not really into all-dialogue books. Kaze is the last of his kind, the last of the royal family of the necromancers, but he is a man eaten up by an overpowering sense of revenge against the killer of his father. Overall I enjoyed the story.

Premise was good, but it ran together a bit and things got muddled together. Sometimes hard to tell where or when we were. Story was good, just needs a bit of refining. Less telling, more showing.

The first book in The Shinigami Tomes series it is full of magic and adventure with great world building and complex characters I will be interested to see what happens next!

This was a very unique read. I did have trouble at first getting into it but the story devolved quickly and was interesting. You will love and hate some of the characters in this which add a nice balance.

This book tells us the story of Kaze Niss, the last one of the infamous Niss family of necromancers, who were able to use black and blood magic, along with their connections with the Gods of Death, the Shinigami of Blacuir. He is determined to avenge his family and discover what is happening in in the kingdom he once lived in.
Although it sounds interesting, A Prayer for the Necromancer aims too high in little time, and tries to impress as soon as something new appears without giving the reader enough time to be familiar with the rest of the universe. I understood the impact of, for example, blood magic and the kind of abilities Kaze uses when he fights, but only because I kept reading.

Full review: https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-prayer-for-necromancer-es-la-primera.html

A Prayer for the Necromancer
(The Shinigami Tomes #1)
by C. Wain

What a dark and demented view of connections between humanity and the ability of others find value in others. This book looks at the rivalry of those whom have power and those who do not. In a world where Necromancers exist would only cause others in power to fear them, using their influence to warp and change the human perspective of Necromancers. They have become the vilified embodiment of power, that they should be eliminated. This book takes place long after the this power struggle. The Necromancers are haunted figures that frighten the children and the ignorant surf population of the world. The new age has not brought peace but more and more dark layers of oppression, and exploitation. This is a dark story, showing the detrimental use of public opinion.

A Prayer for the Necromancer by C. Wain
(The Shinigami Tomes Book 1)
 
The writing style of this book is very different than what I am used to reading. There is a lot of “inner thoughts” or internal dialogue. The author is very good at illustrative writing. It is detailed and very expressive. Some scenes of violence are rather graphic, which serves the purpose of the story well. You GET that what is happening is horrific and those perpetrating the acts are evil beings. I use the term ‘beings’, because this story doesn’t take place in our universe, but some other realm. To be honest, I was a bit confused at first and had to re-read certain parts to understand what was going on (there was a lot going on throughout the entire book.) Once I had a clear grasp of what was happening, though, it was truly very interesting. The author’s sentence structure and word building are striking in that the images and scenes depicted can be easily imagined. The quality of expression is this author utilizes is quite evocative.  
There was a good build up that flowed at a steady rate, but when there was action- it was FULL ON! The author brings you through this dark fantasy adventure at a perfect pace, holding back and then revving up again, driving the story in such a way as to keep you engaged. There were shifts in the flow of the tale that kept you on your toes while reading and provided a feeling of wanting to read further to see what would happen next.
I absolutely loved the character Aline. She is feisty, independent, and can hold her own. On of my favorite quotes from the book is when she is speaking with her father about marriage and she says “…ignorant men who think that women should stay at home and die alone after a miserable, uneventful life. No, Father! I will never be a man’s possession!” Talk about sass & strength of spirit! The other MC, Kaze, is a bit harder to pin down. I can’t decide if I like him or not. Of course, there are plenty of supporting characters, both friend and foe, that you get caught up in as well. At times, it seemed there were almost too many too keep up with.
The plot is so imaginative and complex. I was quite surprised at how intense the narrative is; a very well thought out premise on the part of the author. This book is truly unlike anything I have ever read before, which makes it more intriguing. I sensed undertones of religion and spirituality in the story that I had not expected. There many cliffhangers and loose ends that entice you to read the next book, hoping some of that will come together.
This was an entertaining bit of escapism for me. Although it was not as easy to read as I might have liked, it was still followable. I was delighted to see that book 2 is already available and I do intend to read it. I give it 4/5 only because it was a bit confusing and seemed to have a bit too much going on all at once. Of course, if I’d not been distracted by reality, this may not have been the case. I am looking forward to continuing with the saga. 4/5.

