The Heirs of Lydin

The Ap'Lydin Chronicles #1

by Aidan Hennessy

Ever since the brutal murder of his parents at the hands of a cult, Bellaydin Ap’Lydin has spent his entire life as the only human in a land of elves. Here, he and his half-sister Polnygar are barely tolerated, especially by the arrogant Spellweaver Lord Ivellios with his dreams of a purified elven kingdom. But after Polnygar stows away on a visiting envoy’s ship, and Bellaydin is accused of murder, their whole world changes.
Far from home and each other, they form new alliances and face challenges of their own. Assassins and cultists trail the siblings’ every step in the name of their ancestor, General Lydin, and a lost artefact, the Tears of the Divine. As friends and family suffer death and misfortune, and the shadowy Horned God manipulates events from afar, the siblings are drawn into the prophecy of the Heir of Lydin. But is Bellaydin or Polnygar the Heir? Or is that a secret they should leave buried?

Genres: Fantasy

466 pages, Paperback

First published October 3, 2015

About the author

Aidan Hennessy lives in Canberra, Australia, with his wife, three children and two ginger cats. He spends his days fighting that most tenacious of foes, procrastination.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a Kindle copy of The Heirs of Lydin from the author for an honest review and am pleased to say that I enjoyed it.

I read this after reading Aidan's short story The Grey Mage, which gave me some background on a few of the characters involved and some of the world building. (Also well worth a read and a useful way to introduce yourself to this book).

Some of the character names were a little difficult to pronounce at first but I soon found my own way of referencing those people. (Actually, Polnygar and her mother could have been jumbled about to be read as two very famous characters: Aglaranna the elf queen from Feist's books and Polgara the sorceress from Eddings'). And, like those two masters of the fantasy genre, Aidan really knows how to set the scene.

If you liked Tolkien, Feist and Eddings you will like this too. It has Elves (Eldara) and they are just as haughty and toffee-nosed as they were in TLOTR. There are a great many characters in this book that I like, but my favourites would have to be Bellaydin, Polnygar and Kahlaf el'Lahn. There are others with the potential to become favourites too but these three were the stand-outs for me. I also like Aelzandar, (who appears in The Grey Mage) as it's always nice to have what you might describe as a historical character element.

There are few Ap'Lydins left in the world and only one of them can be the true heir, but which? Who are the assassins that pursue Bellaydin and Polnygar? Whom do they serve? What is Ivellios up to? Can Aelzandar protect an ancient artefact from being found and misused? Will Bellaydin and Polnygar find their true calling?

This book has battles, magic, assassins, intrigue and the hints of future romances. The world building is very good and the appendices at the end show how much time and effort has been lavished upon this novel.

I think this series has great potential, though that is just my opinion. If you like your fantasy to be more in the old-style (honest and without bad language) then this is for you. I for one shall be looking forward to the next instalment.

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a physical copy of this from the author – thank you! I’m trying to build up an entire bookshelf of books sent to me by authors so I love it when they send me stuff 😀 I had read The Grey Mage for my 100 SPFBO book challenge last year, it is connected to this series, but this series stands on its own – you definitely don’t have to read that first to understand what’s going on. However, the MC of that book is a player in this one as well, so you will have a more background on his character if you’ve read that first.

Bellaydin is a young man, a young human man growing up in an elf/Eldara society. He’s seventeen, both of his parents are dead but no one has told him how or why. He feels he has this lost connection with his homeland and his family that he’s dying to know more about, but his questions are always shunted aside. He’s been adopted by his half-sister’s mom, Seagralanna, who also happens to be an Eldara. The Eldaren society doesn’t look kindly on relationships between elves and humans, and they certainly don’t like the idea of someone being a part of both running around in their kingdom, so as much as they don’t like Bel, they REALLY don’t like his sister, Pol. By Eldara standards, humans are considered ugly, pitiful, and beneath the Eldara’s notice. One of the Council members, Illevios, takes particular offense to Bel’s presence and makes as many digs at Seagralanna as possible, especially during Council meetings.

Both Bel and his sister Pol want to leave the Aspen Kingdom in search of a life where they could be accepted and live a normal life. However, Seagralanna is having none of it, she thinks they’re too young, too vulnerable, and the world too dangerous for them. When an ambassador from her homeland comes to visit the Council and ask for aid, Pol stows away on his ship when he leaves, only to have a rude awakening that she isn’t wanted there, and is nearly tossed off the side of the ship. When they finally come into port, she’s in a kingdom that resembles ancient Egypt. The rulers are known as Pharoah’s, they are considered more like Gods than Kings, and the climate is dry and hot with lots of sand. While in the city she gets cornered by would-be murderers, they had her on her knees with a crossbow pointed at her, but somehow she manages to light them all on fire. That had never happened before and she didn’t even know that she was capable of spell weaving. She caught the attention of Aelzander, the archmage that advises the Pharoah, and he takes her on as an apprentice.

Meanwhile, Bel is still back in the land of the elves, and things are getting intense. A stranger approaches Bel and tells him that he’s in danger. He had never met the man before, but he seemed to know everything about Bel’s life. It really creeps him out and he tries to back away, but the guy tells him he needs to leave the land of the Elves and hide, because he’s the Heir of Lydin, and the cult of the Horned God is coming for him.

There’s a bunch of POV’s, so it’s hard to tell the whole story here, but there’s another POV, William, who is Bel’s and Pol’s cousin. He’s an Earl in the human lands, and he’s convinced they are about to be invaded by their rivals to the south. The people of Gorrinchia fervently worship the Horned God, are responsible for many assassinations, and every few years they try and raid Emparia without success. This time, however, William is getting an ominous feeling that things are different. There are strange murders happening, and a build-up of tension on the border with the Gorrinchians not seeming to fear any retribution for their raids. William suspects that their growing confidence could mean unseen forces working in favor of the Gorrinchians, and that maybe the next time they attack they won’t be put down so easily.

There’s a ton of world-building in this one, you get to see so much of the world because both of the kids are traveling, but not in the same direction. There’s a lot of thought put into the nomenclature as well, but it can get confusing because family members all have similar names and some of them can be quite long e.g. Seagralanna and Seagras. This is a very old school mystical kind of book, there are Seers, warlocks, dragons, crystal balls, spells, wizards, elves, lizard people etc. So, if you’re looking for a ton of fantasy races of all kinds, this one would be for you. Some of it can get a little info-dumpy, when Pol is studying under the Archmage she gets short history lessons and things like that, it wasn’t so bad though because it makes sense within context, and the dialogue was broken up rather than long paragraphs of monologuing.

The writing itself was fine, but the book needs a bit of editing because there are a bunch of quotation marks facing the wrong way, letters dropped off words, and periods in the wrong places. It wasn’t so bad that I was really distracted, but I did notice it when I hit them. There wasn’t any cursing in this, so if you’re looking for ‘cleaner’ writing or something suitable for a younger audience this could work.

This is a slower burn kind of book in the beginning, it takes a while to get to know a rather large cast of main characters and side characters that all get POV’s, and sometimes it can be a while until you round back on certain POV’s so it can be a little jumpy in places. However, for the most part, you know the characters that are being introduced later on so it’s not a feeling of starting all over again from scratch, you’re already aware of who they are and how they probably fit into the story. By around the halfway point things really pick up and it’s a fast read from there on out – it’s also not terribly long with the physical book being 380 pgs.

All in all, I feel like this was an improvement from Grey Mage and I really liked seeing Aelzander again – I liked him a lot in the first series.


Audience:
elves/lots of fantasy races
lots of plotlines
heavy world building
multi pov
high fantasy
non human pov


Ratings:

Plot: 11.5/15
Characters: 11.5/15
World Building: 13/15
Writing: 10/15
Pacing: 10.5/15
Originality: 11/15
Personal Enjoyment: 7.5/10

Final Score: 75/100 (3.75/5 on GR – recommended)

[C.E. Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Heirs of Lydin” is a fantasy journey of truly epic proportions. Hennessy weaves together immense world building alongside a large cast of main and supporting characters, with a magic system that, while familiar, still feels right at home in the world Hennessy presents to his readers. The story does follow the formula you see most often in these hero journeys with a “prophesized one” but I didn’t mind it as I liked the mystery of who the true Heir of Lydin was, and why if the Heir is supposed to be some sort of savior character that the people this prophesized hero is supposed to lead, would work so hard to kill the Heir before they could fulfill whatever this prophecy is. While I enjoyed this epic fantasy, there were a few things that kept me from really loving it. But Hennessy does include elves and a slew of other fantasy based creatures in his world, and you know me, I’m a sucker for elves.

Let me start by saying how much I enjoyed the world building in this novel. Hennessy sat down and drew a map of his world, labeled all the places, figured out all the different races that inhabit his world, and then figured out where those people lived in a way that made total sense, both with the kinds of people who live in these various lands, and how long it takes his characters to travel. I really appreciate that level of detail as it makes the world feel all the more immersive, and outside of a few instances that felt like a data dump early on in the story, Hennessy allows the reader to discover these lands alongside his main characters so the world building, for the most part, feels organic. All in all, Hennessy’s attention to detail created a world with some serious Shannara Chronicles vibes.

My only real “issue” with this novel is with the cultists and villains that are present in the story. I won’t give anything away that may be considered a spoiler, but the foes who hunt Bellaydin and Polnygar are exceptionally good at hounding them. Like to the point that these assassins know where these siblings are, and where they are going, before the siblings themselves. It just felt too improbable for me to find it believable (I know, believability in a fantasy story? But, well, yes!) and it often times took me out of the flow of the plot, and had me rolling my eyes. There is a fun mystery around who these cultists are, and what their ultimate goal is, but they were just too good at tracking our main characters down and causing them grief, especially when the main characters have no clue what’s going on, or why.

This did lead to the ending, where things are still murky as to what’s going on and who is pulling the strings behind the scenes. There are hints of massive betrayals and epic showdowns on the horizon, which makes me really excited for the next book in the series, but I would have liked a few more questions to have been answered going into the next book. “The Heirs of Lydin” does a great job setting up for what’s to come next, but I would have appreciated it if it also felt like more of its own complete story. But it’s certainly not enough to keep me from wanting to read the next book (which is already out!).

If you are a fan of well thought out high fantasy novels that follow along with a hero/prophecy story, then you’re going to like this novel. It does require a reader who is more patient though, so despite the ages of the main characters (Bellaydin felt more like a 15 year-old to me then 18), this book is better suited to avid readers who are willing to sit down and put the time into it, as it’s not a quick read, but a rewarding one nonetheless. Also, and this is more of just a personal preference of mine but is something you see fantasy stories being guilty of most often, the names of most characters really threw me. They are so … fantasy based that I often tripped over them, trying to figure out how to say them. It would have felt odd if the characters were named “Bob” and “Susy”, but still, trying to figure out how to say Polnygar’s name each time it comes up always slowed me down…. That being said, I did enjoy this book as Hennessy is a wonderful fantasy author! I’m giving this a well-deserved 4.25 stars. Thank you so much to the author for providing me with a copy!

[Reader's Hollow · Rating 4 out of 5]

**We received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

Reviewed by Aninidta C. at The Reader's Hollow

Genre:

An epic Fantasy written in the classic Tolkien-style, with a cluster of Heroes (a heroine too) who may or may not be the said Heirs of Lydin.

Book cover:

I liked the smart cover. I can only speculate that the tree represents the Ap'Lydin genealogy (apple tree?) or the forests of Aderilund.

Book review:

Races and characters:
The races like Elves (Eldara), Human (Several types) are pretty much same as the usual epic fantasy novels based on Western myth and folklore, but the author has introduced some races inspired by middle eastern countries, a welcome change from the usual. One such example is the Macrodonian empire which remarkably resembles the Egyptian civilization while Quarld is a sultanate of Bedouin tribes (Arabs). Ahkhtarran sounds similar to Akhtar, an Urdu/Arabic name.

​The elves, human, lizard men and other beings who follow different Gods and fight against each other for power and vengeance, all in the name of faith.
The elvish mages are similar to video games, though the character of the Archmage of Macrodonia, Aelzander is quite entertaining.

I found the Goriinchian tribe particularly interesting. They worship the Horned God, whose origin and physical attributes are not very clear in this book, probably by intention. I want to ask the author about his inspiration for the Horned God, though I found plenty of gods or godlike creatures with horns from different folklores of the world (Wiccan, Neopaganism).

The characters of Bellaydin, Polnygar, Augustine are interesting. Bellaydin's character nicely evolves from a teenage boy not fitting anywhere, into a confident, protector of the Ap'lydin house. The book leaves us with the promise of further opportunities of development for the main characters, namely the Ap’Lydin half-siblings.

Ivellios, a spell weaver with a nasty streak, is a fun character, not-so-secretly causing murder and mayhem. I liked (or enjoyed hating) his antics.

Some of the names were difficult to pronounce, a common complaint among fantasy readers. The book has an appendix at the end. I wish pronunciations were suggested there (seriously).

Story:

Several topics run together throughout the story.

1. The racial superiority of Elves, frowning upon human or "Mal-halyth" and detesting them for their 'ugliness'.
2. Goriinchians and Emparians at war.
3. Gorinchiians call the lands of Goriinchia and Emparia as Karlicia and want to unite both under one God.
4. A difference of faith serves as the cause of war, a concept that runs parallel with the Crusaders or Jihadis of our world.
5. Wariness of Macrodonians towards magic and resulting witch hunt.
6. Mages pursue an ancient magical artifact

The Ap'lydins are the focus of this novel. One of the present descendants may or may not be the proverbial 'Heir of Lydin' and parties of the religious war are looking for them. The Goriinchians and Emparians fight against each other for the powerplay and authority over the fertile land of Emparia which they both claim to own?

The story starts slow, initially too descriptive, but gradually picks up the tempo as we cross one-third of the book.
The author has a naturally beautiful flow and consistent style of writing. I enjoyed the smooth transitions of POV, particularly mentionable when there are so many characters.

The second half of the book is fast paced, action packed. I loved the chapter when Bellaydin rescues William from the Gorinchiian clutches. The battle sequences in Castle Wishapton remind me of Peter Jackson's LOTR, the scene on the defence of Helm's Deep precisely.

CONCLUSION:

I liked the book.

I would have loved it if the first half had matched the action of the second. I do and want to read the next in line, trusting that the plot will be more gripping since there is so much more left in the story.

I like maps so thanks, Aidan Hennessy for including them.

I hope to see Morgan, the Gorinschiian war chief's daughter in a larger role next book. I wonder when we will get to know the characters who had appeared in the Prologue.

The Heirs of Lydin is first of the series The Ap'Lydin Chronicles, leaving us hints of exciting possibilities of betrayal, hot pursuit, and excellent fight scenes.

This book is perfect for a long weekend after a tough week, a mug of hot chocolate and a blanket (all good books should come with blankets, don't you think?). If you want a lighter version of GOT with some humour, this is your book.

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a beautiful story. I would love to read the next one. In a way, this book reminds me of a show I watched called "The Shannara Chronicles". I really enjoyed this book as much as I enjoy this TV show. The characters are exciting to follow. " I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, I would like to thank the author for giving me the chance to read this book for free in exchange for an honest review. I am always excited to read books by new and upcoming authors as there are often interesting stories to be found that I may not find otherwise, either because they are not available in print, or because it is a genre I do not tend to read.

I will stress that this is my opinion only. I am an avid reader so always enthusiastic but as a teacher in a previous life I can be rather critical. However, I do try to see the potential in everything that I read and have discovered some great diamonds in my time reading and reviewing books by unknown authors.

What is it?

Book: The Heirs of Lydin by Aidan Hennessy

The Heirs of Lydin is the first in a series of epic fantasy novels aimed at older children and young adults. It follows the two main characters, Bellaydin and Polnygar, who get caught up in the battles of elves, humans and the Goriinchians – a human clan that are hostile to the other human clans in the area. As this is the first book, there is a lot of build up over action, with the pieces being put into place for promises of more to come. However, unlike some books from a series it is a complete story and can be read on its own merit.
Before going into this book in more detail, I will say that it is a worthy read, although there are some issues with the characterisation and plot. As others have mentioned it can be an awkward read at times and doesn’t really hit its stride until well into the second half.

There may be some mild spoilers ahead but they shouldn’t affect your enjoyment of the book.

The Good

The story and premise is a decent one and I liked the thought that went into the world that has been created here. The Goriinchians in particular are an interesting group and I was disappointed that we didn’t get too much time with them outside of seeing them from the eyes of Bellaydin and the other heroes. I would like to see more time with Morgan in particular as I felt that she was underrepresented besides being a catalyst for Bellaydin to progress. Whilst there are a lot of flaws with the characterisation of this clan (see below), I found them to be promising, particularly when we saw them in the final chapters. Hopefully the specific characters highlighted in the Goriinchian clan get more time in the next book.
I also liked the characterisation of the elves. Adding a nasty streak of racism was a nice touch to a race that are often seen as being the best of everything. Whilst this is still the case here, it is refreshing to see that they are not the noblest and wisest of the races but are actually bitter and self-involved, potentially proving more of a foil to the other races than a magic bullet.
Whilst I was initially sceptical, Khalaf became by far my favourite character in the book. He is the most well rounded and fleshed out and whilst we do not get nearly enough time with him, there is still a small character arc that he goes through throughout the story. His relationship with Bellaydin was far more believable than the other characters who Bellaydin appeared to put more stock in, and it was a real shame that he was largely underused in the story. Given that he appeared vastly more competent than the knight Geoffrey, I would have rather than many of the scenes were Geoffrey was used had been replaced with Khalaf instead. This being said I did find it very effective that the least emotional of the characters (Khalaf) was the one to support Bellaydin when he needed it.

The Bad

My main issue with the story is that despite its epic length it is far too simplified in places. Near the beginning Bellaydin sees something utterly horrifying but then it is glossed over and forgotten about less than a page later. This should have been something that affected him but it didn’t and therefore was not necessary to the book as it didn’t add anything.
Later on we then have a battle when Bellaydin and Geoffrey dock. Just as things are about to get interesting we switch to Polnygar and by the time we come back to Bellaydin the battle has ended and everyone has moved on. Given that the majority of the book is the characters just travelling from one place to another expositioning it would have been a good middle break to have the battle and reduce some of the later expositioning. A lot is made of Bellyadin’s lack of skill whilst fighting. Rather than the number of campfire practice sessions that were added, this could have been done during the first fight and it would have also better set up his character and the choices he makes later. As it is, the story of Bellaydin jumped around too much throughout the book until he reached Genio, and it left his character very shallow and difficult to care for when things got difficult later on.
Polnygar’s story on the other hand was a lot easier to follow but it unfortunately wasn’t that interesting. We see her desperation to get away but don’t get much of an insight as to why (expect that she feels she is old enough now). Also, once she has stowed away and gotten out all conflict as to what her mother may be thinking and what she is to do now are quickly forgotten as she makes new friends. After this point her mother is barely mentioned making all the build up to her leaving seem inconsequential. Again a lot of this story is filled with travel and exposition, with her magic learning mainly glossed over, when it could have been a defining struggle and achievement. Whilst this is necessary to a point it does leave Polnygar’s story rather dull as there is little to keep the reader interested until near the end.
On the whole I found the characterisation of the majority of the characters to be rather shallow and lifeless. There was little to hook us in, particularly with the main heroes. We do not get much of their motivation besides their willingness to open their wings, and Bellaydin’s feelings of not fitting in. There is little progression with them and it means that by the end of the story they are not really any further forward than where they began, just in a different place and with new weapons. Bellaydin has an epiphany near the end of the story where he wants to help people, but has there has been no time spent building up to this it seems hollow. Additionally we have not really seen any relationship building between him and the people that he wants to help. Given that there was much more relationship between Khalaf and Bellaydin it would have made more sense for Bellaydin to be spurred to help Khalaf when something happened to him, rather than being spurred to help his cousin William whom he had only met less than 24 hours previously.
Another character that I was disappointed by was Geoffrey. For a competent knight there was too much emphasis on him being comic relief. This ended up leading to Geoffrey appearing buffoonish at times as he was far too easy going in dangerous situations, and overly clueless. On the whole there was too much light made of the perilous situation the characters find themselves in so Geoffrey’s attitude often seemed strange.
I have mentioned that I enjoyed the Goriinchians. I did but I found their characterisation wearing at times, with clichéd stereotyping that came just a little too close to being uncomfortable. All of the races had hints of real cultures but the Goriinchians were just a little too Scottish barbarian/terrorist for my liking. As a Scottish person it may be my cultural pride colouring my opinion here but they were clearly pushing the buttons of the Scottish barbarians of ‘Braveheart’ and history, similar to the Wildlings in Game of Thrones. This is fine, it’s a popular trope, but the constant shouts of ‘Infidels’ and other comments that are reminiscent of terrorist parodies, such as Achmed the Dead Terrorist puppet, rubbed me the wrong way just a few too many times. By the end of the story the Goriinchians were far more nuanced and interested and there was a glimmer of an exciting story that could blossom from them, but this early focus and their speech patterns did not sit well with me. Of course this is very much my opinion and your mileage may vary.
Smaller points but there were a couple of moments that took me completely out the story, and it was a shame as they were during reasonably pivotal parts. Given the potential for spoilers here I will try to be as general as possible, and will not name characters.
Firstly, you can lose up to five pints of blood without dying, although you will go into shock. At one point there is a character who has their arm cut off. The blood loss is described as massive but the characters spend an age talking to each other before actually doing anything to help the bleeding. Despite this the character makes a full recovery within minutes. I was sure the character was going to be killed off at this point because unless biology works very differently in this story, this character should have died well before the bleeding was stopped.
Secondly, the final battle contained the world’s longest heart attack. It was hinted at then made more explicit and I expected it to change the game quite quickly or add extra drama. However nothing came of it and it was quickly forgotten about mid-battle. I did not see the point of mentioning or including it when it ended up having no bearing on the story at all. As it was it only served to waste a page or two without any pay off.

Worth It?

I realise that I have spent a lot more time writing about the issues in this book, rather than its merits. This of course makes it look like I didn’t enjoy it and wouldn’t recommend it.
There are a lot of issues here, and probably more than I have written down, but it is a decent story. A lot of the issues likely stem from the difficulty in starting an epic fantasy where you need to simultaneously establish the characters and lore, in addition to actually writing a story. I feel that the author had difficulty here and the characterisation suffered as a result of trying to push an unwieldy storyline. Possibly if the plot had been scaled back to the end of the battle in the harbour and the beginning of Polnygar’s journey to retrieve the magic artefact, then there could have been more time spent honing the characters, their struggles and their motivations. Of course, then the story made have been more of a slog to read, it would have all depended on the quality of the writing for the slower pace.
Of course, given that this is a childrens book at heart pacing needs to be considered. I am used to reading large scale epics than run as a slower pace but for younger readers this may be more difficult to sell.
Issues aside, The Heirs of Lydin has promise as well as the kernels of something that could be really interesting. Despite my rather critical review I did find myself genuinely interested to see what happened next; especially as I was re-reading sections in order to write this review. As the lore and the characters have now been established hopefully this brings a tighter and more balanced story in the next book.

Unwieldy narrative and oversimplified at times but a promising start with the possibility of blossoming into something interesting.

Three and a half stars

[Seb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a good read, it has a lot of the elements of classical fantasy mixed with a few twists that keep it interesting e.g. the racist elves

The world building is pretty good, I found the initial setup interesting enough to hook me in. Plot wise the book reads like a coming of age story , although the main characters are young adults.

The focus is definitely on the characters and I liked seeing their development - particularly Bellaydin near the end.

The bad guys in the story are clearly presented as the bad guys - there is no uncertainty or moral grey areas.Their character development is a bit weaker overall. Would be nice to see a bit more about them or see more from their point of view in future books.

Pacing was a bit uneven , particularly with character development. I found the book starts well and ended well but had a chunk in middle where characters didn't seem to grow much/ respond to events.

Overall worth a read - be warned this is book 1 with book 2 coming out next year .

[Tony Duxbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good tale of desperate sword & sorcery. On reaching young manhood an orphan is forced out of his refuge where he has lived for most of his life, with his step-mother and half sister. It is only then that he hears of a prophecy connected to his family line. Going back to the land of his birth, he finds danger and adventure on the way, which ends in war. The last male of his line, he still doesn't know what the prophecy means. His sister has her own adventure too. I found this an enjoyable tale and had sympathy for the young, bewildered Bellaydin. Elves and other creatures are in the mix too, plus dark agendas of different characters.

[Anette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book! The author was very creative in inventing a whole new world containing even many different religions for many different peoples. It really makes you want to read the rest of the Ap'Lydin Chronicles. I would recommend it to everybody who is interested in magic, intrigues, fantasy folk and who wants to be taken to a new world while reading, which still kind of resembles the world we are living in (at least concerning the character's problems, topics and problems of every existing society)

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a "can't put down" type of book. The author presents an intriguing plot, with action, magic, battles and of course - an mysterious prophecy. There are the stalwart fantasy race of the elves here within, but introduced so skilfully and so intrinsically linked to humans you can't help but be drawn in. The book is written in a wonderful style and can be gobbled up across a number of delicious sittings.

