A new world, new characters, and new abilities introduce us to a fantasy book series about a powerful seer and a ruthless vampire conqueror who will win over many a reader’s heart.
An interesting story that caught my eye in the bookstore mainly because of a really great price deal that was just impossible to resist. It is a light, easy, and pleasant read about a fantasy world ruled by manipulation, conquest, bloodshed, and more than one offended goddess.
When buying this book, I thought it was a standalone, so I didn’t hesitate to dive right into it without worrying about needing to know the background of previous books. During the first few pages, I was just telling myself how nice it is to have a story wrapped up in a single book, without automatically needing a ten-book series to reach a dramatic finale. Lo and behold, I jumped straight into the middle of a series… But despite that, I have to say the book really spoke to me and I liked it a lot.
Our main protagonists, Atrius and Sylina, seemed very rational and likable to me, without making any rash or impulsive decisions that could ruin the whole plot development. The vampire conqueror Atrius was your typical main hero who seems very tough, ruthless, and distant at first glance, not hesitating to choke out anyone standing in his way. But once we get to know him better, we realize that deep down, he is a loyal, loving, and strong leader who would do anything for his people. Now, how could a young lady who came to kill him NOT fall in love with him? Pretty much impossible. I must add that the author could have played around with their relationship a bit more. Even though I felt it lacked more of a spark between them, from my perspective, it was still acceptable and understandable that they became a couple. It was just a little short of perfection for the Enemies to Lovers trope. One thing felt a bit silly to me, though, and that’s the way they met. Atrius’s witch vanishes out of nowhere, and out of nowhere, another one shows up at a tavern along the way. First of all, it was pretty obvious, and Atrius could have realized something was fishy when he took Sylina as a replacement seer. Secondly, you don’t just leave their sisterhood like that. If I understood it correctly, the sisters didn’t just walk away, or if something like that did happen, she wouldn’t have made it very far. Out of the blue, a seer shows up running away from the Sightmother and needing protection. Maybe I’m just missing the backstory from the previous two books here. In any case, it felt suspicious and predictable. The author could have put more effort into that part.
Sylina also seemed likable to me in many ways, she wasn’t blindly devoted to her sisters who dedicated their lives to the goddess. As I mentioned above, she was pretty rational, maybe thanks to the fact that she joined the sisters at an older age and wasn’t literally brainwashed. As for their coven or sisterhood, I missed a short explanation of why they stayed neutral during the war on the continent and why no side wanted to mess with their business. By the end, I get why one side didn’t want to get involved, but for the others, it would have been the icing on the cake. Maybe because they secretly killed off inconvenient people, the rulers were afraid they would end up on their hit list. I’d be really interested in that, and it would have just added more bonus points and good impressions at the end.
The story was a bit of a slow burn at first and got really interesting around the halfway mark, when I just wanted to know what would happen next and hated putting the book down. Up until that point, I still thought it was a standalone book, so I was expecting to get that long-awaited conclusion. I also didn’t expect huge character development or super deep insights into their souls, which made the whole book lighter and more enjoyable.
The Sightmother was pretty suspicious from the start, something about her just didn’t sit right. That’s why I wasn’t even surprised that she is behind pretty much every bad thing that happened in the book. I figured she could probably tap into Sylina’s mind without her noticing, which is how she was able to find the island with Atrius’s followers and just slaughter them. The fact that she didn’t even spare the children said a lot about her character, so I didn’t feel sorry for her at all when she ended up the way she did. It was largely well-deserved.
In conclusion, I can only say that the book pleasantly surprised me and kept me hooked. Basically, it was only after finishing it and looking for more works by the author that I found out it’s actually part of a series. Oh well, things like that happen even on better days. This led to my decision that if I have a few extra bucks left over from my next paychecks, I’ll buy the remaining four books in the series too. I highly recommend it.