Review by John Owen -- We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko
Posted: 09 Apr 2021, 04:49
[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko" by Matthew Tysz.]
We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko by Matthew Tysz is the second book in the We are Voulhire series. Lord Venden, the lord of Virko, has plans to turn Virko into a Capitalist state, contrary to the feudal state it had been. At the same time Venden's health deteriorates and as many expect, his son, Hans Hrelek, also known as Folcro, would be the next lord under the new regime. However, that is not the case. The king has his fears, just as Folcro has his plans. Galen Bray's journey to lord Venden to look for iron strikes us with a rude shock of what has been hidden in the dark for long, and maybe we should wait for more surprises.
The very first thing that I loved was how well this second book perfectly blends with the first. In the first book, We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies, which I also reviewed (the review is available through the link viewtopic.php?f=21&t=180445), lord Eldus, who was appointed the lord of Hillport, was killed with half the town's population by the Riva Rohavi, and that crashes Galen Bray's hopes to get iron for his forging business. In this book, he has to look elsewhere, and the search brings him to Virko, and finally to lord Venden. This visit, as we will later learn in the book, unveils mysterious mysteries. To me, the author has done exceptionally well with the continuation of the story, though this book can be read as a stand-alone book (if you don't care to know what happened in the previous book.)
I also laud the way the author built and sustained suspense. In the beginning, we are introduced to Folcro as a mage who stops some soldiers from raping a woman. What surprised me was that he killed all the other soldiers, including their horses, and spared only one. Why would he do that? In this scene, he is more of a good mage. However as the story unfolded, I was surprised that Folcro was Venden's son, Hans Hrelek, who was mistaken as shy and introverted. As the story continues, more and more surprises about Folcro emerge. What would keep someone on edge than this?
However, I hate how violently the book began. Some soldiers wanted to defile a woman and they stripped her naked, taunted and abused her. Folcro intervened, but the scene turned bloody and violent. He used magic to tie horses and the soldiers up a tree, breaking them into mincemeat as he did that. I strongly felt the scene could have come later. I also didn't like how Rowan described the lady that opened the door for them when they went to see lord Venden on page 38. He said that "the wench was hotter than damnation." The author could have done better finding a replacement for "wench".
I immensely enjoyed the book just like I did the first. I also appreciate how well it was continued, the suspense, and good character development. I, therefore, rate it 4 out of 4 stars. It was also exceptionally edited to me as I didn't notice any errors or typos.
The book is perfect for people who love fantasy stories but it contains violent scenes, including scenes of rape. I also think it will be more enjoyable if you read the previous book first.
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We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko by Matthew Tysz is the second book in the We are Voulhire series. Lord Venden, the lord of Virko, has plans to turn Virko into a Capitalist state, contrary to the feudal state it had been. At the same time Venden's health deteriorates and as many expect, his son, Hans Hrelek, also known as Folcro, would be the next lord under the new regime. However, that is not the case. The king has his fears, just as Folcro has his plans. Galen Bray's journey to lord Venden to look for iron strikes us with a rude shock of what has been hidden in the dark for long, and maybe we should wait for more surprises.
The very first thing that I loved was how well this second book perfectly blends with the first. In the first book, We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies, which I also reviewed (the review is available through the link viewtopic.php?f=21&t=180445), lord Eldus, who was appointed the lord of Hillport, was killed with half the town's population by the Riva Rohavi, and that crashes Galen Bray's hopes to get iron for his forging business. In this book, he has to look elsewhere, and the search brings him to Virko, and finally to lord Venden. This visit, as we will later learn in the book, unveils mysterious mysteries. To me, the author has done exceptionally well with the continuation of the story, though this book can be read as a stand-alone book (if you don't care to know what happened in the previous book.)
I also laud the way the author built and sustained suspense. In the beginning, we are introduced to Folcro as a mage who stops some soldiers from raping a woman. What surprised me was that he killed all the other soldiers, including their horses, and spared only one. Why would he do that? In this scene, he is more of a good mage. However as the story unfolded, I was surprised that Folcro was Venden's son, Hans Hrelek, who was mistaken as shy and introverted. As the story continues, more and more surprises about Folcro emerge. What would keep someone on edge than this?
However, I hate how violently the book began. Some soldiers wanted to defile a woman and they stripped her naked, taunted and abused her. Folcro intervened, but the scene turned bloody and violent. He used magic to tie horses and the soldiers up a tree, breaking them into mincemeat as he did that. I strongly felt the scene could have come later. I also didn't like how Rowan described the lady that opened the door for them when they went to see lord Venden on page 38. He said that "the wench was hotter than damnation." The author could have done better finding a replacement for "wench".
I immensely enjoyed the book just like I did the first. I also appreciate how well it was continued, the suspense, and good character development. I, therefore, rate it 4 out of 4 stars. It was also exceptionally edited to me as I didn't notice any errors or typos.
The book is perfect for people who love fantasy stories but it contains violent scenes, including scenes of rape. I also think it will be more enjoyable if you read the previous book first.
******
We are Voulhire: The Fires of Virko
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
