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A review by emeraldreviews
Pennyblade by James Worrad, J.L. Worrad
4.0
A fantasy adventure full of violence, passion, chaos and betrayal. A world balanced on the edge of a knife and a rich cast of characters teetering on the edge of loyalties and prejudice.
J.L. Worrad has built a fascinating world of humans and Commrach. Commrach in this world is essentially who we would understand to be ‘elves’ although this seems to amount to a racial slur to the Commrach in Worrad’s world. These Commrach are perceived to be a glorious, alpha race and the humans a stain upon existence. The humans are more set in medieval ways, mostly verbalising with cockney-esqe accents and dabbling in all sorts of forms of depravity.
The structure of the book is exquisite. The chapters alternate throughout the book between the current timeline and the timeline of the past which ultimately leads to the current. These alternating chapters ensure that the main story moves forward consistently but also along the way you are steadily building the background to the story, answering the questions that appear throughout the main timeline. These can be quite fair apart on some occasions but please bear with it. There are no real questions that remain unanswered, well, none that have a massive impact on the story. Leftover questions for me mainly consisted of the normal ‘I wonder what happened to this character’ type questions that normally plague my mind after a good novel, whilst these can be frustrating, it goes to show how much of an impact the novel has on me.
Kyra Cal’Adra is a superb main character, cold and complicated but also warm, funny and loyal. Kyra is a Commrach and destined for a life of being nothing more than a vessel for the blood which the Commrach are attempting to ‘perfect’. A chance meeting with her future love interest, Shen, diverts her story in a huge way. A way that will change Kyra forever and force her into the life of a Pennyblade on the main.
A story packed full of fantastical locations, terrifying enemies and awesome battles. All toped off with a magnificent twist! Pennyblade is a novel of pure fantasy brilliance that will have you begging for a continuation immediately after you finish the last page. A rich story ingrained with interesting lore and spectacular characters, Pennyblade promises to dazzle all fans of fantasy books.
J.L. Worrad has built a fascinating world of humans and Commrach. Commrach in this world is essentially who we would understand to be ‘elves’ although this seems to amount to a racial slur to the Commrach in Worrad’s world. These Commrach are perceived to be a glorious, alpha race and the humans a stain upon existence. The humans are more set in medieval ways, mostly verbalising with cockney-esqe accents and dabbling in all sorts of forms of depravity.
The structure of the book is exquisite. The chapters alternate throughout the book between the current timeline and the timeline of the past which ultimately leads to the current. These alternating chapters ensure that the main story moves forward consistently but also along the way you are steadily building the background to the story, answering the questions that appear throughout the main timeline. These can be quite fair apart on some occasions but please bear with it. There are no real questions that remain unanswered, well, none that have a massive impact on the story. Leftover questions for me mainly consisted of the normal ‘I wonder what happened to this character’ type questions that normally plague my mind after a good novel, whilst these can be frustrating, it goes to show how much of an impact the novel has on me.
Kyra Cal’Adra is a superb main character, cold and complicated but also warm, funny and loyal. Kyra is a Commrach and destined for a life of being nothing more than a vessel for the blood which the Commrach are attempting to ‘perfect’. A chance meeting with her future love interest, Shen, diverts her story in a huge way. A way that will change Kyra forever and force her into the life of a Pennyblade on the main.
A story packed full of fantastical locations, terrifying enemies and awesome battles. All toped off with a magnificent twist! Pennyblade is a novel of pure fantasy brilliance that will have you begging for a continuation immediately after you finish the last page. A rich story ingrained with interesting lore and spectacular characters, Pennyblade promises to dazzle all fans of fantasy books.