The Fall

I have only heard great things about the author's debut novel and this prequel novella and while they don't feel like the exact kind of books I enjoy, I still felt compelled to give this one a try first. And I'm glad my attempt wasn't in vain.

Sitting at less than 100 pages, this novella is pretty small but it's very surprising how much of the story the author is able to tell in such few pages, without losing the essence of this series - which is very traditional epic fantasy with dragons and Mages. I'm not someone who gravitate towards these books despite loving fantasy with all my heart, mostly because I prefer more emotionally engaging fantasies written by women and/or queer authors. However, I found this very action packed right from page one style of storytelling a bit refreshing, because I haven't read something like this for a long while now. The action, the tension, the sense of loss and despair and betrayal - none of these let up right from the beginning of the story, just making us feel one thing after another, letting us sink into this very gritty world on the day it's whole foundation crumbles - it's the end of an era and the beginning of a new empire, but we are left to wonder who is on the right and was it all worth it.

I throughly enjoyed this short tale giving us the devastating truth behind the origins of this world, and I can't wait to see what the author has in store for us in the first book of the series, which is set a few centuries later. I'm definitely excited for more action and ofcourse, dragons.