Review of We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
Posted: 06 Dec 2023, 15:17
[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 definitely what I’d consider my type of fiction.
The book follows the story of a beautiful kingdom, Voulhire. We are given this story through different perspectives.
We have Galen Bray. Who brings out the perspective of the ‘new arrival’ as he explores Voulhire as an immigrant. He is from a less peaceful land – the Land of the Princes. So he’s quite the shock to those he comes across as they are to him.
Then there’s the king – Wilhelm. He is struggling to maintain good faith with the Mianoran Council while also harbouring a dangerous lie.
A lie that could see his subjects spiral into madness once the truth reveals itself.
We then explore Dalehei Meldorath and why he’s such a big threat to the nation’s stability. We learn more of who he is mostly through narratives and legends. His harrowing tales soon ring true towards the end of the book.
And in this world where leaders are characterised by greed, malice, tyranny, envy and lies, there’s Eldus Alderman. The one leader that actually seemed to care about his people, the citizens of Hillport.
This alone should be evidence of the many ways the author has used contrast as a literary technique to advance the story.
There’s magic and physics as the main contrast. With them even occupying different realms. Caromentis and Cosmos respectively. Peace and war. Times of prosperity and times of desperation. Even good and evil.
While the people to the north of the Voulhire have stability, the people to the south – especially Hillport – live in dire conditions.
Conditions riddled with hard work for mere returns and wide spread penury.
While the author sufficiently explains why this is, he aptly gives solutions through Eldus.
With hope of better times starting to find its place among the people, a harsh reality awaits.
I especially loved the chapter ‘I am getting the hell out of Caromentis’.
Beth escapes Caromentis with the aspirations of experiencing Cosmos as a realm for herself.
She brings out the thoughts I’d expect myself to have if we could ever explore a magical realm.
But her aspirations are for the physical world.
She explains how ‘there was a feeling of security that came from her environment, but also a feeling of freedom.’ (Pg. 221). Could I even remotely get myself to feel this? But again, she didn’t feel this in Caromentis, her home realm.
Quite the head-scratcher, isn’t it?
The book actually feels like an introduction to something bigger and as such, I would consider it slow at first. I also didn’t like that we got to see the demise of beloved characters who I’d consider the embodiment hope of the story.
I kind of see why it was necessary.
Meldorath had only been said to be a ruthless bastard and it only took the death of beloved characters for me to adequately visualise the evil in the man.
Considering that hope is dead, I’m ready to see what the author has in store and if he could manage to salvage my hope for the people of Voulhire again.
The world building is well done. I loved Rowan as a character. He brought out the laughs in a story riddled with pain and suffering.
Midius Maido’s touch of sarcasm, valour, passion and flamboyance are also highly appreciated.
Eldus’ optimism, Galen’s curiosity and Marshus’ rebellion spiced up the story as well.
The book’s twists are believable and quite chilling considering magic is a big part of this world.
There are so few errors in the book that I find it necessary to give gratitude to the editors. Their professionalism made this amazing piece of work in enjoyable.
And for that I rate the book a solid 5 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to any medieval magical fantasy enjoyers who would love a refresher in the genre. This is however restricted to teens and above due to the presence of a certain amount of words of profanity in the book. Though not much. This is my first encounter with Matthew’s work and I’m glad to say that I’m excited for the journey ahead.
******
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 definitely what I’d consider my type of fiction.
The book follows the story of a beautiful kingdom, Voulhire. We are given this story through different perspectives.
We have Galen Bray. Who brings out the perspective of the ‘new arrival’ as he explores Voulhire as an immigrant. He is from a less peaceful land – the Land of the Princes. So he’s quite the shock to those he comes across as they are to him.
Then there’s the king – Wilhelm. He is struggling to maintain good faith with the Mianoran Council while also harbouring a dangerous lie.
A lie that could see his subjects spiral into madness once the truth reveals itself.
We then explore Dalehei Meldorath and why he’s such a big threat to the nation’s stability. We learn more of who he is mostly through narratives and legends. His harrowing tales soon ring true towards the end of the book.
And in this world where leaders are characterised by greed, malice, tyranny, envy and lies, there’s Eldus Alderman. The one leader that actually seemed to care about his people, the citizens of Hillport.
This alone should be evidence of the many ways the author has used contrast as a literary technique to advance the story.
There’s magic and physics as the main contrast. With them even occupying different realms. Caromentis and Cosmos respectively. Peace and war. Times of prosperity and times of desperation. Even good and evil.
While the people to the north of the Voulhire have stability, the people to the south – especially Hillport – live in dire conditions.
Conditions riddled with hard work for mere returns and wide spread penury.
While the author sufficiently explains why this is, he aptly gives solutions through Eldus.
With hope of better times starting to find its place among the people, a harsh reality awaits.
I especially loved the chapter ‘I am getting the hell out of Caromentis’.
Beth escapes Caromentis with the aspirations of experiencing Cosmos as a realm for herself.
She brings out the thoughts I’d expect myself to have if we could ever explore a magical realm.
But her aspirations are for the physical world.
She explains how ‘there was a feeling of security that came from her environment, but also a feeling of freedom.’ (Pg. 221). Could I even remotely get myself to feel this? But again, she didn’t feel this in Caromentis, her home realm.
Quite the head-scratcher, isn’t it?
The book actually feels like an introduction to something bigger and as such, I would consider it slow at first. I also didn’t like that we got to see the demise of beloved characters who I’d consider the embodiment hope of the story.
I kind of see why it was necessary.
Meldorath had only been said to be a ruthless bastard and it only took the death of beloved characters for me to adequately visualise the evil in the man.
Considering that hope is dead, I’m ready to see what the author has in store and if he could manage to salvage my hope for the people of Voulhire again.
The world building is well done. I loved Rowan as a character. He brought out the laughs in a story riddled with pain and suffering.
Midius Maido’s touch of sarcasm, valour, passion and flamboyance are also highly appreciated.
Eldus’ optimism, Galen’s curiosity and Marshus’ rebellion spiced up the story as well.
The book’s twists are believable and quite chilling considering magic is a big part of this world.
There are so few errors in the book that I find it necessary to give gratitude to the editors. Their professionalism made this amazing piece of work in enjoyable.
And for that I rate the book a solid 5 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to any medieval magical fantasy enjoyers who would love a refresher in the genre. This is however restricted to teens and above due to the presence of a certain amount of words of profanity in the book. Though not much. This is my first encounter with Matthew’s work and I’m glad to say that I’m excited for the journey ahead.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon