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The Chronicles of Arden #1
A Call to Arms
Gibben Nemesio is in trouble.
His parents are dead, his sister is missing, and he's been left the sole provider for his two younger brothers. With a war brewing in the east and no guarantee of surviving another brutal winter, Gib's life is plagued with uncertainty. To make matters worse, he suddenly finds himself uprooted from his home and drafted into the army.
Forced to leave his siblings behind, Gib reports to Silver City, where he enrolls in the legendary Academy of Arden. An outsider and misfit, Gib struggles to fit in among the highborn city folk. His charming candor eventually wins him a handful of friends—an enigmatic mage trainee with a secret, a young girl who has defied tradition by joining the military, and a prince looking to escape his stifling, royal life. But his new-found comrades may not be able to help when Gib alone overhears a traitorous plot—a scheme so horrible that if seen to fruition, all of Arden will suffer for it. It's up to Gib to convince the High Council of Arden to act, to stop the terrible danger before it's too late.
260/313 pages (print/digital). Young Adult. Epic Fantasy. LGBT Fiction.
His parents are dead, his sister is missing, and he's been left the sole provider for his two younger brothers. With a war brewing in the east and no guarantee of surviving another brutal winter, Gib's life is plagued with uncertainty. To make matters worse, he suddenly finds himself uprooted from his home and drafted into the army.
Forced to leave his siblings behind, Gib reports to Silver City, where he enrolls in the legendary Academy of Arden. An outsider and misfit, Gib struggles to fit in among the highborn city folk. His charming candor eventually wins him a handful of friends—an enigmatic mage trainee with a secret, a young girl who has defied tradition by joining the military, and a prince looking to escape his stifling, royal life. But his new-found comrades may not be able to help when Gib alone overhears a traitorous plot—a scheme so horrible that if seen to fruition, all of Arden will suffer for it. It's up to Gib to convince the High Council of Arden to act, to stop the terrible danger before it's too late.
260/313 pages (print/digital). Young Adult. Epic Fantasy. LGBT Fiction.
313 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 15, 2014
52 people are currently reading
1610 people want to read
About the author
Shiriluna Nott
5 books69 followersShiriluna Nott is a 30-something girl born and raised in the northeast. She currently resides in the backwoods of upstate New York with her four dogs and painfully slow internet.
She and fellow author SaJa H. created the world of Arden and its many colorful characters during their teenager years, and have been lost within it's depths ever since. They have over two-hundred original characters, many of which will be featured in "The Chronicles of Arden".
Believing the fantasy genre is overflowing with traditional heroes and heroines, it is Shiriluna's goal to feature non-conventional leads in her novels, including LGBT characters. Her favorite authors include Mercedes Lackey and Anne Rice.
She and fellow author SaJa H. created the world of Arden and its many colorful characters during their teenager years, and have been lost within it's depths ever since. They have over two-hundred original characters, many of which will be featured in "The Chronicles of Arden".
Believing the fantasy genre is overflowing with traditional heroes and heroines, it is Shiriluna's goal to feature non-conventional leads in her novels, including LGBT characters. Her favorite authors include Mercedes Lackey and Anne Rice.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
June 26, 2018
Review to Come
November 26, 2014
A fast read with wonderful characters you cheer for to the end. I can't wait until the next book is released to find out what happens next!
*****Spoilers*****
It was wonderful having a at protagonist in a book. (And ones that don't end as tragically as Lackey's Magic Pawn series) More and more gay characters have appeared in books but they usually appear as the main character's best friend rather than a main character themselves. This book did a wonderful job of acknowledging the struggles faced by openly gay people and the scrutiny they often faces by others.
Bravo.
*****Spoilers*****
It was wonderful having a at protagonist in a book. (And ones that don't end as tragically as Lackey's Magic Pawn series) More and more gay characters have appeared in books but they usually appear as the main character's best friend rather than a main character themselves. This book did a wonderful job of acknowledging the struggles faced by openly gay people and the scrutiny they often faces by others.
Bravo.
May 18, 2015
Great story with multidimensional characters. Fascinating read. Good timing. I highly recommend this adventurous coming of age romance with a little boyxboy love added in.
October 22, 2014
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Author
Have you ever read Mercedes Lackey's Collegium Chronicles? Or maybe Elizabeth Moon's Deeds Of Paksenarrion? If you have, then you know that when I say this book is in a similar vein, you are in for an epic fantasy read with good characters and a lovely, magical and intriguing story. In fact this is such a good read that I didn't put it down more than I really needed to (a visit to the doctor and some shopping :( ) and had just finished it before this review. I hope that book two isn't too long in getting published as it is going on my wishlist immediately. I know I should say something about he story itself but if I start I will end up gushing so much I will be giving away spoilers and all my readers know I don't do that. So take my word for it you won't go wrong buying this one if you want an epic 'young boy grows to manhood in service to the crown' fantasy book. One word of warning it has an m/m romance but, as the main character is a young teen, it is extremely mild.
June 23, 2015
It's not very often I finish a book in a day, but this book grabbed me with childlike wonder. It was as if I was seeing the coming of age story opening up before me.
First of all I want it to be clear that I do no consider this to be an LGBT book even though that is what drew me (and probably made it so interesting and relate-able).
This is a story in a fantasy world of the coming of age of a boy who has lost his parents and looking for his way. It is very medieval with very light magic (as in the magic plays a secondary role to the story).
The only difference in this story in other genres similar (think The Selection, Hunger Games, Divergent) is that the love interest in the coming of age story just happens to be someone of the same gender. There is no sex and the love story while playing a major role doesn't seem to be forcing anything on the reader. There is the theme of this is not the norm in the society and I will be interested in seeing how this continues to play out but I was so happy to finally read a book with a great story, great world, great characters, where it just so happens that the two main characters are gay.
Read it if you like YA Dystopian, Light Fantasy, Medieval, literature.
It reads very much like a YA novel so don't expecting the most literay of style but overall it was great!!!!
First of all I want it to be clear that I do no consider this to be an LGBT book even though that is what drew me (and probably made it so interesting and relate-able).
This is a story in a fantasy world of the coming of age of a boy who has lost his parents and looking for his way. It is very medieval with very light magic (as in the magic plays a secondary role to the story).
The only difference in this story in other genres similar (think The Selection, Hunger Games, Divergent) is that the love interest in the coming of age story just happens to be someone of the same gender. There is no sex and the love story while playing a major role doesn't seem to be forcing anything on the reader. There is the theme of this is not the norm in the society and I will be interested in seeing how this continues to play out but I was so happy to finally read a book with a great story, great world, great characters, where it just so happens that the two main characters are gay.
Read it if you like YA Dystopian, Light Fantasy, Medieval, literature.
It reads very much like a YA novel so don't expecting the most literay of style but overall it was great!!!!
November 5, 2015
2.5 rounded up.
This is a sweet novel, a very, very sweet novel. Too sweet.
I really liked how it started, but at around 50% I must admit I lost interest. The protagonist is just a bit too 'awe shucks', the love interest is just too boring and I was a bit disappointed that they remained 13 and 15 years old throughout the novel.
If they were experiencing first crushes, confusion and tension that would have been fine, but I just couldn't take their declarations of deep love seriously.
