4.5 ⭐️ Such a captivating book from beginning to end. This is the first book in I believe, a five books series. It has so much build up and we get many POV’s. We mainly follow Second who is the general to King Henry and he is fierce. He’s not afraid of anyone and is a dangerous man, however I found him to also be a somewhat sweet man. I recommend this book to historial fantasy readers who want a story with a lot of world building and politics but easy to comprehend writing.

The Freeing of the World is a daring debut spanning three generations of interconnected characters whose choices shape and eventually destabilize, a continent. Told in a mostly third person omniscient voice with moments of closer third person limited, A.M. Knight attempts something bold: weaving historical feeling narratives from multiple POVs across a disjointed timeline.

Instead of starting at the beginning, Knight drops us into the middle of the timeline—right into the action—with a sinking ship, a king headed to battle, and two babies adopted under unusual circumstances. This introduction works well and gave me enough investment to stay grounded once the narrative leapt back a generation to tell the story of those who sparked the continent’s transformation and "current" events. These past characters—overthrown kings, idealists, revolutionaries, and wanderers—carry the weight of the book’s most profound themes. We know the world changed, but why and how it changed unfolds in these slower, more reflective sections. Eventually, the narrative returns to the “present” and works forward, to a third generation who benefit from peace they didn’t fight for—and who may be too soft to preserve it.

The story structure reminds me of George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood. Like historical events instead of traditional novel—but without the romanticized prose or poetic depth. Knight’s writing is clear, tight, and deliberate, likely trimmed for clarity rather than atmosphere. While some may appreciate this focused storytelling style, others will find it choppy, even jarring—especially with the frequent timeline shifts and changing perspectives.

Despite its ambition, the book has rough edges. Transitions between characters and timelines are disorienting and the prose lacks stylistic flair needed to make complex character arcs linger. Still, I finished the book wanting to read more. I’m invested in the world Knight created and curious about where this third generation will take it next. I’ve followed him on Amazon to receive email notification of future book releases.

Ultimately, the novel is a solid and promising debut. It’s not quite a four star read for me—not yet. But I suspect Knight’s storytelling skills are still growing and by the time we reach his fourth or fifth novel, we may find something remarkable

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for sending me this book in consideration of a review. All opinions are my own. I am an English Lit and Creative Writing Major, and my review is written with academic stylistic writing in mind.

I really struggled to get started with this book. There was a way with the writing and the jumping around that had me lost and confused as I went. There was potential in the story, and I was quite excited to see what happened, but it took all of my effort to figure out what was really going on and to follow the plot along. I was stoked that I was able to read this book before it came out and grateful for the opportunity, but I think that the story needed a different tone and type of writing throughout. I have never been the biggest fan of 3rd person writing but I also enjoy many stories that are written that way. With this story I found the author jumping from character to character and not even allowing me to get a connection to any of them. For example, in the beginning we spend a whole chapter following a messenger to then switch to a different messenger just to be told he was killed. There is a constant changing of who we are reading about and following and while Second would be personally considered the main character he ducks in and out from the story constantly making it difficult to get to know him the way I'd like. For a more complex reader I think this story could be great but for it to be right for me I would need it to follow characters a bit better and give a bit more to the plot and not all of the surrounding aspects!

I find myself a little torn on this one. I can see a lot of potential. The story itself is one I was drawn into, but I found myself distracted by the "choppiness" of the writing. I felt like I was thrown around from one thing to another making the pacing all over the place. Some of the characters felt a little more fleshed out than others and there would have been better connection to the story if I felt more invested in the characters.

I really enjoyed the plot twists and the way the story kept me on my toes. The world-building was intriguing, and I appreciated how the book balanced political tension with moments of adventure. The characters had distinct personalities, and some of their conflicts added depth to the story. Also the vocavulary was impressive throughout the book. However, the writing felt a bit jumpy at times, moving between events without smooth transitions, which occasionally made it hard to stay fully immersed. A bit more refinement in flow would have made the pacing feel more natural. That said, the stakes were high, and the story had plenty of gripping moments that kept me invested until the end.

Interesting concept and a decent enough story but it just wasn't for me with the way the story was constructed and the characters