Take a photo of a barcode or cover
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was really cool- not what I was expecting but has such an incredible build of tension and pacing across the book that by the end I was on the edge of my seat. There's a lot of discussion of combat and training but the protagonist's perspective is so impassioned that it draws you into it rather than becoming boring
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, War, Classism
Moderate: Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Genocide, Vomit
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is my second attempt to read this book. I had heard good things and had given up about 100 pages in due to pacing, however I revisited it and I’m so glad I did. This book has a slow start to build to the action but it’s worth the wait in my opinion. Tau is a pretty complex protagonist. You want to root for him on his quest for vengeance but his flaws show through the cracks. The reviews are correct in saying you’d like this if you like Game of Thrones. As a fan, it goes without saying that much like the show, don’t get too attached to a lot of the characters you meet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Murder, War, Classism
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, War, Classism
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Character ⭐⭐⭐
Plot ⭐⭐⭐
Pacing ⭐⭐
Writing Style ⭐⭐
Diversity ⭐⭐⭐
Overall Rating: 2.6/5 (rounded down to 2.5)
I'm not going to bother with a story blurb here as I'm sure readers can find that themselves. There isn't much to hate about this book, but there also isn't much for me to love here unfortunately. I'd say it's just below average. The most frustrating thing about RoD is that I can tell that Winters has really put some heart into this world, but it is told through the lense of probably one of the most narrow-minded teenage boys in the genre.
Character ⭐⭐⭐
The narrow-minded teenager in question, Tau, is the typical impoverished/untalented/'not special' boy you see in many fantasy stories. Winters does say in his author blurb that he specifically wanted to write a story so that his son could see people like himself in this fantasy hence the story being an African take on the genre. All that to say that I don't really take issue with settling on a genre staple when it comes to a character archetype, but Tau has some really incredible plot armor here. Tau DOES NOT LISTEN. Like ever. It is so incredibly frustrating to read because he also never really faces consequences or learns at all. Winters does a good job at showing how brutal this word and regime are, however, Tau is always conveniently omitted. I could stretch some disbelief here, but it is the only thing keeping this plot moving. I did love pretty much all of the side characters, but maybe that was because I found Tau so grating. Uduak, Zuri, and Hadith have my whole heart even if LoD wasn't for me ❤️
Plot ⭐⭐⭐
So this is a revenge plot which centers aroundthe murder of Taus father in the early chapters. Normally I could get behind this but the evidence of this relationship is just not there? You meet this character sparingly in the beginning and you don't really develop any sort of attachment. Then, the event happens and we never really speak of him again? This seems less about revenge and more about Taus relentless desire to kill three specific people. I need Tau to let me know WHAT about his father he misses to believe it. It's not enough that they are related, sorry.
Pacing ⭐⭐
The prologue was misleading and really should have been scrapped in editing. It goes back hundreds of years to the POV of the original colonizing queen who has dragons, ambition, etc... and then we switch to Tau. I think Winters saw the whole 'make your first chapter' grab them suggestion, but couldn't make something like that for Tau (telling) so had to rely on a flashback. Tau's story really takes an age to get off the ground and there are a few things that happen in his home village which SHOULD have consequences but never come up again? Maybe in book two I guess? It started to pick up for me at the 50% mark, but that's 250+ pages in and I really expect to be invested in under 100 pages.
Writing Style ⭐⭐
I think Winters is a fine writer and is able to convey things clearly enough. The fight scenes are better earlier in the book. Once Taulearned how to fight with two swords it's always just 'a flury of blades'. A HUGE issue I had with Winters' writing was his use of alternate POVs. We were primarily in Tau's head until randomly we would shoot off into someone else's so the reader could actually figure out what the hell was going on in the world because Tau was not listening or paying any attention. The alternative POVs were SO telly, it really made me think Winters did not trust his readers AT ALL to be able to work things out.
Diversity ⭐⭐⭐
So everyone here is African/African adjacent. Winters doed mention different (black) skin tones and hairstyles so not everyone is a monolith here and there is also a separate indigenous group. I gave LoD a three star here because we are really just in Tau's head so we don't see anything. I did catch some subtle signs which are confirmed in book two but they don't deserve to be counted for this books review.
Overall Rating: 2.6/5 (rounded down to 2.5)
So overall would I recommend this one? Honestly, there are so many great books I'm the genre, you could miss this one but I wouldn't try to talk anyone out of it either. I don't care enough to finish this series, but I'm glad that so many other folks seem to have loved it. Not for me!
Plot ⭐⭐⭐
Pacing ⭐⭐
Writing Style ⭐⭐
Diversity ⭐⭐⭐
Overall Rating: 2.6/5 (rounded down to 2.5)
I'm not going to bother with a story blurb here as I'm sure readers can find that themselves. There isn't much to hate about this book, but there also isn't much for me to love here unfortunately. I'd say it's just below average. The most frustrating thing about RoD is that I can tell that Winters has really put some heart into this world, but it is told through the lense of probably one of the most narrow-minded teenage boys in the genre.
Character ⭐⭐⭐
The narrow-minded teenager in question, Tau, is the typical impoverished/untalented/'not special' boy you see in many fantasy stories. Winters does say in his author blurb that he specifically wanted to write a story so that his son could see people like himself in this fantasy hence the story being an African take on the genre. All that to say that I don't really take issue with settling on a genre staple when it comes to a character archetype, but Tau has some really incredible plot armor here. Tau DOES NOT LISTEN. Like ever. It is so incredibly frustrating to read because he also never really faces consequences or learns at all. Winters does a good job at showing how brutal this word and regime are, however, Tau is always conveniently omitted. I could stretch some disbelief here, but it is the only thing keeping this plot moving. I did love pretty much all of the side characters, but maybe that was because I found Tau so grating. Uduak, Zuri, and Hadith have my whole heart even if LoD wasn't for me ❤️
Plot ⭐⭐⭐
So this is a revenge plot which centers around
Pacing ⭐⭐
The prologue was misleading and really should have been scrapped in editing. It goes back hundreds of years to the POV of the original colonizing queen who has dragons, ambition, etc... and then we switch to Tau. I think Winters saw the whole 'make your first chapter' grab them suggestion, but couldn't make something like that for Tau (telling) so had to rely on a flashback. Tau's story really takes an age to get off the ground and there are a few things that happen in his home village which SHOULD have consequences but never come up again? Maybe in book two I guess? It started to pick up for me at the 50% mark, but that's 250+ pages in and I really expect to be invested in under 100 pages.
Writing Style ⭐⭐
I think Winters is a fine writer and is able to convey things clearly enough. The fight scenes are better earlier in the book. Once Tau
Diversity ⭐⭐⭐
So everyone here is African/African adjacent. Winters doed mention different (black) skin tones and hairstyles so not everyone is a monolith here and there is also a separate indigenous group. I gave LoD a three star here because we are really just in Tau's head so we don't see anything. I did catch some subtle signs which are confirmed in book two but they don't deserve to be counted for this books review.
Overall Rating: 2.6/5 (rounded down to 2.5)
So overall would I recommend this one? Honestly, there are so many great books I'm the genre, you could miss this one but I wouldn't try to talk anyone out of it either. I don't care enough to finish this series, but I'm glad that so many other folks seem to have loved it. Not for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Classism
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
No spoilers here: This book was so good. I loved the characters and their relationships, the skill-scaling, and the politics of the warring peoples in this story. If you like stories about an underdog, vengeance, classism/caste systems, and dragons, then this book is perfect.
I'm not the best at reading long fight scenes, especially with so many characters and battle strategy, but I was very invested in the fights later in the book when I understood the characters and the stakes better.
I read the e-book while listening to the audio book, and if you're an audio book listener this one is AMAZING. The narrator has a wonderful voice and I always knew which character was speaking. I also recommend the audio book to help you with the pronunciation of some of the military terminology.
I'm not the best at reading long fight scenes, especially with so many characters and battle strategy, but I was very invested in the fights later in the book when I understood the characters and the stakes better.
I read the e-book while listening to the audio book, and if you're an audio book listener this one is AMAZING. The narrator has a wonderful voice and I always knew which character was speaking. I also recommend the audio book to help you with the pronunciation of some of the military terminology.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Rape
In some fight scenes, the author describes the breaking of bones, ripping of skin, and other icky things that made me cringe. S/A is mentioned but not described.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So it took me years to finish this book, through no fault of the book's own. Hear me out! I've struggled with reading a long time now, but this was the book I had started when I last fell out of the habit and every time I tried to get back in, I'd start from the beginning.
Even though I've said the book's pace is fast, it takes a little while to get going, and those first several chapters I read over and over at various times.
But! Once the protagonist hits the event that causes him to start driving the plot rather than things simply happening to him? Then the story really starts to soar, and after years of struggling to get into it, all I had to do was get far enough to get hooked.
I promised myself I would read at least one chapter a day to help get back into a reading habit, but once I hit that one moment, I found myself reading more and more each night, struggling to put it down when why not read just one more chapter?
I really came to love Tau and the journey he takes. Though he's definitely not lovable in a standard sense, he's exactly the kind of determined guy whose story I want to hear. This is not a cozy story, far from it, but it's got high adventure, high stakes, fascinating world building, all of which is great but wouldn't have been enough for me without Tau pulling it all together. At the end, I do want to know where he goes from here, and I'll have to check it out when I get the chance.
Even though I've said the book's pace is fast, it takes a little while to get going, and those first several chapters I read over and over at various times.
But! Once the protagonist hits the event that causes him to start driving the plot rather than things simply happening to him? Then the story really starts to soar, and after years of struggling to get into it, all I had to do was get far enough to get hooked.
I promised myself I would read at least one chapter a day to help get back into a reading habit, but once I hit that one moment, I found myself reading more and more each night, struggling to put it down when why not read just one more chapter?
I really came to love Tau and the journey he takes. Though he's definitely not lovable in a standard sense, he's exactly the kind of determined guy whose story I want to hear. This is not a cozy story, far from it, but it's got high adventure, high stakes, fascinating world building, all of which is great but wouldn't have been enough for me without Tau pulling it all together. At the end, I do want to know where he goes from here, and I'll have to check it out when I get the chance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Sexual content
It's what it says on the tin, so no one should be surprised.