Published: July 2017
Pages: 738
Series: Furyck Saga #1
Summary
Despite her skill with a sword, her prowess in battle, and her reputation as the greatest warrior in Brekka, without her father to protect her, Jael was merely a pawn, a woman to be married off so her uncle could forge an alliance to fulfil his own desperate ambitions.
Eadmund is broken hearted, tortured by the murder of his first wife, but his father had lost patience with him. He wanted heirs for his kingdom. He wanted his son back, restored to the fierce warrior he had once been. And when his daughter has a dream about Jael, the woman who would save him, he eagerly jumps at the opportunity to make an alliance with his worst enemy.
Jael and Eadmund will fight against their union, but the dreamers know that this marriage is meant to be; it must happen for the sake of all Osterland. For without them… without Jael and her sword, without Eadmund by her side, the five kingdoms will not survive the darkness that is coming to claim them all.
My thoughts
Where to start with this one.. this is a chunk of a book. Over 700 pages and I can say with complete confidence that this should never have been that long.
The premise drew me in, sounded fantastic. A fierce warrior forced to marry her enemy, plotting as she restores her family honour. There was no plotting to be found in this book. It was incredibly boring.
The characters are one dimensional cardboard cut-outs that have no personality outside of their dialogue. They don’t add anything to the story, I do not care for them at all. Jael is my only exception to this as at the start I was right there beside her. I could feel her heartbreak. But much of that fierceness and passion soon just disappears. I expected her to be scheming her return to her land, forming plans, building alliances, playing the game of the courts. But she did none of that and it was so frustrating. What do you mean you’re just riding your horse everyday, what are you doing?
The pacing is another issue with this book. It is far too slow and incredibly jumpy. Within each chapter there are countless scene jumps, with some scenes only a paragraph or two long, they added no value whatsoever. I’m not clear if the author just didn’t know how to weave all the pieces of the story together or if she wasn’t sure how to edit it down. It continuously pulled me out of the story and with so many it was disorientating.
Now, Eadmund, her new husband, her enemy and a complete drunk after the death of his first wife. It’s been over 5 years, I expected his love story to be one for the ages. Two souls that completed each other and with her gone he has fallen to his lowest depth completely heartbroken.. forced to marry the princess of an enemy land this was surely to be a disaster. Perhaps even enemies to lovers?… NO. His first wife died on their wedding night after she spent her time toying between Eadmund and his brother.. Completely and utterly ridiculous I was gobsmacked. There was so much opportunity and that is what you do with it?? Tell me that isn’t so!
So much of the actions and behaviour we see in this book make absolutely no sense. There is far too much telling instead of showing, and I got really tired of these ‘dreamers’ who see the future and spill all the beans. It’s not great storytelling if you have characters that tell the reader exactly what is going to happen and then.. it happens.
Would I recommend?
Afraid not, I found this book lacking in all areas; the writing, pacing, plot and character development. It is far too long for the story that we got and much of it just doesn’t make logical sense. There are readers out there who enjoyed it and I am glad that they did but I could not recommend this book in good faith.