** I was sent this by the author in exchange for an honest review **



Initially what attracted me to this book was the cover art. One thing I really appreciate from an indie author is taking the time to place value on their work by getting a good designer to make their book look good. The cover of this definitely looks good, it also really does represent the book, both big pluses!



Moving on to the story. This is a story which moves fast. It reminded me at various points of Peter V Brett, Brent Wee

** I was sent this by the author in exchange for an honest review **



Initially what attracted me to this book was the cover art. One thing I really appreciate from an indie author is taking the time to place value on their work by getting a good designer to make their book look good. The cover of this definitely looks good, it also really does represent the book, both big pluses!



Moving on to the story. This is a story which moves fast. It reminded me at various points of Peter V Brett, Brent Weeks and Bradley Beaulieu, but there are also a few pacing issues with this book which I feel are probably a result of this being a debut. As a whole this book has a lot of good ideas, and my only major criticism was that I felt this should either have been longer (for more character development and more believability on timescale) or should have had a second book of a similar length. Either way I believe this would have come out as a very good book if that had been the case, as it stands it's still a very enjoyable read.



This story begins in a town where wolven creatures attack each night and the villagers aren't safe to go out at night. We follow a character called Lonan who has been outcast by the majority of his village for 'supposedly' causing the death of his best friend's mother and his own father year ago. Lonan is the only one who seems to know the truth of the situation, and he feels deeply upset and angry still by the way his friends and family have turned on him.



There's also a second story we follow, told through dreams of Lonan. This story follows the Magpie King, the protector of the night who is supposed to hunt the beasts and help protect the villages. The Magpie King is definitely more legend than reality for most of the village people, but when Lonan starts to see visions in his dreams which match up to the nighttime events in his village he believes he's on the cusp of learning the real secrets of the Magpie King.



Another element of this book is folk/fairy tales. Between every chapter we see tales of this world and the people inhabiting it. These tales are drawn strongly from those of the Brother's Grimm and may seem fairly familiar to the reader, but they do add to the story and make it feel a bit more fleshed out.



The magic of this world comes in the form of Knacks which everyone develops based on what they do in their day-to-day lives (e.g if your father is a Blacksmith with the Knack and you train under him, you'll probably get the Blacksmithing Knack too). Unfortunately at the point in the story where we join Lonan hasn't developed his own Knack and this only enhances his isolation.



What I did like about this book was the female Healer Lonan lived with. She was a strong and wise woman and she definitely helped Lonan on multiple occasions. I also liked Branwen (Lonan's ex-friend) and Lonan's younger sister, but we didn't see too much of them and I would have liked to see some more.



This book definitely falls into the trap of pacing. I do think that the second half of this book felt a bit too rushed for my liking after the more suspenseful beginning. I was definitely convinced (at the 80% mark) that there was going to be a second book, as I felt that there HAD to be in order to make everything come through and work for the ending. However, the author did bring everything together in the end, just a lot faster than I think was effective and sadly that meant my immersion was lost a bit and the story didn't feel as strong.



On the whole, a good, fun, fast story with some good ideas and which is well written. It's not the best book I've ever read, but in terms of the indie books I have read it's one of the much better ones. I will for sure be on the look out for another book by this author and I hope that the next one will have better pacing and therefore be a very strong read. Recommended if you're looking for a fast, easy fantasy - 3.5*s