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!

☆☆☆☆ /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.
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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.
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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 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 ✯