e-ARC from NetGalley.

The Nightward is an interesting sort of thought experiment blending fantasy with the minutely growing hints of science fiction, but it does so in a world nearly as wide as George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Both to its credit and its detriment.

This is the kind of story that, really, would be better represented on the screen. There are so many creatures and characters and places and political machinations constantly in play that it was hard to keep them all straight. For a time, I felt that the number of perspectives was excessive, but now I realize that it was necessary for the story. I still can't keep the characters straight, but it's clear that all the puzzle pieces needed to be placed just so, and the web needed to be woven with the exact right threads for this book to work.

And, for the most part, this book did work. There were certainly parts that felt unclear - 19-year-old Luka's relationship with who I pictured as a middle-aged woman, what constituted a Neutral vs. an Unbound vs. an Elemental vs. an Auger vs. whatever additional classifications existed, etc - but they didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story. The only thing that did was how Viella's story was handled - both with that trope of "I'll tell them this important information I've known all along way after they needed to know it" and with the decision her protectors make at the end.

Ultimately, I think fans of the treachery, violence, and politics of Game of Thrones will be in for a treat. And, as someone who has been a voracious reader since I learned how in kindergarten, I can tell you one thing for sure: I have no idea where this story is going next.

This was one of those books that sticks in my head as good, but maybe didn't reach it's full potential. The setting of the story and the lore of the world being created is really interesting and it's a fun twist on the typical male focused fantasy worlds. I loved the primary character dynamics of the very young character being protected by an older (but still inexperienced and young) warrior. I think that the back and forth between Viella and Luka was dynamic and realistic. There was some good political intrigue and a rich world being developed in the background. Ultimately I think there was just too many cooks in the kitchen. There were A LOT of characters and storylines to keep track of at once including the main trio escaping, the villains plotting, the grandmother plotting against the villains, a river goddess trying to complete a mission, and a number of warrior groups also trying to complete missions. It was just all a bit too much to be contained succinctly in the amount of space given which made the story drag at times.

There was one particular aspect of this story that will 100% bring me back for more. I am a real sucker for the sort of fantasy science fiction mixture setting going on in the background of this story. The tiny hints of a previously advanced civilization that are tossed through the beginning of the story and then the gradual development of the realization that not everything is as it once appears really drew me in. I am desperate to find out more about the true history of this world and what happened in the past to create magic and leave us the world that we are currently exploring.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for the complimentary ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Nightward was a slow build, but I really ended up loving it by the end. Anything comp'd to The Witcher was going to grab my attention. I loved following Viella and Luka, and the blend of fantasy and sci-fi technologies was honestly a breath of fresh air. Add to that the Caribbean mythology inspiration, and I was hooked. I will say that I think the characters (Viella and Luka) could have been a little bit more developed, but I really loved reading about them regardless. The story also does end on a cliffhanger, so I'm very curious to see where the next book will go.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I truly wanted to enjoy this book. The concept sounded phenomenal, but the execution and world building was really lacking.

Viella as the young princess was done pretty well and she was mostly compassionate and understood that she needed to be strong and helpful, but on the other hand as the next queen she was completely useless. She was essentially kept in the dark about everything her role entails and she knows absolutely nothing of use, seemed like a lazy way to not flesh out a character. Also, her twin brother seems to play a huge roll in what goes down yet his character itself it flimsy as toilet paper and hardly seems to exist.

I was interested by the society of warrior women and their magic, but the magic was pretty much not explained at all, to the point that I was mostly just bored and confused because I hardly understood what was happening. The complete superiority complex of these women towards men also left a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn't just that women ruled and men were there to help and support, the women truly seemed to believe men were lesser than and inferior.

Giving 3 stars because I liked the concept, but I don't think I'll be bothering with the next one.

It's really good. The world is interesting and the magic seems well developed. Plus, there was a big warrior cat, which is also a win. I'm always down for reading non-western fantasy and this is a pretty good one to get into. It's not my favorite though and I think that's largely due to the characters. I cannot think of a single one that I found memorable or interesting. I wasn't connected to anyone nor did I care about what happened to them. I'd like to see what happens in the second book, though.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC!

This book was fine, just fine. The elements for a gripping story were there, but some details took away from my overall enjoyment. I think there were too many POVs, and they jumped around too frequently. The inner monologuing felt like a slightly lazy form of describing/showing the characters’ emotions. There wasn’t a lot of suspense or surprise, because the constant POV jumps revealed everything too quickly for any true intrigue. Also, the romance was a little too insta-love for me.

