Review by Glory Ben -- We are Voulhire: A New Arrival un...
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Glory Ben
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Review by Glory Ben -- We are Voulhire: A New Arrival un...
[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies" by Matthew Tysz.]
Galen is happy to hear that he was left an inheritance by a relative who he did not even know existed before he got the news. The reason for his excitement is not the inheritance as much as it is the opportunity to get out of his war-torn homeland. After enduring a week-long journey by boat to his new home, he sets foot on the shores of Magnum Caelum, Voulhire. Not sure of what the future holds for him, he is optimistic nevertheless. He sets about trying to learn as much as he can about blacksmithing so that he can be as good, if not better than, the uncle that willed his forge to him.
Galen sees that Voulhire is a land filled with hard-working people living in peace and abundance. But this peace enjoyed by the citizens of Voulhire is disturbed with ripples of rumors that the king did not execute the dangerous mage, who everyone knows as Meldorath, as he told them. Now, they fear that their peace will be cut short by not just the possibility of Meldorath coming back, but also the Riva Rohavi who is bent on destroying them all.
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies is an epic fantasy novel that I have decided to rate 4 out of 4 stars. Before I tell you why I made this decision, I will like to say that this is the first novel in the We are Voulhire series and it was written by Matthew Tysz. With that said, let me tell you why this book is rated so high by me.
The first reason is the excellent editing. Now, this may look like just a small and insignificant thing. But I have found that books that are fraught with errors are difficult to read. This is because the errors, more often than not, distract readers from the story being told. I am glad that the author made sure that there were no mistakes of any kind in this book.
The second reason is the unique narrating style the author employs. The story is told from two perspectives. It is told from Galen's when he is narrating the things that happen around him and from a third person’s point of view when the story focuses on every other character in the novel. Again, someone might say that this is just a normal thing and should not draw accolades, but I disagree. Even if it is just a ‘normal thing’, I enjoyed the shift in perspective. I do not know if I would have liked this book if Galen’s account was given in the third-person perspective. His account made me feel like I knew him on a personal level, as most times, his emotions were laid out bare for me to see.
The third is the plot. Now, it is no news that the plot of a story makes or breaks a book. If the plot is not intriguing or interesting enough to the class of readers it was written for, then such a book can be called a failure. This is not the case for We are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies. The story is set in a kingdom that fuses magic and science. There are knights, mages, and inventors. I am used to just seeing magic and knights in epic fantasy novels, but not modern-day inventions. In this kingdom, gas lamps, complex indoor plumbing, banks, etc. are already in existence. I was half-expecting to see cars and airplanes. These scientific inventions felt so out of place in the story, but I love them anyway. This unique feature that the author decided to spice up the book with is the feature that I like most in the book.
Generally, there is nothing that I can point to that I dislike in the novel. That is the main reason why I decided to give this book the perfect rating I gave it above. Because of the blood and gore in some scenes and the profanities used generously by some characters, I recommend this novel to a mature audience that loves reading books on fantasy.
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We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Galen is happy to hear that he was left an inheritance by a relative who he did not even know existed before he got the news. The reason for his excitement is not the inheritance as much as it is the opportunity to get out of his war-torn homeland. After enduring a week-long journey by boat to his new home, he sets foot on the shores of Magnum Caelum, Voulhire. Not sure of what the future holds for him, he is optimistic nevertheless. He sets about trying to learn as much as he can about blacksmithing so that he can be as good, if not better than, the uncle that willed his forge to him.
Galen sees that Voulhire is a land filled with hard-working people living in peace and abundance. But this peace enjoyed by the citizens of Voulhire is disturbed with ripples of rumors that the king did not execute the dangerous mage, who everyone knows as Meldorath, as he told them. Now, they fear that their peace will be cut short by not just the possibility of Meldorath coming back, but also the Riva Rohavi who is bent on destroying them all.
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies is an epic fantasy novel that I have decided to rate 4 out of 4 stars. Before I tell you why I made this decision, I will like to say that this is the first novel in the We are Voulhire series and it was written by Matthew Tysz. With that said, let me tell you why this book is rated so high by me.
The first reason is the excellent editing. Now, this may look like just a small and insignificant thing. But I have found that books that are fraught with errors are difficult to read. This is because the errors, more often than not, distract readers from the story being told. I am glad that the author made sure that there were no mistakes of any kind in this book.
The second reason is the unique narrating style the author employs. The story is told from two perspectives. It is told from Galen's when he is narrating the things that happen around him and from a third person’s point of view when the story focuses on every other character in the novel. Again, someone might say that this is just a normal thing and should not draw accolades, but I disagree. Even if it is just a ‘normal thing’, I enjoyed the shift in perspective. I do not know if I would have liked this book if Galen’s account was given in the third-person perspective. His account made me feel like I knew him on a personal level, as most times, his emotions were laid out bare for me to see.
The third is the plot. Now, it is no news that the plot of a story makes or breaks a book. If the plot is not intriguing or interesting enough to the class of readers it was written for, then such a book can be called a failure. This is not the case for We are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies. The story is set in a kingdom that fuses magic and science. There are knights, mages, and inventors. I am used to just seeing magic and knights in epic fantasy novels, but not modern-day inventions. In this kingdom, gas lamps, complex indoor plumbing, banks, etc. are already in existence. I was half-expecting to see cars and airplanes. These scientific inventions felt so out of place in the story, but I love them anyway. This unique feature that the author decided to spice up the book with is the feature that I like most in the book.
Generally, there is nothing that I can point to that I dislike in the novel. That is the main reason why I decided to give this book the perfect rating I gave it above. Because of the blood and gore in some scenes and the profanities used generously by some characters, I recommend this novel to a mature audience that loves reading books on fantasy.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Adrift by Charlie Sheldon
