A review by killa_bunnies
The Daughters' War by Christopher Buehlman

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Daughters’ War is a prequel to The Blacktongue Thief, but I would definitely not recommend reading it first. The book goes back 7 years to the last goblin war and brings the story of Galva, one of the main characters in The Blacktongue Thief. Actually more characters are present and the book keeps referencing between both titles, so if you do not want to have it spoiled, read the books the way they were published. 

As in the case of the “Thief”, you could expect a grim setting with very dark overtones expanding into horror and gore. The war-torn world provides enough opportunities for cut limbs, torn heads and half-eaten corpses. Basically a truly grim dark Warhammer Fantasy book, that is not a Warhammer. The book immediately reminded me of the Warhammer setting: by the way its world reflects ours (yeah, you could easily tell what country should be France, Spain, or Germany), the depiction of the goblins, as well as the human army, the tone… But it’s better than that as it feels like something Warhammer has been lacking lately (the real grimdark-ness that is missing in the current Age of Sigmar). If you are into wargaming, this book is a great inspiration for the Empire of Man / Goblin army. I wonder what Buehlman's relationship to Warhammer is. Is he a fan?

The story: great. I had trouble putting the book down and finished it over three days. Buehlman’s skill for creating vibrant, believable worlds is here again expressed at its best. The attention to detail is his key ingredient. From the structure of the army, the arrangement of the world, the society, or simply the characterization of the protagonists, all is done through actions and I never had a feeling the story had to stop just to give way to description. It’s a fast-paced story full of emotions and actions. I will not go into details, read it yourself, but if you are in the mood for a good military dark fantasy action, sprinkled with a bit of horror, badass main female protagonists and overall women-first fantasy world, this is your book. 

Highly recommend it.