Then, almost everyone Gib meets in this story is beyond wonderful, not to mention, related in some way or another.
Also, how does this society work? The king has a huge palace and endless servants, but just the next family down only has two servants and sometimes has to do their own cooking?
Also disappointing is the fact that magic is normal in this world and one of the main characters is actually a mage trainee, yet this magic is never explored.
This is a sweet novel, a very, very sweet novel. Too sweet.
I really liked how it started, but at around 50% I must admit I lost interest. The protagonist is just a bit too 'awe shucks', the love interest is just too boring and I was a bit disappointed that they remained 13 and 15 years old throughout the novel.
If they were experiencing first crushes, confusion and tension that would have been fine, but I just couldn't take their declarations of deep love seriously.
Then, almost everyone Gib meets in this story is beyond wonderful, not to mention, related in some way or another.
Also, how does this society work? The king has a huge palace and endless servants, but just the next family down only has two servants and sometimes has to do their own cooking?
Also disappointing is the fact that magic is normal in this world and one of the main characters is actually a mage trainee, yet this magic is never explored.
December 30, 2014
Freaking amazing!
The depth and intrigue and just plan romance shows what struggles we actually have today in a different world and how we can better ourselves I could not put this book down!! I can't wait for the next one!!
The depth and intrigue and just plan romance shows what struggles we actually have today in a different world and how we can better ourselves I could not put this book down!! I can't wait for the next one!!
July 24, 2017
This is young adult novel, so don't expect any sex or many romantic moments.
However, closer to the end of the story, there were confessions and a few tender kisses.
I would recommend this for my 13-year olds (that's roughly the age of the characters, anyway) without hesitation.
The Academy in this book houses many professions: military, healing, magic, law... However, there is virtually no magic of any sort in this book, save for a couple of healing episodes.
Despite being true "young adult" novel, the book was pretty interesting to me and I really enjoyed the characters and the plot.
There are a few bumps in the writing style, but one that annoyed me most was the author's inability (or fear) to use pronouns. "Sentinel trainee" or "mage trainee" started to drive me (excuse my language) nuts by the end of the book.
3.75 stars
However, closer to the end of the story, there were confessions and a few tender kisses.
I would recommend this for my 13-year olds (that's roughly the age of the characters, anyway) without hesitation.
The Academy in this book houses many professions: military, healing, magic, law... However, there is virtually no magic of any sort in this book, save for a couple of healing episodes.
Despite being true "young adult" novel, the book was pretty interesting to me and I really enjoyed the characters and the plot.
There are a few bumps in the writing style, but one that annoyed me most was the author's inability (or fear) to use pronouns. "Sentinel trainee" or "mage trainee" started to drive me (excuse my language) nuts by the end of the book.
3.75 stars
May 25, 2020
This is not what I was expecting. This felt like a cross between Harry Potter (age group, framing device of a school year) and the Nightrunner Series by Lynn Flewelling (fantasy realm with students and wizards and such). It didn't have the depth the other two series have, though there's plenty of world-building and a lot of potential for this to grow as the series goes on.
The focus here is on Gibben, a young farmer who's drafted to be a sentinel for the King's Army. Gibben's only thirteen, but he's been in charge of his family of two younger brothers for two years, since older sister volunteered for the army herself, working on their family farm. Leaving for Academy means leaving his brothers alone with the winter coming.
When he arrives at the Academy, he meets a lot of people, lowborn and highborn alike, and makes quite a few impressions along the way. I sometimes felt like Gibben was too naive at times, but he's also a smart young man who makes friends easily. We don't get to see any of Gibben's time in his classes other than his basic training for the army, which felt like a missed opportunity to me, especially since Gib keeps finding himself in situations where those studies would probably come in quite handy.
There were a couple of things that didn't really sit well with me. There is a small scene that borders on sexual assault - it's not followed through and is stopped before it gets anywhere - however as it involved Gib on the receiving end of unwanted attention, it just comes across kind of 1) unnecessary and 2) sleezy. He's thirteen. I get this is a world where 13 = Adulthood(ish), but when the narrative and every single character constantly calls him "boy", scenes like that just feel creepy. His budding romance with a fellow student is at least kept sweet and innocent, but even that I felt could have been held off until the characters age a little more.
One other nitpick is the overuse of epithets: Gib is constantly described as "the sentinel trainee" and his roommate Joel as "the mage trainee." It's pretty much every other paragraph and often in the same paragraph where their names are also being used.
It was a good story and easy to read. I was expecting it to be more on the side of fantasy, but while there are fantasy elements (the mages, mostly) there really isn't much magic encountered or used during the story, as we're following Gib, who is non-magical. I enjoyed seeing Gib's growth over the course of the school year (or, half-year, actually) and his group of friends have a lot of potential. I especially like Kezra. There's also a mystery of sorts to solve.
The focus here is on Gibben, a young farmer who's drafted to be a sentinel for the King's Army. Gibben's only thirteen, but he's been in charge of his family of two younger brothers for two years, since older sister volunteered for the army herself, working on their family farm. Leaving for Academy means leaving his brothers alone with the winter coming.
When he arrives at the Academy, he meets a lot of people, lowborn and highborn alike, and makes quite a few impressions along the way. I sometimes felt like Gibben was too naive at times, but he's also a smart young man who makes friends easily. We don't get to see any of Gibben's time in his classes other than his basic training for the army, which felt like a missed opportunity to me, especially since Gib keeps finding himself in situations where those studies would probably come in quite handy.
There were a couple of things that didn't really sit well with me. There is a small scene that borders on sexual assault - it's not followed through and is stopped before it gets anywhere - however as it involved Gib on the receiving end of unwanted attention, it just comes across kind of 1) unnecessary and 2) sleezy. He's thirteen. I get this is a world where 13 = Adulthood(ish), but when the narrative and every single character constantly calls him "boy", scenes like that just feel creepy. His budding romance with a fellow student is at least kept sweet and innocent, but even that I felt could have been held off until the characters age a little more.
One other nitpick is the overuse of epithets: Gib is constantly described as "the sentinel trainee" and his roommate Joel as "the mage trainee." It's pretty much every other paragraph and often in the same paragraph where their names are also being used.
It was a good story and easy to read. I was expecting it to be more on the side of fantasy, but while there are fantasy elements (the mages, mostly) there really isn't much magic encountered or used during the story, as we're following Gib, who is non-magical. I enjoyed seeing Gib's growth over the course of the school year (or, half-year, actually) and his group of friends have a lot of potential. I especially like Kezra. There's also a mystery of sorts to solve.
August 21, 2015
I received this book in trade for an honest review.
I was teetering between three and four stars for this one. Ultimately, it was the novelty of having an lgbt fantasy that was NOT insta-porn that bumped it up to a four. In fact, the m/m relationship was very subtle and gradual; it's refreshing to read something that doesn't shove the "omg look how sexy my gay boys are!" trope in my face.
This is an uncomplicated, 'coming of age' fantasy wherein the main character is is forced to leave his home and family behind after being conscripted to train as a soldier. As a comparison, this book reminded me of Mercedes Lackey's "Arrows of the Queen," in that it focused less on plot and more on the journey of an individual adapting to a new life while building new relationships. The conflict of a possible assassination builds in the background, and doesn't really come to fruition until the very end. The story focuses much more on interpersonal relationships, which is something that is in keeping with young adult characters.
