This was a really enjoyable read. Its very slow but the world building makes it worth it. I will admit it shares a lot of similarities with Name of the Wind but I personally don't care for name of the wind and I thought this was much better done.
I have hopes that the next book will be slightly faster paced as this book had to spend a lot of time setting up the world. I especially loved that even though it had a framing story, both timelines were equally engaging.

The First Binding
by R.R. Virdi
Pub Date: 16 Aug 2022

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Loved this book 📕
All legends are born of truths. And just as much lies. These are mine. Judge me for what you will. But you will hear my story first.

I buried the village of Ampur under a mountain of ice and snow. Then I killed their god. I've stolen old magics and been cursed for it. I started a war with those that walked before mankind and lost the princess I loved, and wanted to save. I've called lightning and bound fire. I am legend. And I am a monster.

My name is Ari.

And this is the story of how I let loose the first evil.

This was an enjoyable and thick read, it did take me a few chapters to get into but I was hooked once it started picking up. I loved the world building, the story within the story, and the twists! If you're into high fantasy give this a try. Thank you to tor publishing for the arc!

Absolutely gorgeous work. I can't wait for more of this brilliant world. This had everything I adored in fantasy and it was so refreshing to read. Great world building and a fascinating story line. I would just love book 2 right now. Definitely pick this up if you enjoy epic fantasy. You will not be disappointed.

This story is one which I got access to ages ago as I had heard good things about it, and I meant to get to it much sooner! I am glad I finally did get to it, but man, it's a bit of a long one, and it did take me a fair while trying to get through it.

This book has a lot of comparisons to Name of the Wind, and I can definitely see the comparison, as the writing is very lyrical and descriptive at times, and this is one person telling their story. The similarities kind of ended there for me as most of the other crossover is very stereotypical fantasy tropes retold, and the magic of this world revolves around different bindings, being able to use the bindings in different ways to create different effects.

Our main character is Ari, he's kind of a legend now because of all the things he's done over his life. However, at this stage in time he's a travelling storyteller and he may have inflated his tales just a bit along the way....

Ari's story starts as a young orphan from the lowest caste of society who is working the understage in a theatre. His tale comes from very humble beginnings, but we know straight away that he's come a hell of a long way and his story really is quite winding and full of surprises.

I will say the relationship between Ari and the lady who he's telling his story to felt a little bit odd at times. It just didn't feel super authentic to me, and I don't know if that's intentional or not.

The end of this book was very climactic, and the beginning was truly atmospheric. I really liked both of those sections and found myself super engaged. I do think the middle section was a little bit static at times and I didn't really feel as connected to the character and the plot, but I do think the characterisation was good here and the character of Ari felt pretty real and raw at times.

Would I continue this series, absolutely. Do I think it could have been a bit shorter, yes, probably. I really enjoyed some sections and there were a few points I really thought this would be a new absolute fave, it was only the slower sections which meant I didn't ultimately land on that 5 star rating. In the end I'm going for 4*s and I really look forward to seeing more of the story and see where it goes next :)

I think this is a book I will have to come back to in time - it's slow to get started and drags a bit, which I can usually deal with, but this was right at the beginning of the book when you really need to be pulled into the story. I ended up DNF @ 20%. The premise sounds so good, though, so I will probably take another crack at it at some point in the future!

This is the best book that I have read this year so far, and it’s going be be pretty difficult for something else to dethrone it.

I love when books have the story within a story (or story within a story within a story) setup. It’s just really neat, and if our storytelling character is interesting, then I’m going to be as enraptured and captivated as the other characters listening in on the stories. Because in this book not only do we have Ari telling stories about world history and lore and such, but Ari is also telling his personal story to another character.

It takes a certain amount of skill and certainly there is a lot to keep track of when it comes to a story like this. There are so many plot threads and time lines that dance around each other, and occasionally meet briefly to highlight similar situations happening…and while I enjoy this sort of story, I honestly don’t think writing this sort of story would be one I would be likely to attempt writing any time soon. I’m having enough complicated fun keeping the in-game and out-of-game stories straight in my TTRPG contemporary romance book.

Oh, this is where I should definitely point out that this is a HUGE book. I am not at all kidding when I say that my hardcover is 822 pages long. There is a lot to introduce and set up and describe, and there’s always so much banter and dialogue going on, that it just makes it feel like you’ve just stumbled into a bar yourself and are starting to hear all about this complex adventure.

I was utterly fascinated. I wanted to know more about the characters, and the companions that they meet. I really wanted to know more about the different regions of the world, as well as knowing more about the history and lore and magic system. There was action and there was hints of romance and there was friendship and there was intrigue and there were a bunch of plot lines that slowly wove together into an elaborate tapestry…and even though it was a chonky boi book, I read it pretty darn quickly. It seriously only took a couple days while at work.

