A. M. Steiner

This book had a LOT of things that I appreciated. It wasn't a cliffhanger, the various POVs were pretty smooth and it was a straight epic fantasy that didn't drown in trying to be epic. The writing style keeps you in the story and the world-building was complete enough that it seems lived in.

I don't get why this is considered 'dark' fantasy at all. An existence that isn't all sugar and rainbows doesn't qualify for dark. Nor because some of the bad stuff that occurs or is described isn't an overused trope. IMO, this book is adult epic fantasy, stays in it's lane and can hold it's own with books that may be better known. My only complaint is that I wasn't surprised about anything. That's what kept it from being a 5-star book for me. Unless I yell (or think really loudly) "Holy crap!", 4-stars is as high as I can go.

IMO, this series starts off with the same feeling of promise that I felt when I started the Demon Cycle series. I am really looking forward to the next book. I'm putting my money where my mouth is and will purchase the book instead of using my Kindle Unlimited subscription to read it for free.

And man do I wish it was available as an audiobook as well....… (mer)