I really enjoyed this book, would definitely recommend it. Took me a while to get to it but I'm glad i did in the end.

Although it took me a while to get fully into the book, in the end the story is pretty good.
The beginning is quite slow, the time to set the story, there is even to get lost a little sometimes, but once we are there we enjoy it!
The three characters were interesting and even endearing and we enjoy following them as the story progresses. Each of these characters is unique and has its own story, with obstacles for each of them. This book allows us to question ourselves on many subjects highlighted by the author, which make us think along the story.
As for the writing, I really enjoyed the turns of phrase, the details, the descriptions, all of it was enjoyable to read. There are also plot twists which makes the story even more exciting!

2 stars. I'm afraid this book just wasn't for me. I was bogged down in too much detail early on and never recovered afterwards.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sadly had to DNF this one. It simply wasn't for me.
I did love the prose though - simple yet very beautiful, so that was definitely my favourite part!

(Review contains spoilers).

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Ian, for this opportunity!

Rating breakdown:
• World-building: 1★
• Characters (cast & development): 0.5★
• Plot: 1★
• Themes: 0.5★
• Prose: 1★

Final rating: 4/5

The World-Building

With fantasy books, it's pretty common to lament a certain slow pace at the beginning. But I don't feel like Haelend's Ballad contained too much exposure. The beginning of the book will describe places and characters, the machinery and the knowledge found in Daecland. This is necessary as the country is far ahead, compared to Sunder, which they control despite the differences in culture and people's looks. I thought the world-building was clever in the sense that the author doesn't go through lengthy paragraphs to talk about the trees and whatnot. He will mention lenses or steam or scientific progress when a character is not used to it... or afraid of it!

The world of Haelend's Ballad reminded me of Piltover for those of you who have watched Arcane, but with a clear Victorian feel, mixed with elements found in Victor Hugo's novels.

The Characters

What I loved about this book was the multi-POV. It's a turnoff for many readers nowadays, but I reckon fans of classic fantasy will love it. Conrey's cast is so huge that it's impossible for you not to find someone you truly enjoy following in their adventures. I absolutely loved Eilívur, Hrunting, Geirleif (or at least his antics), to name a few. Every character talks in their own way, has their own mannerisms and obsessions. Even those I couldn't connect with, such as Eirún, had their good moments. The cast of this book is fully three-dimensional, and I think it's fantastic how they all come from different places but end up in the same web of events.

Now, there are a few things I didn't enjoy about some characters. It's important to note that in Haelend's Ballad's world, gender roles are predominant. The men lead, kill, and get killed. The women take care of other women or children, and they're always the victims of some abuse. I'm surprised there's not one character that sticks out and doesn't follow that pattern. At first, I thought Adelyne would be that character because she was really active for the Dark Horses. But once she completed her task, she joined the other women and moped for the rest of the book.

Gender roles or not, there's one thing men and women have in common, and it's just how easily they succumb to either depression or suicide ideation. Whether it's about something important or trivial, the characters are extremely dramatic, no matter how old they are. For example, I saw a pattern with Arnon, Adelyne, and Eirún. The moment things could look grim, they don't have any problem thinking that maybe dying would be better. And I can understand that everyone's got their fair share of trauma, but all three protagonists with a similar train of thoughts?

The Plot

Summarizing Haelend's Ballad's plot can be tricky. This is a story featuring so many POVs that one could put more emphasis on the conflict between Daecland and Sunder or on the prophecy about Sunder's Bane. But I think what's truly at stake here is how the characters, who either believe in a cause or a god, can see past that. How they can remain true to themselves. I knew from the beginning that this wouldn't end prettily because it's impossible for them to see the bigger picture among so much chaos. However, the ride was entertaining.

In fact, I didn't know what would happen to Eirún until the very end. There are twists I didn't see coming, such as Hrunting's capture or what Egbert did to his caretaker. While this novel is long, I think it works. There's one promise at the beginning, and it's Haelend's Ballad coming to life. And it does.

The Themes

This book is very religion-driven, but not in a way that makes you push it away. As a non-religious person, I had no problem reading it. Some characters are very much into it and will explain in great detail why they are. However, it happens within a clear context that serves the plot.

I think what I like, although it also upsets me, is the trauma depiction. In particular, Adelyne's. Her father was a complete waste of space who raped her when she was small. And later on, she finds the same form of abuse around Fletcher, another waste of space who makes money out of prostitutes. Adelyne is the definition of the whole: "victims always find abusers because it's all they know." But I think what upset me the most was that Adelyne was so adamant in thinking she loved Arnon, and she spends so much time around Sarah, who is the only pool of common sense in this book sometimes, and yet... She can't trust either of them.

Adelyne doesn't take Sarah's advice. She cannot trust the son of a hunter to bring her food. She can't even wait for him for two weeks in times of war. I felt her relapses into prostitution were too fast, too back-to-back, and instead of making me feel bad for her, it made me eye-roll.