Now, the politics and the magic systems were both very interesting. I wish they were presented in a more engaging way, but regardless, they were cool. The characters were fairly realistically written, especially Viella. Frances was probably my fav character, and Mordach was a very compelling character. The action sequences were the saving grace of this book, very vividly written!

I probably won’t continue this series, but I did enjoy reading it well enough!

The Nightward
by R.S.A. Garcia
The Waters of Lethe #1
Fantasy
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Oct 15, 2024
Avon/Harper Voyager
Ages: 14+

Princess Viella isn't quite yet ten, but everyone is sure she will become the next queen and the Hand of Gaiea, Gaiea the Goddess who saved them from The Age of Chaos. But on the night of the Ceremony to confirm the girl's destiny, they are attacked, her mother killed, and her father and twin brother taken prisoner.

Viella escapes with her body guard, nineteen-year-old Luka, a warrior gifted with the ability to bond with a warcat. But he is hiding a secret that, as a man in a matriarchal world, could see him killed.


The blurb left a lot to the imagination, and my imagination was a lot more creative than the plot of this story. The idea for the story was great, but the execution was lacking. More info about The Age of Darkness would have helped the chapter openings excerpts of the 'diaries'. The magic system also needs some more building, but the world was good, though by halfway I started to have that sick feeling of what happened in The Age of Darkness, and by the end of the book, I'm pretty sure I know where it's going. I had some Dr. W vibes towards the end. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, but...

I did like the characters, Viella's character fits perfectly with the idea of a nine-year-old, but being thought of as the next queen, I felt she was more naive than she should have been. Luka's struggles with his role as a 'babysitter' was understandable, though his secret could have been revealed a little better within the magic system, but wasn't. And her brother should have had more character building, as an important character he was treated as filler.

As to the action, there wasn't much. What there was, wasn't that interesting and sadly I found myself skimming it, (along with other sections) and when I made myself read, I was still finding myself skimming.

Hopefully, the building of this world and its magic system, (which would really help with how the characters fit into the world) will continue in the next book, but I'm not too excited about reading it, because I'm pretty sure I know where it's going, but I will read it if I can get it on the cheap.

Just missed reaching the next star...

2 Stars

eARC/Book Review: The Nightward by R. A. Garcia 🐯

This was a fantastic start to a new fantasy duology with a smidge of science fiction elements towards the end. I found the world incredibly well defined, the characters fleshed out well, and the magic system intriguing. The book was pitched as a Caribbean mythology inspired world that feels like a mix of The Witcher and Game of Thrones, and if I had to go off those vibes alone (because I still haven’t really watched either series in depth), I would say it emulated those two very well. ⚔️

The book is plot based and so different POVs at times, but the two main ones are the ten year old, Princess Viella, and her nineteen year old bodyguard, Luka. I honestly love the dynamic between these two. As much as Luka gripes about his position, he truly cares for this charge and literally goes to hell and back for her. It was rather refreshing to see a man like this who has a wonderful sibling love for a girl who isn’t related to him by blood. I also really liked that there wasn’t an underlying romantic vibe between the two as that seems to be a trend. 😬

The world itself was diverse wonderfully reflecting the multicultural Caribbean as well as characters who identify openly as queer. I also really loved concept of what a matriarchal world is like, but still letting the reader know that even that kind of world is flawed. The other element that I really enjoyed was the openness to show that religion can be both comforting as well as destructive depending on how one interprets it. 📜

The only thing that I feel like I couldn’t get a good grasp on is the magic system itself, but that doesn’t detract at all from the overall great time that I had while reading this. ❤️

I would definitely recommend this to people who are looking for a Witcher like story that has a diverse cast and world while still having a wonderful talk about gender and what is expected from each. 🏳️‍🌈

Huge thank you goes to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review, and to Garcia for creating an incredible world that just got weirder and weirder in the best possible way. 🗡️

Publication date: October 15, so get it now!!

Overall: 5/5 ⭐️

Viella, the heir presumptive to the high Queen of Gailand, is forced to go on the run with her bodyguard Luka after a violent coup results in the overthrow of her mother's court. She is forced to contend with the agents of Chaos while awaiting the awakening of her own magic called 'the Boon'. And her bodyguard may have some secrets of his own....

