I’ve been looking forward to checking out The Warden since reading the synopsis. I picked this up with the thought that I’d try out a few pages and see if it clicked. Well, it clicked alright and I ended up reading over a hundred pages before deciding that I should probably go to bed. I picked it up first thing the next morning and finished the rest of it because it is a non-stop magical thriller!
Aelis de Lenti un Tirraval had grand plans after graduating with not one, but three magical specialties but she was instead assigned to a cold and remote village on the very border of the empire called Lone Pine. Things aren’t great from the start - the villagers fear her, her Warden’s tower is in crumbling disrepair, and everything smells like sheep shit - but things don’t stay mundane for long. Aelis soon finds her skills rather in demand and as she’s chasing a man through the wilds of Old Ystain, she begins to think that dark magic is afoot.
Let me start off by saying, I loved Aelis. She’s young, but proves herself to be exceedingly competent time and time again. At the smallest mistake, she finds herself reviewing her errors (sometimes imagining what her magisters and teachers would say) and making mental notes to not repeat the mistake. She definitely comes off as a little abrasive and pulls rank, but not without reason. She’s the character we follow during the entire story - no multi-POV tale here - so the reader really gets to connect with her, and by extension connect with the secondary characters she interacts with. Tunbridge the half-orc was a strong favorite as well. Though he’s a loner somewhat by choice, he’s a well-read, erudite man with mad tracking skills. He and Aelis make a great team wandering through the wilds of Old Ystain. The innkeepers and Pip, a young village girl, are also totally lovable.
The worldbuilding is pretty damn cool as well. You have this world that’s recovering from a war against the orcs several decades past and so many things have changed in that time. Aelis’s schooling, while already completed at the time the book begins, is revealed through a few key flashback sections that give you an idea of the rigorous training she completed. The various schools of magic are pretty fascinating and we only really get to see the three that Aelis herself specialized in - Necromancy (including medical training), Abjuration (wards, battle), and Enchantment. Necromancers, as one might expect, are seriously misunderstood and feared by most. Out in Old Ystain, orc bands roam but the interactions we see are surprisingly conflict free. There are adventuring parties that go out and look for treasure, there are rogue magicians and bandits out there too.
I have to say, I’m totally in love with this book because it covers so many things I love in a book! It has a little mystery, cool magic, a touch of romance, and an excellent sense of adventure. Just skimming through a few other early reviews, it seems that folks either totally love it like I do or just felt a bit meh about it, so your mileage may vary. If this seems like your cup of tea, I’d highly recommend you check it out. I personally will be keeping an eye out for a firm release date for the second book, Necrobane, which is currently slated for an unspecified 2024 release.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I really enjoyed the start to a new series.  Aelis is a graduate of the Magisters’ Lyceum and a female necromancer, among other talents.  Assigned to a backwater town hundreds of miles from anywhere, she misses city life and the pleasures her wealth afforded her.  Lone Pine only seems to have cold weather, goats, and peasants that need her talents but are scared of her.  Aelis expects the posting to be boring and is planning to serve her time and get back to the real world.  Instead she finds unexpected trouble.

A lot of the enjoyment of the book will come down to if the reader likes Aelis. I happened to love her.  She is snarky and grumpy and extremely self-indulgent at times.  She is also principled and stubborn and fun to root for.  There are not many fleshed out characters in this.  The tracker, Tun, is one of the few nuanced people in the book.  I loved him too.  

The pacing of the book is a bit slow and takes about half the book to get to the conflict.  The world building is light and practically non-existent.  I did like the slice-of-life insight into Aelis' life and thoughts.  The magic system is very interesting and is slowly revealed in the form of Aelis' reminiscing about her studies.  There is not a lot of explanation for the magic overall though.

The novel has an old school feel to it and I really disliked having to put the book down.  I am look forward to the next book after the abrupt cliff hanger ending.  I need to know what happens to Aelis next.  Arrrr!

The Warden was an okay fantasy book. I did not mind reading it, but I am probably not going to bother with the sequel despite the cliff hanger ending. It is very slow paced slice-of-life for almost the first half of the book, with the main character Aelis, an extremely talented mage, starting her post in the small rural town she's been assigned Warden of. She does not think much of the town, or the people, and she lets both the reader inside her head and frequently the townsfolk themselves know it. I expected her to grow and maybe come to love the town or I don't know, at least like the people, but she doesn't really. By the end she still hates the town and while she's made a couple friends, sort of, and managed to reel in her condescension a bit, she is still rather unpleasant.

