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How I discovered this book: I've got to know the author a little via Twitter and thought I'd like to try one of his books, after reading some good reviews. This is the first episode of the now complete Storm Trilogy.
The novel is set in the medieval-esque fantasy world of the Four Vales, and follows the story of two main characters: Cassana, a noblewoman, and stonemason Khadazin. The story contains all the ingredients necessary for an epic fantasy series ~ political intrigue, wrongful imprisonment, conspiracies, dark secrets. I thought the land of the author's imagination was constructed well; it's all believable, with some original ideas that make this very much his own story. One element I liked was that his women are certainly not second class citizens; nobleman's daughter Cassana is sent to represent her father in political dealings, and others are military captains and solidiers. From adolescence, the girls are taught military skills alongside the boys.
I liked reading Khadazin's story best, as I found him the most three dimensional character; I was interested in his backstory and everything that happened to him. In Cassana's chapters in particular, I found the book a bit on the description-heavy side, with mundane detail that slowed the pace down. Having said that, this is a novel let down only by the elements that hinder most debuts, and that authors usually 'grow out' of: overly explanatory dialogue, too many adjectives and adverbs, using ten words where five will put the point across with better effect. However, fantasy epics often tend towards flowery prose; one could not accuse GRR Martin, for instance, of writing in a spare fashion.
The characterisation, atmosphere and world-building is very good; some professional TLC would make it as good as it could be and give the punctuation a bit of spit and polish (nb: do bear in mind that I am one of those weirdos who erupts in hives at a misplaced semicolon!). It's only 99p, and I'm sure that it will tick all the boxes for addicts of this genre.
Oh dear, I love semi colons and sprinkle them around like confetti, even when I know they're in the wrong place; it's the one rule I love to break. Haha Nicely balanced review, Terry
ReplyDeleteToo much punctuation out of place and I knock a half star off. Be warned - ha ha! It really spoils the 'reading experience' for me. Not as bad as 'I' when it should be 'me' though - more than one in a book, and I get all twitchy....
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