I do believe that the paperback just came out…okay, no, the paperback is coming out September 5th. But you can currently get the book in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook. And I wish I was alert enough to make this review a bit more coherent, but honestly, there’s only so many ways that I can declare that I love a book and that I’m hooked and want more.

When are we getting book two, because I’m so ready to find out what happens next!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced copy of this book.

Clever and mysterious.
The First Binding is one of the few books that I've highlighted. It's absolutely brilliant!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.
Whilst this book has a great premise I did find it hard to keep reading. That is probably on me as I am not a big follower of extended prose.

I haven't read anything by RR Virdi before The First Binding before and I was blown away with the world and characters. I loved the world building and the way the characters interacted with each other and the world itself. I can't wait for the sequel.

I got about a 1/4 of the way through and it was just moving too slowly for me. I just wasn't ready to spend more time on the book but I will definitively get back to it at some point. Just be prepared for a lengthy read.

Did you like Name of the Wind but wanted to see more diversity? You can find it here, in a very similar main character and plot, but with Asian roots instead! I wish I could forget books that strongly influence others so that I could appreciate a work in its own right, but unfortunately I just kept holding Kvothe up against the action of this book.

That. Was. Amazing. The blurb didn’t prepare me for my epic journey with Ari. The framing narrative allows Virdi to tell many tales of myth, heroes, legends, monsters, and magic and sets up the world of Tremaine beautifully. The world building is very well done. The character development is flawlessly executed as well, in part because of the format of the book. We’re able to see how Ari became his present self through the narrative of his experiences and the past lives he has left behind. Virdi is so good at making us feel what Ari’s feeling and transporting us through the years and the spaces that he inhabits. I won’t lie. This book is thick at over 800 pages, but it’s a book that’s meant to be savored and experienced.

I really wanted to like this book, but I found myself comparing it (unfavorably) to some of the fantasy novels I imagine it drew inspiration from. The comparisons to The Name of the Wind are apt, as the set up is essentially the same, but it's missing that novel's expansive world. I am still interested in seeing where this series is heading, but this was a minor disappointment.

This is quality writing. The metaphors are realistic and visually interesting. The story is told in such a way that I saw what was happening rather then just following along. The cover is understated but mysterious. Overall a quality and engaging fantasy story.

This is a book that you really have to persist with in order to find the gem at the end. ...and is one that I'll have to try again with another time.

The First Binding was a lot of effort to read with very little reward. The first half of the book really dragged as there is very little happening at the beginning of Ari's journey. I appreciated the descriptive writing and multilayered storytelling, however, most of the time it weighed the book down. The shifts from past to present timelines were often abrupt. Virdi described even the most mundane actions in intense detail rather than focusing on moments that deserved the detail. This made the beautiful writing feel pretentious and boring rather than majestic or interesting. If I had been more invested in the characters or the story this likely wouldn't have bothered me. But I was never truly hooked by this story.

One of the main reasons I struggled to read this book is that I hated Ari as a main character. His arrogance was tedious and his motivations were flimsy. I also found the depiction of women really offputting. Eloine really only exists to be a love interest and she is super objectified throughout the entire book.

Actual rating 4.5/5 stars. This is the first instalment in the Tales of Tremaine series.

I feel I can accurately claim that if you enjoyed The Name of the Wind then you would also love this book. A similar narrative structure appeared, where the reader was introduced to the adult protagonist who then returned to his youth, in a series of lengthy tales, to reveal his life story up until the present moment.

Similarities also appeared in the plucky and hard-headed nature of these characters, who are resilient in the face of the many grievances they face and who prove themselves magically capable in pressurised situations. Due to this, the novel was as full of as much magic and wonder as it was grief and loss and both brought about strong emotional reactions, which further aided in my bonding with the characters who appeared.

Despite my love for the contents of this book, I did feel like a very lengthy read. I anticipated it would take some time, given the page-length, and some brainpower, given the high fantasy setting and magic system. Some portions were less personally interesting than others and I sometimes would set the book aside for days, or read only a handful of pages at a time, before becoming invested again. Once I reached a point in this character's life that appealed, however, I would fly through a hundred pages in a sitting without realising I had failed to move for hours at a time. The latter were more present than the former, hence my high star rating.

This novel was detailed and intricate but also gripping and action-packed, providing the best of the fantasy genre in one gigantic portion. I can't wait to find where this author takes us next!

I ended up DNF'ing this one 15% in. The premise was super interesting, but it takes way too long to get into the story and find out what the main plot is.