An epic fantasy in the tradition of Game of Thrones, Sovereign is set in a world which once knew gods, demons, and magic, and to which all three are returning. New York Times bestseller Chris Roberson joins artist Paul Maybury to tell the story of masked undertakers facing the undead with swords, of civil wars and cultures in collision, and of ancient threats emerging from the ashes of history to menace the future.  

Sovereign Volume 1 by Chris Roberson and Paul Maybury

Collects Sovereign #1-5, plus extras.

Graphic Novel/Fantasy

3 out of 5 stars

At a time of a Convergence - an event that strengthens the power of the magic-bearers in this world and the daemons of the Unreal - the survival of the world is put into question as a society of Horselords begins to realize their tradition of burying their dead will now bring forth an undead army hell-bent on taking over. In Sovereign, we follow a multitude of characters and watch as old traditions seemingly long forgotten come back to the forefront and new magic is birthed from the strength of the Convergence. 

As is typical of collections such as this, Sovereign doesn't quite offer an entire plotline. Sovereign Volume 1's main goal is to introduce the world and its characters, and it does so well enough. While I did enjoy this, I'm not sure it was enough to pull me into this series. The constant changing of POV characters felt a bit distracting in the end, as the 5 installments collected in this graphic novel are not enough to fully connect to any of the characters since we don't have a true focus on any of them. I'm a fan of multiple POVs in epic fantasy, but I'm not quite sure that it works as well in comic form. Even in novel form, it takes extra time to get into a story with multiple POVs, and when you're dealing with comics the time between releases can be a bit jarring.

For avid readers of comics, perhaps this would interest you more. The world that Roberson and Maybury have created is very interesting and has a lot of potential. The potential could have been a bit higher if I'd not found the art style to be so lackluster, as the settings and cultures presented are unique but the art left much to be desired. I would also have liked to have seen the magic systems fleshed out a bit more, as they were the most interesting, but most neglected, aspect of the world Sovereign lets us into. All in all, it was entertaining but not quite enough to make the wait between volumes worth it.

I was provided an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.
On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

First book in The Remnant Chronicles

YA/High Fantasy/Romance

  3 out of 5 stars

The title of The Kiss of Deception felt as much a description of the book's contents as it was a description of my experience reading it. The beginning hints at an interesting world with an intriguing mythology and mystery that is, inevitably, ignored for the sake of putting romance at the forefront. What little we are given of the culture of this world was enough to keep me wanting more, but it didn't pay off in the end. Whatever remnants of the mystery we're given is dedicated to adding flare to the love triangle. How to make a love triangle not seem like every other YA love triangle? Make the two men involved have ambiguous identities and keep readers guessing about who's who! While some readers have found this 'mystery' to be a riveting aspect of the story, I was more annoyed than impressed. Spending more than half a book not knowing which character is which for the sake of an attempt at suspense was not my cup of tea.

The best that The Kiss of Deception had to offer was the writing style. I found myself wanting to highlight certain passages as I think this is a fairly "quotable" and beautifully written story. The writing wasn't perfect - I found it to be lacking in description of the world - but it was my favorite aspect of the story. While the language of this was up to par for me, I wish the contents were equal in value. 

I think The Kiss of Deception is a decent foundation for the rest of the series, but it didn't leave me wanting to continue. After reading through 400+ pages and getting denied anything besides an uncompelling romance and being left with a ridiculous cliffhanger that offers no resolution, I felt like The Kiss of Deception dedicated too much of my time to a meandering story that wasn't worth it in the end. For readers who enjoy romance with a weak fantasy backdrop, this is the book for you. For any reader wanting more than just a fantasy backdrop, I'd say avoid The Kiss of Deception. At least until more books come out in the series, which could improve upon the foundation this provided... but only time will tell.

