• Author: Reece Bridger
• ISBN: 9781909482029
• Publisher: Mythos Press
• Genre: Fantasy

I recieved this book through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program.

This is the perfect “classic” Fantasy book.  The whole time I was reading, I was reminded of some of my favorite RPGs, and I frequently thought that the story could fit perfectly into a D&D or Pathfinder game.  If I were to be any character in the book, I would be Fantasia, who has the personality of a grown up Arya Stark.  Instead of a sword being her weapon of choice, though, she’s an archer, which happens to be my go to weapon in any RPG.

There is very little to criticize in this book.  The only time it got a bit dull was during the chapter when Madame Asra comes into the story, and the only time I had difficulty suspending disbelief was when the siblings’ guardian, Orion, just happens to know all about the Buan.  It seemed a little implausible, even by Fantasy standards, but I understand that Alexander, Aurelia, Fantasia, and Weylyn had to get the information about what they were becoming from somewhere, and having it come from the mouth of the one person they’re close to makes sense.  I just didn’t see Orion as being the type of character to have a large amount of little known ancient knowledge.

Beyond those two tiny things, I loved this book.  I don’t know if I’m going to add it to my all time favorites yet, since it is only the first book in a series, and I tend to only add a series to that list after I’ve finished it and love it as a whole.  What I do know is that as soon as I read the last page, I looked up the second book, Company of Heroes, and added it to my wish list on Goodreads.  I highly recommend reading this one if you’re just getting into Fantasy, or you love Fantasy (especially “classic” Fantasy), or you love RPGs (especially if you loved Baldur’s Gate, any of the Diablo games, D&D, or Pathfinder).