The Woe of Shadows (Heavy Lies the Crown Prequel) by D Fischer
Sorry, this review is coming a wee bit late, I fell a bit behind due to health, so this Anthology is already released…my bad…I was unfortunately, unable to read the other short stories, so my review is only for The Woe of Shadows. Am I the only weird one that doesn’t always like reading Prequels lol? I don’t know what I have against them haha…coz there are some really amazing ones out there. I feel bad for them now haha.
This introductory story into Danielle’s new series really goes out with a bang…and definitely leaves you intrigued to see where the story will lead, from that point. My heart hurts for Bastian the most! But seriously D…did you need to go out that brutally?! That was…
Ugh…I really feel like this ↓ would be us right now…lol…yeah that seems pretty spot on. Don’t you think? 😆
I’m finding this review a little tricky to write, prequels can be a little trickier to share info, coz of the fact that it’s a shorter story. But I’ll do my best. Basically, we have a Kingdom that is like on the cusp of war. There seem to be four Divine gods, who originally created everything. Being: Fate, Hope, Choice and Despair. Why mention this? Well, although these gods were more neutral beings neither good nor evil…it’s no longer seeming that way…and it appears certain gods are pairing up with different Kingdoms. But there is one god in particular Despair who is set on controlling all the other realms. And now he is on the Divine realm which does not bode well for those who dwell there.
Fate in an act to try and protect and stop Despair, visits Queen Amala of the Shadow People, his most loved creation. But his plan requires almost killing himself, in a way, to share his gift of light to Amala’s unborn baby girl. Who is fated to have unimaginable power and strength. The one that is more than likely to save their Kingdom, and maybe even stop Despair.
It jumps ahead to the present day and Nefari, Amala’s daughter, is now coming up to her eighth birthday. Things within the Kingdom are beginning to get rocky by this point…And it all starts with a Wraith that follows Amala and Nefari home. And for the first time, it’s able to get through this barrier, called the creep. From here everything seems to fall into place…but not in a good way. It seems a lot of creatures and beings are after Nefari and the power that she holds. The queen is doing everything she can to save her Kingdom and daughter, but will it all be for nought?
Enter a world, where beings all have their own agendas and where anyone can be a traitor or a saviour…this is a world where anything can happen. A world where sacrifices and deals may not always go to plan.
I loved a lot about this world and definitely enjoyed all the fantastical creatures such as Centaurs, Crones, Shadow People and more…Can’t give them all away lol. I also really liked the unique style magic that was created and I enjoyed seeing the setup of this complex world. I do have to admit that sometimes I really struggled to connect to the story. Like…how can I explain this? Um kinda like I was on the outside looking in on the story but not actually in-in. Does that make sense? Although, this could have a lot to do with the tense of which this story is written. It’s a little different to my usual style so I think, I just need some extra time exploring this world and adjusting to the written tense chosen. Because by the end I was really intrigued and felt the strain and stress of those last chapters.
If you love fantasy worlds where Kingdoms, gods and whatnot are at the brink of war then this is the perfect introduction to a new series for you. The first book in the series, The Shape of Darkness, releases sometime in November and I must say
Thanks to the amazing Danielle for providing me with the ARC for this book in place of my honest review…it was really fun and exciting to dive into my first book of yours and I’m curious to see what more you have in store for me. Time to backtrack to the beginning of your books lol.
For anyone like me, that is OCD, Danielle’s books are all interconnected..which means, although, it doesn’t technically matter which series of hers you start with, there is a timeline of events, so to speak. If you would like the reading order just shoot me a message and I’ll get back to you with that 🙂
Well, that’s about all my brain can cope with right now, so
Read Ramble Repeat 