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A review by onthesamepage
The Pariah by Anthony Ryan
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rather than meeting my expectations and delivering a pretty standard fantasy story, I ended up really enjoying my time with this book.
Alwyn is an outlaw, and he's good at it. Appreciated by the Deckin, king of the outlaws, for his sharp eyes, ears and mind, he is often sent out to retrieve information. The purpose isn't always clear, but when Deckin's masterplan is revealed and put into action, Alwyn suddenly finds himself on the run, and the life he had imagined for himself forever out of reach.
The story is written like a memoir, or more likely the testament of Alwyn himself, meant for us, the readers. It spans a relatively decent chunk of his life, starting with his teen years as part of Deckin's band of thieves, and ending with him as a young man, set on an entirely different course. We follow him through everything he experiences, and while not every phase of his life is filled with action and sword fights, I found all of it compelling. A huge reason why is Alwyn himself. I found him a fairly likeable character with few aggravating qualities, which in turn made it very easy to root for him. He exhibits a fierce sense of loyalty that attracts others to him, but also lands him in a good amount of trouble. I really enjoyed seeing his relationships with a few of the side characters, especially with Toria. This could easily have turned into a romance, but instead became a delightful friendship and partnership, and I appreciated it all the more for that.
This book was very light on magic, and while it is officially a fantasy, it reads almost like historical fiction. I'm sure there will be more fantasy elements in the next two books; there seem to be some mystical elements related to the religion within this universe that get hinted at but not fully explored, and I'm curious to find out more.
If you're a fan of Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice, I think you might enjoy Alwyn's journey.
Rather than meeting my expectations and delivering a pretty standard fantasy story, I ended up really enjoying my time with this book.
Alwyn is an outlaw, and he's good at it. Appreciated by the Deckin, king of the outlaws, for his sharp eyes, ears and mind, he is often sent out to retrieve information. The purpose isn't always clear, but when Deckin's masterplan is revealed and put into action, Alwyn suddenly finds himself on the run, and the life he had imagined for himself forever out of reach.
The story is written like a memoir, or more likely the testament of Alwyn himself, meant for us, the readers. It spans a relatively decent chunk of his life, starting with his teen years as part of Deckin's band of thieves, and ending with him as a young man, set on an entirely different course. We follow him through everything he experiences, and while not every phase of his life is filled with action and sword fights, I found all of it compelling. A huge reason why is Alwyn himself. I found him a fairly likeable character with few aggravating qualities, which in turn made it very easy to root for him. He exhibits a fierce sense of loyalty that attracts others to him, but also lands him in a good amount of trouble. I really enjoyed seeing his relationships with a few of the side characters, especially with Toria. This could easily have turned into a romance, but instead became a delightful friendship and partnership, and I appreciated it all the more for that.
This book was very light on magic, and while it is officially a fantasy, it reads almost like historical fiction. I'm sure there will be more fantasy elements in the next two books; there seem to be some mystical elements related to the religion within this universe that get hinted at but not fully explored, and I'm curious to find out more.
If you're a fan of Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice, I think you might enjoy Alwyn's journey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Murder