Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an arc of this book. Unfortunately, this book had a really great sounding premise, but it was such a struggle to get through. There was so much talking, not enough action, and you would think with how much talking and strategizing they were doing, they would explain what is going on well. It just didn't happen. Nothing really happened or was really fully explained until about 65% into the story, which is way too long to take off. When the action started to happen, it was interesting, but short-lived, and by that time, I just didn't care. The characters were not that interesting either, with no emotional investment whatsoever. Then there was some random mix of Sci-fi thrown in towards the end of the book, which if done correctly can be good, but it was so far left field and out of place I was just genuinely confused. Random input of real-life social issues are also unnecessary in a fantasy book and take you out of the escape from reality reading is supposed to provide. I don't think I'll be reading the second one when it's released late next year, and I cannot suggest this read.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyage for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

I made it 9% before I had to DNF this. The writing style was boring, and didn’t make any sense. Even though I had read many pages, I still had no idea what most of the terms actually meant. Overall very disappointed, I was extremely excited to read this but it just fell flat. 1⭐️

Incredibly inventive and fun, this book seamlessly melds fantasy with science fiction in the most intriguing of ways. It starts off as what seems like a purely secondary=world fantasy, but then along come some hints and clues--and I'm eagerly awaiting the next book to find out how these things are linked, because I'm hooked!

"Nightward" starts with a bang, too. From the start, you're thrown into a full-blown world, with new terms and categories and such, which I love! And while you may wait a while for some of those terms to be described, never fear--they are. And those descriptions only made the plot more twisty and inventive. The author's mastery of plot and voice carried me through any discomfort from my "unknowing."Tthe varying points of view are well-chosen and clear, with each definitely a real person.

But that ending! It's a fast race as so many things come to a head, and more secrets are revealed...and yet there's another whole book to come! More secrets, more turn-abouts, more character revelations. I can't wait!

You'll love this book if you like distinctive secondary world fantasies, political intrigue, unique magic systems, and inclusive world=building.

This is a hard one to review. When it comes right down to it, I wasn't interested enough to continue after reading about 30% of the book.

Why not? The book has a lot going for it. There's a lushly imagined world, a matriarchal society beginning to make moves for masculine equality, a magic system, giant intelligent felines that can be ridden.

I think I wanted just a little more explanation for most of those things. The book blurb says that the culture is based on Caribbean folklore but I couldn't discern any. I'm not an expert in Caribbean folklore by any means but if that's how the book is being marketed it probably needs to be more obvious for people like me.

I liked our princess character and her soldier guardian but I felt like I was being held at arms' length from them. I didn't have a real sense of how magic worked in this world so I had no basis for comparison to see if a magical act was powerful, unusual, forbidden, unless the book came out and told me, which it often didn't.

It seemed like this book was about to be one big chase scene. The princess and her guard were on the run, ran across various people and then kept running. I was never sure just how dangerous their pursuers were or how long it would be before they caught up. I never got to attach to any other characters either because they were all left behind.

There is a lot of potential here, but the book felt dreamlike and nebulous and I needed more information.

thanks to netgalley for providing me with a arc of this book in exchange for a review!

first of all this cover!!! so beautiful and definitely drew me into requesting an arc of this. the nightward takes place in a rich world blending medieval fantasy and some mysterious science fiction elements. the world these characters in is deep and complex, from the way magic works, to the creatures, and the political upheaval that begins right at the start of the book and races all of the way through (and thankfully the readers get a pov of every angle!). luka is the standout character of the book for me, and i actively looked forward to the parts about his relationships with both viella and eleanor. i'm really excited to see what he and viella get to do in the sequel to this book!

I love R.S.A. Garcia's writing, and I liked this pretty well. There are maybe too many characters, and I would have liked to have a firmer grasp on what was happening by the end of the book -- I know this is the first in a trilogy, but it feels like this first book spends most of the time just getting started.

