Scan barcode
A review by gabyagee
The Sons of Thestian by M.E. Vaughan
5.0
I'll start by saying that I have received the book from the author for free, for which I promised to provide an honest review. But I'd happily pay for this book, and I indeed got my boyfriend to pay for it already, so you get the gist. I'm going to be honest.
If you don't have much time to read this review, here's the short version: I freaking loved this. Close Goodreads, and go buy it and enjoy it for yourself.
The Sons of Thestian is set in a fantastical world, where monarchy exists and magic is present via the elite group of Magi, a member of whom is Rufus, as well as other fantastical characters (which were all new to me, because I'm quite new to fantasy). Let's pause for a second to talk about Rufus. Because he's such a lovable character. I love how M.E. Vaughn let us uncover bits and pieces about his throughout the book - he's quite a mystery to begin with, but we gradually discover more and more about him, which really resembles how you'd normally go about getting to know someone.
Rufus has a special connection to Jionathan, who is another totally lovable character (this will be a running theme throughout this, brace yourselves). To a great extent, although there is just so much going on in this book that you will find it hard to put down, the core of it is friendship between Rufus and Jionathan, and with the other characters.
The world built by M. E. Vaughn is a rich, interesting and believable one - you could really see it existing in real life, it's not so far removed from reality that you'd feel heavily detached from it (although it is fully fantastical). The characters are strong and likeable (where they're meant to be, I still haven't warmed up to Zachary), you simply want to know what will happen to them next. Sometimes I felt like smacking Jionat on the head, but mistakes are the privilege of the youth, I guess. I found the idea of elemental magic interesting, and also the concept of it easy to grasp. The political intrigue combined with action packed scenes forms a great mixture. There are also so many twists and turns that made me think 'damn, I never thought that would happen!' that it was worth reading it just for that constant feeling of being on edge.
The ending is truly, really heartbreaking (and heart stopping), and will make you run-not-walk to Amazon to swiftly purchase the sequel (which I have already done). This is most definitely the best book I've read in quite a long time, so kudos to the author.
To sum up - it's a great book, even if you don't normally read fantasy, and I think many of you will really enjoy it.
If you don't have much time to read this review, here's the short version: I freaking loved this. Close Goodreads, and go buy it and enjoy it for yourself.
The Sons of Thestian is set in a fantastical world, where monarchy exists and magic is present via the elite group of Magi, a member of whom is Rufus, as well as other fantastical characters (which were all new to me, because I'm quite new to fantasy). Let's pause for a second to talk about Rufus. Because he's such a lovable character. I love how M.E. Vaughn let us uncover bits and pieces about his throughout the book - he's quite a mystery to begin with, but we gradually discover more and more about him, which really resembles how you'd normally go about getting to know someone.
Rufus has a special connection to Jionathan, who is another totally lovable character (this will be a running theme throughout this, brace yourselves). To a great extent, although there is just so much going on in this book that you will find it hard to put down, the core of it is friendship between Rufus and Jionathan, and with the other characters.
The world built by M. E. Vaughn is a rich, interesting and believable one - you could really see it existing in real life, it's not so far removed from reality that you'd feel heavily detached from it (although it is fully fantastical). The characters are strong and likeable (where they're meant to be, I still haven't warmed up to Zachary), you simply want to know what will happen to them next. Sometimes I felt like smacking Jionat on the head, but mistakes are the privilege of the youth, I guess. I found the idea of elemental magic interesting, and also the concept of it easy to grasp. The political intrigue combined with action packed scenes forms a great mixture. There are also so many twists and turns that made me think 'damn, I never thought that would happen!' that it was worth reading it just for that constant feeling of being on edge.
The ending is truly, really heartbreaking (and heart stopping), and will make you run-not-walk to Amazon to swiftly purchase the sequel (which I have already done). This is most definitely the best book I've read in quite a long time, so kudos to the author.
To sum up - it's a great book, even if you don't normally read fantasy, and I think many of you will really enjoy it.