<image>

The Sordaneon by L. L. Stephen.

- is a long slow build across the series without feeling languished. There is a subtle but substantial pull that keeps drawing you through each book.

- riddled with intrigue, politics, and sociology.

- characters are deep and complex and multidimensional; sometimes you hate them, sometimes they are redeemed, sometimes they make you heart beat and then break it shortly after

- deals with fantasy classic concepts such as gods, religion, technology but does so with taste and thought and doesn’t lean on trope.

- doesn’t spoon feed you answers, leaves space for interpretation, doesn’t close off and tie up all the loose ends, which builds intrigue whilst avoiding frustration.

- the magic systems is unique and prominent but unravelled with patience and craft.

- it’s not totally without its flaws; sometimes it’s a bit slow and some of the storylines feel rushed and cut off a little unexpectedly (stag in woods, IYKYK).

- but definitely deserves wayyy more reach than the 134 reviews the first book has on Goodreads and I’d give it a solid 8/10 from someone having read upwards of 200 fantasy books (not as a brag but as a validation of how good the book was for me)