Going into this book I believed it was a fantasy book and was excited to see what would happen based off of some reviews I had seen. I thought the story and the world building were great. I did wish there was a little more explaining of the magic system at the start of the book, but I understand why it was explained later and it meshed well with the story line.
You do follow three main groups of characters in this story (the good guys, the bad guys, and the soldiers). I definitely like following the story of the god and bad guys and was not a huge fan of following the soldiers. I felt that at some points during the soldier’s story line was very slow and because the chapters are so long and you get a glimpse at all story line in each one, it can feel like the story is dragging.
I LOVED reading a story the follows a matriarchal society and seeing how scenarios play out when the gender with power is switched. I hope the differences in magic for women and men is discussed more in the next book.
I am excited to see what happens in the second book!

I had so many thoughts about the early part of this book — nitpicks on how the names didn’t seem to make sense or work together, some of the terminology — and then a thing happened and turned all of that sideways. This is a book with skillful world building seen through the eyes of a child who has just seen her mother murdered, her teenage bodyguard (he’s 19), the villains and a few side characters. As such, much of the story is heavily skewed because Viella doesn't understand what’s going on, Luka is very much in his thoughts and his pride, and the villains are trying to manipulate everyone around them.

The mythology of this world feels rich and real, the matriarchal culture and magic system had a great deal of thought put into them; they’re not just a reskinned monarchy. Everything and all of it comes together in an easy, understandable way and that — combined with the writing and solid pace — made this a fun read. The only reason it took me two days to finish is because I had to go to bed halfway through the book.

Because it’s the first book in a series there’s also a focus on setting things up, overly explaining some of the reasons behind the villains, the evils, the monsters, but it’s all done organically through conversations and revelations with no weight info dumps or long, exposition laden speeches. I had fun with this book and am very much looking forward to the next one!

Thank you very much to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC.

You know what? I just don’t want to read this any more. I’m a bit sad about it, because this was one of my most-anticipated books – I was RABID to read it! But. I’m bored, and I don’t care, and there are some objectively cool things going on that are just not grabbing me, for some reason. I made it to 38%; that’s a lot more than my usual cut-off point, at 20%. But the extra pages didn’t make a difference for me.

The writing is fine: very readable, very easy, but nothing special, and lacking the lushness I’m always hoping for. The magic is so simplistic. As is the matriarchy I was so excited about; women are warriors, men are oppressed (and also warriors), Oh No. (Not that we see said oppression? There’s some semi-nasty comments about men from literally one person, and it’s implied that men aren’t taught as much magic, but 38% of the way through this book I still didn’t know how men are oppressed – I was just told, not shown, that they were. Can they not inherit property? Are they banned from certain professions? Are they objectified, does the law not recognise that men can be raped by women, are they considered less intelligent, what???)(For that matter, I don’t get how this is a matriarchy; we have queens, and women warriors, but men are warriors too, and if you made all the women into men you’d never spot the difference from a generic Fantasy patriarchy, this is boring and also stupid.) Of course it’s an Evil Man who murders the queen and steals the throne (albeit not for himself); of course his partner is a woman who feels she was passed over as queen. And where is the Caribbean influence? So much of this set-up seems ripped directly from the (historically INaccurate) collective hallucination that is SFF’s idea of Medieval Europe. (Dressing characters in saris and having warrior women named after the Dahomey Amazons is just set-dressing, not fundamental worldbuilding.) And why do you even HAVE princesses/princes when the monarchy isn’t hereditary? Why is the Queen Mother a position of influence when she wasn’t chosen as queen, her daughter was? This whole set-up should be wildly different; the worldbuilding is so inconsistent, it doesn’t fit together, ARGH.

(And why Gaiea? Why? That’s such a fucking cliche. I disapprove of cringe culture immensely, but folx, anyone using Gaia/Gaiea as an All-Goddess figure in a secondary world setting makes me cringe so hard.)(I got excited for this book before there was a blurb, okay, I didn’t know.)

