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

[Kelly Tunstall]

[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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Galen Bray committed to only bringing his optimism with him as he embarked on his new life in Magnum Caelum, a small town in the flourishing land of Voulhire. His years in The Lands of Princes had assured him of only two likely outcomes – poverty or a certain violent death. He was very grateful to have escaped such a doomed fate. As he embarks on his inherited new life with his newly found positive outlook, Galen would need to realize that not everyone he meets on his journey can be trusted, and not every first impression will be the right one.

Wilhelm was the King of Voulhire and his citizens had become accustomed to lives of luxury and contentment under his rule. They put their faith in him and together they celebrated as a nation and prayed for their prosperity and good fortune to continue. Those who opposed King Wilhelm and wished to take Voulhire from him had been suspiciously silent, but never far from the thoughts of the people of Voulhire. The Riva Rohavi was an aggressive and radical terrorist group who brought carnage and bloodshed, dancing and destroying everything in their path as they went. King Wilhelm sought to safeguard all he had built, but nothing is quite as uncomplicated when magic and interchanging realms are possible, and not even your dreams are safe. In We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies, Galen Bray unknowingly enters into a medieval era of kings and knights, powerful magic, anarchy, and conflict. Malevolent darkness lurks in corners and evil plots brew in distant parts of the land. Not everything would stay peaceful or hidden for much longer.

Author Matthew Tysz has a remarkable imagination and a unique talent for intelligently written dialogue that expresses not only meaning but also the personality behind each person we meet along the way. This book is filled to the brim with enchanting characters, their histories, and their lives as we come to know them. It is not only interesting characters he has created, but also an imaginative world where medieval princes meet with mages, and magic is a natural part of everyday life. I found the characters in the story very easy to relate to as he has a flair for bringing the unimaginable into existence, and he does so with intelligence and understated humor. He does not shy away from drawing you into a fondness for a character, only for it to take an unpredicted or dramatic turn. I found this book to be an intriguing read full of interweaving stories. His undertaking for this series of books is nothing short of astonishing. If you are broad-minded and are not opposed to magic intertwined with medieval life, as well as having the time to get to know the characters and places, then you are in for a delightful read.

The only criticism I would make about an otherwise captivating story is that I did not enjoy having to re-read some of the paragraphs or chapters to understand what was going on, and having to refer to the index at the end of the book made getting into the story quite a task. I found some of the storylines to be a bit hard to follow, and the sheer number of characters to remember quite overwhelming.

I would rate this book 5 out of 5, even though I needed to review past chapters to keep up. By committing to take the time to learn who all of the characters are and the various storylines, I can only imagine the next books in the series would be thoroughly enjoyable to read. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy science fiction and are not opposed to spending some extra time understanding the various angles of the book. I did not find any errors and I do believe this book was professionally edited.

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We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
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[Nisha DSouza]

I liked the plot of this book. I was thinking of taking it up for review later. However, the vast number of characters might be a drawback for me. Nice review, though.