The plot takes off about halfway through, with the discovery of some cursed artifacts and a fugitive that Aelis has to track down. This gets the pace moving a bit faster, but I have to admit I did not enjoy how frequently she uses her power of magical persuasion to get people to do what she wants, frequently without even trying to ask them first. She also at one point unmagics a bunch of people, at least one of whom has apparent brain damage from being ensorcelled, and she just... leaves them in the wilderness. They're not what she's there for, and she doesn't seem to have much compassion for the fact that they were compelled to do what they were doing.

I really liked the character Tun, who was the most fleshed out character other than Aelis. He is half orc, half human, which makes people not trust him, but he has a lot of knowledge of the countryside and ends up helping Aelis during the plot half of the book.

The magic system was also interesting, I enjoyed Aelis's necromantic abilities being used as a healer and surgeon, an Anatomist in the book, rather than the more traditional uses of necromancy. I was also curious about the world itself, we get glimpses of world building but since much of the book takes place in a small town, we don't see a huge amount of it. I am guessing the next book explores it more, given the (extremely abrupt) ending, but I admit I probably won't find out.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book other than it was fantasy, and had an old-school looking cover to it.

The book follows a promising mage who just graduated from the kingdom's magic school as a Warden, a mage who uses their magic to protect people and fight monsters and magic appearances in the realm. As a top graduate of the school they are shocked to be assigned to the far edges of the realm away from the cities and areas they are used to inhabiting.

They arrive to find the previous warden just disappeared and the home they are to inhabit is run down and the locals are distrustful of them and their magic. Being near the borderlands has it's own dangers with the chance of incursions from the wild.

I enjoyed the book and the characters quite a bit. It has a feel of the older fantasy books I grew up with. Also has a bit of the city-dweller in the farm country to it. I enjoyed the ramping up of the story and the danger to the characters. My only complaint is the sudden ending to the book. It felt a bit unnatural in where it happened, but it definitely has me wanting to read the next one to complete the story. It was a decent read, and I look forward to the next volume.

I thought this book was a fun, light bordering on cozy, fantasy, with a cover that really drew me in. While it was a slower-going story, and some of the high stakes didn't really feel as suspenseful as I would like, I really enjoyed reading this.

I loved the world-building, and magic, I enjoyed seeing Aelis as she settled into her new life, trying to help its residents even as they are afraid of her. I loved her friendship with Tun, and how she ended up making some unlikely friends, and even got her own loved interest. I think that this as a first book did a good job of setting everything up for the next book, and the way it ended definitely left me wanting to read what comes out next.

This just didn't work for me. I felt like I was still waiting for things to start at around 40% in, and really struggled to make my way through this. I think Ford has a really good idea and is definitely talented, I just couldn't get into this.

This was a fun romp into a basic fantasy with elements of a DND campaign. I don't personally think this was my favorite fantasy but Aelis was a fun character to follow, although she was quite cocky at times and I just had to roll my eyes. But despite that I would recommend this one to my low fantasy readers, it was easy to read and the main character had a great internal dialog. Thanks Netgalley for early access to this one.

I love the cover of this one and the premise sounded really interesting to me, however I just couldn't get into it and eventually decided to give up at about 30%

I found that I was always waiting for the main story to kick off and it never happened. Something would come up and I'd think it was time, but then it was over quickly and we were back to the warden of the title fixing up her new residence once more. I also didn't really like the writing style. I like a bit of humour in the stories I read but this one wasn't the right type of humour for me. It was a bit too pally, maybe not taking itself too seriously, and I wasn't in it for that type of narrative style.

I liked the idea of the magic, and particularly the idea of the warden's necromancy being more subtle than just reanimating the dead. There were a couple of potentially interesting elements that I did see before deciding to DNF, but sadly, coupled with a writing style that wasn't working for me, there wasn't enough to make me keep on reading.

I sadly wasn't the biggest fan of The Warden.
While I did like the fantasy world.
I just couldn't stand the main character she ended up ruining the book for me.
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Tor Publishing Groups for an advance copy of this start to really well-written and, more importantly, fun fantasy series.