Bonus, stupid contradictory details, like someone moving ‘soundlessly’ despite being decked in anklets and bracelets. OKAY. Or – again, in a secondary world setting, where names I recognise SHOULD NOT EXIST – names like Sophia and Frances and Elise existing right alongside Viella and Valan. Or, supposedly experienced warriors thinking it’s better to remove an arrow still in the wound, when that is the thing you must absolutely not do until you’re with a doctor who can deal with it; and seriously suggesting that TWO PEOPLE are enough to get the queen where she needs to go while her queendom’s under threat

THAT BEING SAID.

It’s clear that there is a huge, world-changing mystery lying beneath Gailand’s history; the magical portals are actually teleportation technology, and the oraculars are something like mobile phones + holograms. ‘Property of Genetech’ is a gigantic clue that Something Is Up. Gailand’s legends have Gaiea overthrowing ‘the Masters’ – perhaps some corporation or other entity that set up Gailand as an experiment, or some kind of wildlife reserve, or something even stranger. And yet, the Dark is objectively real, so this IS a matter of demons and magic too. This should be SO INCREDIBLY INTERESTING, and for the right reader, it absolutely will be.

But not for me. The story moves quickly, but not in a direction I cared about; the clues for What Is Up were coming far too slowly to hold my interest. The worldbuilding does not hold up in my eyes, so I don’t really care about it for its own sake. And the characters are nice, sure, but bland. Nothing about them stands out: honourable warrior, honourable warrior, 9 year old whose maturity spikes and dips from moment to moment (although to be fair, she’s been through a lot recently, which would mess up most 9yos). I suspect Luka might not be cis, but it’s already clear that Gailand has no room for nonbinary people and I’m not interested in seeing Luka have to fight for acceptance on that front as well (he’s already lesser because, you know, man in a matriarchy).

It just…all fell so flat. Maybe Nightward becomes EPIC in the second half, maybe we would learn more about Genetech and the reveal will be SO COOL…but that’s just not enough of an incentive when the first half is so meh, when I don’t care about the cast, when the worldbuilding bores and annoys me.

Some readers will love this, undoubtedly. I’m sad I’m not one of them.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This one was weird. I can solidly get behind the basic plot, that was fine. The main characters were great, and I loved the relationship between Luka and Viella. The matriarchal society was a refreshing take on the issue of the gender binary, presenting many of the same issues seen in patriarchal societies, and reminding the reader why either extreme is generally bad. On that topic, the cultural gender split between male/female magic users was confusing at first, but slowly made sense the more the reader learned about the world.

Where the book starts to lose me is in the side characters. So many side characters and points of view. So many names to pay attention to that belong to almost identical people with almost identical roles, at some point I completely forgot who was who. POVs could have been trimmed substantially and nothing in the story would have been lost.

A few other reviews I’ve read mention this is a world-building book, and that I can understand. There is a lot of lore built and history told, and hints of what that history might actually be. By the end, I think I came to the conclusion that The Nightward is more of a prequel than the first book in a series, and that I would probably enjoy the book more had I read it after the rest of the story. Overall, 3.5/5

ARC received via NetGalley. Note: the book is about world building. As such, this review cannot avoid some spoiling that certain world building exists, but doesn’t go into any details.

I loved this books architectural prowess in its world building. The fundamental caveat in the world is that the differences between the label of magic and the label of science is mostly in the context of knowledge management. Plot-based artifacts function as the magical, action-pushing devices common in high fantasy: at the same time, the same artifacts are used to commentate on how cultural power is tightly retained through knowledge control (more common in science fiction).

This conceit makes the main protagonists, a man in a society where men are disenfranchised, and a little girl who has not yet been taught the knowledge used to continue the disparity, acutely useful tools to introduce and then envelop the reader into the world.

I came to this book with a mild skepticism: I dislike, as a rule, stories whose fundamental world building includes enforcement of the gender binary. Usually, this effectively creates a world where trans people are either abominations of the natural order or nonexistent. This is a world where non-cisgendered people are unusual & treated differently in society; this is not a narrative where that treatment is generally condoned. To avoid spoilers I will not go further.