One thousand years after a great conflict known as The Mapmaker’s War, a daughter is born to an ambitious historian and a gifted translator. Secret Riven doesn’t speak until her seventh year but can mysteriously communicate with plants and animals. Unsettled by visions and dreams since childhood, she tries to hide her strangeness, especially from her mercurial father and cold mother. Yet gentle, watchful Secret finds acceptance from Prince Nikolas, her best friend, and Old Woman, who lives in the distant woods.
When Secret is twelve, her mother receives an arcane manuscript to translate from an anonymous owner. Zavet suffers from nightmares and withdraws into herself. Secret sickens with a fever and awakens able to speak an ancient language, one her mother knows as well. Suddenly, Zavet dies. The manuscript is missing, but a cipher has been left for Secret to find.
Years later, Secret becomes a translator’s apprentice for Fewmany, an influential magnate, who has taken an interest in her for reasons she cannot discern. Before Secret learns why, Old Woman confronts Secret with the truth of her destiny—a choice she must make that is tied to an ancient past.

The Chronicle of Secret Riven by Ronlyn Domingue

Second book in The Keeper of Tales Trilogy

Sequel to The Mapmaker's War

Fantasy

 3 out of 5 stars

The Chronicle of Secret Riven is a slightly disconnected sequel to The Mapmaker's War, which I have also reviewed and really enjoyed. This sequel takes place in the same world, but thousands of years after the first book. As such, there are many cultural shifts that have taken place and new characters to be introduced. This book and the following book are set up to be more of a duology, with The Mapmaker's War being a prequel set in the distant past and the final two books following the same character's story. While The Mapmaker's War easily stands on it's own, The Chronicle of Secret Riven cannot stand apart from its coming sequel without feeling incomplete. You do not need to read The Mapmaker's War to read The Chronicle of Secret Riven, but I would recommend that you do. It adds a layer to the story that those who haven't read the first book will miss.

A lot of what I loved about The Mapmaker's War was missing in The Chronicle of Secret Riven. Whereas I highly enjoyed the unique writing style - the fact that the first book was written in second person narration - this second installment went for a more conventional style. The fact that the second installment not only follows different characters in a completely changed future-world, and the vast change in writing style, creates a massive disconnect between the two books. While Domingue still showcases her ability to create enthralling characters for a massively character-driven fantasy story, that felt like the only element of the story that remained similar to its predecessor.

Our main character, Secret, was an interesting one to follow. In this installment, we see her grow from a mute child, discriminated against for her disability and for her race (she is a person of color), to a young woman applying to University. This gives the book a more Young Adult feel. Even though I loved Secret, I felt we saw too much of her. This book is twice as long as its predecessor, and unnecessarily so. We recount every year of her life in too much detail, which developed more of her characterization than any the plot. While Domingue's books are driven by the characters more-so than the story, we could have known just as much about Secret in less words rather than recounting every situation in which she is bullied by other kids or her mother gets angry at her (which happens a lot).

The development of the world that we originally see in The Mapmaker's War was intriguing. There are interlude chapters, short and written in a style more reminiscent on the first book, that lay out the setting clearly for the reader. While I found the setting to be interesting, and the additions of new technologies to add a different element unseen in the first novel, these interlude chapters felt unneeded. I ended up skimming them for the most part, because I felt the visuals and information provided were already sufficiently supplied in the normal chapters. The interlude chapters were more confusing than helpful, since I was never quite sure why they were needed.

The Chronicle of Secret Riven, in the end, could have used significant trimming and perhaps stopped a little further into Secret's tale. The end of the book didn't feel like an end at all, and nothing was really accomplished aside from Secret growing up and coming into her powers. Mysteries that were alluded to remain unsolved. The story remains unfinished, despite the fact that it clocks in at 400 pages and has more than enough space to wrap up more plot-lines than it attempted to.

I am still looking forward to the next book, since the mysteries hinted at in this installment were quite interesting and I would love to see where this goes... I just wish this book had provided more.


I was provided a review copy by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.