Review of We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
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Review of We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies" by Matthew Tysz.]
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies is the first book in a series of many by the author, Matthew Tysz. Here we are introduced to a world of mages, blacksmiths, kings and princes, and lords aplenty. We first lay witness to key events at Hillport, which set the tone for the rest of the tale. And we also get to see the arrival of Galen Bray in Magnum Caelum, who I suspect, will play a more significant role in later books. Hillport, a town to the southern parts of Voulhire, has already seen, under dubious circumstances, the removal of two lords in a space of a few months. The new lord, Eldus, is bringing with him a new hope and promise, and the village people seem to grow in trust and fondness towards him. The story is layered and thick, and is full of magic, a bit of humour and a lot of mischief.
Matthew Tysz is unmistakably a talented writer. His ambitions are apparent, and his writing is poetic and relies on a lot of poetic license. He managed to create a mini world which he carefully constructed and gave it life abundantly. It's his greatest accomplishment. I got the sense that this book was setting up something epic to come in later chapters of the series, which makes me want to read the next installment as soon as I get ahold of it. This is a win. Most of the characters are fully fledged and fully realised. I felt a connection with many of them and developed a love for a few, especially Maidus Maido (a comical wonder) and Rowan (who is like a young Maido himself). I do hope the two men make more appearances in the follow-up books and are given bigger roles.
The first three quarters of the book were pretty uneventful, except perhaps for the few times when Maidus Maido opened his mouth. The plot is rich, but at its pinnacle, didn't fully live up to the build-up. As a standalone piece of literature this is its greatest weakness, but I am fully hopeful that Matthew Tysz has all the talent to bring it together in the follow-up books. The author's artistic choice to narrate Galen Bray's experiences in first person, and the rest of the characters in third person, did very little for the strength of the flow and made it a tad bit uneven. The world the author created also draws many inspirations from the middle ages, so the inclusion of the terms such metrosexual and straight (heterosexual) threw me off, as these are modern terms.
I am rating this at 3 out of 4 stars. The book is almost faultlessly edited and reads like the work of someone who can easily become a true success of our time. I see the vision and think there's a lot of potential in the overall telling of the tales of Voulhire. This is a good first take and hopefully can be elevated by the next installments.
I can easily say anyone who loves tales about the middle ages, enjoys the rule of kings and lords and all the drama that comes with that, will find that this book is satisfying. You just have to have the patience and the willingness to read through the following books in the series to see all this play out, because you are surely going to seek more.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies is the first book in a series of many by the author, Matthew Tysz. Here we are introduced to a world of mages, blacksmiths, kings and princes, and lords aplenty. We first lay witness to key events at Hillport, which set the tone for the rest of the tale. And we also get to see the arrival of Galen Bray in Magnum Caelum, who I suspect, will play a more significant role in later books. Hillport, a town to the southern parts of Voulhire, has already seen, under dubious circumstances, the removal of two lords in a space of a few months. The new lord, Eldus, is bringing with him a new hope and promise, and the village people seem to grow in trust and fondness towards him. The story is layered and thick, and is full of magic, a bit of humour and a lot of mischief.
Matthew Tysz is unmistakably a talented writer. His ambitions are apparent, and his writing is poetic and relies on a lot of poetic license. He managed to create a mini world which he carefully constructed and gave it life abundantly. It's his greatest accomplishment. I got the sense that this book was setting up something epic to come in later chapters of the series, which makes me want to read the next installment as soon as I get ahold of it. This is a win. Most of the characters are fully fledged and fully realised. I felt a connection with many of them and developed a love for a few, especially Maidus Maido (a comical wonder) and Rowan (who is like a young Maido himself). I do hope the two men make more appearances in the follow-up books and are given bigger roles.
The first three quarters of the book were pretty uneventful, except perhaps for the few times when Maidus Maido opened his mouth. The plot is rich, but at its pinnacle, didn't fully live up to the build-up. As a standalone piece of literature this is its greatest weakness, but I am fully hopeful that Matthew Tysz has all the talent to bring it together in the follow-up books. The author's artistic choice to narrate Galen Bray's experiences in first person, and the rest of the characters in third person, did very little for the strength of the flow and made it a tad bit uneven. The world the author created also draws many inspirations from the middle ages, so the inclusion of the terms such metrosexual and straight (heterosexual) threw me off, as these are modern terms.
I am rating this at 3 out of 4 stars. The book is almost faultlessly edited and reads like the work of someone who can easily become a true success of our time. I see the vision and think there's a lot of potential in the overall telling of the tales of Voulhire. This is a good first take and hopefully can be elevated by the next installments.
I can easily say anyone who loves tales about the middle ages, enjoys the rule of kings and lords and all the drama that comes with that, will find that this book is satisfying. You just have to have the patience and the willingness to read through the following books in the series to see all this play out, because you are surely going to seek more.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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