I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. A fantastic new fantasy saga.

[John Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it. Interesting world.

[Julanna Hennessy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous yarn

[Shane McAbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Heirs of Lydin are the prophesied harbingers of the rise or fall of the cult of the horned god. My favorite part was the mystery in both friend and enemy. There was very good character development in Bellaydin. The world development was also very descriptive from Goriinchia to the Land of the Elves.

[Azaria Durant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a bit below average. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good fantasy setting, clear political conflict, religious conflict, diverse races, and unique cultures; all of which this book had. In fact, the world in and of itself was done incredibly well. The story as a whole has a lot of potential that I feel just wasn’t utilized.

The main characters Bellaydin and Polnygar were very two dimensional at times. Yes, their struggle felt real, but their emotional reaction to things left a lot to be lacking, and I feel they lacked true character development throughout the story. Polnygar just rubbed me the wrong way. I love, love, love strong female characters in stories, but I felt as if Polnygar did only one thing to further the story, and that was to run away. After that, she was just dragged along after whatever or whoever decided to take her under their wing. She seemed like the typical cut out ‘strong’ female character with no ambition whatsoever, in spite of her clear potential, but instead spends the story pining after the guy she has a crush on.

The writing style was slow, and the quality of the writing left a lot to be lacking. The plot itself was very overdone in some areas, and underdone in others. We met a lot of different characters, but only a few of their appearances were painted for us in a satisfactory way. There were a lot of things we wished to have explained (for example, who the heck was Bellaydin’s mother? We heard a lot about the father, but what about his mother??) and some things that were over explained (example, everything we didn’t need to know about Bellaydin’s father). Yet somehow that was almost under explained as well.

I honestly almost DNFed the book at the halfway point, and it was only around the 3/4 mark that things got interesting (and when they did, they got /really/ interesting). I loved the epic battle at the end, but there were a lot of things about it that made me feel like I just stepped into the Battle of Helm’s Deep from The Two Towers. The elves arriving just before the battle, for one; the elf leader’s death; the army that rushed in at the end to save the day. The epic conclusion and the magical aspects make me sad to give the book such a low rating, but I can’t ignore how painfully slow the beginning half of the book was, and how flat the characters were at times.

*** This book was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review***

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from a Goodreads Giveaway.

This is a good story, with quite well-written characters and an interesting plot. The worldbuilding is also well done and this is one of the things I like the most about fantasy books, that they can transport us to a world that is pretty similar to ours in so many ways but which is also original and captivating.
I think at times the pace of the novel feels a bit off, and that some things maybe could have been spared or shortened to make the plot flow a bit more fluidly. However, I still really enjoyed this story and would recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy. I am excited to see what else is in store for Bellaydin and Polnygar!

[J C Steel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bellaydin Ap'Lydin is a human living in the kingdom of Aderilund, looked down on by the elves as a semi-primitive lesser species. Along with his half-elven sister, Polnygar, elven society as a whole would prefer that neither one of them existed. Only the influence of their elven mother in the ruling Council has kept them safe for so long—but now there are forces at work outside the borders of the elven lands that are beyond anyone's control. Bellaydin and Polnygar are about to be caught up in events, and, inevitably, one of them will manifest as the Heir of Lydin...

The Heirs of Lydin is a YA fantasy story set amid vividly-drawn societies—the powerful, arrogant civilisation of the elves, the feudal structure of the perennially warring humans, the scholarly Numoi, and many more. Aidan Hennessy has created a colourful, detailed backdrop for this first novel in the Ap'Lydin Chronicles. Unfortunately, I didn't find the character development was quite as convincing and enthralling as the world-building, with characters and dialogue that could, in places, have benefited from a little more depth. This book is also clearly the beginning of a series, leaving tantalising hints of the story to come, but overall it was a well-paced, enjoyable read.

Reviewed for By Rite of Word.

[Kat Hooper]

Read for #SPFBO

[Scot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Good - 4/5 Stars

I might have to read the 1st novella again before the next book.