Review of We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
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- Latest Review: We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies by Matthew Tysz
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.]
When Galen, a kind-hearted refugee from the Lands of the Princes arrives in the nation of Voulhire, he finds a land of promise, favor and Magic. The reality, however, is different from what it seems.
A murdered lord, whom disturbing rumors follow even to death; a - supposedly dead - powerful mage; a restless nation ready to disrupt its long-standing peace at any moment under the reign of a troubled king and his dubious advisors; a group of fierce rebels moving in secret; and a mysterious prisoner weaving his plot in the shadows. Now this is the state of the great nation of Voulhire, at Galen's arrival, in the year CE: 180.
Matthew Tysz’s epic fantasy with medieval tones novel “We are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies” may be just the first of a nine-book series but it is not a simple set-up for the next books; instead, it jumps straight into the story. With several short chapters, each focusing on different key characters, the plot is constantly progressing in parallel and is steadily driven towards a convergence (in a clever George R.R. Martin style), yet without tiring the reader. Although we have a central protagonist, Galen, Tysz has handled the literary space in such a way that the other characters are not deprived of proper attention and analysis. It might be a fantasy novel, but the human factor is a key element: the fears, ambitions, weaknesses, concerns and motivations of the characters - whether they are lords and kings or simple peasants - are presented in a realistic and psychographic way.
One of the most interesting aspects of Tysz’s worldbuilding is, in my opinion, the fact that the Voulhire is not just another Middle Earth or Westeros. The Cosmos, in which the nation of Voulhire belongs, is but a single universe in a wider range of other universes that make up the Multiverse, a concept still to be analyzed, yet I suspect it will be explored further in future books.
Moreover, the original way in which the author deals with magic is remarkable. Moving away from typical literary clichés, Voulhire’s magic is a power unknown even to those who possess it (trying to practice magic is like “learning to wiggle your ears”), originating from the mysterious universe of Caromentis (latin for “Flesh of the Mind”), seemingly accessible to all, and taking many forms and spectrums, yet without its nature, true origin and real significance being known yet…
If any flaw may be detected in the book, it would be the vocabulary used overall, which made my reading difficult (although I understand that many readers will disagree). There is no doubt that Tysz has an impeccable command of the English language in writing, but his use of syntax and vocabulary in many cases seemed extremely dense, perhaps even pretentious, to the point where I constantly had to look up rare words in the dictionary or re-read sentences several times to understand them. This problem is perhaps even more pronounced at a plot level, when the same vocabulary is used systematically by the king himself, as well as by a seemingly uneducated subject of the nation (!) Without vocabulary layering, tailored to the social and educational level of each character, the book seems to lose its persuasiveness.
Overall, the first and introductory book in the Tysz’s fantasy series “We are Voulhire” is a breath of fresh air in a genre that, as many have noticed, is nowadays being driven to saturation. It may not be a notable example of originality, but the author has done an outstanding job in building and supporting a world from the ground up, a fact confirmed by the additional information provided on his personal website (https://www.matthewtysz.com/voulhire-expanded). Τhe editing is definitely professional, there is a steady plot, constantly evolving, with interesting and multi-layered characters, in a literary climate of underlying anxiety and threat that is communicated to the reader. I give the book 4 out of 5 stars, as the vocabulary issue, constantly present throughout the book, appeared as an obstacle to my smooth reading, since I’m not a native speaker of English.
I would highly recommend this book to both fans of the fantasy/epic genre and readers who want to be introduced to the world of fantasy, as this book is a smooth transition into the genre, with a special emphasis on the human element. Readers will find some everyday profanities, while romantic/erotic relationships are completely absent.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
When Galen, a kind-hearted refugee from the Lands of the Princes arrives in the nation of Voulhire, he finds a land of promise, favor and Magic. The reality, however, is different from what it seems.
A murdered lord, whom disturbing rumors follow even to death; a - supposedly dead - powerful mage; a restless nation ready to disrupt its long-standing peace at any moment under the reign of a troubled king and his dubious advisors; a group of fierce rebels moving in secret; and a mysterious prisoner weaving his plot in the shadows. Now this is the state of the great nation of Voulhire, at Galen's arrival, in the year CE: 180.
Matthew Tysz’s epic fantasy with medieval tones novel “We are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies” may be just the first of a nine-book series but it is not a simple set-up for the next books; instead, it jumps straight into the story. With several short chapters, each focusing on different key characters, the plot is constantly progressing in parallel and is steadily driven towards a convergence (in a clever George R.R. Martin style), yet without tiring the reader. Although we have a central protagonist, Galen, Tysz has handled the literary space in such a way that the other characters are not deprived of proper attention and analysis. It might be a fantasy novel, but the human factor is a key element: the fears, ambitions, weaknesses, concerns and motivations of the characters - whether they are lords and kings or simple peasants - are presented in a realistic and psychographic way.
One of the most interesting aspects of Tysz’s worldbuilding is, in my opinion, the fact that the Voulhire is not just another Middle Earth or Westeros. The Cosmos, in which the nation of Voulhire belongs, is but a single universe in a wider range of other universes that make up the Multiverse, a concept still to be analyzed, yet I suspect it will be explored further in future books.
Moreover, the original way in which the author deals with magic is remarkable. Moving away from typical literary clichés, Voulhire’s magic is a power unknown even to those who possess it (trying to practice magic is like “learning to wiggle your ears”), originating from the mysterious universe of Caromentis (latin for “Flesh of the Mind”), seemingly accessible to all, and taking many forms and spectrums, yet without its nature, true origin and real significance being known yet…
If any flaw may be detected in the book, it would be the vocabulary used overall, which made my reading difficult (although I understand that many readers will disagree). There is no doubt that Tysz has an impeccable command of the English language in writing, but his use of syntax and vocabulary in many cases seemed extremely dense, perhaps even pretentious, to the point where I constantly had to look up rare words in the dictionary or re-read sentences several times to understand them. This problem is perhaps even more pronounced at a plot level, when the same vocabulary is used systematically by the king himself, as well as by a seemingly uneducated subject of the nation (!) Without vocabulary layering, tailored to the social and educational level of each character, the book seems to lose its persuasiveness.
Overall, the first and introductory book in the Tysz’s fantasy series “We are Voulhire” is a breath of fresh air in a genre that, as many have noticed, is nowadays being driven to saturation. It may not be a notable example of originality, but the author has done an outstanding job in building and supporting a world from the ground up, a fact confirmed by the additional information provided on his personal website (https://www.matthewtysz.com/voulhire-expanded). Τhe editing is definitely professional, there is a steady plot, constantly evolving, with interesting and multi-layered characters, in a literary climate of underlying anxiety and threat that is communicated to the reader. I give the book 4 out of 5 stars, as the vocabulary issue, constantly present throughout the book, appeared as an obstacle to my smooth reading, since I’m not a native speaker of English.
I would highly recommend this book to both fans of the fantasy/epic genre and readers who want to be introduced to the world of fantasy, as this book is a smooth transition into the genre, with a special emphasis on the human element. Readers will find some everyday profanities, while romantic/erotic relationships are completely absent.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
