This is fine – the character building comes first. This is a fantasy, but the magical elements only start to show in the second half of the book. The chapters from Baron Daylon help us to understand what is happening and why, but it doesn’t take precedence over the world building and characterisation. I think the author is merely showing us the world in a more organic way. We have an occasional POV chapter from Baron Daylon Dumarch, but in general we have no Ned or Catelyn Stark to help us navigate the politics of this new world.Īnd yet – despite the young characters, I would not bench this novel as YA either. Our main characters, Hava, Hatu, and Declan are young and don’t (for the most part) understand who they really are or know much of the world around them. Game of Thrones would be an easy comparison – and yet it is very different. We have a child growing up as an orphan in a island of assassins, a girl assassin who has an uncertain future, a king who is using a new religion to cement his power, a baron who believes a new war is coming, and a young blacksmith looking to find a home and wife. The Firemane royal family are caught and executed once the battle ends, however, the youngest son, only a baby, is rescued and given to an old friend of the now-dead Firemane King.Īnd this is how our adventure begins. This story starts with the downfall of Ithrace, one of the five kingdoms of Garn – which has now become four.
I expected to read a chapter that night before I fell asleep and then to park the book until I finished Deadhouse Gates. I hadn’t really heard much about this new saga, but having read Magician (from the very famous Riftwar Saga) years ago, I knew that I was in safe author-ly hands. This was one of the books on my bedside table, and the author’s name caught my eye. It wasn’t very high on my TBR list – but one night I went to bed and realised my kindle had no charge and that I had left my paperback (Deadhouse Gates) downstairs.