Review by NirvanasAngel -- We are Voulhire: A New Arriva...
Posted: 19 Mar 2021, 01:28
[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies" by Matthew Tysz.]
Author Matthew Tysz has created an immersive and detailed world in his novel We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies. This is the first novel of six (thus far) in Tysz's series We are Voulhire. In this novel, we are being introduced to the magical literary Kingdom Tysz has created. The story goes that a king had once suspected his four ambitious sons of plotting to overthrow him. To mitigate this, the king gave each of the princes an island to rule over. In doing so their intentions turned towards fighting one another over dominance instead of fighting their father. While the king was safe, war ravaged the Lands of the Princes for over 20 years and the fighting has yet to end.
The main storyline follows young Galen, hailing from the Lands of the Princes. Galen leaves the war-torn town of his youth for the lively country of Voulhire. Galen's great uncle had owned a forge in Voulhire, and upon his death Galen inherited the forge. So begins our main protagonist's tale, but there are many subplots throughout the book introducing new characters that will have prominent roles in the telling of Voulhire's story. We focus on Galen the most in the book, but we still see a lot of character detail overall. The characters are all interweaved in some way or at some point in the book. We see the novel in first-person perspective when we follow the storyline of Galen. All other characters and events were presented in third-person narration.
The world is immersive, impressive, almost surprisingly so. While reminiscent of other epic worlds within the fantasy genre, this novel is able to stand on its own with a uniqueness I very much appreciated. The dynamic environments in the book practically popped off the pages; I could smell the salt water as Gavin traversed the shimmering sea. I could see the glittering sapphire rain falling from the skies of Voulhire. A book that can so easily pull you from reality to a tangible realm of mythology and legend is worth a read.
I like that Voulhire is a place of magic and mages, yet religion, philosophy, and psychology were also explored in the book. The people of Voulhire are free to explore any of these paths in life. It's not too far from the experiences we readers go through ourselves, save for the inclusion of metaphysical magic. It's exciting to read a novel that seamlessly interweaves contentious subjects such as religion and science into the story.
Readers should be aware there is a character accused of pedophilia. There is nothing graphic. It is mentioned several times however and is part of a recurring subplot in the novel. There is also a character identified as gay. This inclusion would normally be very welcomed, but the tone some of the other characters took towards homosexuals was a little negative. The writing of the character enforced certain homosexual stereotypes, although I'm fairly certain Tysz didn't intend this. A little more knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community would have led to a more realistic character.
This is a fantasy novel that I would say is best for older teens and above. Due to the amount of detail and philosophical questions explored in this piece of fiction, I wouldn't recommend the book to younger readers. The author has noted that this book is meant to read like an episode of a television show rather than that of a movie. Don't be concerned by this revelation, as the pace of the novel leaves nothing wanting. The book seemed to have been written by an author with a clear vision of what they wished to share with their readers. I personally recommend perusing the extra detail and history of Voulhire on Tysz's website (I will include the link below). I found it a delightful addition and further treat to hook readers on the series.
https://www.matthewtysz.com/voulhire-expanded
I'm going to give this book 4 out of 4 stars. I wish there was maybe a little more of the magical elements I had expected to see, but I was impressed with the book overall. It was easy to read and felt like it ended too soon. It's obvious the author has ambition, yet I wonder if Tysz will be able to gracefully reign over such an expansive work as : A New Arrival under Great Skies. I am intrigued enough to purchase the second book and see what Vouhire has to offer from here on. My expectations are fairly high, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy to continue the story.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Author Matthew Tysz has created an immersive and detailed world in his novel We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies. This is the first novel of six (thus far) in Tysz's series We are Voulhire. In this novel, we are being introduced to the magical literary Kingdom Tysz has created. The story goes that a king had once suspected his four ambitious sons of plotting to overthrow him. To mitigate this, the king gave each of the princes an island to rule over. In doing so their intentions turned towards fighting one another over dominance instead of fighting their father. While the king was safe, war ravaged the Lands of the Princes for over 20 years and the fighting has yet to end.
The main storyline follows young Galen, hailing from the Lands of the Princes. Galen leaves the war-torn town of his youth for the lively country of Voulhire. Galen's great uncle had owned a forge in Voulhire, and upon his death Galen inherited the forge. So begins our main protagonist's tale, but there are many subplots throughout the book introducing new characters that will have prominent roles in the telling of Voulhire's story. We focus on Galen the most in the book, but we still see a lot of character detail overall. The characters are all interweaved in some way or at some point in the book. We see the novel in first-person perspective when we follow the storyline of Galen. All other characters and events were presented in third-person narration.
The world is immersive, impressive, almost surprisingly so. While reminiscent of other epic worlds within the fantasy genre, this novel is able to stand on its own with a uniqueness I very much appreciated. The dynamic environments in the book practically popped off the pages; I could smell the salt water as Gavin traversed the shimmering sea. I could see the glittering sapphire rain falling from the skies of Voulhire. A book that can so easily pull you from reality to a tangible realm of mythology and legend is worth a read.
I like that Voulhire is a place of magic and mages, yet religion, philosophy, and psychology were also explored in the book. The people of Voulhire are free to explore any of these paths in life. It's not too far from the experiences we readers go through ourselves, save for the inclusion of metaphysical magic. It's exciting to read a novel that seamlessly interweaves contentious subjects such as religion and science into the story.
Readers should be aware there is a character accused of pedophilia. There is nothing graphic. It is mentioned several times however and is part of a recurring subplot in the novel. There is also a character identified as gay. This inclusion would normally be very welcomed, but the tone some of the other characters took towards homosexuals was a little negative. The writing of the character enforced certain homosexual stereotypes, although I'm fairly certain Tysz didn't intend this. A little more knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community would have led to a more realistic character.
This is a fantasy novel that I would say is best for older teens and above. Due to the amount of detail and philosophical questions explored in this piece of fiction, I wouldn't recommend the book to younger readers. The author has noted that this book is meant to read like an episode of a television show rather than that of a movie. Don't be concerned by this revelation, as the pace of the novel leaves nothing wanting. The book seemed to have been written by an author with a clear vision of what they wished to share with their readers. I personally recommend perusing the extra detail and history of Voulhire on Tysz's website (I will include the link below). I found it a delightful addition and further treat to hook readers on the series.
https://www.matthewtysz.com/voulhire-expanded
I'm going to give this book 4 out of 4 stars. I wish there was maybe a little more of the magical elements I had expected to see, but I was impressed with the book overall. It was easy to read and felt like it ended too soon. It's obvious the author has ambition, yet I wonder if Tysz will be able to gracefully reign over such an expansive work as : A New Arrival under Great Skies. I am intrigued enough to purchase the second book and see what Vouhire has to offer from here on. My expectations are fairly high, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy to continue the story.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon