3 out of 4 stars
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I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars
This is a review of "We are Voulhire:A New Arrival under Great Skies" by Matthew Tsyz
This book is a story about Galen a young man who grew up in a war torn,desolate and hellish place known as the Lands of the Princes.the book starts of with Galen climbing aboard a ship to the prosperous land of Voulhire,a land with good food and alcohol;leading the advances of both magic and technology everything the Lands of Princes are not.There he inherits his great uncle's forge and trains to be a blacksmith it is here that he meets Rowan and Journeys around the new and unfamiliar land of Voulhire which turns out to be not so perfect as it first seemed.
While the book does start off with a classic info dump it's done well enough so that we are only given the most crucial information and background that's actually tied to Galen's birthplace and upbringing
What I most disliked about this book is the parts with Eldus,a character that seemed like his only purpose was to present the whole "Meldorath mystery" in an investigative and non boring way but as this whole rant might suggest ,it failed to do so.While I appreciate the author's effort it was still absolutely uninteresting to read,his parts consist of:reading journals aloud,talking to people and questioning people.I only enjoyed reading his parts when he actually felt like a human being when he shared a meal with his wife and children,eating and laughing,conversing with his son When he felt like he wasn't created to just say "do you know what happened?".
Now to my most liked part/s of the book.
My most liked parts of the books is absolutely Galen's parts and the climax ,but we'll get to that later.Galen's parts,his journey and interactions with Rowan is what you might expect from a good fantasy best friend/companion duo.It's interesting and funny they both have such distinct personalities and they mix together so well.It's just also enjoyable to see him learn about things that you know he knows nothing about like he's chosen craft of smithing and while we didn't really see him practice a lot,you still get a real sense of development because of it.Now let me tell you about that climax,boy was it good the last like 40 pages of this book was absolutely..sublime.The gripping page turning action was one thing but there's this other thing,where Galen and his new found friends shared a moment that we all so desperately long for.That I long for ,it's almost like author knew what my dreams consist of and just transferred it OH so well to the paper.You just HAVE to read it for yourself to understand,but I think you'll agree with me.
I gave it a 3 out of 4 because while it was good book,Eldus' parts just dragged it down and held it back from being an amazing book.But I do have to say the final 40 pages or so was so amazing that it was ABSOLUTELY worth the read.
I don't think there's really anything in this book that would shun any specific demographic since it's not really anything too out there for anyone, even the gore is not that graphic.If you like fantasy novels give this book a try while it may not be anything revolutionary it's still a pretty solid book and different enough that it can stand out.
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We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
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