Eric Lewis

"After a warlord slaughters her patients, Sister Alessia quits the cloister and strikes out on her own to heal the victims of a brutal dynastic conflict. When they uncover proof of a foreign conspiracy prolonging the bloodshed, Alessia risks the very lives she's saved to expose the truth and bring the war to an end."--Publisher description.

The Heron Kings

Eryn Bradshaw

War stories are often told from the perspective of those fighting the war, whether it be the soldiers or leaders. The Heron Kings, however, take the perspective of the common folk trying to get by, not taking either side in the war. Alessia, a young healer, meets Ulnoth, a farmer, and together they start a group called the Heron Kings. They take in the sick, injured, and displaced people. Together, they uncover a conspiracy plot and take matters into their own hands and attempt to end the war.

The concept of The Heron Kings I loved. There are so many stories to be told, and not all stories are about heroes and villains. Sometimes, it's just normal people trying to live their lives and escape the horrors of war. It was extremely well-written and fast-paced. Not once did I feel bored by the plot.

However, there were quite a few things I took issue with in this book. The biggest problem was the flat, boring, predictable characters. When more characters were introduced, they all blurred together and I couldn't keep track of them all. I did not care about the characters or their motivations. And take this the right way, I was probably not the target audience for this book (although I thought I was when I picked it up), this book is way too violent. I don't mind violence; I play violent video games all the time. But it was brutal just to be brutal. Ulnoth was a blood-thirsty farmer, who maimed a few people. A general killed a pregnant woman by cutting open her stomach and letting her bleed out. It was far too graphic for me to the point where it made me feel ill reading all the gory details. War is brutal, it's not pleasant, I understand that. It was just too much for me.

I have to give this book a 2 out of 5. I was just uncomfortable with read this book and I really couldn't connect to the characters at all. Again, I am likely not the target audience, others have enjoyed it, it just wasn't for me.
  Flame Tree Press provided a copy of The Heron Kings through Netgalleyin exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to read this book!


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Anyaconda

This is a grim-dark story in a war-torn country where the common rabble is the biggest loser. They find themselves between a hammer and an anvil, Queen Engwara and King Pharamund.
We follow Alessia, a novice healer nun, and Ulnoth, a man who's lost everything, gather the broken and leftover war victims to start their own rebellion. Their goal is to end this war.

I really enjoyed reading this story, although there are some gruesome scenes in there. 
Content warning for attempted rape, torture, mutilation and an especially horrific execution of a pregnant woman. Not for the light-hearted. 

I'd love to have had a map of some sorts to see where the different towns are and the borders of the country. I found the religions and marchmen culture that were mentioned throughout the book fascinating and I wanted to know more about them. The book could've been easily another 100 pages longer to flesh out the cultures, world and some of the secondary characters.

Heron Kings is a great debut novel and Eric Lewis has definitely potential. If you like Joe Abercrombie or Sam Sykes then you should check this one out. I especially liked Vinian the spymaster. She made for a great character and I wanted to read more about her. I am going to keep an eye out for the author's next book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 out of 5 stars for this new grim-dark war story and it's out now!

Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing
Link: www.flametreepublishing.com/The-Heron...

The Heron Kings

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