Author : João F. Silva
Book : Ruins of Smoke
/Fantasy/
Publication date : August 29, 2023
Blurb:
The Usharian Empire rules the Known World with an iron fist. Imperials protect their world from the tainted hand of the Deceiver, but he is back with an avatar capable of breaking the Empire and grounding humanity into ash.
JEHA is a sentinel of the Empire, willing to fight and die for kinship and duty.
AGOR is an imperial general. Disgruntled by the darkness he sees seeping into everything he loves, he makes his move.
MATALA is a young smokesmith who sees his courage tested as Ushar burns.
ALAMAKAR is the world’s most powerful man, but even strong blood ties can hold him down and tear him apart.
As the Deceiver threatens the Usharian Empire’s heart, fiends walk the streets of the capital. Men and monsters clash in a battle fit for gods. And the smoke follows them.
My thoughts:
No wonder there is a saying that good things come in small packages!
Like an Italian espresso, this novella with the first sip hits you all the way to your toes with action, loss, and all kinds of emotions.
Ruins of Smoke is a wonderful prequel to the Smokesmiths series that gives us more insight and makes a wonderful foundation for the events to come in Seeds of War.
At the beginning of the book you're greeted by a gorgeous map (what can I say, I love maps, especially when they are so beautiful😆🥰❤️) and also a badass bestiary of the “nice” minions they'll face.
From the first line, we are thrown into the mayhem and chaos that is the battle between the sides of The Essence and The Deceiver. More powerful than ever before, The Deceiver has found a new avatar to take on the plague that is The Essence.
We witness the action through multiple POV's both from the bad side and the good side:
JEHA is a sentinel of the Empire, willing to fight and die for kinship and duty.
AGOR is an imperial general. Disgruntled by the darkness he sees seeping into everything he loves, he makes his move.
MATALA is a young smokesmith who sees his courage tested as Ushar burns.
ALAMAKAR is the world’s most powerful man, but even strong blood ties can hold him down and tear him apart.
And here is the brilliant part, when the book makes you question which side is the bad and which side is the good….if there is any!
My favorite character was Agor and all the emotions he went through in such a short time! And he really pushed the boundaries and single-handedly made you wonder which side are you really!
Brilliant novella and I didn't expect less after Seed of War!
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