Review of We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
Posted: 03 Feb 2023, 11:53
[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 by Matthew Tysz is the first book in a fantasy series that takes place primarily in the fictional kingdom of Voulhire.
The egomania, greed, and selfishness of an Emperor and his four sons lead to the creation of lands saturated with evil, fear, and desperation called the Lands of the Princes, where living is hard and leaving is harder. A young man named Galen Bray gets a golden opportunity to leave these lands in the form of a letter from his distant uncle, who lives in the prosperous kingdom of Voulhire. On getting there, he decides that it is an excellent kingdom, but is it? Chaos brews in the heart of Voulhire as a city loses two lords to magic, ambition, and evil, and sworn enemies of the kingdom called the Riva Rohavi become bolder. The king makes decisions to protect his people, but even he fears that this could be the end of the peace of Voulhire.
This book was a good read. The author wrote the book in such a way that it was easy to imagine every place and action; it is one of those books that captures your attention from the very beginning and keeps it till the very last page. I love how Galen was presented; coming from somewhere as savage as the land of the princes, you'd expect him to be savage himself, but instead, his experiences shaped him into a kind, determined, and grateful young man. It reminded me of a quote: "The same water that hardens the egg softens the potato," which means that it is what we are made of and not the circumstances that determine who we are. I shared King Wilhelm's anxiety throughout the book, and I believe I feared the return of Lord Meldorath just as much as the people of Hillport, especially after I got attached to Lord Eldus and his family; the thought of harm coming to them was almost too much to bear. I commend the author for deviating from the usual bloodline or "blessed by the gods" trope that is common in many fantasy books when explaining the origin of magic; it was a breath of fresh air.
I did not find anything negative about the book; I enjoyed reading every page. The scenes were well developed, and the author did an excellent job building suspense toward the sequel.
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because it was interesting and easy to follow, and the character development was excellent. It was well-written and professionally edited. I look forward to reading the sequel and discovering Galen's role in Voulhire. I recommend this book to lovers of fantasy and magic.
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We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies by Matthew Tysz is the first book in a fantasy series that takes place primarily in the fictional kingdom of Voulhire.
The egomania, greed, and selfishness of an Emperor and his four sons lead to the creation of lands saturated with evil, fear, and desperation called the Lands of the Princes, where living is hard and leaving is harder. A young man named Galen Bray gets a golden opportunity to leave these lands in the form of a letter from his distant uncle, who lives in the prosperous kingdom of Voulhire. On getting there, he decides that it is an excellent kingdom, but is it? Chaos brews in the heart of Voulhire as a city loses two lords to magic, ambition, and evil, and sworn enemies of the kingdom called the Riva Rohavi become bolder. The king makes decisions to protect his people, but even he fears that this could be the end of the peace of Voulhire.
This book was a good read. The author wrote the book in such a way that it was easy to imagine every place and action; it is one of those books that captures your attention from the very beginning and keeps it till the very last page. I love how Galen was presented; coming from somewhere as savage as the land of the princes, you'd expect him to be savage himself, but instead, his experiences shaped him into a kind, determined, and grateful young man. It reminded me of a quote: "The same water that hardens the egg softens the potato," which means that it is what we are made of and not the circumstances that determine who we are. I shared King Wilhelm's anxiety throughout the book, and I believe I feared the return of Lord Meldorath just as much as the people of Hillport, especially after I got attached to Lord Eldus and his family; the thought of harm coming to them was almost too much to bear. I commend the author for deviating from the usual bloodline or "blessed by the gods" trope that is common in many fantasy books when explaining the origin of magic; it was a breath of fresh air.
I did not find anything negative about the book; I enjoyed reading every page. The scenes were well developed, and the author did an excellent job building suspense toward the sequel.
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because it was interesting and easy to follow, and the character development was excellent. It was well-written and professionally edited. I look forward to reading the sequel and discovering Galen's role in Voulhire. I recommend this book to lovers of fantasy and magic.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon