Welcome to the kingdom of Eriroc where racism and magic is a way of life
Since its first days the kingdom of Eriroc, located on an island, has always been ruled by a magic wielding King – a Wizard. Each and every King solely held the ability to manipulate the weather for the kingdoms benefit, a power like no other. But all that change when the wizards went a step too far and caused untold devastation and death by abusing their power. Now, with the kingdom in tatters and getting worse by the day, the once revered rulers are hunted down by the new magicless King and the Hunters working for him, a race of humans that is immune to direct magic and spell casting. But things are not what they seem.
The kingdom of Eriroc is the home of three different and distinct races: Wizards, Hunters (Deviants) and plain folk. Wizards have the ability to use magic and can always be recognised by their blue eyes. Hunters (or Deviants as they appear on the blerp – there is no mention of this within the book, they’re always called Hunters) besides being immune to magic have the gift of strength and agility and can always be recognised by their black hair, stark facial features and emerald eyes. And lastly the plain old folk like you and me who read books about extraordinary and magic wielding humans like the above.
As long as the wizards ruled the Hunters were a hated race due to their abilities but that changed when the tables turned and the Wizards became public enemy number one. This book deals with that hate and racism within the kingdom and how people could and should get past thinking like that to work and live together in relative harmony.
The hero, Tybolt, is an amazing character with humour and a good heart. There was witty banter and sarcasm, humour and the portrayal of the suffering was intense and came across. The love interest, Auriella, was another great character and the best of all there was no insta-love or lust. We got to see their love come to fruition after years of interacting which was extremely cute and appreciated. Added to these all was the writing, which was simple yet rich.
The pace is a double edged blade, good at some points and bad at others. While it started off nice and even, a little ways after the halfway mark it sped up, making the feeling of rushness more prominent. But it wasn’t just the speed that made me feel like this; it was also the luck of information, explanations and expansions on some people and events. It should have been a duology, or if not, there should have been a prequel/sequel novella to cover up some of the gaps.
Despite this I had fun reading this book and it was an extremely pleasant read. I’m acquainted with this writers work. I’ve read the Solus Series which I really liked and that’s what made me pick this book up, though to be honest, I had some reservations. So very glad I picked it up.
To put it simply, it was refreshing and simple, yet complex and overall enjoyable.
OfWonderland Book Club choice read for January 2017 (#OWBookClub)
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