Silent No More

4/5 stars

I enjoyed this book overall. It follows the story of Auric Manteo, a retired explorer and fighter, who is called forward to help with returning an ancient relic back to the Djao temple where it originated. A plague has broken out, and it is thought the relic is the cause, a god dispensing retribution for the theft.

There were some really great elements to this story. First, the world-building was extraordinarily well done. You get a really good sense of the culture, the various religions, the history, the current political scene, and the machinations of court life. The whole setting of when Auric and Belech are bringing their quest to the Queen is fantastic.

The characters are really well developed, too, and memorable. I especially liked the insane characters: you get a real sense of the “wrongness” of the whole situation with the queen, and later with the count when he gives Auric the sword. Auric himself was pretty well done, too. I found him a bit boring, in a typical “always does the right thing” type of way. The only real thing that interested me was his PTSD. That aspect was phenomenal, but otherwise, I found him a bit one-dimensional. I liked him, but I didn’t LOVE him. The side characters is where the author seemed to really shine: each of them have something memorable, and each of them have something endearing yet complex.

The plot dragged, which is why this is a 4 instead of a 5 star for me. It seems pacing was sacrificed for the vast amounts of world-building. The last few chapters were so, so good, and I couldn’t put them down. But the middle, up until about 70% of the way through, there were times I had to force myself to keep going. The good thing is, the characters were so well done that I DID keep going.

All in all, if you are looking for a fantasy book with great worldbuilding, well-fleshed characters, and a killer of an ending, grab this on for sure.

Get it on Amazon or add to your Goodreads.