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A review by wolfpack75
Nihal of the Land of the Wind by Licia Troisi
2.0
I was initially excited to read this book as it is rare for fantasy novels from Europe to become available in the US. Unfortunately this is a terrible mess of a book.
The main character is the last living half-elf in the world; but even though she has pointed ears, violet eyes, and naturally blue hair no one ever comments on her looks. When Nihal is finally told that she is a half-elf she feels betrayed and is unable to forgive her aunt for keeping this knowledge from her.
She has no formal training in combat and is the only girl who runs around with a group of boys playing wargames and fighting duels with wooden swords (at 13). Her father has sparred with her and given her pointers but with so little training she is able to become a great warrior who defeats 10 men in a row so as to join the Dragon Knight Academy.
Some of this is very classic "Chosen One" trope and the author never veers far from her adherence to that stock storyline. Whenever I felt the story might become more unique or take an unusual turn the author brought the plot back to the chosen trope.
In addition Nihal is completely controlled by her emotions, she develops a crush on her Aunt's boyfriend and fantasizes about him constantly. At one point it was impossible for her to do anything besides stare at him. The character keeps trying to say she that she doesn't need people, that she is "a warrior, a weapon" and then spends an inordinate amount of time sobbing. At one point she sobs at her trainer that "It's not fair! It's not fair!" because he is trying to teach her how to fight and stay alive instead of throwing herself haphazardly into combat.
This book would be 1 star if not for the world building. I enjoyed the concept of various lands which have names for elements of the landscape or terrain. Nihal comes from the Land of the Wind which is a large plain with tall "50 story towers" as the cities. Unfortunately the world building isn't enough to make me continue to read this series. I'm just glad I got this from Kindle Unlimited.
The main character is the last living half-elf in the world; but even though she has pointed ears, violet eyes, and naturally blue hair no one ever comments on her looks. When Nihal is finally told that she is a half-elf she feels betrayed and is unable to forgive her aunt for keeping this knowledge from her.
She has no formal training in combat and is the only girl who runs around with a group of boys playing wargames and fighting duels with wooden swords (at 13). Her father has sparred with her and given her pointers but with so little training she is able to become a great warrior who defeats 10 men in a row so as to join the Dragon Knight Academy.
Some of this is very classic "Chosen One" trope and the author never veers far from her adherence to that stock storyline. Whenever I felt the story might become more unique or take an unusual turn the author brought the plot back to the chosen trope.
In addition Nihal is completely controlled by her emotions, she develops a crush on her Aunt's boyfriend and fantasizes about him constantly. At one point it was impossible for her to do anything besides stare at him. The character keeps trying to say she that she doesn't need people, that she is "a warrior, a weapon" and then spends an inordinate amount of time sobbing. At one point she sobs at her trainer that "It's not fair! It's not fair!" because he is trying to teach her how to fight and stay alive instead of throwing herself haphazardly into combat.
This book would be 1 star if not for the world building. I enjoyed the concept of various lands which have names for elements of the landscape or terrain. Nihal comes from the Land of the Wind which is a large plain with tall "50 story towers" as the cities. Unfortunately the world building isn't enough to make me continue to read this series. I'm just glad I got this from Kindle Unlimited.