Review by thaservices1 -- We are Voulhire: A New Arrival...

[thaservices1]

[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies" by Matthew Tysz.]

---

4 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

We Are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies by Matthew Tysz is the first installment of the author's debut into fantasy writing. I will state to open that I am a fan of Tysz's dystopian novels and acquired the first five installments of the We Are Voulhire series when they first became available. I always love rereading fantasy novels and was very happy to find this series up for review.

This first novel of the series introduces us to the strangely prosperous kingdom of Voulhire. A small but mighty nation, Voulhire is a land of magic in a thriving industrial age. We follow the story of Galen Bray, a young man from outside Voulhire. Escaping from the two decades of war in the Land of the Princes, Galen is swept up into adventure by Roland, the executor of his uncle's estate.

The story also follows the intrigues and mysteries of Voulhire's rulers and politicians. The powerful mage Meldorath's alleged demise, the ominous silence of Voulhire's ancient domestic enemies, and the disturbing whispers of the outside world all add up to a wonderfully involved story.

What I enjoyed most about the novel was the departure from typical adventure fantasy in the aspect of distance. Voulhire is a small kingdom and instead of the protracted traveling so familiar in this type of novel, we have a quick afternoon ride to another city. A small difference but hugely refreshing. What I enjoyed least was the inclusion of modern phrases such as casual profanity and words like metrosexual. While this does set the novel apart, I found it rather grating on the nerves. I feel though, that this may actually be an attraction for other readers. I don't count this as a criticism of the writing style, it is also prevalent in Tysz's dystopian writing, but just a matter of personal taste.

Tysz's writing is immersive and flows well. The characters are well defined and the author's style of slowly introducing their histories throughout the novel is enjoyable. In fact, at the close of the novel, there is still much to be revealed even of the major characters. This brings forward my only major complaint against the series. I don't feel these should have been released as stand-alone novels. I feel this novel would have been better suited to be Part One of a single volume. I have thought this over from several aspects including monetary, scaring off casual readers, not wanting to fill pages with fluff, speed of publication, but I still come to the same opinion.

I can recommend this novel to fans of immersive fantasy writing as an enjoyable light read. While the story is large and the world well thought out, it lacks that certain polish a masterful adventure series imparts. I was not at all disappointed with the novel but expect Tysz's writing only to improve. I do not recommend this novel to younger or sensitive readers. It contains profanity, graphic violence, and sexual content. The sexual content is not graphic but it may be disturbing to sensitive individuals.

Overall, I enjoyed reading We Are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies and give it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. The text is almost completely error-free, the writing flows well, and the story is immersive. I also enjoyed the second reading and look forward to continuing the series once again.

******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Mariana Figueira]

"Strangely prosperous" is the perfect way to describe Voulhire. Great review

[The Holy Grail]

I agree the author's narration was immersive. I could hardly get my eyes off the book. Thanks for the review.

[Oreoluwa281]

Thank you for sharing this fantastic and honest review. I have read this book and, I enjoyed every detail of the book

[Kirimi254]

Wow! This is great review