I was given a free e-copy of The Anatalian Soldier by Rebecca Mikkelsen (author), Authors 4 Authors Publishing (Publisher), and Net Galley.

This review will be spoiler free.

I would characterize The Anatalian Soldier as a coming-of-age fantasy without any magic.

The setting of this story takes place through several countries which could be like Europe before the industrial age.

The story features two main characters: a young man who joins the military and a daughter of a merchant family that has close ties to the king. I thought the daughter character was more developed and engaging than the young man character, and, as a result, I was more interested and emotionally invested in her story than his story.

Each of the main characters is fully developed, engaging, and I was very interested in each of their arcs. The side characters featured in the daughter’s plot interesting and had something to do that added to her part of the story. I really liked how the relationship between the daughter and each of her parents showed the family dynamic and evolved throughout the story. I was not too keen on daughter’s suitor because he was a boor and very selfish, but I still found him to be engaging and interesting because of the way he was written.

I thought the side characters, particularly the villains, featured in the part of the story pertaining to the young man were not as developed nor as engaging as the side characters featured in the daughter’s part of the story. I found this part of the story to move a bit slower until near the end of the book when it picked up the pace.

Even though the young man is a soldier and, in a war, and I was engaged in his story, I did not find the event that dramatically changed his circumstances near the middle of the story to be believable. While the soldier travels alone through different countries after the war, his part of the story is very introspective and caused to feel some parts of his story was not interesting.

While his part of the story pertaining to his time as a city guard and him becoming a soldier and going to war was a nice setup, the story also took the time to develop his relationships with his parents and his fellow soldiers, particularly his tent mate during the war. I was as emotionally invested and interesting in his part of the story during the set-up as I was in the daughter’s story. As mentioned earlier, I was became re-engaged in his story near the end when he interacted with an elderly couple who took him in because he reminded them of their dead son.

Another aspect of the story that I like is how the story, especially the daughter’s portion, propels forward. Ms. Mikkelsen employs time jumps to very nice effect in this story. The story skips a few years, and it is mentioned within the flow the narrative text.

The ending of the story sets things very nicely for the sequel which I look forward to reading. At the end of The Anatalian Solider, the author indicated the sequel, The Anatalian Countess, is scheduled to be available in November 2022. I really enjoyed the daughter’s portion of the story and look forward to learning what happens to her in the sequel.

I rate The Anatalian Soldier 3.5 stars.

I would like to thank Ms. Mikkelsen, Authors 4 Authors Publishing, and Net Galley for the free ARC.

Wow…just wow! I was so engrossed
In the story that I was not expecting the end! I love the author’s style and the multiple points of view that have been folded into the story. I enjoyed the clues that are sprinkled throughout. I have some unanswered theories still waiting for the clues to be revealed to the characters. I’m just upset that I have to wait a whole year for the sequel! This is a great coming of age tale filled with believable tragedy and hope just around the corner. A definite must read for fiction lovers.

Pretty interesting and thought provoking. I actually enjoyed this a lot more then I expected to so 5 out of 5 stars. Definitely a book I’ll be thinking about for a long time!