Review of We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
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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.]
After a grueling ocean journey, Galen can finally breathe freely again. The young man, a refugee from the war-ravaged Land of Princes, has managed to escape to Voulhire—a place stunningly beautiful, if his first impressions are to be trusted. Lethargic with exhaustion and drenched in seawater, he is nevertheless full of hope as he stumbles onto the beach and makes his way to the nearest doorway of his new estate. He is lucky, after all, to have a place to call home, even if it is only a drafty ruin by the ocean's edge. He doesn't truly understand what awaits him. He doesn't really know anything about this next chapter of his life yet. He still has a seasickness bag full of stolen secrets from the princes and the secret police of the Land of Princes.
At the other end of the empire, the fierce and rebellious dancers of Riva Rohavi await the opportunity to unleash destruction on Voulhire, the land they have been raised to detest. Peace-loving and good-hearted, Galen knows nothing of their plans. Nonetheless, he is on a journey that will take him through the woods and into the halls of his uncle's castle as he seeks a way to become the worthy heir of his uncle's meager fortune. We Are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies by Matthew Tysz is the first of a series set in the world of Voulhire. In this book, Tysz mostly introduces the land and its inhabitants to his readers. I’ll admit I was slightly skeptical when starting the book—fantasy series is a tricky business.
Merely penning a good tale is not enough for an author. An author must also build for the reader a complete illusion of the world in which the story takes place. I worried that this fantasy novel might fall short in that regard. I needn't have; the author demonstrated an abundance of imagination and love for the story's various characters—some, like the protagonist, were relatively easy to love, while others were just easy to be horrified by. "Prologue" and "Reference Guide" are the only conventional chapter titles in the book. The chapters in the novel are named after the characters, and each chapter resembles a different kind of love or horror. In between the prologue and reference guide, the reader is loveably, horrifically, and in just one instance, enviously taken on a ride through the world of the story.
The seemingly odd structuring of the chapters turned out to work in favor of the story's progression. Yet some disturbances persisted. The story's magic equated to reasonable amounts of modern-day technology. However, in some instances, ancient magic was being substituted for the science or technology we know today. For example, instead of a phone system in which all characters could communicate at will, there was a magic-based system in which messages were whispered telepathically from one character to another.
From an author who has otherwise shown extraordinary talent for imaginative creation, this invention struck me as a little too obvious and a little too unimaginative. I probably wouldn't feel too bad for any young person who grew up on the Chronicles of Narnia and wanted to read this book, which, all told, has a pretty solid premise. However, because this solid premise culminates in a fair amount of violence, I can't and won't recommend this book to any preteen reader without some serious reservations.
In my view, the author has done a masterful job of familiarizing us with the new series and its characters. We Are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies is a well-constructed, if brief, introduction to the world of Voulhire. I rate it 4 out of 4 stars, both for its content and its construction. I am convinced that Matthew Tysz can write. I eagerly await his next installment, for I expect it will be even more satisfying than this one. Of course, the highest compliment I could pay an author is that I want to read more of their work. And that's just what I'm doing in this case. I didn't encounter mistakes, which led me to believe the book was professionally edited.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
After a grueling ocean journey, Galen can finally breathe freely again. The young man, a refugee from the war-ravaged Land of Princes, has managed to escape to Voulhire—a place stunningly beautiful, if his first impressions are to be trusted. Lethargic with exhaustion and drenched in seawater, he is nevertheless full of hope as he stumbles onto the beach and makes his way to the nearest doorway of his new estate. He is lucky, after all, to have a place to call home, even if it is only a drafty ruin by the ocean's edge. He doesn't truly understand what awaits him. He doesn't really know anything about this next chapter of his life yet. He still has a seasickness bag full of stolen secrets from the princes and the secret police of the Land of Princes.
At the other end of the empire, the fierce and rebellious dancers of Riva Rohavi await the opportunity to unleash destruction on Voulhire, the land they have been raised to detest. Peace-loving and good-hearted, Galen knows nothing of their plans. Nonetheless, he is on a journey that will take him through the woods and into the halls of his uncle's castle as he seeks a way to become the worthy heir of his uncle's meager fortune. We Are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies by Matthew Tysz is the first of a series set in the world of Voulhire. In this book, Tysz mostly introduces the land and its inhabitants to his readers. I’ll admit I was slightly skeptical when starting the book—fantasy series is a tricky business.
Merely penning a good tale is not enough for an author. An author must also build for the reader a complete illusion of the world in which the story takes place. I worried that this fantasy novel might fall short in that regard. I needn't have; the author demonstrated an abundance of imagination and love for the story's various characters—some, like the protagonist, were relatively easy to love, while others were just easy to be horrified by. "Prologue" and "Reference Guide" are the only conventional chapter titles in the book. The chapters in the novel are named after the characters, and each chapter resembles a different kind of love or horror. In between the prologue and reference guide, the reader is loveably, horrifically, and in just one instance, enviously taken on a ride through the world of the story.
The seemingly odd structuring of the chapters turned out to work in favor of the story's progression. Yet some disturbances persisted. The story's magic equated to reasonable amounts of modern-day technology. However, in some instances, ancient magic was being substituted for the science or technology we know today. For example, instead of a phone system in which all characters could communicate at will, there was a magic-based system in which messages were whispered telepathically from one character to another.
From an author who has otherwise shown extraordinary talent for imaginative creation, this invention struck me as a little too obvious and a little too unimaginative. I probably wouldn't feel too bad for any young person who grew up on the Chronicles of Narnia and wanted to read this book, which, all told, has a pretty solid premise. However, because this solid premise culminates in a fair amount of violence, I can't and won't recommend this book to any preteen reader without some serious reservations.
In my view, the author has done a masterful job of familiarizing us with the new series and its characters. We Are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies is a well-constructed, if brief, introduction to the world of Voulhire. I rate it 4 out of 4 stars, both for its content and its construction. I am convinced that Matthew Tysz can write. I eagerly await his next installment, for I expect it will be even more satisfying than this one. Of course, the highest compliment I could pay an author is that I want to read more of their work. And that's just what I'm doing in this case. I didn't encounter mistakes, which led me to believe the book was professionally edited.
******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The MISOGI Method by Jody B. Miller