I found the characters to be varied in depth. The Princess Viella is an excellent portrayal of a 9 year old going through extreme trauma- she is kind of annoying, desperately clings to her perceived safe adult figures, and struggles to express to those same figures important information because she fears the instability that may come with it. Her glorified babysitter also has page space to go through being frustrated, scared, introspective, and loyal. Other characters with less page space simply have less space to develop; I expect the promised sequel will shore these up!

The pacing of this book is fast. A lot happens within a few days by a lot of people. Expect political intrigue, action packed fights, folkloric figures on spiritual journeys, and a little bit of tenderness. This is not a book where paragraphs could be skipped without missing some kind of plot/info. Still a delight to read.

Would be great for fans of deep world building, hard magic systems, action packed pacing, and political intrigue. Some of my favorite passages came out of prose from the perspective of a folkloric spirit, adding just that bit of wonder in an otherwise fierce and desperate world.

"The Nightward" is the first fantasy-scifi novel in R.S.A. Garcia's "Waters of Lethe" duology. In a world where women lead and have some form of magic, while men are often without magic, Viella is a 9 year old princess who is about to be confirmed as the next Hand of Gaia. When a coup leaves her Queen mother dead and their court in shambles, Viella is saved and taken away by her bodyguard, Luka. There are powerful machinations behind the scenes and we find out that things are not all as they seem. Wonderful world building that leaves you wanting to know more about this world and what exactly is going on. Readers will eagerly await the next novel. Recommended for adult fiction collections where fantasy and sci fi are popular.

Long ago, Chaos resigned in Gailand, until the Goddess Gaiea banished those responsible for the Dark, and entrusted the world to those she knew could trust: Women. Only women can possess strong magic, and train from a young age to be warriors or seers. Queens rule Gailand, with the High Queen of Dun acting as Gaiea’s Hand and her heir as Gaiea’s Spirit.

When young Viella is to be confirmed as the High Queen’s heir, there is a coup, and the Queen is murdered. Acting on pure instinct, Veilla’s bodyguard Luka, saves her and whisks her away to safety. However, the two are unsure of who they can trust, and as a man in a woman’s world, Luka already has secrets he must hide if he wants them to stay alive.

Nightward is a political high fantasy that offers a intriguing look at a society completely opposite of what most of us have ever known: a matriarchy, where men are viewed as “less than” and advised to not travel without a woman for protection.

This book was a wild ride with non-stop action and intrigue from the start. At times it gave me Game of Thrones vibes because of many perspectives you get. On one hand I loved seeing all the moving pieces, like a chess board. On the other, it could get overwhelming trying to remember all the names and locations.

The world and magic system are complex, unfolding slowly while reading, and you’re never given a complete or in-depth explanation. This is intentional, as piecing together the origin of the world and its magic are a big part of the main plot for the series, but I still found it a little frustrating. It’s honestly the only thing that kept it from being a five star read.

I loved the characters and all the LGBTQ+ representation in this book. I became very emotionally invested in several of them, especially Viella, and I’m really looking forward to continuing the series (and getting answers to all my questions!!!) Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Pub Date: October 14, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for my e-reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited for this one, given the buzz I've heard - I just couldn't connect with any of the characters and it turned into a slog because of that. Interesting worldbuilding but the characters just were not there for me.

The Nightward as a fun Sci-Fantasy book filled with political plotting, magic, and adventure. While, at in the first half I wasn't totally hooked by the second half and end I needed to know what was going to happen next. I cannot wait for the sequel to come out and to see how they story wrap up.
One issue I did have is that as a Sci-Fantasy book to me it felt disjointed as some ancient tech was there but not much was really explained. I am not sure if as the readers we were suppose to deduce it was tech or if that it was some strange old magic like characters in the story. I hope more is explained about the world and the technology aspects in the sequel as I feel have more information will allow for a better connect and feel less disjointed.

Review: This novel is a two-sided coin. Great movement vs. poorly built characters. Fantastic world building vs. wokey trash opinions. Believable magic vs. high technology. Independent and fierce characterization vs. YA blushing and crushing.

Where does this dichotomy leave the reader? Well this reader had fun up until the pronoun bullshjt was inserted with no cogent alignment to the story line. Good thing it was minor in approach and lasted but a few pages. Fug, when does the shjt end?

