The Peace of Freysdal

I give the Peace of Freysdal a 3.5 rounded up to 4.

I was fortunate enough to receive an e-book of The Peace of Freysdal by the author, Michael Richards.

The Peace of Freysdal follows Jaren as he studies to become a Light Twister, under his mentor Joans, and attempts to protect his home of Freysdal from threats both inside and out.

I enjoyed this book, following along Jaren's story, but there were some issues I had with it along the way.
Pacing: The pacing was quite slow. Not much happens for a lot of the book and when it does, it ends quickly too. Eventually when the story got rolling it was too little too late.
Consequences: There aren't many consequences throughout the book. Characters make choices or events happen, but it doesn't have any lasting impact and everything is resolved rather quickly or easily.
Characters: Most of the characters fall a little flat for me. Apart from 2 they were undeveloped and I struggled to connect with them.

But there were some things I did enjoy about it too!
Magic System: The magic system here is really enjoyable as a hard magic system and has more of a science-y feel to it. I could visualise it clearly and was fascinated by how it worked. When it was used in action scenes it was certainly cool to follow along, even if it did feel overpowered at times.
Joans: Jaren's difficult and borderline abusive mentor Joans is the most interesting character for me. Morally gray and with his own story and an air of mystery that surrounds him, I enjoyed every scene he was in.
Found Family Theme: The major theme I felt was the found family. Michael Richards has brought us a very close knit, cobbled together family, with interesting dynamics and challenges but ultimately they support and rely on one another.
Easy to read: The book is short, the chapters are short and Michael Richards has a way of writing that makes everything fly by. I breezed through multiple chapters at a time.

I'm certainly looking forward to what's next in store with Jaren, learning magic and where Michael Richards takes it.


If you're looking for a YA Fantasy with a strong magic system, found family theme, and easy to read story then I can recommend The Peace of Freysdal.

Music Recommendation: Velour by Darius.

I've been reading this for months now and I haven't even gotten to page 100.

This feels like it was published a tad too early. The writing is super clunky and telling there's no emotional connection and I have no care about the characters or the world. The pacing is super off scenes often rushed which makes them clunky.
I feel super bad as I got an arc from the author and I want to support indie authors but this just didn't work for me.

If you can get past the writing I feel the story could really be good.