Barbara Kloss

Yaay! I finally read yet another spfbo book!

At first, I wasn't fully certain I would enjoy this novel. Some reviewers decided to DNF the book because a villain in the story forces his slaves to sleep with him on a regular basis. To be honest, I treaded on the initial 12% of the book for the morbid curiosity alone to see if their disdain for the story was justified or not.

A lot of people comment that this book is Grimdark. After finishing reading it, I personally still have my doubts because most of the characters follow their own honor code. I think giving the book the Grimdark tag without understanding the context of why society ended the way it did is a bit unjustified.

Around 150 years ago, a dark skinned race of people who worshipped the Sol Velorian god and inherited the super rare ability to use magic united under a religious zealot/military conqueror called Asir and were on a campaign to annihilate the other competing religions of the provinces even though everyone used to coexist in peace.

The Sol Velorians were ultimately defeated, their leader killed in battle and buried with powerful magic to ensure he didn't return and the surviving Sor Velorians enslaved. Most of them work their entire lives in the mines, and others work in the estates of noblemen. Even though their religion has been pretty much banned, Velorian people are still being constantly born with the ability to use magic, whether they like it or not.

All this backstory ultimately falls upon Princess Imari. Istraa is a country inhabited by ethnic Sol Velorians, but magic is taboo at best and the religion is punishable by death. Imari awakens her insanely powerful magic during a music recital in front of a large audience of noblemen when she was 9 and accidentally kills her younger sister. Terrified of both the fact that she used magic in public and the guilt of killing an innocent person, her brother Ricón arranges it so that she can safely run away in exile to avoid being executed. She eventually reaches the northern Wilds and has settled down in a village filled with hardened criminals as a healer apprentice named Sable.

The second main character is Prince Jeric aka, The Wolf of the Corinth Empire. He has a religiously vitriol hatred of Sol Velorians (the motive is explained later in the story), and his reputation is well-known in Istraa. His father is dying of a mysterious ailment that ordinary healers can't fix. For unexplained reasons, his vicious older brother and heir to the throne Hagan orders him to locate a healer named Sable from a specific village in the Wilds by any means possible. Eager to save his father, he agrees to the odd mission and brings two of his closest friends: Gerald and Braddock.

I initially didn't like Sable's character, but once you read further into the story, you understand why she is so distrustful with somewhat dubious morals when it comes to sneaking around and thievery. I think she and Jos (the nickname Jeric goes by during this mission to avoid detection) really complement each other. Both of them are very quiet due to the circumstances of their lives. The reader knows the true identity of both characters from the very start, but to see how they interact and after several mishaps discover they might be more compatible than initially presumed is indeed very fun. I initially assumed Jos was going to be a heartless villain who just happens to be really attractive looking, but he's actually a really nice guy. Sable was forced to become shrewd in order to survive as an Istraan among exiled criminals who would be more than glad to murder her if they discovered her true identity without a second thought.

I really can't say much more about the story to avoid spoiling things. However, while this book could technically be enjoyed as a solo story, if a sequel is ever released, I would really enjoy reading it. Don't feel discouraged if the first 15% of the book seems a bit dreary, it really picks up afterwards and will become hard to put down.… (mehr)

Yaay! I finally read yet another spfbo book!

At first, I wasn't fully certain I would enjoy this novel. Some reviewers decided to DNF the book because a villain in the story forces his slaves to sleep with him on a regular basis. To be honest, I treaded on the initial 12% of the book for the morbid curiosity alone to see if their disdain for the story was justified or not.

A lot of people comment that this book is Grimdark. After finishing reading it, I personally still have my doubts because most of the characters follow their own honor code. I think giving the book the Grimdark tag without understanding the context of why society ended the way it did is a bit unjustified.

Around 150 years ago, a dark skinned race of people who worshipped the Sol Velorian god and inherited the super rare ability to use magic united under a religious zealot/military conqueror called Asir and were on a campaign to annihilate the other competing religions of the provinces even though everyone used to coexist in peace.

The Sol Velorians were ultimately defeated, their leader killed in battle and buried with powerful magic to ensure he didn't return and the surviving Sor Velorians enslaved. Most of them work their entire lives in the mines, and others work in the estates of noblemen. Even though their religion has been pretty much banned, Velorian people are still being constantly born with the ability to use magic, whether they like it or not.

All this backstory ultimately falls upon Princess Imari. Istraa is a country inhabited by ethnic Sol Velorians, but magic is taboo at best and the religion is punishable by death. Imari awakens her insanely powerful magic during a music recital in front of a large audience of noblemen when she was 9 and accidentally kills her younger sister. Terrified of both the fact that she used magic in public and the guilt of killing an innocent person, her brother Ricón arranges it so that she can safely run away in exile to avoid being executed. She eventually reaches the northern Wilds and has settled down in a village filled with hardened criminals as a healer apprentice named Sable.

The second main character is Prince Jeric aka, The Wolf of the Corinth Empire. He has a religiously vitriol hatred of Sol Velorians (the motive is explained later in the story), and his reputation is well-known in Istraa. His father is dying of a mysterious ailment that ordinary healers can't fix. For unexplained reasons, his vicious older brother and heir to the throne Hagan orders him to locate a healer named Sable from a specific village in the Wilds by any means possible. Eager to save his father, he agrees to the odd mission and brings two of his closest friends: Gerald and Braddock.

I initially didn't like Sable's character, but once you read further into the story, you understand why she is so distrustful with somewhat dubious morals when it comes to sneaking around and thievery. I think she and Jos (the nickname Jeric goes by during this mission to avoid detection) really complement each other. Both of them are very quiet due to the circumstances of their lives. The reader knows the true identity of both characters from the very start, but to see how they interact and after several mishaps discover they might be more compatible than initially presumed is indeed very fun. I initially assumed Jos was going to be a heartless villain who just happens to be really attractive looking, but he's actually a really nice guy. Sable was forced to become shrewd in order to survive as an Istraan among exiled criminals who would be more than glad to murder her if they discovered her true identity without a second thought.

I really can't say much more about the story to avoid spoiling things. However, while this book could technically be enjoyed as a solo story, if a sequel is ever released, I would really enjoy reading it. Don't feel discouraged if the first 15% of the book seems a bit dreary, it really picks up afterwards and will become hard to put down.… (mehr)