One scene I especially enjoyed is when Tarquin, a friendly boy who is trying hard (and failing miserably) to make friends walks into the eating area. He is shown looking around for a place to sit while the other trainees pointedly spread out to keep him from sitting at their tables. Reading about him standing there, awkward and embarrassed, was especially touching to me. I work with students and see this all the time. I was elated when someone (admittedly out of pity) finally invited him to join them.
If you're looking for a fast-paced fantasy story packed with action, adventure, and intrigue, you're probably not going to be satisfied with "A Call to Arms". But if you enjoy a slow build that takes the time to establish believable situations and relationships in a fantasy setting, then this is a perfect book for you! My one complaint is that I wanted to see more magic. Still, I look forward to the next one! This is an age appropriate YA novel (No smut! Yay!) that I hope will be expanded upon in the second book.
I was teetering between three and four stars for this one. Ultimately, it was the novelty of having an lgbt fantasy that was NOT insta-porn that bumped it up to a four. In fact, the m/m relationship was very subtle and gradual; it's refreshing to read something that doesn't shove the "omg look how sexy my gay boys are!" trope in my face.
This is an uncomplicated, 'coming of age' fantasy wherein the main character is is forced to leave his home and family behind after being conscripted to train as a soldier. As a comparison, this book reminded me of Mercedes Lackey's "Arrows of the Queen," in that it focused less on plot and more on the journey of an individual adapting to a new life while building new relationships. The conflict of a possible assassination builds in the background, and doesn't really come to fruition until the very end. The story focuses much more on interpersonal relationships, which is something that is in keeping with young adult characters.
One scene I especially enjoyed is when Tarquin, a friendly boy who is trying hard (and failing miserably) to make friends walks into the eating area. He is shown looking around for a place to sit while the other trainees pointedly spread out to keep him from sitting at their tables. Reading about him standing there, awkward and embarrassed, was especially touching to me. I work with students and see this all the time. I was elated when someone (admittedly out of pity) finally invited him to join them.
If you're looking for a fast-paced fantasy story packed with action, adventure, and intrigue, you're probably not going to be satisfied with "A Call to Arms". But if you enjoy a slow build that takes the time to establish believable situations and relationships in a fantasy setting, then this is a perfect book for you! My one complaint is that I wanted to see more magic. Still, I look forward to the next one! This is an age appropriate YA novel (No smut! Yay!) that I hope will be expanded upon in the second book.
February 1, 2016
Here's the thing--I've read bad fan fiction. I've read bad books. If there are characters worth pulling for and a story that's marginally interesting I can mostly ignore terrible writing and keep reading.
I made a blatant mistake in continuing to read this; it was honestly the biggest waste of my time imaginable. I wanted to like it--the description sounded interesting, it was in a school setting with a variety of characters, and there was surprise!gay. It should have been at least palatable.
But my god this was terrible. The writing was completely awful, even for a YA novel. The dialogue was unrealistic and uncomfortable, the setting was half baked at best, the characters pretty boring and poorly written, and everything--the gay relationship itself--was so utterly unrealistic and awful i had to stop multiple times as I cringed from secondhand embarrassment.
No one talks the way these characters do. The main character is blatantly annoying and a coward--not any of the things other characters mysteriously think he is. The relationship is contrived at best. Everyone cries. All the goddamn time.
And the purple prose--my god. How many times can one book reference someone's crystal sapphire eyes--apparently at least once a page. And the ridiculous epithets? Use pronouns or their names, for the love of God. There is no justifiable reason for using "Mage trainee" and "sentinel trainee" as a replacement for pronouns and names, especially not multiple times every. Single. Page. It makes the text almost cartoonish, it's distracting and utterly ridiculous.
I can't tell if this was a self-published book or not, but for as terrible and unbelievable as the writing was I have to assume it was. I hope no self-respecting editor would allow half of the terrible writing ticks and scenes I somehow endured in this book.
Just truly terrible. Something I would have written in eighth grade, probably.
Save yourself the trouble and just read fanfiction instead; it'll probably be better written.
I made a blatant mistake in continuing to read this; it was honestly the biggest waste of my time imaginable. I wanted to like it--the description sounded interesting, it was in a school setting with a variety of characters, and there was surprise!gay. It should have been at least palatable.
But my god this was terrible. The writing was completely awful, even for a YA novel. The dialogue was unrealistic and uncomfortable, the setting was half baked at best, the characters pretty boring and poorly written, and everything--the gay relationship itself--was so utterly unrealistic and awful i had to stop multiple times as I cringed from secondhand embarrassment.
No one talks the way these characters do. The main character is blatantly annoying and a coward--not any of the things other characters mysteriously think he is. The relationship is contrived at best. Everyone cries. All the goddamn time.
And the purple prose--my god. How many times can one book reference someone's crystal sapphire eyes--apparently at least once a page. And the ridiculous epithets? Use pronouns or their names, for the love of God. There is no justifiable reason for using "Mage trainee" and "sentinel trainee" as a replacement for pronouns and names, especially not multiple times every. Single. Page. It makes the text almost cartoonish, it's distracting and utterly ridiculous.
I can't tell if this was a self-published book or not, but for as terrible and unbelievable as the writing was I have to assume it was. I hope no self-respecting editor would allow half of the terrible writing ticks and scenes I somehow endured in this book.
Just truly terrible. Something I would have written in eighth grade, probably.
Save yourself the trouble and just read fanfiction instead; it'll probably be better written.
October 21, 2014
Fantasy isn’t my genre of choice to read, but the cover art and ‘look inside’ preview drew me in and I couldn’t set the book down after that.
A Call to Arms is about an impoverished boy named Gib. Gib works on his family’s farm, struggling to support his younger brothers, but when he finds himself drafted into the army, he has to leave his brothers behind and travel into the city. While training to become a sentinel, Gib meets a delightful cast of characters, all of which I grew attached to while I was reading, especially Joel and Kezra (I really could identify with their individual plights).
Gib stumbles around his new environment, often times making hilarious blunders as he learns how to live among the highborn citizens of Silver City. The authors of A Call to Arms did a good job of getting into Gib’s head and showing the reader exactly what he was feeling. Everything Gib experienced, I felt like I was there with him.
Overall, the book was a great read. I loved the characters, the plot was interesting and wasn’t at all what I was expecting from an “epic fantasy” novel (it wasn’t your typical “let’s go save the entire world from this horrible evil” story that is told time and time again). I’ll be purchasing the next installment of the series. I can’t wait to see where Gib’s journey leads him next.
A Call to Arms is about an impoverished boy named Gib. Gib works on his family’s farm, struggling to support his younger brothers, but when he finds himself drafted into the army, he has to leave his brothers behind and travel into the city. While training to become a sentinel, Gib meets a delightful cast of characters, all of which I grew attached to while I was reading, especially Joel and Kezra (I really could identify with their individual plights).
Gib stumbles around his new environment, often times making hilarious blunders as he learns how to live among the highborn citizens of Silver City. The authors of A Call to Arms did a good job of getting into Gib’s head and showing the reader exactly what he was feeling. Everything Gib experienced, I felt like I was there with him.
