Book Review – Master of Sorrows by Justin Call
You have heard the story before – of a young boy, orphaned through tragic circumstances, raised by a wise old man, who comes to a fuller knowledge of his magic and uses it to fight the great evil that threatens his world.
But what if the boy hero and the malevolent, threatening taint were one and the same?
What if the boy slowly came to realize he was the reincarnation of an evil god? Would he save the world… or destroy it?
Among the Academy’s warrior-thieves, Annev de Breth is an outlier. Unlike his classmates who were stolen as infants from the capital city, Annev was born in the small village of Chaenbalu, was believed to be executed, and then unknowingly raised by his parents’ killers.
Seventeen years later, Annev struggles with the burdens of a forbidden magic, a forgotten heritage, and a secret deformity. When he is subsequently caught between the warring ideologies of his priestly mentor and the Academy’s masters, he must choose between forfeiting his promising future at the Academy or betraying his closest friends. Each decision leads to a deeper dilemma, until Annev finds himself pressed into a quest he does not wish to fulfil.
Will he finally embrace the doctrine of his tutors, murder a stranger, and abandon his mentor? Or will he accept the more difficult truth of who he is… and the darker truth of what he may become…
My rating:
This book is intimidatingly large, and I sadly let that stop me from picking it up for far too long! I was swept into it so quickly!
Annev may be fulfilling the chosen one stereotype, but maybe all is not what it seems. I love his relationship with Sodar, and felt the aggravation at all the secrets. As they come out, you really wish for more, and I hope that’s something we get to explore in book two. There’s so many questions Annev doesn’t know the answers to yet.
I will say that I did nearly put this straight back down early on, and this is for one reason – they treat anyone with a physical disability (and I suspect wider into any unwanted behaviour) as bad, and the book shows that a baby born disabled would be killed, as would the parents. This is obviously not a great take! I don’t love anything like that as a concept, as I don’t think it should be used as a plot device. However, I took a chance on reading on because I knew it was likely to be challenged. It’s not done as directly as I would have liked, but I liked what we get. We also get to explore some of the mentality behind the belief, the origin stories (which are very interesting) and how it affects those hiding the secret.
The academy itself is also a fascinating place for the story. Largely because while a lot of Annev’s concerns are around school and passing the test, it’s actually not the point of the story. Which is pretty clever. It’s well tied in, but the point is more about destiny and what you are worth. There’s some lovely moments on friendship as well.
We also get some fascinating glimpses of the wider world, and of Sodar, that I’m definitely looking forward to exploring further.
A really well written and encompassing fantasy. 4.5 stars.
Buy Master of Sorrows from Waterstones.
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