I just finished Lord of a Shattered Land by Howard Andrew Jones. It is the first time in a long time that I've read something from the Sword & Sorcery genre that gave me such pure, unadulterated joy. My biggest issue with this book is that each character motivation seemed very flimsy based on what we knew about them. Many of the motives felt author led, instead of organic.

On her eighteenth birthday Sapphire is transported to a different world where they tell her that she is the lost princess, who disappeared eighteen years prior. Sapphire is thrown right into the kingdom that seems to be full of secrets that nobody is talking about. While trying to discover more about the kingdom that she will one day inherit, Sapphire keeps running into the alluringly beautiful but dangerous witch Ashes. Sapphire and Ashes are at the centre of a history of secrets, political intrigue and a teetering power balance between the dark witches and elementals. The second part of the design that I loved was the nature of the book. The book is very "episodic". In fact, you could argue that each chapter should be retitled a "Short Story". Each chapter advances the plot and moves the character closer to his goal, and has some connection to previous chapters. However, the overall plot of an individual chapter and the characters used generally are unique and interesting! The episodic nature of the book, coupled with the classic looking cover, really reminded me of the "Conan the Barbarian" stories from Robert E. Howard. Ty to penguin books for providing me with a copy. I believe the copy I have is a finished copy which is why I have brought up the grammar/repetition as an issue.

As for Ashes, where does one start? there’s a tension between the two main characters straight away, but after the initial meeting it takes a while before we see Ashes again. But once her character gets going, wow. It’s hard to talk about her without spoiling the book. But the way she’s written is incredibly. her motivations and her inner workings are phenomenal, and by the time you reach the last chapter your jaw will drop and you will be so overcome with so many conflicting emotions. i cannot wait to talk about Ashes and that ending with people once this book is out. also, i would have killed for an Ashes POV but the fact that this book is only told from one perspective does not detract from how good the book is at all. the premise of this book is one of my favourites: princess x witch enemies to lovers, and while in this book the romance is definitely not the focal point of the story, the parts with the romance absolutely shine. characters whining that they do not want mystery. Yes, that's a thing readers probably said of the previous book. No. It should not come out of the mouths of the actual characters in the story every five minutes. There were parts that were a bit repetitive and boring, but there were also good parts that kept me reading. If a second book were to come out, I definitely will read it, as I want to see how the ending plays out.

Howard Jones writes not-to-be-missed epic fantasy with immersive worldbuilding and the highest stakes for the characters, fighting for personal survival and the survival of their world.” ― Martha Wells, Hugo, Nebula and Locus award-winning author of the Murderbot series A grand and wonderful adventure filled with exotic magic and colorful places." —Kevin J. Anderson, NYT best-selling author of The Saga of Seven Suns and the Young Jedi Knights seriesThis was not one plot point, it was so many to the point that I knew how the book would end and I didn’t realise why until I realised it’s literally Alina season 1.

The Dervans thought that Hanuvar perished during the siege of Volanus, but he survived and in these fourteen tales he fights to reunite his people. He faces Dervan soldiers, monsters, sorcerers, and spirits. As Hanuvar has his adventures we learn more about his world, its history, and its people. As exciting as the adventures are, the characters are a big reason why I like this book so much, characters on all sides of the conflict.

The book Is not as spicy as it was made out to be, but I can understand as I feel it was made out to a younger audience; however, there we a lot of kinks. The city’s treasuries were looted, its temples defiled, and then, to sate their emperor’s thirst for vengeance, the mages of the Dervan Empire cursed Volanus and sowed its fields with salt. They committed only one error: the greatest Volani general yet lived.