A review by novelbloglover
Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 

Book Review 

Title: Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee (Shamanborn Book 1) 

Genre: Fantasy 

Rating: 4 Stars 

Forest of Souls sounded really interesting from the synopsis so I couldn’t wait to get into it. We are introduced to Sirscha Ashwyn, who is currently a soldier in the Queen’s Company and training with the Queen’s Shadow, Kendara in the hopes of becoming her apprentice. The Shadow is essentially both a spy and assassin for the Queen and within a month Kendara will have to name her official apprentice. However, during a routine mission with the Queen’s Company, Sirscha finds out that she might not be named as apprentice, she knew Kendara had other apprentices but didn’t even consider the fact that she might not be picked which is weighing on her mind. The other apprentice in the company, Jonyah, hates Sirscha and he seems to be favoured by Kendara going on a real mission rather than the errands she has been sent on and decides to get there before him, thus proving herself to Kendara that she is worthy of the role of Shadow but I have a feeling things aren’t going to go according to plan. We know that the company is heading to the prison where those known as Shamanborn are being imprisoned but we don’t know why other than the ruler changed. 

Sirscha doesn’t manage to beat Jonyah there but she instantly recognises that the men in the corner are Shaman and not escapees from the prison meaning they have come from the Shaman country. This sparks the questions of what they are doing in Evewyn when they are treated poorly there and Sirscha knows it was a trap meant for Kendara but she sent Jonyah instead. A fight breaks out between Sirscha, Jonyah and the Shaman although Jonyah can’t make up his mind about if he is fighting the Shaman or Sirscha. One Shaman sets fire to the teahouse severely injuring Jonyah but Sirscha escapes because of the bracelet Kendara gave her as it is resistant to magic. However, in fighting one of the Shaman, Saengo, Sirscha’s best friend, is caught in the crossfire and ends up dead. Somehow, Sirscha uses magic to bring Saengo back but it reveals her to be a Shaman and a unique one at that but she had no idea about it. She is of course brought to the prison until her fate can be determined but she and Saengo are eventually summoned by Ronin, the Spider King and Keeper of the peace treaty between the Kingdoms. He is also the protector of the Dead Wood, a place where souls are bound to trees, while both girls are anxious at passing through Sirscha knows Ronin might have the answers she wants if she can’t get back to Kendara. 

Going through the Dead Wood gives them some problems as it attacks them but Sirscha uses her new power to get them through before Ronin himself appears to lead them to Spinner’s End. There he explains to Sirscha that she is a soul guide one of the rarest callings there is and it has become the stuff of legends, but she has also made Saengo into her familiar meaning without her she can’t perform magic at all. This is also a hinderance because familiar can’t be far away from the person they are bonded to for long without fading meaning if Saengo spends too much time away from Sirscha she will completely disappear in a way. This means that unconsciously in saving Saengo’s life, Sirscha has taken all autonomy from her best friend. Sirscha ends up striking a deal with Ronin for information about the attack in exchange for bringing the Dead Wood under control but she only has two weeks to learn control over her magic. 

Soon after, she begins to train with Theyen, a Shadowblessed Prince but he realises that Sirscha doesn’t believe she is in danger the way she did when they were in the wood and can’t summon her craft. In the meantime, Sirscha has been trying to uncover the secrets of the Dead Wood believing that in order to fulfil her bargain with Ronin, the best thing is to deal with the source of the problem but he doesn’t even think on this for a moment. Things become more pressing when it turns out that Saengo has the rot, a disease caused by the Dead Wood that attacks the familiar of shaman and eventually kills them but they have caught it early. This drives Sirscha more to destroy the Dead Wood for good thinking it will cure the rot but she needs to learn her craft quickly so she seeks to visit the most knowledgeable person she knows, Kendara. She accompanies Ronin to his encampment where escaped shaman are looking for sanctuary he can’t offer because of his role as the peace keeper but he does direct them north. However, the shaman refers to Sirscha as the Little Sun God because of her rare calling but among them is one of the would be assassins. He is shot with an arrow but before he can die, he tells Sirscha that they were betrayed as they were promised sanctuary by the Queen which doesn’t make any sense to her. 

Now having left Saengo behind at Spinner’s End to receive treatment, she needs to seek out Kendara and find out what is going on in order to summon her craft, fulfil her bargain with the Spider King and save her best friend and familiar. Sirscha is desperately trying to learn her craft but even going back into the Dead Wood, the only place she has summoned it outside of saving Saengo doesn’t work. She decides to ask Ronin about getting rid of the wood altogether but he immediately shuts her down and tells her not to pursue this line of thinking any more making her more curious about what he is hiding. She does some more investigating and feels something in Spinner’s End calling out to her and assumes it is Ronin’s familiar. Things definitely aren’t adding up and Sirscha wants to know why so she tries to seek out Kendara in the port city only to be arrested as faced with Prince Meilek once more. The Prince ends up telling her that Kendara is missing and left her a note which seems to be guiding her to a book in Spinner’s End. She uses this time to help some shamanborn escape but it does lead to her battling the Prince before he allows them to escape. She ends up realising the one helping the Shamanborn wasn’t Kendara but the Prince all along. 

Upon returning to Spinner’s End, Sirscha seeks out Theyen for help in figuring out what is happening. The pair try to get into the part of Spinner’s End the magic is coming from but end up being caught by Ronin and warned not to enter there again. Sirscha is now sure Ronin is hiding something there but more pressing matters concern her since Saengo’s rot has progressed to a point where healers can no longer help and they are heading North to meet with the other leaders the following morning. Sirscha is convinced that destroying the Dead Wood will save Saengo and decides to head back to Spinner’s End when everyone is North to find out what Ronin is hiding and to try and destroy the wood. In the North, there is an assassination attempt on Sirscha and Prince during the meeting at the grasslands since they have discovered a plot created by Queen Meilyr to create war between the nations and Ronin is helping her. They end up confronting Jonyah who confirms this before Sirscha kills him but she also comes to realisation that she is a soulrender not a soulguide. Sirscha sends the Prince to warn the others, as well as protect saengo and stop the Queen if he can while Yandor and sirscha head back to Spinner’s End to find out the truth while Ronin is occupied. 

Getting through the Dead Wood seems to be a problem but Theyen appears and uses his shadow gate to get them safely to Spinner’s End while Sirscha goes after the magic summoning her. She is frantic during this as she can feel Saengo dying with each passing hour and knows if she doesn’t succeed her another friend will be taken from her. What she finds Ronin hiding the something no one would have ever considered and it is more deadly than anything Sirscha imagined. Ronin then makes an appearance knowing that their plan for an ambush has been rumbled and knowing Sirscha would head back. A battle takes place between the pair and Sirscha ends up using her craft in order to kill him before setting fire to the abomination there and thinking she has succeeded in destroying the Dead Wood. Upon returning back north there is chaos but she finds Prince Meilek and Saengo but she is still dying. Sirscha calls upon her craft again to save her friend and while she pushes the infection back it doesn’t appear to have vanished. This turns the tide of the battle especially since the Prince has now turned himself against the Queen and Sirscha seems to leaning towards the Sun Warriors since that was the crest of her mother and Kendara. However, in the final pages Sirscha realises she has made a grave mistake in killing Ronin since his power was the only thing containing the evil within Spinner’s End and now it is awake and claiming back the souls of the Dead Wood. Going forward into book two, I think Sirscha is going to learn about her mother, Kendara and her own personal history while working on her craft to stop the evil she unleashed and the big battle will take place in book three.