It took me a while to get into the story but, by the end I did really enjoy 'The Nightward'. Garcia's writing reminds me of Dune in the best ways possible (and that is high praise!). There is a nice blending of epic fantasy and science fiction that makes you wonder about the mechanics of the world. I enjoyed the cast of characters and teasing out their various motivations. I will say at times some of the characters felt more like archetypes rather than actual people. However, I think that is fitting for how Garcia is constructing this story. The ending was excellent with a cliffhanger that definitely has me intrigued to see what happens next. Oh and the trans rep was A+!

My only complaints are that the pacing of the plot was rather slow and repetitive at times. I feel certain parts could have been cut without sacrificing anything from the overall story. I still highly recommend this book, and I am grateful we only have to wait a year for the sequel.

Reviews will be posted on Goodreads, storygraph and Fable on 10/17 and on Tiktok on 10/18

*I received an ARC from HarperCollinsCA & NetGalley. All opinions are my own.*
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Moribito has forever cemented my adoration for a fantasy novel that includes a bodyguard reluctantly caring for a child, so I was chomping at the bit for Nightward. Our grumpy bodyguard is Luka and our hunted child Queen is Viella, who remains a bit of a brat, which we love to see. We also have a secondary, even more grumpy bodyguard with Eleanor and I loved her to bits, I wanted her to have all the screen time.
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The world building is fascinating and the sci-fi elements are slowly introduced in the background. I think I would have preferred to see a bit more build up before all the action, just to get a better anchor into the world and the characters, cause they’re all so fascinating. But we jump into the action quickly here and are thrown into a world where we are learning all is not what it seems alongside the characters themselves. The names of various characters seem to drop hints that something very sci-fi is going on, but there remains a lot to be explained and I’m already ready for book 2 👀
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Hisses & Kisses 🐍

I powered through half a dozen books over my weekend. Two were graphic novels so it wasn’t quite an overkill of books. This was I fear the weakest of the lot. I may have simply not been the target audience but there were a lot of things that reminded me of things I’ve read before. More in overarching themes than specifics though. There was a lot of women are oppressed in this society books in the 70s and 80s fantasy I read. Men are oppressed in this one. Only not so much they can’t basically do whatever they want it seems. And it was pretty obvious pretty quickly that it was a fallen high tech world with either sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic or sufficiently advanced technology combined with hand waving psychic powers…. It wasn’t that it was bad. It just didn’t feel as fresh as I’d hoped. But if you like fallen high tech turned to magic societies it could be the one for you. I just can’t bring myself beyond a meh, next but I do devour books by the stack so…. I’m picky sometimes

Thank you so much to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the opportunity to read The Nightward as an ARC! This is my first time picking something up by R.S.A. Garcia, but the premise of this book intrigued me so much, I knew I had to give it a shot.

I think the concept of women warrior-magicians ruling the world is phenomenal, and I was really drawn to the Caribbean mythology influence. This novel is classified as "scifantasy", which is a term I haven't heard before (but love! I usually just say sci-fi/fantasy, but scifantasy is way more fun). Although I really enjoyed the fantasy elements, I found the sci-fi/technological bits to feel sort of out of place. I felt like there was a lot I didn't understand about the technological element of this book- and I think I would have preferred if it were fantasy only. Sci-fi as an added layer made things feel a bit too complicated and underexplained for this as the first book in a duology; of course, my opinion on this might change as some elements are expanded upon in the second book, but that is my initial thought.

This book relies pretty heavily on the "chosen one" trope with multiple characters, so if that isn't your thing, you may not be a fan of some of these plot points. I'll be interested to see how this story and these characters develop in the second book- R.S.A Garcia did pull out some twists and turns that I really didn't see coming. and I think there is a lot of growth potential for book 2. Overall, I rated this book as 3 out of 5 stars; if you're a fan of matriarchal societies, magic, and warriors who can mind-speak with animals (particularly warrior cats!), then this might be the book for you. The Nightward releases on October 15th!

3/5 ⭐️

This was pretty disappointing and I found myself wishing it was better as I was reading it. I'll start with the good, the world building. I thought the combination of magic systems, Caribbean mythos, and sci-fi high technology was really interesting and unique. Unfortunately, everything else fell a bit flat for me. The characters felt so one-dimensional and I never found myself caring about any of them. There were also a lot of jumps to different POVs and I kept getting confused who was the POV I was reading at times. The confusion also made it hard for me to really care about anything that was going on.

I think this book would have benefited from being maybe longer in order to give us more time to get to know the characters and the world. I don't know if I'll be continuing on with this series but I appreciate this debut by Garcia.