This book was given to me by the publisher via Netgalley. all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This review, or portions thereof, with be posted (when able) to Amazon, B&N, IG, Pinterest, FB, Litsy, Kobo, BAM, and my own blog.
Unfortunately I am unable to provide all links at this time as I am using my phone. I am Karylahn on Goodreads And though I submit reviews there, I cannot obtain the link to provide.

Really interesting - I flew through this after having it sit on my kindle for a couple of months. The writing is incredibly intense and fast paced and I loved how exciting everything was.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free e-book for an honest review.

This book wasn't for me. I wanted to like it, the premise seemed interesting and some of the main characters were really good, but the supporting characters were not as well developed and there was a lot of good guys and bad guys. I like my characters to have shades of grey and this stemmed to be lacking here. Even though the story wasn't bad I don't really have any interest to know what happens next. The use of dialogue to move and drive the story is interesting but I found the shift in language styles didn't fit and quite often made the storytelling disjointed.

A Prayer for the Necromancer is the story of Kaze Niss. A necromancer living in disgrace, feared and hated by many. He is on a dark path, searching for a way to avenge the wrongful death of his father. Travelling this path has so far led to death and destruction, but it has done little to deter Kaze. He will have his revenge.

Personally, I found A Prayer for the Necromancer to be one of those books that has an interesting premise but fails in the execution. Kaze is supposed to be the kind of character that has a gray morality, yet I found him to be quite unlikable. He is selfish and even when we are meant to be rooting for him, it was difficult for me to do so.

Wain's style of writing was also troublesome. Many of the same words and phrases are used continuously throughout the story. One particular word that Wain seems to like to use is "giggle". From young female characters to older male characters, they all giggle. Personally, I found this a bit off putting since no man I know giggles. Chuckles? Yes. Laughs out loud? Sure. Giggles? No.

For me, A Prayer for the Necromancer is very much a diamond in the rough. The overall premise and world building is interesting and given some more work via editors and such, it could be a must read. In time it could do well, it just needs a bit more polish.

I loved this book! I found 'A Prayer for the Necromancer' to be a unique story line with characters that made me love them, hate them - and everything inbetween.

I just can't with this one. Never, and I will say it again, never start a book with a sex scene. It's gauche and tacky and tells us nothing about the characters.
So the character has sex? Great. I know nothing about them, so why should I care? What the author attempted to do was to create an air of mystery around the protag, who has his way with an elf before mind wiping her (which is pretty disgusting, actually) and then leaving the quaint old inn, also mind wiping the innkeeper.
So, I'm supposed to assume this guy is on the run? Paint it in cleaner pictures. Am I supposed to assume he's powerful? Good? Bad? An anti-hero?
About twenty pages in I still had a bad taste in my mouth and reading a high fantasy that feels scoped by a high schooler just doesn't cut it.
Apologies, author, but this one needs to go back to the drawing board.

I liked how easy this was to read. the world building wasn't something too complex and I didn't have to suspend my belief in order to continue reading. recommending to everyone who also loves this genre

This was a really good book. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish it. I have a thing about zombies and steer clear of anything and all things that involve them. I get horrible nightmares for some reason. What I did read of the book it was amazing. I love the necromancer theme and the characters were intriguing and I loved Aline and her spunkiness. MY REASON FOR NOT FINISHING HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE AUTHOR, BOOK, WRITING, OR CHARACTERS! IT WAS A PERSONAL ISSUE.

Rating: 1
I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I really wanted to enjoy this book. I thought the synopsis looked really intriguing and it gave me such high hopes for the novel, but for some reason I could not get into it. I had trouble getting into the state of mind needed to enjoy a good book. I was only able to read about 25% of the book before I gave up on trying to force myself to like it. I personally had difficulty keeping all the characters straight. I also found that all the giggling drove me insane. I wished the author had used different synonyms. Giggling is something teenage girls do when their crush walks by them in the hallway. It is not the proper description for a novel with such a deep subject matter at the foundation of the story. I liked Kaze to an extent and I found the idea of chanting spells in incomprehensible words interesting but at times I wish I knew what was being said and why these incomprehensible chants worked in their battle against evil. I wish this book worked for me but unfortunately it didn’t. I might have to try reading it later and see if my opinion changes.

An interesting method of telling a story, through mostly dialogue... but not for me. The opening chapter shows the hero of the novel having sex with a woman who is not in a position to say no. The magic system is interesting, but honestly? No, thanks.