by Chris Adams

A Fantasy, Independently Published in 2025, 423 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

This one has a sort of cliche opening that seems like a lot of other fantasy books. In fact, there are a lot of elements that felt similar to other things in this genre. I’m hard-pressed to find an element that makes this one entirely unique.
We get a sort of above-the-action viewpoint a lot of the times that made me feel a bit disconnected from the main character.
The pacing is a bit awkward. The book started a little slow and then steam-rolled through the back half of the book. I would’ve liked to see the two halves be a bit more evenly paced.

The world-building is well done. There’s a lot of detail here, some in the background and some explained, that really sell the setting clearly. It’s immersive and I always like that.
The ending has a fast page-turning pace that works. You really get wrapped up in the story by that point and just want to keep reading.
There is a sort of dark undercurrent here that I appreciate. I’m a fan of darker themes and images, especially in fantasy. This captures some of that.

Fans of high fantasy that takes its time building an immersive world will appreciate this one most.