Thank you to NetGalley, R.S.A. Garcia, and Avon and Harper Voyager for my early access to this.

Holy world building, Batman! What an amazing debut! The Caribbean lore mixed with fantasy bordering on high fantasy is unique and refreshing. A familiar character dynamic for fans of The Witcher, but portrayed in a completely different way. Filled with angst, love, grief and strength, the plot is well paced and well thought out. Loved this!

"The Nightward" sounds like an intriguing blend of Caribbean mythology and fantasy! The premise of a princess on the run after her mother’s assassination definitely sets the stage for a gripping tale filled with suspense and emotional depth. I loved the idea of weaving in science fiction elements—it's a unique twist that enriched the world-building.

The dynamic between the princess and her bodyguard also provided well written character development, especially as they navigated the challenges of survival and the quest for revenge. The book thrives on rich storytelling and exploring themes of loyalty, identity, and resilience.

Another Fall 2024 SFF read by an author of color that I wanted to support, but the execution of which I found lacking.

Though THE NIGHTWARD is marketed as being inspired by Caribbean mythology, I got very little sense of unique place when reading. People and settings were described sporadically and vaguely, and I was left feeling like the words were always slipping out of my mind, unable to take shape into anything.

The narration chooses to give rivers long, stilted dialogue within which a ton of world-building information is dumped. As a result, I didn't feel like I got to know any of the characters; rather, they seemed to serve only as a vehicle through which Garcia was attempting to world-build. The characters all coalesced into nothing more than unsubtle archetypes: the crotchety, valiant guard; the young and immature tragic princess; the scheming magic tutor.

It's a great premise, but writing weaknesses meant I could not get into the story, and I was left feeling like I couldn't get a hold of the characters, the world, or what's at stake.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for allowing me to receive an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own

The Nightward by R.S.A. Garcia has rich storytelling, likable characters, and amazing world building. I honestly cannot wait for the next book by this author!

DNF at ~40%

I love the idea of the book, but found myself struggling to stay engaged with the writing. The political and magic system seem like they should be very cool, and I'm always a fan of a matriarchial political scheme. However, I struggled with the way the world building is presented in the book with regards to how the kingdom works - a lot of terms with capital letters (the Hand, the Spellsayer, the Seat etc) are thrown in everywhere with not a lot of context or explanation.

The story is told from multiple POVs. While I normally don't mind this, I found the frequency and way that the POVs transitioned to be jarring - sometimes after only a few paragraphs and even a few times in the middle of a page with no indication of a break in text. The writing is straightforward but sometimes too simply. We get a lot of descriptions for things that don't feel necessary (like in depth description of one characters office), while having no real sense of what the climate or the town or even the forests look like.

I can see the comparisons to the Witcher in terms of story line and it also gives me Wakanda vibes with the elite female guard and the mix of magic and technology. This may be good for younger readers, or for reading aloud with a child in small bites where the simple language and change of POVs is less likely to be jarring.

Calling this now, this is going to be a stealth hit of the fall. I was already a sucker for the kind of palace intrigue the summary describes, and then with the full scale of the reveal of what the magic is in this world and what they are about to unleash, I was all the way in. The cliffhanger this book ends on is particularly cruel, but that just means it gets to go buck wild next book. Pick this up and enjoy the ride.

Wow, what a ride! This debut novel by R.S.A. Garcia is a scifantasy masterpiece that combines Caribbean mythology with The Witcher vibes. We're talking women warrior-magicians, child princesses, and bodyguards with secrets. Buckle up, folks!

Princess Viella is the Spirit of Gaiea, next in line to the throne, and a total wild child. She's got magic powers, but she'd rather play hooky than learn how to use them. That is, until her mom, the Queen, gets assassinated, and Viella's world goes dark.

Enter Luka, Viella's bodyguard, who's all about duty and protection. He's got his own secrets, though, and together they're on the run from some serious darkness. Think magic, tech, and a whole lot of action.

What I loved about this book:

- The world-building is insane! Garcia's got this whole Caribbean mythology-meets-scifi thing down pat.
- Viella's a total boss, even if she's just a kid. She's got spunk and magic, and I'm here for it.
- Luka's got depth, folks. He's not just a pretty face (though, let's be real, he probably is). He's got secrets and feelings, and I'm intrigued.

What I didn't love:

- It took me a hot second to get into the story. The beginning's a bit slow, but trust me, it picks up.
- Some of the tech-magic stuff went over my head. I mean, I got the gist, but the details were a bit fuzzy.