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

[Becky BEHRENS]

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

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5 out of 5 stars

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. It is very well written with a complex web of characters, their relationships and their lands. I actually found myself becoming emotionally involved with the people.
There are two universes in this story, the physical Cosmos and the magical Caromentis. The kingdom of Voulhire exists in Cosmos, but there are mages there who draw their power from Caromentis.
Voulhire has a king (Wilhelm) and consists of individual towns ruled by lords. Much of the story takes place in the southern city of Hillport.
A powerful mage named Meldorath is one of the central characters, who is believed to be dead by the people of Voulhire but they still fear him. Lord Eldus Alderman is the lord of Hillport and works hard to improve the town and the lives of the people.
Galen Bray is a young man from the Lands of the Princes, a war-torn land where the people are poor and suffering. Galen inherits his uncle's estate in Voulhire, which includes his blacksmithing business. We follow Galen as he journeys to his new home and strives to become acclimated to a life he has only ever dreamed about living. Galen is kind and honest and seemingly innocent, but we see glimpses of a dark side as well that comes from growing up in harsh and violent circumstances.
There is a great deal of class distinction, with some areas prospering and wealthy while other areas are full of hard-working but poor people.
Although Voulhire is united and the people love King Wilhelm, there are political undercurrents, rivalry and power struggles. High Chancellor Midius Maido, First Knight of Voulhire, is in command of one of the military organizations and is a thorn in Wilhelm's side. There is also a group called the Riva Rohavi who raid, plunder and terrorize. They hate the wealthy and will burn their possessions rather than steal them.
There were parts of the story I found a bit confusing; I believe this is intentional, as we are kept guessing about certain things and given clues that make us think. Much of what happens is unpredictable, which I found refreshing.
The editing is superb; its rare to find a book so well written.
I give this book a rating of 5 stars; I really don't think it could be improved.

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We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
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