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A review by hannargh
Odriel's Heirs by Hayley Reese Chow
4.0
This book gives you all the fantasy tropes that you are looking for - slow-burn romance, undead army, evil necromancer, boy who won't call the girl by her first name, both cute and snarky animals, grumbling wizards and imaginative species and place names. All done simply and all done well.
The story itself is very Eddings-lite, with the forces of darkness threatening the land and untested heroes having to come to terms with themselves and overcome their differences in order to try and save everything, even in the face of overwhelming odds. What was a particularly welcome addition, though, was the different approach that some characters take towards fighting that evil (fighting evil with evil) - given that half of the kingdom seems to support this approach and presumably do not support the Heirs, I would love to see that explored in more detail, especially given the outcome ...
One of the most impressive things is how restrained Chow has been in her writing - it can be so easy to read over-florid fantasy stories and not enjoy them. The brevity of this story meant that, even if the story itself was somewhat simple at times, it was well-told and enjoyable. There are no wasted words, although there are times when the reader would probably enjoy more detail and backstory - something that can always come in a later novel.
Best of all, for me, was a very short Epilogue that hinted at things to come, but also that victory comes at a price ... I love an ending that implies that things aren't always as clear as they seem.
3.5 stars, but rounded up to 4 stars for that ending.
I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
The story itself is very Eddings-lite, with the forces of darkness threatening the land and untested heroes having to come to terms with themselves and overcome their differences in order to try and save everything, even in the face of overwhelming odds. What was a particularly welcome addition, though, was the different approach that some characters take towards fighting that evil (fighting evil with evil) - given that half of the kingdom seems to support this approach and presumably do not support the Heirs, I would love to see that explored in more detail, especially given the outcome ...
One of the most impressive things is how restrained Chow has been in her writing - it can be so easy to read over-florid fantasy stories and not enjoy them. The brevity of this story meant that, even if the story itself was somewhat simple at times, it was well-told and enjoyable. There are no wasted words, although there are times when the reader would probably enjoy more detail and backstory - something that can always come in a later novel.
Best of all, for me, was a very short Epilogue that hinted at things to come, but also that victory comes at a price ... I love an ending that implies that things aren't always as clear as they seem.
3.5 stars, but rounded up to 4 stars for that ending.
I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.