Fantasy books have always taken themselves far too seriously. There have been some series the Myth-Adventures series, a few other ones that have been funny or a parodied fantasy, but most take thinks very seriously. The Dark Lord is Coming, the Gods will destroy the lands, the dwarves will be shaved bare. Even positive endings always had a sort of bummer aspect. There was a lot of discovery, but no real joy in the discovery. Romance always felt kind of courtly. Learning was never fun, but more of a task to learn how do a task, to get to do a task. And yet too much humor can make the stakes not seem real, that the consequences could be laughed at. Balance is a very tough thing to maintain. Daniel M. Ford in The Warden, the first of what I hope is a very long series walks that delicate line, delivering an adventure with real stakes and consequences, and yet is very entertaining and filled with characters readers really want to know more about.

Aelis de Lenti was born into a world or wealth and power, but was drawn more to the world of magic, mysteries, and being able to help people. Aelis had the skill and the brains to graduate with many different magical skills, and even to the dismay of many of Aelis' male teachers one of the few to graduate with a degree in necromancer. Aelis expected her skills would take her to the best of places, to become a Warden where she could help people, but also live in the best cities, filled with wine, companions and city life. Instead Aelis has been sent to the frontier, to a small town called Lone Pines to act as Warden, a Justice of the Peace, and protector of the people, with a sword, wand and a dagger. Aelis abode is a broken tower, her roommate is a goat, the town fears her, and she feels out of her depth. Soon odd things begin to happen, bear attacks, something important she can't remember, a not so friendly gold fever, and danger from across the frontier that might spell the end of many things.

I really enjoyed this novel. Right from the first chapter I liked Aelis, the way she thought, talked and found depths within herself that she had no idea she had. The characters of the town are all interesting, maybe a tad stereotypical, but I liked the way they developed, and can be used in future books. The magic was well developed and explained in a way that was both informative and exciting. Ford uses flashbacks to Aelis' college years describing how things work, what makes it work and why. A few hints are dropped for future books, which I hope there will be many of. The world is constructed well, with a nice history that can be easily expanded for again future books. A close relationship that starts to form between Aelis and another character is written not to just shoe horned in, but developes with real feeling and emotion . The ending is a cliffhanger, but if it adds more books to this series I will take it.

This book is a lot of fun. There are sections where the situation is humorous and helps to lighten a mood. The characters are well written, with plenty to unlock in future books. A certain party of adventurers could really get their own books, and that would be good too. This is the first that I have read by Daniel M. Ford, but I am looking forward to more books in this series and adding Ford to the list of authors I will have to read. Recommended for fantasy writers who don't want the doom and gloom of many books. Also for people who like role playing game-like novels. Also for people who play games, this is a good setting for a game, with some novel ideas in magic and illusion use. Honestly this is for anyone who likes really good adventure stories, with great characters.

The Warden is a solid fantasy novel, one that builds slowly towards its conclusion, feeding you clues piece by piece. For most of the book I wavered between a 3 or 4 star rating, but eventually settled on the latter. While it mostly seemed a set up for a longer story (no bad thing), it did it in a way that was compelling, with characters you wanted to know more about.

The story follows Aelis, the daughter of a noble house and top necromancer (and otherwise magical person) in her class, who ends up with an assignment in the arse end of nowhere, thanks to a vindictive teacher. Here, she’s forced to reckon with superstitious villagers, a rundown tower to live in, and strange artefacts that twist people’s minds.

This is a book that’s reasonably light on the worldbuilding front. At times, it feels a bit generic: a small village, some magic, some necromancy, nobles and a magic school. Nothing really stands out as new from that. However, there’s something about it all that makes it feel just that bit different. It has a certain vibe to it, I’m not sure how best to explain it, pieced together, perhaps, a bit like a Dungeons & Dragons game (or other such RP game). You have necromancers and other wizards, elves, half-elves and orcs. All the staples.

I think this is what elevated it for me, up until the final act when things got real in terms of plot. The characters felt like they’d all of them individually been developed with such care. The author had a clear idea of what they were like, even down to the most minor of them. They were what compelled me to keep reading (particularly when it seemed like not a whole lot was happening). They carried the story, especially Aelis, with her somewhat endearing habit of talking to herself — I could just imagine her walking about the village, muttering to herself under her breath. And you wonder why the villagers keep giving you strange looks, Aelis!