I am torn between loving the grande questing nature of the story line and not giving a fuk what happens to the characters. That is one of the toughest things to create in any great novel...loving the characters so much that you are constantly rooting for them. Characters that were born with silver spoons in their mouths lessens the ability for readers to form attachments. I will carry on with this series but the character development needs to see improvement.

Rating: 3.2/5

Yeah, The Nightward really does deserve all the awards it has been receiving. If anything I expect it to win even more in the future because I simply couldn’t find anything that didn’t fascinate me. R.S.A. Garcia’s world-building was the highlight for me. It was so unique, intricate, and imaginative that I was simply absorbed into the colorful world she had created. Quite honestly, I am simply obsessed with the mastery of craft behind Garcia’s writing. The world was so vast, its politics so fascinating, and its characters so complex, and yet Garcia was painting on her canvas with such ease that elevated my admiration of her work. I am very much looking forward to R.S.A. Garcia’s future novels but I was delighted to find out that I can read her short stories to bridge the gap.

"'How he loves you, and yet hurts you, all the same? That's what people can do, if you give them your trust. This lesson I teach you freely. Never give people your trust. They will only betray you.'"

The Nightward is the first book in a new sci-fi/fantasy series that follows the story of a princess and her bodyguard. I've seen some reviews calling this novel "too ambitious" and confusing, and while the worldbuilding and characters take a few chapters to get used to, I didn't think the scope was too large. In fact, I'm excited to see where the next book goes in terms of worldbuilding.
The story begins with the assassination of a queen. Princess Viella is escorted to safety by her bodyguard, Luka, sparking a game of cat-and-mouse with the mysterious dark magic plaguing the land. There are multiple POVs, which I found unexpected but welcome, as it allowed me to better understand what was going on in the court Viella left behind. The pacing was relatively fast, although I do think it slowed down at the end (when I was desperately seeking answers about a specific character's chance of surviving). That being said, there was enough action to keep me occupied throughout, and there were a few plot twists that I sort of predicted but still found amusing.
I actually found myself liking the majority of the characters. Mordach reminded me of the evil sorcerer from Elena of Avalor, and I will not elaborate. I also thought Sophia was incredibly cool, and I'm excited to see what she'll do in book 2. I really hope Valan and Enoch are okay and that they'll get their happy endings. Eleanor grew on me eventually, although I'm not sure how I felt about her relationship with Luka (because I pictured her as way older than him). Viella and Luka's dynamic gave me so much happiness with their unconditional trust, and I am extremely excited to see what happens to them in book 2.
The Nightward is the beginning of a new sci-fi/fantasy series that deals with trust, duty, and the consequences of oppression.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

4/5

Great adventure! I loved the fact that the author's Trinidadian background factored into this story, and gave the world-building a flavor not found in other fantasy titles.

The story itself feels like a blend of other YA fantasy titles, like Six of Crows and others of that ilk.

The writing is solid, and the character building proved to be a strong point of the novel. The magical system was creative, and I loved the matrilineal aspect of the queendom, which lends another dimension to the story I appreciated.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the arc! Ho boy, if I could sum up this book in one sentence, it would be: this is too much and yet not enough. Big ideas, huge ambition, but it does not stick the landing. I’m going to break this down into pros and cons

Pros:
-the author has potential
-intriguing concepts
-war cats and big, bad dragons
-this book does not hold you hand
-definitely unpredictable!!!

Cons:
-this book got lost in the sauce of its ambition and concepts; it was very unwieldy and messy
-the scale of this book was too big for the author’s current talents
-nothing was explained in the slightest, and even with an attempt at some info dumps, which made for a confusing reading experience (I’m saying this as a seasoned epic fantasy reader)
-characters were unmemorable, and I felt disconnected to them all
-some plot points made me roll my eyes excessively
-I felt zero emotion save frustration and annoyance
-“sure,””fuck it all,” “why the hell not,” and “I guess???” were common thoughts I had while reading this