Review by odlanra -- We are Voulhire: A New Arrival unde...
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odlanra
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- Latest Review: We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the Mind by Matthew Tysz
Review by odlanra -- We are Voulhire: A New Arrival unde...
[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies" by Matthew Tysz.]
The book We Are Voulhire A New Arrival Under Great Skies by Matthew Tysz is the first book of the We are Voulhire series. After reading the third book of the series first, I found myself wanting to completely know the whole background, and hopefully experience to the fullest the whole series in the long run. The first book started with Meldorath, single-handedly devastated a whole group of castle defenders and exposed the evil works of the Lord of Hillport Town. Meldorath became the Lord of Hillport but was accused later of a horrible crime. King Wilhelm of Voulhire replaced him with Lord Eldus. Meanwhile, Galen left his hometown in the Land of the Princes. Together with Rowan, they asked Demetrius, a monk capable of imbusion magic, to analyze a strange stone. Using telemagic, spies informed the Chancellor of Voulhire, of an unsigned letter received by the group of Voulhire dissidents. While from the magic universe, a woman entered the physical universe and landed in Meldorath’s manor. In all of these, before Lord Eldus and his family could improve Hillport and before he could understand completely the works of his predecessors, tragedy struck.
I liked that the story started with a big sudden action with impact, and followed it up with a sudden forward jump to a turning event, though not with as much action as the first. The continuation was then related to the two events easily.
At a certain point, I realized that the story is holding me with mystery after mystery, and questions after questions. Examples of which are the unexplained purposes and directions of travels of Galen with Rowan; the sudden appearance and reappearance of a mage who could be a friend, a foe, or a friend waiting to be a foe. Included are the mysteries of additional events unrelated to the main plot of the book, but perhaps related to the plot of the other books in the series: the senile man in the courtroom, etc. And as usual, the mysteries from typical scenes that are used to develop the story and create expectations, but play a minor part. Additionally, one of my comments on the third book is that I found no motives and felt no heroism among the characters I am guessing as would-be heroes. My guess is right that I should have read the first book first. The motives of a character, perhaps a would-be hero, are being withheld and are narrated as questionable in the story, contributing to the mysteries.
The story made use of an emotion-filled letter read by a character just like in the movies. It was a touching part.
I found the descriptions and settings of the story very imaginative, among others: jogging in a hall and corridor that is high enough to see every rooftop, and wide open to the city and lands beyond; a description of a painting of God on a ceiling and the effect on the one seeing it in the story.
The second comment I made in the third book is that I wish that there were more varied magic of wonders in the story, and not just mainly magic of horrors and magic battle scenes. I found and discovered it here in the first book: telemagic; bio imbusion; a magic letter etc. But I would not laugh at the magic of making a group of people crap at the same time. I think it is too gross, dirty, if not loathsome.
One of my favorite good points in any story is in finding words of wisdom especially one eloquently stated, such as “Keep your head low, but your eyes straight ahead. Keep your mind on earth, but your heart among the stars”. Also, the whole story, now and then insert statements on society's ills and real issues: “ as much about personal liberation from a demanding world”; “Living quietly. Dying quietly”.
I did not find any spelling errors. Again, the story completed the main story-line. But it provided much more. And left still some more to leave the reader imagining. I am giving it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.
Since it has some profane words used in informal adult conversations, I would recommend it only to lovers of fantasy, mystery, and magic near the legal age of maturity and above.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The book We Are Voulhire A New Arrival Under Great Skies by Matthew Tysz is the first book of the We are Voulhire series. After reading the third book of the series first, I found myself wanting to completely know the whole background, and hopefully experience to the fullest the whole series in the long run. The first book started with Meldorath, single-handedly devastated a whole group of castle defenders and exposed the evil works of the Lord of Hillport Town. Meldorath became the Lord of Hillport but was accused later of a horrible crime. King Wilhelm of Voulhire replaced him with Lord Eldus. Meanwhile, Galen left his hometown in the Land of the Princes. Together with Rowan, they asked Demetrius, a monk capable of imbusion magic, to analyze a strange stone. Using telemagic, spies informed the Chancellor of Voulhire, of an unsigned letter received by the group of Voulhire dissidents. While from the magic universe, a woman entered the physical universe and landed in Meldorath’s manor. In all of these, before Lord Eldus and his family could improve Hillport and before he could understand completely the works of his predecessors, tragedy struck.
I liked that the story started with a big sudden action with impact, and followed it up with a sudden forward jump to a turning event, though not with as much action as the first. The continuation was then related to the two events easily.
At a certain point, I realized that the story is holding me with mystery after mystery, and questions after questions. Examples of which are the unexplained purposes and directions of travels of Galen with Rowan; the sudden appearance and reappearance of a mage who could be a friend, a foe, or a friend waiting to be a foe. Included are the mysteries of additional events unrelated to the main plot of the book, but perhaps related to the plot of the other books in the series: the senile man in the courtroom, etc. And as usual, the mysteries from typical scenes that are used to develop the story and create expectations, but play a minor part. Additionally, one of my comments on the third book is that I found no motives and felt no heroism among the characters I am guessing as would-be heroes. My guess is right that I should have read the first book first. The motives of a character, perhaps a would-be hero, are being withheld and are narrated as questionable in the story, contributing to the mysteries.
The story made use of an emotion-filled letter read by a character just like in the movies. It was a touching part.
I found the descriptions and settings of the story very imaginative, among others: jogging in a hall and corridor that is high enough to see every rooftop, and wide open to the city and lands beyond; a description of a painting of God on a ceiling and the effect on the one seeing it in the story.
The second comment I made in the third book is that I wish that there were more varied magic of wonders in the story, and not just mainly magic of horrors and magic battle scenes. I found and discovered it here in the first book: telemagic; bio imbusion; a magic letter etc. But I would not laugh at the magic of making a group of people crap at the same time. I think it is too gross, dirty, if not loathsome.
One of my favorite good points in any story is in finding words of wisdom especially one eloquently stated, such as “Keep your head low, but your eyes straight ahead. Keep your mind on earth, but your heart among the stars”. Also, the whole story, now and then insert statements on society's ills and real issues: “ as much about personal liberation from a demanding world”; “Living quietly. Dying quietly”.
I did not find any spelling errors. Again, the story completed the main story-line. But it provided much more. And left still some more to leave the reader imagining. I am giving it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.
Since it has some profane words used in informal adult conversations, I would recommend it only to lovers of fantasy, mystery, and magic near the legal age of maturity and above.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: We are Voulhire: The Flesh of the Mind by Matthew Tysz
