Review of We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies

[Mpho Mahlehla]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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We are Voulhire by Matthew Tysz, it’s an introductory fantasy novel to a series of books. When Galen receives an opportunity for a way out of poverty and his war torn country, he grabs it with both hands and runs for the shore where his salvation will begin. He escapes to the kingdom of his long lost great uncle, who has left him an inheritance and a chance to start a new life. He is received well in Voulhire and is very grateful. He quickly makes acquaintances and begins his journey to learn his uncle’s craft of forging steel. But all is not what it seems. Trouble is brewing in the kingdom of Voulhire. On one hand, it’s the dangerous mage who is set to terrorise the town of Hillport in order to defy the King, and become of the town’s lord. On the other hand is the Riva Rohavi clan whose main reason for existence is to destroy the kingdom of Voulhire. And in the middle stands the second in command to the king, who seems to have his own intentions towards the thrown. Will Galen finally enjoy his new found peace, or will all chaos erupt in Voulhire?

The characters as well as the plots are intriguing. The build-up of the story is gradual and lures you to keep reading. I especially enjoyed the story about Meldorath the dangerous mage. Galen’s innocence is both endearing and heart-warming. Even though it’s an introductory book, the story line is still quite interesting.

At first I thought wrong punctuation was applied. Then I remembered it’s written in a motion picture format. I had to remind myself of the script writing style and techniques. If you are not familiar with the punctuation style used, it can be a bit confusing at first. Once you get used to the writing and punctuation style the book reads easier. It was difficult to notice errors if there are any, so I can’t firmly say if there are any errors.

Despite having a hurdle with the scriptwriting format used, I still enjoyed the book and it kept me fascinated. I look forward to reading the next book/s in the series. I therefore rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.

The series comprises of 9 books. I recommend this book to fantasy readers who don’t mind going through a series of books to get to the end. And also to readers who enjoy reading about old kingdoms, mages and magic. There is some profanity for sensitive readers.

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We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
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