Talmadge’s Stoneslayer series begins in the rigidly stratified world of Azgard, where race and class dictate status. The main character, Helen Andros, is a mixed-race healer who is looked down on because of her heritage. Her life takes a huge turn when she uses a magical stone to save Prince Harnak’s life. Even though her actions are heroic, they anger the elite, who see her as both scandalous and dangerous.

Things get even more complicated Helen’s parentage is revealed. This discovery places Helen in the middle of a major political conflict.

The book tackles big ideas like power, identity, and systemic oppression. Helen’s resilience and sharp wit make her a compelling protagonist, and her interactions with Azgard’s elite depoct sharp social commentary on prejudice and sacrifice.

Talmadge’s magic system is rooted in a form of shamanism. She very briefly delves into the history of the magic system in the book, but the absolute hard turn into the magic system in the last few pages of the book after such a richly crafted political thriller is jarring and feels extremely out of tune with the rest of the largely excellent book. It was essentially what stopped me from rating it higher.

Balancing political intrigue with personal growth, Stoneslayer offers a unique blend of fantasy and social commentary. Its nuanced approach and captivating narrative make it a must-read for fans of character-driven fantasy with a sharp edge.

Will definitely look out for the next instalment of this series.

Can I first say I loved the glossary (very helpful) but I personally would have liked it at the front of the book (I was worried I would read the last page and spoil the book!) secondly the family trees were a nice touch.

The glossary was a great help, as there were A LOT of characters. I made notes as I went along, but had to constantly look at the glossary for confirmation.

This is the first book by this author that I’ve read, and to be honest, if this is the first in the series, I want to know more….

The book had all the makings of a great read. Action/adventure/mystery/suspense and a paranormal angle.

But sadly it fell a little short….
Information is great, but maybe not at the end, as it felt like an avalanche burying the story!

And maybe the language (or use of Renaissance/modern/old world jumbled together) was a little off putting, once I got the hang of it, I could understand a bit better.

But I loved Helen, she was just so strong. Her resilience was tested time after time. A father who I couldn’t like nor trust. A person who has known hate and prejudice, Helen just took it all in her stride. She’s also tied to a man that is for purely political reasons (very archaic) can she really trust him? Only time will tell. Her wit and smart mouth has me smiling, her comebacks made me chuckle.

340 pages, and I was there for most of them. How Helen uses her (magical abilities?) family gem to heal people. How she had to always stay one step ahead of the demon.

The idea of reincarnation was a different angle and I really liked that.

But a word of warning ‼️ there is mention of assault and r@pe!! Maybe that needs to be addressed, as it was a little shocking (if I know it’s coming I don’t have an issue, I can prepare myself!)

I liked it, if it could just be re-jiggled a little then I think it would have the potential to be a really interesting series.

🦋

the idea of this book really grabbed my attention and while there were a few very well written lines and I enjoyed the banter from the main character.. to put it bluntly this book felt messy and almost random and not in that scandalous way the description implies, but in a way that leaves the reader (me) feeling lost

There are many characters in the story, and it took me a minute to get everyone sorted. The family trees and supplied information is very useful for this. Once I immersed myself into the story, I really enjoyed it. This is the first book in the series, and as such, there is plenty to learn about the world and its politics. I like the main character, and look forward to the next volumes to see how things play out.

While I understand the negative criticism I've read about this book, I still really enjoyed the book. Loved the world but it took me almost the whole book to get a good grasp on it. I was constantly referencing the glossary in the back to remember who was who and all the politics going on. This book is the first in the Stoneslayer series and felt like one big introduction. I will NOT be reading future books in the series because this book had a rape scene (not of the FMC). Also, the info dump at 90% through the book felt a little weird.
Helen's character was great! I loved her innocence, yet strength and wittiness. Her character absolutely made the book.

The premise of this book is definitely intriguing, and it grabbed my attention right away. I also appreciate that I didn’t need special approval to read the ARC. However, once I started reading, it just didn’t deliver on its potential. The writing style felt disjointed—there was no consistency between the use of archaic/medieval and modern language. One moment, the characters are speaking like they’re from the Renaissance, and the next, it’s all very contemporary. It made the narrative hard to follow.

The world-building was also lacking. While I appreciated the glossary to help make sense of things, I wish more of that information had been naturally woven into the story. Instead, it felt like everything in the series was jam-packed into this first book, which made it overwhelming.

The characters, unfortunately, didn’t resonate with me, and the uneven flow made it difficult to immerse myself in the world. While the magic system had potential, it just didn’t come together as well as I’d hoped.

Overall, the book was a challenge to connect with, and despite its interesting concept, it struggled to live up to expectations.

****May contain spoilers****
I was really excited to read this book as it seemed like something right up my alley, but I was unfortunately disappointed. The easiest way to describe this book is disjointed, incohesive, and abrupt. The conflicts/resolutions sprinkled throughout as well as the overarching conflict with the "big bad" at the end, left much to be desired. I'm not entirely sure the author knew the direction they wanted to go with this story, which I thought had a lot of potential but ultimately fell flat. It felt like many details were thrown in haphazardly or as an afterthought. The writing style is clunky and although it gets slightly better further in, it doesn't flow well overall. I found myself distracted from the underlying storyline by how I would change the sentence structure to make it sound better. The worldbuilding is confusing (I still have no idea what time-period it is supposed to be emulating), and I found the switching back and forth of modern lingo and old timey, formal language to give a bit of whiplash. Besides the setting, the judicial and magical system, as well as the government hierarchy, were extremely hard to follow. Although there is a glossary and a chart included, an exceptional writer (in my opinion) should be able to seamlessly "show not tell" through the story they weave. I found it slightly annoying that the main character, as a doctor, was described doing CPR entirely incorrectly. There also needs to be some type of trigger warning for r*pe and a**ault, as it was very jarring to come across that late into the novel. I really wanted to like this book, and while there were a few very well written lines and I enjoyed the sassy banter from the main character, to put it plainly, this book felt messy and almost random. Not in the fun, scandalous way the description implies, but in a way that leaves the reader feeling lost and wondering what the whole point of what they just read was.