Overall, the book was a great read. I loved the characters, the plot was interesting and wasn’t at all what I was expecting from an “epic fantasy” novel (it wasn’t your typical “let’s go save the entire world from this horrible evil” story that is told time and time again). I’ll be purchasing the next installment of the series. I can’t wait to see where Gib’s journey leads him next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2016
At thirteen, Gibben Nemesio is in charge of the family farm and the sole provider for his younger brothers while his older sister has joined the army to send at least a bit of money home to the boys - until Gib too is drafted into the army, forced to leave his home and siblings behind, travel to the capital and enroll in the Academy that will turn the farmboy into a soldier. His new life takes some getting used to, but at least Gib quickly makes friends, highborn and lowborn alike, and his new roommate inspires feelings Gib never expected. Then Gib overhears a conversation revealing a plot to kill the king, but noone in a position of power is likely to take his fears seriously before it's too late.
This was another of the many Kindle freebies I've picked up over the years (and will likely never manage to catch up on reading because there are just too damned many of them), and it's been sitting on my shelf for quite some time until I randomly picked it to read next. An engaging YA fantasy tale with a very sweet romance - a quick read I enjoyed quite a lot. While I have a few obvious suspects as to who's behind the plot Gib uncovered, I guess I'm just gonna have to read the sequel to see if my theory pans out.
This was another of the many Kindle freebies I've picked up over the years (and will likely never manage to catch up on reading because there are just too damned many of them), and it's been sitting on my shelf for quite some time until I randomly picked it to read next. An engaging YA fantasy tale with a very sweet romance - a quick read I enjoyed quite a lot. While I have a few obvious suspects as to who's behind the plot Gib uncovered, I guess I'm just gonna have to read the sequel to see if my theory pans out.
May 30, 2016
Reminds me of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series. Enjoyable!
May 4, 2015
Brace yourselves, this is going to be long. Even for me.
[Note: this review has what you'd probably call spoilers. There really was no way for me to put my thoughts down without getting specific. Since I didn't give away the ending, or any major plot points, I didn't tag anything...but if you think your reading experience will be colored by my opinions, if you're the type to want a totally clean slate when you start a book, then you probably want to move along. The next paragraph and the final three should be safe, though.]
I have really, really mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I liked the idea of the story, I liked the setting, and I liked the plot. Unfortunately, the execution was amateurish...and that's me being diplomatic. It's kind of bizarre, actually; the author has a fair amount of skill at stringing sentences together and drawing people in. Sadly, that ability doesn't seem to help her avoid an awful lot of writing traps.
My hopes started to deflate almost immediately. See, Gibben is a young kid – 13 – who's in charge of the family farm and his two little brothers now that his parents are dead and his older sister is off in the guards. And just a couple pages in, he gets drafted, and that was the first strain on my ability to suspend disbelief; I can't really envision a society that doesn't have draft exemptions for those situations when it's more beneficial to that society for the draftee to stay home. A council that doesn't realize you can't draft all the farmers and still have food is just too hard to believe. Of course, it was necessary that the author paint the ruling council as one that doesn't care about its peasantry. I just wish the author hadn't picked such a direct route.
Actually, that sentiment is part of recurring theme: the author is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face, and it got to the point where I was actually finding myself getting disgusted by it all. Nott's writing has absolutely no finesse.
A low-impact example is how Gib instantly decided he didn't like one of the other students when the other kid had done nothing to warrant Gib's aversion. It was so ham-fisted that it was obvious the author wrote it in to make some sort of point. (A point that never seemed to materialize, BTW.) If you're trying to write a conflict between two characters, you really need to show the readers why that conflict persists. Gib is an otherwise-kind kid, and it's hard to believe he wouldn't extend the benefit of the doubt to a student who really hadn't done anything wrong.
Or there's how certain nobles are condescending to the point of complete ridiculousness. Nott wanted to portray them as elitist, so she wrote them as the biggest, baddest elitist caricatures possible. Even stranger, the highest nobles keep finding themselves in contact with peasant-class Gib. Gib has another lower-class classmate, but it really doesn't make sense. If everyone gets drafted – come hell or high water, apparently, and who cares if the law is draconian for no real purpose – one of two things would have happened: (1) the nobility is in regular contact with peasants of all sorts, in which case their bigotry doesn't make a whole lot of sense, or (2) the nobility would've gotten sick of the unwashed masses and arranged for separate classes, including the weapons training, and they wouldn't keep showing up to chat all the time. But instead of being knee-deep in hoi polloi, tripping over urchins left and right, you've got Gib, you've got this other kid, and there they are, mixing with their betters. The draft must have pulled in more than two commoners!
Or there's how Gib's roommate is aloof, and even though the two don't seem to spend a great deal of time together – and they certainly don't seem to bond – suddenly they're BFFs. Actually, Joel (the roommate) makes for another great example of the lack of delicacy. The other characters find him rather polarizing. That'd be fine, but in actuality, we either see a character defending him to the ends of the earth, or a character spewing venom above and beyond what the situation calls for. You can make a case that someone is either loved or hated without being so...extreme.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that over and over again, the author bludgeoned us rather than subtly guided us, and I have to say, it really detracted from the experience. And in addition to the pushiness of it all, there's a distinct lack of reasonable explanations throughout.
I had a real problem with the characters' ages. Gib is 13 and Joel is 15, and I just couldn't wrap my head around that. In some ways they really do act like children, but in others, they respond to situations as though they're much, much older. The romance is pretty PG, which is good, but that, too, seems like it would've worked better with older characters. Their youth didn't seem particularly important to the storyline, either; it's almost as though the author herself forgot that the characters were as young as they were. (Even the cover makes them look like older teens.) They don't talk like kids, either, and that got a bit jarring.
Oh, and let's talk about the romance. In short, it's pretty gag-worthy. Lots of “oh, my love” and “you are my everything” and “nothing shall tear me from your side” sorts of declarations. It was all but dripping with saccharine.
I guess since I'm on a roll here, I should also point out the inconsistent convention of addressing people by both their given and their surname. It doesn't happen all the time, either, which almost makes it worse. Had I been exposed to “well hello there, Gibben Nemesio” over and over again, I'd probably have grown used to it. But when sometimes he's Gib, and sometimes he's Nemesio, hearing him called Gibben Nemesio in a regular conversation is just weird.
So, anyway, all the little details – things that, on their own, here and there, would probably have been overlookable - conspired to take what could've been an outstanding new fantasy and render it marginal at best. But no doubt you're wondering how I could write this review, pretty much skewering the book, and still give it a three star rating. I'll tell you: I still liked it. The execution wasn't great, but the author was still telling a story that I really wanted to keep reading. In fact, that's probably *why* this review is so harsh – I wouldn't have been compelled to take so much time if I hadn't felt it had some real potential. Despite what you may be thinking, I don't get a thrill out of hurting authors' feelings. As it is, I kind of want to grab the author by the shoulders and shake her, demanding she hire a quality substantive editor, and maybe a couple beta readers who've actually published stuff of their own; the story her imagination came up with deserves it.
