In the start of a compelling new series, the New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles creates an unforgettable fantasy world of warring giants and elemental magic.

In the city of Pelemyn, Fintan the bard takes to the stage to tell what really happened the night the giants came . . .

From the east came the Bone Giants, from the south, the fire-wielding Hathrim – an invasion that sparked war across the six nations of Teldwen. The kingdom’s only hope is the discovery of a new form of magic that calls the world’s wondrous beasts to fight by the side of humankind.

OUT OCTOBER, 2017

BIO

“Kevin is the NYT bestselling author of the Iron Druid Chronicles, as well as two forthcoming series: The Seven Kennings, an epic fantasy trilogy, and Tales of Pell, a fantasy series co-authored with Delilah S. Dawson. Books 1-8 of the Iron Druid Chronicles are out now; BESIEGED, a collection of new Iron Druid stories, will be out July 11; A PLAGUE OF GIANTS, the first book of The Seven Kennings, will be out Oct. 17.”

MY THOUGHTS:

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have never read anything by this author before, but a friend of mine had and was adamant that I give this new series a try.  When I found out it was about giants… man oh man was I excited to get the first book.

Can we take a moment and ponder the book jacket? Oh the thoughts it stirs.  I love it!

Complicated, detailed and intricate world-building along with magic based on the elements, an epic amount of fully fleshed out characters, highlights the talent of the author in writing high fantasy.

The premise is fascinating and I couldn’t wait to see how this would be laid out in greater detail.  In the beginning, I noted all the different POVs and thought them excessive (over 10), but with this particular type of writing style, and epic quality to the story, I get why he did this, however I wonder if the story would have benefitted better from having less?

The magic system is complicated and involved. Different races can do different things and I found it fairly easy to keep up with it all.

The characters and POV is another story.  In the beginning, the narrative felt a bit disjointed and choppy.  It was hard to keep track of who was whom so I had to make a list… yup, pen and paper stuff.

Everything about this story is intriguing and enticing. You want to continue reading just to learn more about the origins of the stories being told and when everything begins to come together and fall in to place, you’ll find yourself nodding in understanding.

There’s a vast array of characters, that not only give you a further understanding of the world of Teldwen, as it’s revealed, but how things work within this world. There are those that will appeal to you and you’ll enjoy and those you’ll not like at all, but all of them seem necessary to the story.

 

Hearne includes a caste system and how ability is associated to how high in the caste system you are. His writing style is engaging and easy to follow moving from one plot point to the next, transitioning smoothly and continuously.

Each character serves a purpose to the story, either by adding humor or emotions, great fight scenes and tension building…

This is a large encompassing novel that took me several days to finish, but it was worth every page.

My only real complaint was too many characters and POVs at the beginning.  I look forward to reading the next book by this author.

I gave the book: