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katayoun's review against another edition
4.0
truly delightful. pretty good writing and world and magic. it's more of a novella and ends in a way that you definitely want to read the next book, cause it feels like the story hasn't started yet by the end of the book and you have just been introduced to the world and the main character (s?).
ericarobyn's review against another edition
5.0
Sunbolt is the first book in The Sunbolt Chronicles by Intisar Khanani. I won this book during Armchair Book Expo and I am just kicking myself! I should have started this book as soon as it arrived in my mailbox... It was incredible!
This book was such a refreshing YA fantasy! When I pick up YA reads with elements of magic, I'm always very hesitant. Far too often, we see a very immature character that lacks training, but somehow manages to master their power just in the nick of time. I'm so happy to say that that wasn't the case here!
The main character, Hitomi, is a mature teenager who has power referred to as, "Promise". She hasn't been properly trained but she can use her magic for small things. However, when she works her magic, it totally drains her. As the story moves along, it is clear that she needs special training, but will she be able to find someone that has the ability and willingness to help?
I absolutely loved the magical elements of this story as well as the paranormal characters, which included:
Humans that can shift into animal forms.
Mages- humans with Promise, trained to kill Breathers.
Fangs- similar to vampires, they feed on blood. They can also control their victims with their gaze.
Lycans- individuals that appear half human, half wolf.
Breathers- human-like individuals that feed on souls. They can control others by shaping their thoughts.
The characters were developed perfectly. Of course, there is more I want to eventually learn about a few of the characters, but I thought that the author gave us just enough information about them and their past in order to keep the story moving along. I've got my fingers crossed that we will learn some more backstories in book two.
The writing was lovely! The storyline was perfectly paced and flowed well. The use of description was excellent; I could really imagine many of the settings. The dialogue was realistic. There were a few classic fantasy/paranormal tropes, but they each had a nice refreshing twist to them.
This is a book that I got totally lost in once I started reading it.
My favorite passages: *slight spoilers below*
Our cave is set in a sandy bluff that rises above the stream. The opposite side is wooded, the trees tall and lovely. They are mostly bare now, their branches sweeping the sky in elegant curves. Interspersed among their ranks stand solitary pines, showing tall but heavyset, sheathed in their armor of needles. The moon hands low; dawn brightens the far reaches of the horizon.
I try to shake the thought loose, but it sticks in my mind like a prickly burr, catching on memories that lie just beneath the darkness.
I don’t know who I am. I only have bits and pieces of what I was. How can I grow if I have no past, no roots?
I grin, unaccountably amused. “What hair?”
“That is, in fact, my concern.”
“You haven’t considered the benefits of being bald,” I tell him. I list the advantages, ticking them off on my fingers, “No lice, no worries about how to tie it up, no need to dry it in winter, nothing for anyone to grab you by, and,” I pause, trying to come up with one more reason.
“Nothing to keep your brain warm,” Val supplies.
I laugh.
In the morning, Val is gone.
I know it the moment I wake, an almost physical awareness, as if the air I breathe has lost its moisture, or a color had disappeared overnight so that, on waking, I find a world without amber or topaz, or amethyst.
My final thoughts:
I just loved everything about this book. I cannot wait to start the second book in the series.
If you enjoy wonderfully written stories with awesome characters and elements of the paranormal and magic, you gotta check this one out!
This book was such a refreshing YA fantasy! When I pick up YA reads with elements of magic, I'm always very hesitant. Far too often, we see a very immature character that lacks training, but somehow manages to master their power just in the nick of time. I'm so happy to say that that wasn't the case here!
The main character, Hitomi, is a mature teenager who has power referred to as, "Promise". She hasn't been properly trained but she can use her magic for small things. However, when she works her magic, it totally drains her. As the story moves along, it is clear that she needs special training, but will she be able to find someone that has the ability and willingness to help?
I absolutely loved the magical elements of this story as well as the paranormal characters, which included:
Humans that can shift into animal forms.
Mages- humans with Promise, trained to kill Breathers.
Fangs- similar to vampires, they feed on blood. They can also control their victims with their gaze.
Lycans- individuals that appear half human, half wolf.
Breathers- human-like individuals that feed on souls. They can control others by shaping their thoughts.
The characters were developed perfectly. Of course, there is more I want to eventually learn about a few of the characters, but I thought that the author gave us just enough information about them and their past in order to keep the story moving along. I've got my fingers crossed that we will learn some more backstories in book two.
The writing was lovely! The storyline was perfectly paced and flowed well. The use of description was excellent; I could really imagine many of the settings. The dialogue was realistic. There were a few classic fantasy/paranormal tropes, but they each had a nice refreshing twist to them.
This is a book that I got totally lost in once I started reading it.
My favorite passages: *slight spoilers below*
Our cave is set in a sandy bluff that rises above the stream. The opposite side is wooded, the trees tall and lovely. They are mostly bare now, their branches sweeping the sky in elegant curves. Interspersed among their ranks stand solitary pines, showing tall but heavyset, sheathed in their armor of needles. The moon hands low; dawn brightens the far reaches of the horizon.
I try to shake the thought loose, but it sticks in my mind like a prickly burr, catching on memories that lie just beneath the darkness.
I don’t know who I am. I only have bits and pieces of what I was. How can I grow if I have no past, no roots?
I grin, unaccountably amused. “What hair?”
“That is, in fact, my concern.”
“You haven’t considered the benefits of being bald,” I tell him. I list the advantages, ticking them off on my fingers, “No lice, no worries about how to tie it up, no need to dry it in winter, nothing for anyone to grab you by, and,” I pause, trying to come up with one more reason.
“Nothing to keep your brain warm,” Val supplies.
I laugh.
In the morning, Val is gone.
I know it the moment I wake, an almost physical awareness, as if the air I breathe has lost its moisture, or a color had disappeared overnight so that, on waking, I find a world without amber or topaz, or amethyst.
My final thoughts:
I just loved everything about this book. I cannot wait to start the second book in the series.
If you enjoy wonderfully written stories with awesome characters and elements of the paranormal and magic, you gotta check this one out!
tarheeltiff's review against another edition
4.0
It didn’t feel like a complete book, so I’m glad I have the sequel to continue. It was odd to just flip to the next chapter and have it be over. But the writing is good and I’m intrigued by the story.
morgandhu's review against another edition
4.0
Intisar Khanani has a gift for creating strong and interesting female protagonists - as it was with the main character of her novel Thorn, I was immediately captivated by the young, courageous and resourceful heroine of her novella Sunbolt, which is the opening chapter in a series.
Hitomi, an orphan struggling to survive as a thief and as a jack-of-all-trades (often passing as a young boy), lives in Karolene - a city with a strong Asian feel to it, from the tropical fruits in the market and the fishing dhows in the harbour to the occasional mentions of a sultan who seems removed from his people and possibly under the thumb of a powerful and cruel mage named Blackflame. Hitomi is also part of a revolutionary cadre known as the Shadow League, led by a charismatic young man known as Ghost.
Hitomi is also, unknown to anyone, a mostly untrained mage, in a land where anyone with the Promise, as such gifts are called, who is not formally trained as a child is doomed to consent to being a "source" for other trained mages, or have her magic taken from her. What training she has was given secretly by her parents, both mages themselves, before they died.
The novella is somewhat of an "origin story" - a fast-paced and absorbing introduction to Hitomi, the world she lives in, and the people - friends, comrades, foes, and others with more ambiguous roles - who will presumably play significant parts in her story as it unfolds in future chapters. Conspiracies, secrets and mysteries are revealed, or at least suggested, as the events of this first installment point toward exciting developments to come. I'm quite eager to read more of Hitomi's story.
Hitomi, an orphan struggling to survive as a thief and as a jack-of-all-trades (often passing as a young boy), lives in Karolene - a city with a strong Asian feel to it, from the tropical fruits in the market and the fishing dhows in the harbour to the occasional mentions of a sultan who seems removed from his people and possibly under the thumb of a powerful and cruel mage named Blackflame. Hitomi is also part of a revolutionary cadre known as the Shadow League, led by a charismatic young man known as Ghost.
Hitomi is also, unknown to anyone, a mostly untrained mage, in a land where anyone with the Promise, as such gifts are called, who is not formally trained as a child is doomed to consent to being a "source" for other trained mages, or have her magic taken from her. What training she has was given secretly by her parents, both mages themselves, before they died.
The novella is somewhat of an "origin story" - a fast-paced and absorbing introduction to Hitomi, the world she lives in, and the people - friends, comrades, foes, and others with more ambiguous roles - who will presumably play significant parts in her story as it unfolds in future chapters. Conspiracies, secrets and mysteries are revealed, or at least suggested, as the events of this first installment point toward exciting developments to come. I'm quite eager to read more of Hitomi's story.
julesvandemberg's review against another edition
4.0
4.25
Davvero carino. è un inglese un po' complesso per me ma mi piace come stile. L'unico difetto è la lunghezza. tutto è ridotto all'essenziale anche se non è mai affrettato. poteva esserci un approfondimento maggiore dei personaggi e della storia
Davvero carino. è un inglese un po' complesso per me ma mi piace come stile. L'unico difetto è la lunghezza. tutto è ridotto all'essenziale anche se non è mai affrettato. poteva esserci un approfondimento maggiore dei personaggi e della storia
sheilak894's review against another edition
4.0
I read Thorn first and then Sunbolt, and I do have to say Thorn is better. Maybe because it had a second release and afaik Sunbolt remains an indie release; it’s somewhat less polished and MUCH shorter. I was surprised to have found myself at the end (with ebooks unfortunately there’s no sense of nearing the end of a nice heavy novel), and I felt like it was rather abrupt and unfinished. Characters were introduced and seemingly cast aside very suddenly, never to be revisited.
That said, what was there was really interesting and beautifully written and I’m off to see if I can find a copy of the sequel so I can round off the rest of Hitomi’s story. I suspect that characters like Ghost and Kenta and maybe even the woman Hitomi barely remembers will show up in Memories of Ash and complete the story!
3.5/5 but I’m already suspecting the combination of Sunbolt and Memories together will bump it up to 4/5!
That said, what was there was really interesting and beautifully written and I’m off to see if I can find a copy of the sequel so I can round off the rest of Hitomi’s story. I suspect that characters like Ghost and Kenta and maybe even the woman Hitomi barely remembers will show up in Memories of Ash and complete the story!
3.5/5 but I’m already suspecting the combination of Sunbolt and Memories together will bump it up to 4/5!
alexcanread's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely lovely. A familiar feeling fantasy, Khanani has built an interesting world with fleshed out characters. Sunbolt is short and I'm dying to pick up the next in the series, I'd gladly read hundreds of pages more.
landofpetrichor's review against another edition
5.0
I’m so happy I stumbled upon this book, it’s amazing. Read it; you won’t regret it! I’ll definitely be reading the next book.