The war is over, but something is rotten in the state of Eidyn.
With a ragged peace in place, demons burn farmlands, violent Reivers roam the wilds and plague has spread beyond the Black Meadows. The country is on its knees.
In a society that fears and shuns him, Aranok is the first magically-skilled draoidh to be named King’s Envoy.
Now, charged with restoring an exiled foreign queen to her throne, he leads a group of strangers across the ravaged country. But at every step, a new mystery complicates their mission.
As bodies drop around them, new threats emerge and lies are revealed, can Aranok bring his companions together and uncover the conspiracy that threatens the kingdom?
Strap in for this twisted fantasy road trip from award-winning author Justin Lee Anderson.
Kop’s thoughts:
(I read this via audiobook and highly suggest it as well. The narrator, Euan Morton, does a phenomenal job.) I found this book to be a relatively medium-paced novel with decent characters, some great action sequences, and a truly stellar ending. However, I didn’t connect with or really care about what was happening to be honest. It felt like the book kept reminding us about these past events, but it never actually dwells on them. So we’re in the present being told, “CHARACTER remembered BAD EVENT,” and all I can think is, “k.” These moments, to me, were just distracting.
What really helped this book was that ending. I loved it and thought it was the best part of the book. However, I wish we had gotten fuller flashbacks and had more emphasis on the different characters’ relationships with each other earlier in the book. I think it would’ve made the ending that much more impactful. All in all, I thought the novel was fine. While the ending was truly something, I found the rest to be just okay or decent — save for some action sequences + a really cool time traveling moment in the middle. My final score is a 6.5/10.
Travis’s Thoughts:
Take your classic D&D-style quest, throw in a a dash of horror and a sprinkle of mystery, and you have a recipe for a fantasy story that’s just plain fun. I’ll also second Kop’s recommendation for the audio edition. Euan Morton’s natural Scottish accent is perfect for this story with Scottish influences, and his narration resume includes little-known gems like The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Anderson knows how to craft a compelling fantasy world, and his depictions of action and magic are excellent. It’s rare for me to find time travel effectively used in medieval fantasy, so this was an unexpected treat. The Lost war is also full of some of my favorite tropes: old soldiers tired of war, militant priesthoods, and magical plagues (unfortunate timing aside).
Like many others, I also admired the ending. My one nitpick is that while the conception was incredible, the execution felt like it was lacking. We never really go deeper than surface level for any of the characters. They felt like they were kept at arm’s length and left me wanting more. And without that full investment, the ending was not as meaningful as it could have been.
That said, this was a highly enjoyable read, and I suspect it will get lots of praise in SPFBO this year. My final score: 7.5/10.
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