Genre: High Fantasy
Age Group: Adult
Hardcover - 416pgs
Source: Library Book
Publication: 2017
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Rating: 4/5
In a world of soaring continents and bottomless skies, where a burgeoning new science lifts skyships into the cloud-strewn heights and ancient blood-borne sorceries cling to a fading glory, Princess Isabelle des Zephyrs is about to be married to a man she has barely heard of, the second son of a dying king in an empire collapsing into civil war.
Born without the sorcery that is her birthright but with a perspicacious intellect, Isabelle believes her marriage will stave off disastrous conflict and bring her opportunity and influence. But the last two women betrothed to this prince were murdered, and a sorcerer-assassin is bent on making Isabelle the third. Aided and defended by her loyal musketeer, Jean-Claude, Isabelle plunges into a great maze of prophecy, intrigue, and betrayal, where everyone wears masks of glamour and lies. Step by dangerous step, she unravels the lies of her enemies and discovers a truth more perilous than any deception.
What brought this novel to my attention was a very interesting combination of genres and elements. I stayed because our heroine, Isabelle, and a fantasy world based on France and Spain. Though France and Spain are still solidly in the Western world, this story had a different flavor than many of the high fantasy stories I've read.
Overall I really
enjoyed the story and I was really impressed by the way the story wove
together. I adored how the magical, religious and political elements were all
important parts of the plot and they were well balanced. Isabelle and
Jean-Claude needed to unravel the complex mystery of this story by using both
of their strengths and I really enjoyed their relationship. They worked
together well and switching between their perspectives was effective and well
done.
Where this novel
loses points is the pacing. The plot is incredibly slow at the
beginning. There is a huge focus on the religious and geographical aspects of
the world building. Combined with the descriptive language, the story took
awhile to get off the ground. The plot is little like stone rolling down a
hill. It is slow to start but accelerates almost out of control at the
end. Overall, a little more balance would have been appreciated.
As I am an
able-bodied person, I cannot speak to the representation of disability in this
novel. I appreciated that Isabelle was portrayed as comfortable with
herself and unfazed by others' reactions or views of her. There
are moments where Isabelle's interactions with other people
with disabilities are a bit clunky. However, her examinations of her
own prejudices and assumption was an interesting
commentary.
So far I've only
found one review by a disabled review which you can check out here.
On the whole, this was
an excellent debut and I'm really excited to see what direction the next book
will take.
