The world building was well thought out and interesting. Multiple POVs usually isn't my favorite format, but was done well enough to not take away from the overall story for me.

This story felt not very fleshed out and was very slow. Not what I was hoping for, but pretty enjoyable.

Another awesome, epic fantasy read!

The plot is intense and well thought out. The characters are well developed and enjoyable to follow along with. The dialogue flowed and didn’t feel unnatural.

The world-building was encompassing and descriptive. With magic, politics, and battles.

Just an overall great read! Definitely one you want to minimize distractions for.

Another new author and the start of a new fantasy series. This book was well written, great characters and a story line that kept me holding my breath and sat on the edge of my seat. Only one problem can I have the next book now PLEASE!!!!!!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

“A thousand years ago, the gods were slain. Generations later, all seven mortal aspects who inherited their power — save one — belong to the noble families. Their gifts are used as weapons to settle the petty squabbles of the aristocracy. Until Death, the last mortal aspect to remain true to his responsibilities, joins the fight.”

This is a pretty solid first novel; given I requested it on NetGalley partly because the cover looks pretty awesome, I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. To be honest, my main complaint is that there’s no map in the front-matter — I hope that’s something they can add in the final printing; it could just’ve been an ARC thing.

There’s a handful of different plot threads, each taking place in a different location with a handful of characters, and it took a little while to get used to keeping track of each, but none of those disappointed — each was fully-fleshed and well-constructed, with interesting and compelling characters. And I thoroughly enjoyed that it genuinely took me until the end of the book to fully understand how they slotted together.

While in some fantasy settings the geopolitics can feel half-formed, that didn’t seem the case here, with Thomas clearly having thought through how the events of her series are going to affect the polities — and it’s good to see an author pay attention to the cost of a revolution in the blood of the populace, no matter how much a revolution might be fighting for their benefit. And I love me a socialist revolution almost as much as I enjoy some well-written and well-considered necromancy (thanks to Brian Lumley’s “Necroscope” series in my teens).

All in all, a really entertaining read and I look forward to seeing what comes next in the series (and elsewhere) from Quinn Thomas.

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

A great start to what I hope will be a great series.
The characters are well written, the writing style is straightforward but not dull, all the POVs are equally interesting, and the twists are unpredictable. So it has pretty much everything you can ask for in a fantasy novel, creating a story that is engaging and leaves you wanting more.
Can't wait for the sequel!

An exciting and engaging fantasty world. That sometimes comes across as over convoluted but slowly ties up all plot lines, but leaves more questions then answers, some that I do feel could be answered in future sequels or prequels.

I have to say, this was a very promising introduction to a series. I was sceptical at first, as I'm an avid Erikson fan, but the comparison does deserve to be made, especially with the high mortality rate, and the twist of Itan's story preceding the rest of the novel. I felt that was very clever indeed, very similar to Karsa Orlong's reveal as Toblakai.