This book sucked me in from page one - what an unexpected gem of a fantasy read! Looking forward to the next installment.

This is wish-fulfillment high fantasy, featuring a blond and blue-eyed race of 'noble savage' ecological savants with superpowers, hiding from the other humans until a Time of Necessity, non-ironically capitalized.

In the course of discovering that poisonous flying predators are being nudged into human territory by even worse giant fire-snakes, our hero falls for the charming daughter of a trader who grew up motherless due to his sibling's youthful hi-jinks. There is enough action and plot for six novels in here, but it's crammed in by our author's dislike of 'showing, not telling.' A beguiling alternate reality is sketched in too hastily while detailed scenes are limited to the heroine's stereotypical mayfly's experience. Luckily our hero's hereditary duties include revolutionary diplomacy and heroic decimation of monsters by magic, making the world safe for their lovingly elaborated wedding and birth of their rainbow-eyed offspring.

Any pitfalls to the happy ending are visible a mile off. The dopamine engendered by this sort of reading is therapeutic in a way, but my intellect feels short-changed.

Not at all for me, it just felt empty, vapid, very superficial and I was reading this feeling so many bad cliches, no real characterisation , the world building wasn’t good. Sadly I can’t recommend at all.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Stumbled across this on my hunt for a fantasy novel that wasn't super heavy. I really enjoyed it! Looking forward to continuing with the series.

ARC from NetGalley

DNF at 6%

I am giving a charity star because I read so little of this book, but what I did read left a 1-star impression.

15 of the reviews from the first page are all other indie authors. The reviews sound traded and disingenuous. Many referred to the author as the new Tolkien or mentioned how similar to LOTR this book is. I assume they were either drunk when they read this book or did not read it at all. All of the reviews are glowing, in the realm of "oh I hope this author gives me such a stellar review in return!"

This book is 100% all tell. There were many made-up names for things, very "fantasy" cringe and constantly mentioned. There were myriad exclamation marks. This book reads like an old man by the fire, "gather round children and let me tell you a tale." And then you are told. Everything.

I can't.