Sailors from the Elvin kingdom of Essawylor seek to cross the Austral Ocean in search of a lost archipelago, the legendary ultimate refuge of the Elves. Their arrival on the shores of Nyn Llyvary triggers a devastating series of events. The drums of history resound anew; life across the Lost Islands will never be the same again.
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['I am sinking... The Tide is too strong. I will be cast upon the rocks']***
(Independently Published, 4 June 2019, 362 pages, ebook, review copy from AuthorBuzz via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed)
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I don't read a lot of high fantasy. A book needs to be really special to attract and hold my attention. I decided to give this a shot after I got an email from NetGalley promoting the book and describing it as comparable with a favourite series, The Lord of the Rings. I think this comparison is very generous. The book isn't brilliant nor is it terrible, it straddles somewhere between both. I thought there were too many characters in the book and some of the name sounded similar which I struggled to keep a track of. I don't mind a big cast of characters but I need to be able to keep them all straight in my head as I read. The writing was okay but at times I felt the author is trying too hard to mimic Tolkien rather than develop their own style. There are footnotes to explain some of the world building. These were awful and lost the author one star. Footnotes are a no, esteemed authors. Total crass. There is some good stuff here and I may check out other books to see how the author's style develops.