Actually, I should take the trouble to point out that there were some things the author did quite well. (Had she not, my estimation of this book's potential would've been a lot lower.) I'm really NOT just a jerk with a red pen! Dialogue is something I've seen a lot of authors have trouble with lately, and it seems to be the number one reason for book abandonment in my house - lots of books are written by people who don't know how to write it, or who don't bother to "listen" to what it "sounds like" before typing it, and the end result is stilted and unnatural. Nott's dialogue was darn good. Another good thing is the balance between exposition and action. Though I'll say again that some of the situations seem awfully contrived to get a point across, Nott doesn't take off like a shot without letting us figure out what's going on, and neither does she fall into the info-dump trap. That's a relief. And, the pacing is just fine, and that's another thing I've seen authors struggle to get right. Either the book plods or it tries to cram too much story into the story, and the end suffers for it. I think the scope of this book is just about right.
The point of reading a review is usually to help make the decision of whether to purchase a book, and honestly, I really don't know what to tell you. The story is first-rate, and the author does really well in some areas, but in others she comes across as a complete writing amateur...so, you'll probably just have to decide for yourself whether bad technique is enough to turn you off an otherwise great tale. For what it's worth, though, I'm probably going to read the second book when it comes out. If book two ends up with the same sorts of problems as this one, I'll write the author off...but it's not unheard of for an author to hit their stride later on in a series, and I think this one deserves the chance.
[Note: this review has what you'd probably call spoilers. There really was no way for me to put my thoughts down without getting specific. Since I didn't give away the ending, or any major plot points, I didn't tag anything...but if you think your reading experience will be colored by my opinions, if you're the type to want a totally clean slate when you start a book, then you probably want to move along. The next paragraph and the final three should be safe, though.]
I have really, really mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I liked the idea of the story, I liked the setting, and I liked the plot. Unfortunately, the execution was amateurish...and that's me being diplomatic. It's kind of bizarre, actually; the author has a fair amount of skill at stringing sentences together and drawing people in. Sadly, that ability doesn't seem to help her avoid an awful lot of writing traps.
My hopes started to deflate almost immediately. See, Gibben is a young kid – 13 – who's in charge of the family farm and his two little brothers now that his parents are dead and his older sister is off in the guards. And just a couple pages in, he gets drafted, and that was the first strain on my ability to suspend disbelief; I can't really envision a society that doesn't have draft exemptions for those situations when it's more beneficial to that society for the draftee to stay home. A council that doesn't realize you can't draft all the farmers and still have food is just too hard to believe. Of course, it was necessary that the author paint the ruling council as one that doesn't care about its peasantry. I just wish the author hadn't picked such a direct route.
Actually, that sentiment is part of recurring theme: the author is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face, and it got to the point where I was actually finding myself getting disgusted by it all. Nott's writing has absolutely no finesse.
A low-impact example is how Gib instantly decided he didn't like one of the other students when the other kid had done nothing to warrant Gib's aversion. It was so ham-fisted that it was obvious the author wrote it in to make some sort of point. (A point that never seemed to materialize, BTW.) If you're trying to write a conflict between two characters, you really need to show the readers why that conflict persists. Gib is an otherwise-kind kid, and it's hard to believe he wouldn't extend the benefit of the doubt to a student who really hadn't done anything wrong.
Or there's how certain nobles are condescending to the point of complete ridiculousness. Nott wanted to portray them as elitist, so she wrote them as the biggest, baddest elitist caricatures possible. Even stranger, the highest nobles keep finding themselves in contact with peasant-class Gib. Gib has another lower-class classmate, but it really doesn't make sense. If everyone gets drafted – come hell or high water, apparently, and who cares if the law is draconian for no real purpose – one of two things would have happened: (1) the nobility is in regular contact with peasants of all sorts, in which case their bigotry doesn't make a whole lot of sense, or (2) the nobility would've gotten sick of the unwashed masses and arranged for separate classes, including the weapons training, and they wouldn't keep showing up to chat all the time. But instead of being knee-deep in hoi polloi, tripping over urchins left and right, you've got Gib, you've got this other kid, and there they are, mixing with their betters. The draft must have pulled in more than two commoners!
Or there's how Gib's roommate is aloof, and even though the two don't seem to spend a great deal of time together – and they certainly don't seem to bond – suddenly they're BFFs. Actually, Joel (the roommate) makes for another great example of the lack of delicacy. The other characters find him rather polarizing. That'd be fine, but in actuality, we either see a character defending him to the ends of the earth, or a character spewing venom above and beyond what the situation calls for. You can make a case that someone is either loved or hated without being so...extreme.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that over and over again, the author bludgeoned us rather than subtly guided us, and I have to say, it really detracted from the experience. And in addition to the pushiness of it all, there's a distinct lack of reasonable explanations throughout.
I had a real problem with the characters' ages. Gib is 13 and Joel is 15, and I just couldn't wrap my head around that. In some ways they really do act like children, but in others, they respond to situations as though they're much, much older. The romance is pretty PG, which is good, but that, too, seems like it would've worked better with older characters. Their youth didn't seem particularly important to the storyline, either; it's almost as though the author herself forgot that the characters were as young as they were. (Even the cover makes them look like older teens.) They don't talk like kids, either, and that got a bit jarring.
Oh, and let's talk about the romance. In short, it's pretty gag-worthy. Lots of “oh, my love” and “you are my everything” and “nothing shall tear me from your side” sorts of declarations. It was all but dripping with saccharine.
I guess since I'm on a roll here, I should also point out the inconsistent convention of addressing people by both their given and their surname. It doesn't happen all the time, either, which almost makes it worse. Had I been exposed to “well hello there, Gibben Nemesio” over and over again, I'd probably have grown used to it. But when sometimes he's Gib, and sometimes he's Nemesio, hearing him called Gibben Nemesio in a regular conversation is just weird.
So, anyway, all the little details – things that, on their own, here and there, would probably have been overlookable - conspired to take what could've been an outstanding new fantasy and render it marginal at best. But no doubt you're wondering how I could write this review, pretty much skewering the book, and still give it a three star rating. I'll tell you: I still liked it. The execution wasn't great, but the author was still telling a story that I really wanted to keep reading. In fact, that's probably *why* this review is so harsh – I wouldn't have been compelled to take so much time if I hadn't felt it had some real potential. Despite what you may be thinking, I don't get a thrill out of hurting authors' feelings. As it is, I kind of want to grab the author by the shoulders and shake her, demanding she hire a quality substantive editor, and maybe a couple beta readers who've actually published stuff of their own; the story her imagination came up with deserves it.
Actually, I should take the trouble to point out that there were some things the author did quite well. (Had she not, my estimation of this book's potential would've been a lot lower.) I'm really NOT just a jerk with a red pen! Dialogue is something I've seen a lot of authors have trouble with lately, and it seems to be the number one reason for book abandonment in my house - lots of books are written by people who don't know how to write it, or who don't bother to "listen" to what it "sounds like" before typing it, and the end result is stilted and unnatural. Nott's dialogue was darn good. Another good thing is the balance between exposition and action. Though I'll say again that some of the situations seem awfully contrived to get a point across, Nott doesn't take off like a shot without letting us figure out what's going on, and neither does she fall into the info-dump trap. That's a relief. And, the pacing is just fine, and that's another thing I've seen authors struggle to get right. Either the book plods or it tries to cram too much story into the story, and the end suffers for it. I think the scope of this book is just about right.
