Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Jul. 25th, 2016 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Destined to destroy empires, Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.
Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day she lost everything.
But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student. The shadows love her. And they drink her fear.
16-year-old Mia Covere was born into the aristocracy of the city of Godsgrave at the heart of the Itreyan Empire but her life of privilege and comfort was ripped away the day her father led a revolt against the Republic. Her father was hung as a traitor and Mia’s mother and baby brother were taken to the Philosopher’s Stone – a notorious prison where few survive (and those who do are usually left insane). Mia should have shared their fate but used the power of the shadows (personified as a cat called Mister Kindly) to save herself. Determined to have her revenge on the Itreyan authorities took up with old Mercurio who taught her everything he knew and sent her as an apprentice to the Red Church where she would learn all of the deadly arts. But competition at the Red Church is lethal and with only 4 places available at graduation, Mia will need her wits and her tricks if she is to survive ...
Jay Kristoff’s latest novel (the first in a new high fantasy series) is a well-crafted revenge tale that weaves together various sources (including Roman and medieval Venetian influences) into its world building. Mia is a driven and dedicated anti-heroine who is fierce in her pursuit of revenge. I particularly enjoyed her relationship with Mister Kindly (whose wry commentary on her antics made me smile) but her relationship with fellow apprentice Tric never really caught fire for me and nor did her rivalry with Jessamine (who was two dimensional). The mythology underpinning the world is well constructed and interesting and the operation of the Red Church held my interest (although I felt that its leader, Lord Cassius remained far too much of a cypher, which was a shame given certain events). Kristoff uses footnotes to expand out small details of his world, which for the most part worked for me although there were a couple of scenes where I thought that they interrupted the action. My only real issue with the book was that the events were a little too predictable for my tastes and given the information given in the introduction about Mia’s successes, I felt that it lacked the tension it could have had. That said, there was more than enough here to hold my interest and certainly enough questions remain unanswered for me to check out the sequel.
The Verdict:
Jay Kristoff’s latest novel (the first in a new high fantasy series) is a well-crafted revenge tale that weaves together various sources (including Roman and medieval Venetian influences) into its world building. Mia is a driven and dedicated anti-heroine who is fierce in her pursuit of revenge. I particularly enjoyed her relationship with Mister Kindly (whose wry commentary on her antics made me smile) but her relationship with fellow apprentice Tric never really caught fire for me and nor did her rivalry with Jessamine (who was two dimensional). The mythology underpinning the world is well constructed and interesting and the operation of the Red Church held my interest (although I felt that its leader, Lord Cassius remained far too much of a cypher, which was a shame given certain events). Kristoff uses footnotes to expand out small details of his world, which for the most part worked for me although there were a couple of scenes where I thought that they interrupted the action. My only real issue with the book was that the events were a little too predictable for my tastes and given the information given in the introduction about Mia’s successes, I felt that it lacked the tension it could have had. That said, there was more than enough here to hold my interest and certainly enough questions remain unanswered for me to check out the sequel.
NEVERNIGHT will be released in the United Kingdom on 1st August 2016. Thanks to Amazon Vine for the ARC of this book.
Destined to destroy empires, Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.
Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day she lost everything.
But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student. The shadows love her. And they drink her fear.
16-year-old Mia Covere was born into the aristocracy of the city of Godsgrave at the heart of the Itreyan Empire but her life of privilege and comfort was ripped away the day her father led a revolt against the Republic. Her father was hung as a traitor and Mia’s mother and baby brother were taken to the Philosopher’s Stone – a notorious prison where few survive (and those who do are usually left insane). Mia should have shared their fate but used the power of the shadows (personified as a cat called Mister Kindly) to save herself. Determined to have her revenge on the Itreyan authorities took up with old Mercurio who taught her everything he knew and sent her as an apprentice to the Red Church where she would learn all of the deadly arts. But competition at the Red Church is lethal and with only 4 places available at graduation, Mia will need her wits and her tricks if she is to survive ...
Jay Kristoff’s latest novel (the first in a new high fantasy series) is a well-crafted revenge tale that weaves together various sources (including Roman and medieval Venetian influences) into its world building. Mia is a driven and dedicated anti-heroine who is fierce in her pursuit of revenge. I particularly enjoyed her relationship with Mister Kindly (whose wry commentary on her antics made me smile) but her relationship with fellow apprentice Tric never really caught fire for me and nor did her rivalry with Jessamine (who was two dimensional). The mythology underpinning the world is well constructed and interesting and the operation of the Red Church held my interest (although I felt that its leader, Lord Cassius remained far too much of a cypher, which was a shame given certain events). Kristoff uses footnotes to expand out small details of his world, which for the most part worked for me although there were a couple of scenes where I thought that they interrupted the action. My only real issue with the book was that the events were a little too predictable for my tastes and given the information given in the introduction about Mia’s successes, I felt that it lacked the tension it could have had. That said, there was more than enough here to hold my interest and certainly enough questions remain unanswered for me to check out the sequel.
The Verdict:
Jay Kristoff’s latest novel (the first in a new high fantasy series) is a well-crafted revenge tale that weaves together various sources (including Roman and medieval Venetian influences) into its world building. Mia is a driven and dedicated anti-heroine who is fierce in her pursuit of revenge. I particularly enjoyed her relationship with Mister Kindly (whose wry commentary on her antics made me smile) but her relationship with fellow apprentice Tric never really caught fire for me and nor did her rivalry with Jessamine (who was two dimensional). The mythology underpinning the world is well constructed and interesting and the operation of the Red Church held my interest (although I felt that its leader, Lord Cassius remained far too much of a cypher, which was a shame given certain events). Kristoff uses footnotes to expand out small details of his world, which for the most part worked for me although there were a couple of scenes where I thought that they interrupted the action. My only real issue with the book was that the events were a little too predictable for my tastes and given the information given in the introduction about Mia’s successes, I felt that it lacked the tension it could have had. That said, there was more than enough here to hold my interest and certainly enough questions remain unanswered for me to check out the sequel.
NEVERNIGHT will be released in the United Kingdom on 1st August 2016. Thanks to Amazon Vine for the ARC of this book.