So, as much as this book felt very much like setting up a series at times (a little slow, a little focused on setting the scene), it did its job well. It’s a book I’ll be eagerly anticipating the sequels of.

"The Warden" by Daniel M. Ford is a debut novel that blends elements of fantasy, adventure, and political intrigue. The plot follows Owen, a young man who becomes the warden of a remote and mysterious prison known as The Labyrinth. However, when a group of dangerous prisoners escapes and threatens to destabilize the kingdom, Owen embarks on a quest to recapture them and uncover the truth behind their escape.

Ford's writing is fast-paced and detailed, with vivid descriptions of action scenes and a well-crafted world that is both imaginative and realistic. The characters are well-developed and relatable, with their own unique backgrounds and motivations, and the relationships between them are intricate and satisfying. The novel provides an exciting adventure story while exploring themes of power, corruption, and justice.

Overall, "The Warden" is an impressive debut that will appeal to fans of fantasy and adventure genres.

Aelis de Lenti was hoping for a prime placement after graduating the Magisters’ Lyceum, especially with her skills in Necromancy, but life never quite works out as we plan and she instead finds herself punted off to the farming village of Lone Pine doomed to a life of mending fences and corralling lost sheep. That is until a band of travellers appear and things start getting a little weird, Aelis slowly comes to realise that this small town may be more in need of her Warden skills than she first thought. With old magical relics making a re-appearance and secrets coming to light, Aelis might be the one thing standing between these people and an evil that would destroy them completely.

Aelis was a brilliant character. She's curmudgeonly, thinks she superior to her role in Lone Pine and longs for the comforts of home... mainly a house without a hole in the roof. When she first reaches Lone Pine she finds a small farming village filled with people more likely to shun her than ask for her help, something that suits her just fine. But the more time she spends there, the more she realises that as much as fear is a good motivator, respect can be just as good & she slowly starts to immerse herself into the village, forcing her help on people and showing them that, as long as they don't do anything illegal, they have nothing to fear from her. She's witty, incredibly handy in a fight and I loved the amount of introspection we get from her, not just learning about her personality and history, but the author also uses it to give us an insight in the world and the magic system.

Though Aelis is our MC, Ford treats us to a brilliant cast of side characters that absolutely leap off the page. From Pippin, the girl who instantly takes a shine to Aelis from when she first steps in the village, Maurenia the Half Elf who Aelis takes a shine to, Tun the recluse who lives on the outskirts of the village and finally Rus and Martin, the Innkeepers who are the few members of the village who don't instantly shy away from Aelis when she first arrives. All these characters are well developed, some getting more time than others, but they all play pivotal roles in the story and I enjoyed getting to know them all. The character interactions were probably some of my favourite parts of the book, the snark, with and drama that they bring really add to the story and definitely had me laughing out loud in parts.

I enjoyed this book, but the way it was told felt a little disjointed in parts. We get a lot of introspection which, as I mentioned above, I didn't mind because through it the author gives us a lot of information about the world and the magic, it's more that Aelis seems to have these 'introspection episodes' at really sporadic and sometimes annoying parts of the story. Sometimes this worked in the telling of the story, if she was getting ready to use a spell we would get a snippet of her time at the Magisters’ Lyceum showing her learning the spell, but others seemed to crop up out of nowhere and sometimes take you out of really pivotal parts of the story. This also affected the pacing of the story in parts and I found myself speeding through some parts, whilst feeling as though I was slogging through others.

All that being said, I did enjoy reading the parts of the book where we learn about the world and magic. Ward gives us a real deep dive into Aelis time in the Magisters’ Lyceum, and I would love to have actually started the book there so we could see more of her time in the school and her learning process. The scenes where she used her magic were brilliantly written and played almost like a movie in my head and the action scenes really made up for the slower parts of the book because they were incredibly well written. There were a few twists thrown in, some that I enjoyed, others that seemed to come out of nowhere and didn't make a lot of sense with the story we had been told, but once the story starts hitting the final moments you see all the pieces start to come together.

