Thank you to Penguin Random House and the First to Read program for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
So I’ve been trying to give high fantasy a chance, and I was told by a friend that this would be a good place to start. I was really happy to receive this ARC so here is my review:
For centuries, the realms of Belleger and Amika have been at war. On both sides are sorcerers who use the Decimates to rain blood and pain upon their enemies. But, somehow, the Amikans have found a way to use the seventh Decimate, and it is a power that strips all lesser sorcery of its powers. Now, the Bellegerins are defenseless. Prince Bifalt, eldest son of the Bellegerin King, hates sorcerers with a passion. But it is he who is given the task of finding the book of the seventh Decimate and reversing the fate of his land. All hopes rests on Bifalt. But the legendary library that houses this book is in a dangerous place, where Bifalt has never been before. Wracked by hunger and fatigue, sacrificing loyal men along the way, Bifalt will discover that there is a game being played by those far more powerful than he could ever imagine. And that he is nothing but a pawn.
I really wanted to like this book. But I didn’t. The problem wasn’t with the concept but rather the way the author told the story – it just didn’t do it for me. First of all, I didn’t like Bifalt. As in, I hated him. And that’s never a good sign when you are reading a book. This led me to not feel as connected with him and to also not care about what was happening to him. I also found that the story was a little hard for me to get into. For some reason, I couldn’t get myself to feel interested in what was being described or the events that were happening. I found myself skimming through passages looking for something juicy… but coming up empty. I will say that the author was very good at describing battle scenes; he made it realistic and didn’t glorify death and carnage, which I really appreciated. Overall, this novel has the potential to be a really great fantasy series but it’s just not for me. 2/5 stars from me!
Happy reading !