The point of reading a review is usually to help make the decision of whether to purchase a book, and honestly, I really don't know what to tell you. The story is first-rate, and the author does really well in some areas, but in others she comes across as a complete writing amateur...so, you'll probably just have to decide for yourself whether bad technique is enough to turn you off an otherwise great tale. For what it's worth, though, I'm probably going to read the second book when it comes out. If book two ends up with the same sorts of problems as this one, I'll write the author off...but it's not unheard of for an author to hit their stride later on in a series, and I think this one deserves the chance.
April 15, 2020
3.5 stars. Due to a draft, Gib has to leave his two younger brothers on the family farm that he has been running, and travel to the capital to enroll in school so that he can join the military. Unlike a lot of stories where a poor young man is ostracized when he goes to school, Gib finds friends and a love interest, who happens to be his roommate, and another male. While learning and coming to terms with his sexuality and being different, Gib also uncovers a plot to kill the king, and helps to interrupt another attempt. It's pretty obvious which characters are plotting against the government (unless the author has done a terrific job of misdirect. The story really go much further, there wasn't any imminent danger or anything that made me really need to read the next story. I think I'll check the rest of the series out, because the story was nice, and I liked the main characters, but I'm not in a rush.
October 15, 2022
Parts of this were good: there were shades of Alanna the First Adventure in this, except with a young gay peasant rather than a crossdressing highborn lady. They both become friends with a prince and have to learn to navigate court and balance their studies with actual sleeping. But Gib is dumb as a damn rock sometimes (who is the dark haired man surrounded by royal guardsmen watching the prince's training session? Could it, I dunno, be the goddamn KING? You make my head hurt, Gib). The romance is sweet and slow as Gib hadn't realized he liked boys rather than girls, but the overwhelming homophobia from their society made me at turns sad and enraged. And honestly, even not having read any of the later books I have a really good guess who the other person with the assassin was and who is behind the plot to kill the king.
So in summary, I liked it for the most part but I'm not sure I liked it enough to look for more of the series.
So in summary, I liked it for the most part but I'm not sure I liked it enough to look for more of the series.
January 22, 2019
DNF at 40%
There are quite a few issues I had with this bfore I got to 40%, and there are some good things too. It's all basically a repeat of what other reviews have stated, from over-repetition, to focusing well on issues like acceptance and political openness.
I didn't like how "otherworldly" some of the talking was and yet they say things like ass and shit. The dialogue is so choppy and inconsistent.
But I drew the mother effing line at having A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD BOY BEING CAT-CALLED BY HIS MALE AND FEMALE FRIENDS WHO ARE THE SAME AGE FOR BEING MOLESTED BY A PROSTITUTE.
What the HELL part of "no I don't want a part of it" is difficult to understand among people who seem to be so bloody understanding beforehand?
And why the hell would the authors think this is good content?!?!?!
I feel physically sick because there was no reason to include that scene here.
There are quite a few issues I had with this bfore I got to 40%, and there are some good things too. It's all basically a repeat of what other reviews have stated, from over-repetition, to focusing well on issues like acceptance and political openness.
I didn't like how "otherworldly" some of the talking was and yet they say things like ass and shit. The dialogue is so choppy and inconsistent.
But I drew the mother effing line at having A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD BOY BEING CAT-CALLED BY HIS MALE AND FEMALE FRIENDS WHO ARE THE SAME AGE FOR BEING MOLESTED BY A PROSTITUTE.
What the HELL part of "no I don't want a part of it" is difficult to understand among people who seem to be so bloody understanding beforehand?
And why the hell would the authors think this is good content?!?!?!
I feel physically sick because there was no reason to include that scene here.
January 8, 2025
I hate historical fiction, hate political intrigue and I want nothing to do with court or royalty or "highborns". And yet, this book convinced me to give it a high rating by presenting deliciously multidimensional characters. No one is a puppet of the plot, they get their strings yanked around by the politics but they stay firmly rooted in their own beliefs. The plot is, surprisingly, not hard to follow even when I'm drowning in hundreds of characters. And I really love the protagonist and I enjoyed his journey. The queer romance subplot is also great because you get to see other widespread and well-held prejudices and bigotry in this world, while also seeing how each of the main ensemble of characters reacts to it or resists it. A great start to a trilogy and I cannot wait to read the other two.
December 21, 2017
Very much young adult. It was pretty immature. The opening on the farm was kinda awful and the plot was a bit unbelievable... but I somehow still enjoyed it. Don't come in expecting hot sex scenes. The romance elements are pretty light. Although there is a bit of tonal confusion between the epic fantasy elements and the romance elements. I don't think I can really recommend this book. It isn't great. But I still kinda want to read more.
June 17, 2020
Good start.
The beginning of this book was a really good start. To me it dragged and I felt the chapters where way too long.
The novel reads like young adult novel. Setting at a school for magic students and military and other academic.
Things I liked in this book was women can go to this school and do whatever they want. Despite others against it.
The budding love between Gib & Jole.
The story was okay . Not really for me so I dont think I'll continue with the series.
The beginning of this book was a really good start. To me it dragged and I felt the chapters where way too long.
The novel reads like young adult novel. Setting at a school for magic students and military and other academic.
Things I liked in this book was women can go to this school and do whatever they want. Despite others against it.
The budding love between Gib & Jole.
The story was okay . Not really for me so I dont think I'll continue with the series.
November 12, 2020
Unfortunately the protagonist Gibben came across to me as totally unlikable. The self-deprecating, cringe worthy thoughts of inferiority that this character had up until I abandoned the book about 65% in, basically ruined it for me. I was so looking forward to a good lgbt fantasy book which arrears enough but I just couldn’t take this main character’s personality anymore.
January 14, 2018
A wonderful journey that included some of my favourite things: fantasy, adventure, magic, realistic characters, love, and some wonderful platonic friendships often not found in today's literature. Love the world building and imaginative plot. One of my all-time favourites.
September 14, 2025
Young adult story of a farmer going to the academy! Love between roommates!
How can a commoner do well at the academy? You make friends with some of the nobility! Arden is having unrest this is going to be a lovely series! Enjoyed book one so on to book two!
How can a commoner do well at the academy? You make friends with some of the nobility! Arden is having unrest this is going to be a lovely series! Enjoyed book one so on to book two!
May 31, 2017
A very interesting book! Wish there was more magic use, but the story kept me engaged. It was definitely more youth oriented than I initially expected but not a bad read overall.
July 3, 2017
2.5 stars.
May 9, 2019
Nicely paced, fairly well-developed characters, not overly descriptive, could use a bit more backstory. A fairly good read, enough to make me want to read Book Two.
April 24, 2016
I'm a sucker for Amazon freebies, though I'm alarmingly picky about them even when I'm not paying for them. But this one got my attention for a number of reasons: it's a shorter book, it's by an author I have not yet heard of, and it's LGBTQ+ - something of a rarity especially in high fantasy, and something I'm always keen to see more of.