The story ends on one of the most cliffhangery cliffhangers ever ( I know it's not a word but just go with it.) I genuinely had to go back and make sure I hadn't missed anything because it just ends. Seemingly in the middle of a pretty pivotal scene which is extremely clever because I am definitely eager to get my hands on the second book, despite the issues I had with this one. If you like your fantasies a little on the quirkier side, with a stoic and reserved MC who I can definitely see becoming the grumpy mentor type in the later books, and don't mind a few pacing issues while the story gets going than I would definitely give this one a try.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! But I think the "Twin Peaks" marketing is misleading.
I see the premise comparison in that we have a "new sheriff in town" main character investigating strange and related occurrences in a remote small town- but that premise is not unique to Twin Peaks. I was expecting the signature David Lynch weirdness, and that tone was not present at all.
Otherwise, The Warden is a fun, fast-paced investigative adventure following Aelis de Lenti, a recent graduate of the Magister's Lyceum, as she finds her footing as the new Warden of the remote small town of Lone Pine. As soon as she arrives, she finds her hands full with keeping the peace and protecting the villagers from unusual events.
I feel like a more apt pop culture comparison would be the world of The Witcher- this story has a similar type of adventure, compelling side quests and characters, and fiercely protective protagonist.
I was engaged the whole time, and I'm so glad we already have a promise for book 2!

For almost the entire time I was reading this book, in my mind, it placed a strong three stars, maybe even a 3.5. Allow me to explain why I chose to bump it up.
This book has some very strong elements, chief among those being the protagonist and the setting.
Aelis, the protagonist and point of view character for this book is arrogant and spoiled, but unafraid to put her distaste aside and get her hands dirty and do what it takes to do right by the people she is charged with protecting. I enjoyed the contrasting aspects of her character. She knows that she's smart and capable but her witty inner voice makes it very believable when she puts her pride aside to do what needs to get done. I enjoy that she makes mistakes, and has to eat her humble pie, and I was invested enough that I was upset at her when she falls for the classic trope of reverting to her old ways in times of crisis. I thoroughly enjoyed Aelis as a protagonist, and she has forced Harrowhark Nonagesimus to take her on as a roommate in the "fussy, arrogant, sapphic necromancers" corner of my heart (Oh, yes. Aelis is textually bi, with a lady love interest, more on this later.
The setting and world building is also very intriguing. Magic corresponding with celestial bodies? Wizards casting magic through their swords? Necromancers as healers and anatomists? Hell yes to all of the above. Although I disliked a few places where the author glosses over interesting ways to exposit on the nature of magic in a meaningful way (by way of Aelis' unwillingness or inability to explain to laypeople), I generally thought the discovery of the world through the writing was really fun and natural.
Unfortunately this book had some less strong points as well. The pacing was a little strange and some of the side characters felt very under fleshed-out or that even they belonged in a different genre. I
The pacing is necessity in some ways - it is necessary to see how Aelis begins to live among and gain the trust of her community before the action can begin, because otherwise, why else is she invested? The beginning of the book feels like a fish-out-of-water slice of life, while the second half dives straight into good old fashioned fantasy good vs evil, wizard on wizard violence.
As for the side characters, they often felt kind of...NPC-esque. As if Aelis was the player character and the world hastily populates the world around her. Off the bat, I liked the inn-keepers, the married couple Rus and Martin, both war veterans, and the only people willing to so much as speak with Aelis - let alone help her - when she arrives in the village. But after that initial meeting, they begin to stale and repeat their preprogrammed actions. Rus offers an ignored word of caution, Martin shies away into the kitchen due to his PTSD. Over and over. And here is where I come back to the love interest, Maurenia. She felt the most like a video game NPC. Half-hearted witty flirting with the PC, disappear, reappear with a new quest line. She's not much more than a trophy sex card from the first Witcher game and its very disappointing.
So why is this book four stars, you wonder. While the plot in this book was often heavy handed, the author pulled it together with enough cleverness (though certainly not finesse) that I felt smart for figuring it out, as opposed to the book feeling stupid. You heard it hear first, my reviews are based on my feelings when I finish a book (or at least greatly factor them in) and I am not ashamed.
I definitely enjoyed reading this book and find myself looking forward to the next one.

