Review by Hermelin -- We are Voulhire: A New Arrival und...

[Hermelin]

[Following is a volunteer review of "We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies" by Matthew Tysz.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies by Matthew Tysz is the first installment in the series "We are Voulhire." We follow the lives of several very different individuals. One of them is a king (of Voulhire), one of them a refugee coming from the direst circumstances. Voulhire is kind of the promised land at least for young Galen. It is rich, prospering, peaceful, everything is perfect. Of course, nothing is as it seems, and we quickly learn how fragile this great country's peace actually is. There's a rebel faction, the Riva Rohavi, insignificant for now, but always present. There are politicians scheming. There was an insane mage threat that has been resolved, allegedly. And Galen starts a career of blacksmithing with absolutely no idea of what he's doing. But he's determined to be a useful citizen in his new home and will do everything he can to become one.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Here are the "likes" (+) and "dislikes" (-) to explain why.

Writing
+ the writing style is straightforward, easy flowing. A short, easy read. Would recommend for non-native readers too. I didn’t find any typos or errors, it is a well-edited book.
- some more descriptions would have been nice.

Characters
+ most characters are more than one dimensional, with believable motives. The cast is not overwhelmingly large, and characters are different enough to know who is speaking even without the chapter titles.
• Every chapter is written from a different POV in the third person, except for Galen's, which is in the first person, making me think of Galen as the "main" character. But we don't get to know him any better than anyone else which I have found strange.
- would have liked more descriptions here too and a bit more depth. We probably get to know our guys better in the next books.

Pacing
+ the chapters are of good length, well defined, and no annoying cliffhangers at the end of them!
- the consistency is unfortunately very off. The first ~85% of the book is very slow, the story unfolds in baby steps. The last twenty or so pages is an unexpected (and, for me at least, unneeded) crescendo. This is what I disliked the most. The book ends with what I would consider a semi-cliffhanger: nothing is resolved.

World building
+ magic, my favorite part. It is well explained, in a logical and believable manner. My only complaint is that it wasn’t enough, I really hope there will be more in the next books.
• a subplot deals with pedophilia which might be a difficult topic for some or making the book not suitable for younger audiences. No graphic scenes.
• there is some vulgarity. I don’t mind swear words, and they were used in alignment with the characters who have spoken them. But they can be grating for some, and see next point:
- anachronisms. Now, the genre is fantasy, not comparable to historical fiction, and even then, we mostly like to read in current lingo, not battling with Shakespearean or even Old English. But for me F or B words, or mention of OCD or child psychologists stood out like a sore thumb in the kind-of-medieval-or-slightly-more-modern fantasy setting.

To summarize: to be honest I was angry at the end of the book. But I still plan to read the next one, because I want to know what happens, want to see more of the world (and the magic!), and I hope Galen will do some great things in the future. Not a perfect book for me, but still a good start of a series. I recommend it to fantasy lovers (of course). I do not recommend bringing it on a vacation without the rest of the series.

******
We are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Erin Painter Baker]

Congratulations on your first published review. I find your style interesting but am not certain what to make of your points with bullets instead of a (+) or (-). I am guessing those are things you felt neutral about, but felt needed to be mentioned. I guess I would format those differently. But I do like how you called things out based on writing style, characters, etc. Nice review.