A Call To Arms is a sweet, solid, charming little book. In many ways it reminds me of Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice - with a young male protagonist of low origin thrust into a courtly situation he's not at all well equipped to navigate, and all the unlikely friends and adventures he has along the way. A Call To Arms, however, is not quite so bound up in politicking and worldbuilding, and much more focussed on the growth of our hero, Gib. I'm more of a fan of side characters, but while I was immediately interested in Kezra, Tarquin and the rest, Gib still held my attention and sympathies well.
The story is fairly uncomplicated, as are its messages. I'm possibly a fair bit older than the target demographic, and thus was not at all surprised by any of the plot twists or revelations (and in fact saw a fair few of them coming from leagues before the characters did) but I couldn't bring myself to look down on the book because it, much like Gib himself, has a forthright, honest and very good intention about it. The messages of tolerance, of acceptance, co-operation and not judging based on circumstance or prejudice are all solidly presented, if a little lacking in complex nuance.
But I must not do the book a dis-service on those grounds - the very setting, of a typical feudal kingdom being made to gradually come to terms with whom I can only refer to as a socialist king, is interesting and really quite remarkable, especially for the genre and age group. And while the characters are fairly easy to bracket off into "goodies and baddies" in many ways, the intent is heartfelt and charming.
The LGBTQ+ aspect, which takes the form of a romance, is nothing spectacular, but again that is excusable. Gib and Joel are expressly stated to be only 13 and 15 respectively, and the book is much more focussed on the narrative going on around them, to which the romance is a well-paced and well-portrayed accompaniment. There are some genuinely sweet moments between the two, though I must confess to remaining a little ill-at-ease with the concept of a 13-year-old being a "man" in the eyes of society, and entering into a serious relationship with anyone. This is, however, addressed in the text, albeit briefly, and so I have no major qualms about it.
A final note on the writing itself; it is fairly uncomplicated and easy to read, though I can detect no real rhyme or reason within the characters names (they remind me a little of the names I used to make by slamming the keyboard and arranging a few vowels in places, especially the slightly odd last names). And a tiny personal bugbear; there is nothing wrong with saying a character's hair is black. One more description of 'onyx' or 'raven' colour, and I think I might start gnawing my own fingers. However, the writing is not entirely without merit - the whole book was much, much funnier than I was expecting it to be, with some genuinely clever humour and well-timed jokes in places that made the whole process very, very enjoyable indeed.
All in all, a solid, enjoyable little book, charming and fun despite, perhaps a lack of polish, depth or complexity in spots. Thoroughly recommended if anyone's reading list is in need of a little spot of sunshine on a wet Sunday afternoon.
A Call To Arms is a sweet, solid, charming little book. In many ways it reminds me of Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice - with a young male protagonist of low origin thrust into a courtly situation he's not at all well equipped to navigate, and all the unlikely friends and adventures he has along the way. A Call To Arms, however, is not quite so bound up in politicking and worldbuilding, and much more focussed on the growth of our hero, Gib. I'm more of a fan of side characters, but while I was immediately interested in Kezra, Tarquin and the rest, Gib still held my attention and sympathies well.
The story is fairly uncomplicated, as are its messages. I'm possibly a fair bit older than the target demographic, and thus was not at all surprised by any of the plot twists or revelations (and in fact saw a fair few of them coming from leagues before the characters did) but I couldn't bring myself to look down on the book because it, much like Gib himself, has a forthright, honest and very good intention about it. The messages of tolerance, of acceptance, co-operation and not judging based on circumstance or prejudice are all solidly presented, if a little lacking in complex nuance.
But I must not do the book a dis-service on those grounds - the very setting, of a typical feudal kingdom being made to gradually come to terms with whom I can only refer to as a socialist king, is interesting and really quite remarkable, especially for the genre and age group. And while the characters are fairly easy to bracket off into "goodies and baddies" in many ways, the intent is heartfelt and charming.
The LGBTQ+ aspect, which takes the form of a romance, is nothing spectacular, but again that is excusable. Gib and Joel are expressly stated to be only 13 and 15 respectively, and the book is much more focussed on the narrative going on around them, to which the romance is a well-paced and well-portrayed accompaniment. There are some genuinely sweet moments between the two, though I must confess to remaining a little ill-at-ease with the concept of a 13-year-old being a "man" in the eyes of society, and entering into a serious relationship with anyone. This is, however, addressed in the text, albeit briefly, and so I have no major qualms about it.
A final note on the writing itself; it is fairly uncomplicated and easy to read, though I can detect no real rhyme or reason within the characters names (they remind me a little of the names I used to make by slamming the keyboard and arranging a few vowels in places, especially the slightly odd last names). And a tiny personal bugbear; there is nothing wrong with saying a character's hair is black. One more description of 'onyx' or 'raven' colour, and I think I might start gnawing my own fingers. However, the writing is not entirely without merit - the whole book was much, much funnier than I was expecting it to be, with some genuinely clever humour and well-timed jokes in places that made the whole process very, very enjoyable indeed.
All in all, a solid, enjoyable little book, charming and fun despite, perhaps a lack of polish, depth or complexity in spots. Thoroughly recommended if anyone's reading list is in need of a little spot of sunshine on a wet Sunday afternoon.
October 6, 2016
I didn't enjoy this book very much. I'm giving it two stars instead of one, because I feel like there is the seed of a decent book in there somewhere, although it really doesn't manage to blossom.
I'm an avid fanfic reader, and I've written it too. It's very easy to accidentally write characters that are too perfect. I've also read a lot of published books with too-perfect characters, and it isn't something that usually bothers me. So I don't throw around the term "Mary Sue," because I don't really have a problem with Mary Sues, and also because I don't usually mind it when writers create highly idealized characters - especially writers who belong to and/or are portraying members of marginalized groups.
But Gib, wow. Not only is he a Mary Sue, but beyond that, I don't agree with the morals or character traits that the authors put out there as perfect and pure.
This was an incredibly slow read for me, because I was constantly bored; I never felt engaged with the characters. Gib is a sort of standard YA blank-slate type of hero. I could not tell you many of his individual personality traits, other than the Mary-Sue stuff. His love interest, Joel, is painfully sweet. He's also a mage trainee, but we only see him do magic once in the entire book. Gib has a few friends, too, but they are all underdeveloped characters. The only one who gets a small amount of attention is the lone female in the group, Kezra, who is of course sharp-tongued and physically strong; it's implied that she's learning to be a fighter because her father disapproves. I rolled my eyes a lot reading this book.
Good and evil are really simplistic here. It was easy from the moment characters were introduced to know if they were evil or not, because the villains were almost all classist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, etc. It's okay if a villain is one or more of those things, sure, but it's somewhat lazy to use bigotry as a villain's sole character trait, for every villain.
The plot did not really start taking shape until about 30% into the book, and the mystery does not get solved in book one. I can't really complain about that, as I picked it up knowing it was the start of a series. But I don't want to keep reading the series.
The romance was okay, pretty much what I expected from a book with young protagonists, but it is not worth reading the book for. There are also epithets: "the mage trainee," "the older boy," "the sentinel trainee." Pronouns would've made sense in all the sentences in which the authors used epithets.
Overall, if this book had been maybe a third of its length, and everything had gotten moving much more quickly, I would've enjoyed it much more and overlooked a lot of its flaws.