The Prose

Ian V. Conrey's writing style is mature and poised, but also accessible. There's a tendency to use the passive voice in action scenes, which I appreciated. Often, authors think a scene is more gripping and immersive in the active voice, but the passive one puts a lot more emphasis on the action instead of the person performing that action. Sometimes, the author repeats an idea or a feeling he already mentioned in a previous paragraph, but I noticed it happened mostly in Arnon's POV or Adelyne's. Considering they're both very young, it makes sense for them to be repetitive.

The writing flowed very well overall, and it astounds me to know that this is Conrey's debut. He writes like someone who's been publishing for years now.

Haelend's Ballad is a book I definitely recommend to fans of classic fantasy.

☆☆☆☆ /5
(english review below)

Une lecture fastidieuse d'un roman qui fait plus de 700 pages, dont l'histoire se balance entre combat, tragédie et amour.
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《 Certains m'appellent Meurtrier, d'autres m'appellent Seigneur. J'ai été appelé sauveur et esclavagiste. Mais personne ne m'a jamais appelé Enfant. 》

Un jeune homme signe son propre arrêt de mort lorsqu'il rejoint une milice déjà défaillante. Une adolescente est hantée par la violence de son enfance et commence à avoir envie de ce qu'elle déteste. Une mère sans enfant se retrouve en fuite en tant que meurtrière condamnée. Pourtant, ils ignorent tous que leur propre destin est lié à un jeune orphelin qui s'est noyé et est revenu à la vie dans un pays étranger où il sera la mort de tous ceux qu'il rencontrera.
¤
Dans ce roman, l'auteur nous présente 3 personnages à l'histoire différente mais qui finissent par se rejoindre au bout d'un moment. Je dois avouer qu'au tout début, j'ai eu de la difficulté à entrer dans l'histoire et à apprendre à connaître les différents protagonistes tant le texte était dense et les descriptions nombreuses.
Ce qui m'ont aidé ont été la mise en page aérée et le style d'écriture de l'auteur plutôt facile à lire. Il y a de belles figures de style parsemées ci et là au fil des pages. C'était poétique et en même temps assez lourd au niveau de l'ambiance de l'intrigue.
On découvre un univers de dark fantasy, dans lequel nos personnages n'ont pas eu la vie facile. Mais ce qui est plus lourd et plus percutant dans ce roman, ça a été le sujet de cause à effet que l'auteur a voulu mettre en avant.
Chaque personnage a sa propre histoire en effet, mais chacune de leurs actions va altérer la vie des uns et des autres et finalement, le destin de tous va se retrouver lié.
J'ai beaucoup apprécié le fait que l'auteur nous amène à réfléchir, à changer de perception. Dans ce roman, les gentils ne le sont pas forcément et les méchants non plus.
Tout est à revoir. Il faut prendre du recul quand on lit cet énorme texte et même si j'ai pris du temps à lire ce roman, j'ai bien aimé être autant stimulée cognitivement.

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ENGLISH REVIEW

A tedious reading of a novel that is more than 700 pages, whose story swings between fight, tragedy and love.
¤
In this book, the author introduces us to 3 characters with different stories but who end up coming together after a while. I must admit that at the very beginning, I had difficulty getting into the story and getting to know the different protagonists as the text was dense and the descriptions numerous.
What helped me was the clean layout and the author's rather easy-to-read writing style. There are beautiful figures of speech sprinkled here and there throughout the pages. It was poetic and at the same time quite heavy in terms of the atmosphere of the plot.
We discover a universe of dark fantasy, in which our characters have not had it easy. But what is heavier and more powerful in this novel was the subject of cause and effect that the author wanted to highlight.
Each character has their own story indeed, but each of their actions will alter the lives of each other and ultimately, the destiny of all will be linked.
I really appreciated the fact that the author leads us to reflect, to change our perception. In this novel, the good guys aren't necessarily good guys and neither are the bad guys.
Everything is to be reviewed. You have to take a step back when you read this huge text and even if I took a while to read this novel, I liked being so much cognitively stimulated.

This epic debt novel by Ian Conrey is a must-read for lovers of dark fantasy!

The Celtic Island, brimming with mythical mystery, was home for the Sunderians but overtaken by the Colonialists of Daecland. After years of fleeing, isolation, and dwindling resources, Sunderian survivalists form an army, Dark Horses, to take back their homeland—or at least the city of Everwind.

In Daecland, a young orphan's tragedy transforms him into a figure fulfilling a Sunderian scripture's prophecy. Men question their loyalties to their people and their religions. Women rise above abuse and ashes, attempting to rebuild a broken world. It's a downward spiral of war-torn cities and untimely deaths with glimmers of comedic relief, hope, forgiveness and love. Conrey seemlessly weaves the tangible with the supernatural as this character-driven novel dives deep into soul-provoking themes. As the mythical truths erupt through the physical realities, this dark fantasy transforms into a story of forgiveness and redemption. The darkest shadows give way to the brightest of truths.

