Historical fiction written in a fantasy style - fab!
This is a brilliant book, the genre of historical fiction but with all the action, character and world building of a great fantasy.
We follow Jack/Jaq through various stages of his life. Without giving too many spoilers we flit between his childhood, youth and early adulthood in the midst of the thirty year war (which prior to this I knew nothing about but which the author provides a helpful guide to at the start). This story is a coming of age tale of loss and vengeance. You can't help but love Jack and the friends he meets along the way.
I won this book through Readers First after reviewing the first chapters. When I read them i worried that the book might be a bit pretentious as it had an index of characters and a brief history at the start. Having finished this book I am now very grateful to all these things and to the map that comes in handy too. the author knew what she was doing.
I really want to give this book 5 stars but there got to a stage about two thirds in where there has just been too many new characters/settings over a short space and I began to lose track (and briefly, interest) so I can't give more than a 4. Thankfully this didn't last too long. All that said I loved the fast pace and writing style, I love the character development, and I love the fantasy style of writing which gives this work of historical fiction such a fun and refreshing edge. There is definitely potential for the next book in the series to be a 5* so will definitely be giving it a read.
We follow Jack/Jaq through various stages of his life. Without giving too many spoilers we flit between his childhood, youth and early adulthood in the midst of the thirty year war (which prior to this I knew nothing about but which the author provides a helpful guide to at the start). This story is a coming of age tale of loss and vengeance. You can't help but love Jack and the friends he meets along the way.
I won this book through Readers First after reviewing the first chapters. When I read them i worried that the book might be a bit pretentious as it had an index of characters and a brief history at the start. Having finished this book I am now very grateful to all these things and to the map that comes in handy too. the author knew what she was doing.
I really want to give this book 5 stars but there got to a stage about two thirds in where there has just been too many new characters/settings over a short space and I began to lose track (and briefly, interest) so I can't give more than a 4. Thankfully this didn't last too long. All that said I loved the fast pace and writing style, I love the character development, and I love the fantasy style of writing which gives this work of historical fiction such a fun and refreshing edge. There is definitely potential for the next book in the series to be a 5* so will definitely be giving it a read.