I'm an avid fanfic reader, and I've written it too. It's very easy to accidentally write characters that are too perfect. I've also read a lot of published books with too-perfect characters, and it isn't something that usually bothers me. So I don't throw around the term "Mary Sue," because I don't really have a problem with Mary Sues, and also because I don't usually mind it when writers create highly idealized characters - especially writers who belong to and/or are portraying members of marginalized groups.
But Gib, wow. Not only is he a Mary Sue, but beyond that, I don't agree with the morals or character traits that the authors put out there as perfect and pure.
This was an incredibly slow read for me, because I was constantly bored; I never felt engaged with the characters. Gib is a sort of standard YA blank-slate type of hero. I could not tell you many of his individual personality traits, other than the Mary-Sue stuff. His love interest, Joel, is painfully sweet. He's also a mage trainee, but we only see him do magic once in the entire book. Gib has a few friends, too, but they are all underdeveloped characters. The only one who gets a small amount of attention is the lone female in the group, Kezra, who is of course sharp-tongued and physically strong; it's implied that she's learning to be a fighter because her father disapproves. I rolled my eyes a lot reading this book.
Good and evil are really simplistic here. It was easy from the moment characters were introduced to know if they were evil or not, because the villains were almost all classist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, etc. It's okay if a villain is one or more of those things, sure, but it's somewhat lazy to use bigotry as a villain's sole character trait, for every villain.
The plot did not really start taking shape until about 30% into the book, and the mystery does not get solved in book one. I can't really complain about that, as I picked it up knowing it was the start of a series. But I don't want to keep reading the series.
The romance was okay, pretty much what I expected from a book with young protagonists, but it is not worth reading the book for. There are also epithets: "the mage trainee," "the older boy," "the sentinel trainee." Pronouns would've made sense in all the sentences in which the authors used epithets.
Overall, if this book had been maybe a third of its length, and everything had gotten moving much more quickly, I would've enjoyed it much more and overlooked a lot of its flaws.
May 27, 2016
I was given a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Well...this book certainly wasn't what I was expecting from the summary. And not in a good way.
The description made the book sound exactly like something I would enjoy--a teenage boy who is solely responsible for his younger siblings gets conscripted into the army and has to train at their academy, and along the way he makes friends and falls in love with his roommate. LGBT-friendly fantasy YA. I was all over that. But then I started reading. None of my expectations were met. I continued on, somewhat despairingly, as this book failed to live up to anything I wanted it to be.
First, let's talk about the world-building. It doesn't make much sense. This culture worships two creator Goddesses (whose story is given to us in the info-dumpy form of Gib reading a myth about them in a fairy tale book), has no male deities to speak of, and yet...it's patrilineal and patriarchal. Gib's friend Kezra is frowned upon by the more conservative members of society for being a girl in the soldier's training track at the Academy. Joel's brother openly scorns women in general, and women soldiers in particular, as not knowing their place. Why the hell would a culture that only worships female deities and has no male gods whatsoever, let alone male gods in a higher authority, be this sexist? It doesn't make any sense.
In addition to that, the plot line about Gib overhearing a plan to assassinate the king takes a backseat to pretty much everything else in this book. When it does pop up, it's not handled very well. People consistently tell Gib that the king is too well guarded for an assassination attempt to work, and then act surprised when someone tries to kill the king anyway. The romance scenes are full of purple prose. "Joel's lips tasted like sweet despair" is a real, actual sentence in this book. I'm not making that up. The author actually wrote that. Not to mention that there are countless incidents of clunky replacements for names--the mage trainee, the sentinel trainee, the older boy, etc. These types of things are okay when used sparingly, but really, once you know a character's name, you shouldn't be using these other terms. Just refer to them by their names or their appropriate pronouns. Going out of your way to avoid using names is a sign of amateur writing. And really, that's what this book is. It's an amateur novel. It's the book you write to learn how to write a book. You write it, you edit it, and then you leave it alone while you write better books and if, after you've written a handful more, you still think that first book is redeemable, you rewrite it again from the ground up. You don't write the book, edit it yourself, and then self-publish it. Because people will notice that it's not up to par.
This entire book was such a disappointment. The description was on point, interesting and engaging. But it failed to measure up the standard it gave itself in its summary.
I do have to say, though, that in general, I liked the characters. Even though there was very little if any development in their storylines and personalities, they were usually quite likeable. If they'd been developed further and contributed more to the story overall, I might have raised my rating to 2.5 stars. But alas, it was not to be.
I honestly can't recommend this book to anybody, and if I wasn't given a copy specifically to review, I wouldn't have finished it at all.
Well...this book certainly wasn't what I was expecting from the summary. And not in a good way.
The description made the book sound exactly like something I would enjoy--a teenage boy who is solely responsible for his younger siblings gets conscripted into the army and has to train at their academy, and along the way he makes friends and falls in love with his roommate. LGBT-friendly fantasy YA. I was all over that. But then I started reading. None of my expectations were met. I continued on, somewhat despairingly, as this book failed to live up to anything I wanted it to be.
First, let's talk about the world-building. It doesn't make much sense. This culture worships two creator Goddesses (whose story is given to us in the info-dumpy form of Gib reading a myth about them in a fairy tale book), has no male deities to speak of, and yet...it's patrilineal and patriarchal. Gib's friend Kezra is frowned upon by the more conservative members of society for being a girl in the soldier's training track at the Academy. Joel's brother openly scorns women in general, and women soldiers in particular, as not knowing their place. Why the hell would a culture that only worships female deities and has no male gods whatsoever, let alone male gods in a higher authority, be this sexist? It doesn't make any sense.
In addition to that, the plot line about Gib overhearing a plan to assassinate the king takes a backseat to pretty much everything else in this book. When it does pop up, it's not handled very well. People consistently tell Gib that the king is too well guarded for an assassination attempt to work, and then act surprised when someone tries to kill the king anyway. The romance scenes are full of purple prose. "Joel's lips tasted like sweet despair" is a real, actual sentence in this book. I'm not making that up. The author actually wrote that. Not to mention that there are countless incidents of clunky replacements for names--the mage trainee, the sentinel trainee, the older boy, etc. These types of things are okay when used sparingly, but really, once you know a character's name, you shouldn't be using these other terms. Just refer to them by their names or their appropriate pronouns. Going out of your way to avoid using names is a sign of amateur writing. And really, that's what this book is. It's an amateur novel. It's the book you write to learn how to write a book. You write it, you edit it, and then you leave it alone while you write better books and if, after you've written a handful more, you still think that first book is redeemable, you rewrite it again from the ground up. You don't write the book, edit it yourself, and then self-publish it. Because people will notice that it's not up to par.
This entire book was such a disappointment. The description was on point, interesting and engaging. But it failed to measure up the standard it gave itself in its summary.
I do have to say, though, that in general, I liked the characters. Even though there was very little if any development in their storylines and personalities, they were usually quite likeable. If they'd been developed further and contributed more to the story overall, I might have raised my rating to 2.5 stars. But alas, it was not to be.
I honestly can't recommend this book to anybody, and if I wasn't given a copy specifically to review, I wouldn't have finished it at all.
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