Readers develop empathy for both the poor and the wealthy, the conqueror and the victim, the Native and the Colonialist through the varied and vast array of characters. Like a fantasy series told over the three or more seasons, or a Dickinson tale, this book reads like a polished classic. It's beautifully crafted prose in a unique voice, with hints of Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis, and Greek Mythology, will captivate the both the adventure-loving and philosophical reader, alike.

This is a steampunk fantasy about an oppressed country that wants to gain it's freedom.. I really enjoyed the characters and the plot. When the point of view was that of the conquerors, I wanted them to win, when the point of view was that of the conquered, I wanted the same. That's how rich and multidimensional the characters were. The writing was also so good that I could see the scenes unfolding before my eyes.. the negatives were the beginning and the end. The first pages were a little difficult to read because I could not understand the story. And the end was not what I expected. After a huge climax, it felt a little flat.

Had no idea what this book was about and even after reading a few chapters was unsure what exactly this story was about. Did not care for the religious tones of the story really either. Not that I disliked them but if want to read about this much theology type stuff I would pick up a book about that subject. I don't know if most people will mind that or find that this is something they can enjoy. This did remind of me some other books where they based it in a fantasy world but the story is more or less about Christianity based ideas. The writing itself was simple, straightforward and easy enough to read. The characters were flawed for the most part but none really turned me off from not reading this story. There is some discussion of mental health which did seem interesting but then also how that interacts with faith I think. I don't think this something I would have picked up if I knew what the story was and where it lead. Certainly not a bad book and one that I didn't hate or anything but I think some people will like it more than others is all.
Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for something different to read.

The book is definitely character-driven, even with the first few introductory chapters. We get chapters from many character perspectives, even side ones, but no matter if they're shorter or longer, they also serve the plot and leave reveals that are essential. Each of the main characters has a story that can feel close to any reader, and it's amazing that the story is so emotionally driven that you follow each and everyone's perspective. There are also intriguing themes like the price of honor and sacrifice, as well as the struggle to grow to one's self through suffering, enslavement and abuse which are the things we all struggle with in real life. Thee book offers also very interesting and detailed world-building, which also makes you want to get deeper into the dramatic exposition of each one's tale. Overall, quite and intriguing read!

"Haelend's Ballas": 4⭐

(Unpaid Review: thank you to @netgalley, @ianvconrey and the publishers for allowing me to read this eArc copy in exchange for a review).

Did you also get some major Atlantis vibes just by looking at that cover? Yes? Then, you definitely need to read this book.

Ian V. Conrey wrote this amazing, dark, gripping fantasy story that reminds you of a greek tragedy, full of great characters and dramatic scenes. Must be noted: this book needs a lot of focus and attention to get through, for its writing is not easy. For me, it makes it the more appealing.

This needs to be more hyped! What an absolute thrill it was to get immersed in a whole new world full of important themes such as violence against women! Totally recommend!

Thank you netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for a review

I was unfortunately a bit disappointed by this book. We dive straight into the plot, with a lot of characters introduced, and it's hard to understand how the universe works. I was a bit lost at first. The prose itself is good, but I struggled to get invested in the plot or to really like the characters.

There's a lot of things happening so this could have been 2 books, or one book with a little bit less of description or events.

Big TW for Violence against children
Strong gender roles, I'm getting tired of seeing this in fantasy books bcse if you can create a new universe, you can create one that doesn't follow the same rules in term of gender

This book is amazing. There were so many different levels to it and if you love a book with a bunch of different characters like I do, then you will enjoy this one. I found it a bit confusing at the start because it followed many characters that seemed as though they had nothing to do with each other, but as the story goes on it makes much more sense as to how everything ties together. I did find that this book had a lot of information, which is definitely not a bad thing, it just meant that for me I had to take breaks to take everything in before moving on. I was worried at the beginning that there would be too much to remember and it would be difficult to follow, but I found that it was very well done and I could remember everything that needed to be remembered fairly easily. The book seemed quite daunting because of how long it was but I was never bored while reading it and actually really enjoyed the length. I found that since it was so long it helped me to grow more attached to the characters and the story. I definitely want to re read in the future because I think that even with a re read I would still get so much out of it. I would say that this book is definitely not a light read and does require a fair bit of attention, so I did end up having to re read certain chapters to take it in. Overall this is a very well written book and I would recommend it to any lover of the fantasy genre.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.
This book!!! It was everything I can want in a fantasy book. The second I read the description of this book I knew I needed to have it. I am a huge fan of fantasy and especially when they’re a bit on the darker side. This book was written so well and the plot developed beautifully, I cannot wait for everyone to get their hands on this!

I did try reading it in different occasions but I couldn't stay immersed in the story long enough. Unfortunately it wasn't for me. The two time periods felt disjointed and the several story lines got gripping enough.

Unfortunately I had to DNF it at 30%

This was a good book, I enjoyed reading it, though the book could have been shorter or in different volumes
Thank you Netgalley for a copy.
My rating ✯ 3 stars ✯