The Warden had the potential to be a really great book; however, the main character was unlikeable, the setting was poorly explained, and the delivery was more tell than show (which is always a bummer). Aelis talks to herself a lot, and the author uses this to explain various aspects of the book. I want to see what's happening and feel it unfold. I don't want a play-by-play from the main character. Additionally, what she's saying - the terms and phrases she uses - are only vaguely explained.

Why are there so many moons? How do they work? Are we ever going to find out why Aelis has an affinity for one of them? I also wasn't a big fan of how the flashbacks were presented. They felt too planned and intentional. I understand they were supposed to be a way to inform readers of past events, but they seemed to always justify or explain whatever Aelis was currently doing. Why did she and her professor have so much animosity between them? The author barely touches on seemingly crucial details.

I also wanted more from the secondary characters - Tun specifically. I honestly thought he was going to follow her at the end (incognito of course), but even that was a disappointment. The author tried to build up this friendship but then missed an opportunity for it to flourish. The same can be said of Maurenia. Their relationship had so much potential, but the execution left a lot to be desired.

I've said it before and I'll say it again . . . unlikeable main characters make it hard to enjoy a book. Aelis was rude, condescending, wanted to wave her title and elitism around, and had very little regard for the people she was supposed to be protecting. Rus and Martin went out of their way to make sure she had what she needed (whether that was food, basic necessities, or even just information), yet she rarely thanked them or even smiled in their direction. I hated how "stoic" the author tried to make her, because she ended up being someone I didn't want to read about.

It was also very frustrating when things simply "worked out" for Aelis. None of her plans failed. She didn't have any setbacks. She didn't listen when people offered her advice.

Small spoilers: I wish this book had been about a female necromancer with a half-orc best friend and half-elf love interest. I wish they had traveled and adventured together, their bonds growing stronger the longer they were together. I wish Aelis had struggled and failed. I wish she had learned from failing and grown as a character. I wish we had seen her use more of her necromancy and had less of her explaining what everything was. I wish Pips had been included in their adventures and played a larger role. I wish the setting and the world had been described more thoroughly and less verbally.

Like I said, this book had the potential be something amazing. Unfortunately, it fell flat and left me feeling a little disappointed and a lot annoyed.

*will review on Amazon after pub date

I was SO excited for this book but unfortunately it suffers from my old nemesis: female MC written by a man disease. I liked the attempt to make Aelis (aka Alice) both a smart, competent necromancer AND be in touch with her femininity - I feel like the latter is often abandoned in order to make a protagonist feel Not Like Other Girls. However, my enjoyment started and ended there. So much about her just felt strange and unreliable - she felt very much like a dude's idea of a woman rather than a person who actually lives and breathes. And don't even get me STARTED on the weird bisexual fetishization - anytime bisexual "rep" is reduced to a throwaway joke about threesomes I want to break something. Ultimately this felt like reading a DND campaign in a way I wasn't thrilled by,

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Aelis is the perfect fish out of water character. She is a big city girl who ends up being assigned to a tiny backwater town as their Warden. As she comes to care about the town and its inhabitants, she learns things about herself she didn't know. Nice world building, some romance. Mild cliffhanger which has me wanting to read the next book.

This book seems well thought out and has a good premise. It just didn't grab me overall, and I ended up not finishing it. I think it will be great for some people! I think I was expecting it to have more humor and wit, and I found it lacking in that area. I appreciate the ability to try the book! I think others will really enjoy it.

The Warden was one of the first books I read this year on my Kindle. The story follows Aelis as she finds herself in a remote villlage as their assigned Warden. Whilst she grew up in the upper class, she has to learn to be part of the village and how to protect them.

I enjoyed the overall story of Aelis turning up to the village and then some myseries and journeys happen. I also enjoyed many of the side characters that appear along the way, especially some of the villagers.

One thing that I found dragged the book a long a bit was that in order to explain magic, or Aelis, or history etc. the book would include flashback chapters to Aelis’s training. This often felt like info-dumping and slowed the story (and was often when my brain would switch off too!).

The book as a whole felt like a good set up to an overall series. Aelis uncovers some magic happenings in the area surrounding Lone Pine, and I think this will be a bigger part of her being the warden in future installments. However I hope the writing style improves and starts picking up the pace.