Review of We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
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Carol Contos
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Review of We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies" by Matthew Tysz.]
Many different storylines, characters, and plots ranging from adventurer exploring a brand new-to-him world to mysterious brutal masterminds to political intrigue intricately weave together in this unique high fantasy novel: We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies by Matthew Tysz. Tysz introduces Galen Bray, a young man fleeing from a vicious string of war-torn islands and entering a land he’d only ever dreamed of seeing—Voulhire. Inheriting a blacksmith forge and knowing nothing about living in this land, Galen struggles to find his footing, full of hope while nation-shaking trouble brews only a small town away.
Matthew Tysz does a magician's job weaving these storylines together in this introductory book. I expected I would get confused with the various characters and different settings, but I was only sucked in deeper, wanting to know more. Tysz also does an excellent job providing a strong voice for each point of view he represents in a given chapter. There was never any confusion. The world-building and in this book was phenomenal and I found myself growing to love some of the characters and want the best for them and hate others, just as I suspect Tysz intended it. Details given about people, groups, and equipment were interesting. Commentary on modern relevant issues were even included without being preachy or out of place. This book also obviously had a great editing team as my reading wasn’t jostled by errors one sometimes finds in a novel and it flowed very well from scene to scene.
There were a couple of issues I had with this book: one of them being about the horses. It is probably petty, but it felt a bit unbelievable that a character that had likely never ridden a horse before seemed to have no issue buying and riding a stallion (stallions are typically more difficult to handle than geldings which is why most people geld unless they are breeding). This may be an aspect to Tysz’s world-building that I haven’t grasped yet, but being a little acquainted with the real-world, it threw me off a bit. The other issue was how shocking and barbarous some loved characters met their end. I wanted to go back and time and yell warnings at them!
Given the craftsmanship of the remaining novel however, I trust that Matthew Tysz has a greater reason for doing this. I crave the next book to find how it all threads together. For this reason, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars . A series beginning that leaves me wanting more is more than deserving. It was professionally edited and carefully thought out. I look forward to reading more!
I would not recommend this book to the sensitive or faint of heart given the bloody nature of some of the scenes. It was a little tough for me as a mother sometimes. These scenes aren’t senselessly littered throughout the book, so it may be forgivable for some. Those who don’t mind bloody scenes and love high fantasy and complex storylines will absolutely love this book and want to start the next one right away.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Many different storylines, characters, and plots ranging from adventurer exploring a brand new-to-him world to mysterious brutal masterminds to political intrigue intricately weave together in this unique high fantasy novel: We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies by Matthew Tysz. Tysz introduces Galen Bray, a young man fleeing from a vicious string of war-torn islands and entering a land he’d only ever dreamed of seeing—Voulhire. Inheriting a blacksmith forge and knowing nothing about living in this land, Galen struggles to find his footing, full of hope while nation-shaking trouble brews only a small town away.
Matthew Tysz does a magician's job weaving these storylines together in this introductory book. I expected I would get confused with the various characters and different settings, but I was only sucked in deeper, wanting to know more. Tysz also does an excellent job providing a strong voice for each point of view he represents in a given chapter. There was never any confusion. The world-building and in this book was phenomenal and I found myself growing to love some of the characters and want the best for them and hate others, just as I suspect Tysz intended it. Details given about people, groups, and equipment were interesting. Commentary on modern relevant issues were even included without being preachy or out of place. This book also obviously had a great editing team as my reading wasn’t jostled by errors one sometimes finds in a novel and it flowed very well from scene to scene.
There were a couple of issues I had with this book: one of them being about the horses. It is probably petty, but it felt a bit unbelievable that a character that had likely never ridden a horse before seemed to have no issue buying and riding a stallion (stallions are typically more difficult to handle than geldings which is why most people geld unless they are breeding). This may be an aspect to Tysz’s world-building that I haven’t grasped yet, but being a little acquainted with the real-world, it threw me off a bit. The other issue was how shocking and barbarous some loved characters met their end. I wanted to go back and time and yell warnings at them!
Given the craftsmanship of the remaining novel however, I trust that Matthew Tysz has a greater reason for doing this. I crave the next book to find how it all threads together. For this reason, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars . A series beginning that leaves me wanting more is more than deserving. It was professionally edited and carefully thought out. I look forward to reading more!
I would not recommend this book to the sensitive or faint of heart given the bloody nature of some of the scenes. It was a little tough for me as a mother sometimes. These scenes aren’t senselessly littered throughout the book, so it may be forgivable for some. Those who don’t mind bloody scenes and love high fantasy and complex storylines will absolutely love this book and want to start the next one right away.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Fifie by Marco Collina
