Blood of Heirs / Alicia Wanstall-Burke

Title / Blood of Heirs

Author /  Alicia Wanstall-Burke

Publication Date / 2018

Series or standalone / book 1 in a series

Page no. / 335

Overall Rating / ★★★★

This is the first book in the Coraidic Saga. It is a self published debut fantasy book that follows two main character perspective; Lidan and Ran. I hadn’t heard a lot about this book but I thought I’d try it out as I haven’t read a lot of self published fantasy books. 

 

I thought this was a fantastic introduction to this series. As soon as I started reading, I knew I was going to enjoy this one. The writing is great and the book has quite an addictive quality to it; once I’d started reading I didn’t want to put the book down. Each chapter is as compelling as the last and the switches in perspective never felt jarring. This was a pretty fast read for me because of it’s addictive quality. The author did a great job at threading together the two perspectives, despite the main protagonists never meeting. The two characters are in different parts of the world (Lidan in the south and Ran in the north) but their perspectives never felt disjointed. I would say that this is quite traditional in terms of the fantasy genre but it does it very well. However if you are looking for something groundbreaking in terms of the fantasy genre then this probably won’t be it. You’d be missing out though, because this was a wonderful book. I would never have guessed that this is a debut novel. The world building is another strength of this book. Again it is quite a traditional fantasy world but the author has done a great job at still keeping it fresh. From the very beginning I was immersed in this world and story. The ending suggests an expansion on what we know of the magic and politics of the world. I cannot wait to see what the author has in store for us in the sequel.

 

This is a character driven story and the author does a fantastic job at developing her characters throughout the book. Lidan and Ran are great protagonists, who both face the challenge of being heir to their respective fathers. The other characters are just as well written and I can’t wait to see more of them all in the sequels. My one issue with the characters was the ages of the two protagonists. I can just about accept Ran being fifteen but I couldn’t get my head around Lidan being twelve. I mean I get that in this world you probably grow up fast but she just doesn’t seem like a twelve year old. Although this baffled me a little bit, it didn’t really detract from my overall enjoyment of this book. Other than that, I loved the characters and I’m looking forward to seeing their development in the next book.

 

Overall I loved this book and I am so glad I picked it up. This is the first book in the series but I don’t know how many books are planned and there are no current details available concerning the second book. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for the sequel though. I cannot wait to see how things progress with the story and characters. Have you read this book? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

 

Pippa