City of Shards book review

I was given an ARC by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

We are introduced to Larin a young boy living in the worst part of town with his uncle who has a severe drug addiction but yet manages to be one the most awesome fighters the world has ever seen. Larin suffers violent outburst in which he yells the same three words and this seems to be a great source of entertainment for the neighborhood’s thugs and bullies.  Larin has few friends and spends most his time reading in the temple’s library. Though his uncle Akul tries to protect him from the local thug Oarl and his gang Larin still ends up being the victim of many beatings. As the story progresses we get to meet more characters such as Larin’s friend Candro, his love interest Onie and an almost always drunk warrior priestess Trana.

We also get to meet the emperor of Tanbar, Maldovin and his council of dukes. Maldovin seems to be a royal pain in the ass but ends being a quite likeable character.

As the story develops we also get to meet the leader of the oncoming invasion Kemharak and his commanders who aren’t human at all or even likeable when we first meet them.

I love the fact that all characters are well written.

I can’t say much more without giving away spoilers.

The world Larin lives in is very interesting with all kinds of religions, creatures and magic. The author is an excellent worldbuilder so that’s a huge plus for me. The creatures are also quite interesting some seem to be more like insects and others more like lizzards.

There are some typical fantasy tropes when it comes to the grumpy uncle,orphan boy destined to save the world with a gang of friends but it didn’t bother me at all. The rich history and creatures made this book a very enjoyable read. And I was quite happy to see the second book is already out.