melissa300594's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tyr2607's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
snoakes7001's review against another edition
5.0
When Map's Edge begins, Dash Cowley is working as a healer in Teshveld, a town on the outskirts of the Bolgravian empire. It's the kind of place where people wash up when they have nowhere left to go and nowhere else to run.
Dash is coerced into trying to heal a man from a Bolgravian expedition into the unknown lands beyond Teshveld, and in doing so he acquires a journal that gives tantalising hints of a massive seam of Istriol in the lands to the north. Istriol is a mineral used to power sorcery and so is immensely valuable. Valuable enough that he unmasks himself to the rest of the townsfolk and comes clean that he is actually Raythe Vyre, an Otravian commander in a failed rebellion against the empire and a wanted man.
Most of the town's inhabitants have fled to the edge of the empire for their own reasons, and it doesn't take long for Raythe to convince a band of them to join him and his daughter Var on a quest to find and mine the mineral.
This is a really promising start to a series. Great characters and lots of action as the ragtag band struggle through some difficult terrain with the Bolgravian Secret Service on their tail. There are sorcerers on both sides making for some epic battle sequences. Although this first instalment is all about the journey, it ends with a scene that really leaves you wanting more - roll on book two!
Dash is coerced into trying to heal a man from a Bolgravian expedition into the unknown lands beyond Teshveld, and in doing so he acquires a journal that gives tantalising hints of a massive seam of Istriol in the lands to the north. Istriol is a mineral used to power sorcery and so is immensely valuable. Valuable enough that he unmasks himself to the rest of the townsfolk and comes clean that he is actually Raythe Vyre, an Otravian commander in a failed rebellion against the empire and a wanted man.
Most of the town's inhabitants have fled to the edge of the empire for their own reasons, and it doesn't take long for Raythe to convince a band of them to join him and his daughter Var on a quest to find and mine the mineral.
This is a really promising start to a series. Great characters and lots of action as the ragtag band struggle through some difficult terrain with the Bolgravian Secret Service on their tail. There are sorcerers on both sides making for some epic battle sequences. Although this first instalment is all about the journey, it ends with a scene that really leaves you wanting more - roll on book two!
janettedv's review against another edition
4.0
I loved David Hair’s previous books, The Moontide quartet and The Sunsurge quartet, so I was really excited when I saw this on Net Galley. This is the opening book in a brand new series and is the story of a whole village who go on a search for the precious mineral Istarol, which fuels sorcery. They are escaping from the occupying empire of Bolgravia however they are pursued by the enemy who include powerful sorcerors.
In common with the author’s previous books, there are lots of characters to get to know which can feel quite confusing at first. The first part of the book felt quite slow and if I hadn’t read the previous quartets, I might not have persevered. However I’m glad that I did as the characters and the story settle and it becomes more engaging for the reader. The final third of the book is an exciting read and I definitely want to know what happens next.
Many thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.
In common with the author’s previous books, there are lots of characters to get to know which can feel quite confusing at first. The first part of the book felt quite slow and if I hadn’t read the previous quartets, I might not have persevered. However I’m glad that I did as the characters and the story settle and it becomes more engaging for the reader. The final third of the book is an exciting read and I definitely want to know what happens next.
Many thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.
joosty's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
There is definitely something here to like. A group of disenfranchised frontierfolk on the outskirts of an overbearing empire take off in search of magical treasure. Unknown lands, tension within the group, the danger of pursuit.
Sadly, the novel does not live up to its promise. The exploration of lands unknown reads like several episodic adventures without much connection. The tension in the group revolves around the same conflict no less than three times, and it wasn't more interesting the thrid time than it was the first. The only thing that actually works is the pursuit. At least until that thread of the story also takes an odd and very unconvincing turn where the main antagonist effortlessly gains the trust of the book's most distrustful character.
Despite the namedropping of many places and origins of various characters, they feel like windowdressing (with the bearskin as the positive exception). Because the story doesn't take place in these other locations and no character's habits, beliefs or actions are in any way informed by the culture or country they came from, it becomes background noise. We have to assume that all these places are distinct because the author keeps naming different places.
The story ends on a cliffhanger and the revelation of the tethered citadel the series is named after, but I found none of the characters likable enough, and the story too thin to keep my interest.
Sadly, the novel does not live up to its promise. The exploration of lands unknown reads like several episodic adventures without much connection. The tension in the group revolves around the same conflict no less than three times, and it wasn't more interesting the thrid time than it was the first. The only thing that actually works is the pursuit. At least until that thread of the story also takes an odd and very unconvincing turn where the main antagonist effortlessly gains the trust of the book's most distrustful character.
Despite the namedropping of many places and origins of various characters, they feel like windowdressing (with the bearskin as the positive exception). Because the story doesn't take place in these other locations and no character's habits, beliefs or actions are in any way informed by the culture or country they came from, it becomes background noise. We have to assume that all these places are distinct because the author keeps naming different places.
The story ends on a cliffhanger and the revelation of the tethered citadel the series is named after, but I found none of the characters likable enough, and the story too thin to keep my interest.
annarella's review against another edition
4.0
A good fantasy according to my heart: it’s action packed, fast paced, full of twists and turns and gripping. I think there’s a lot of potential and it could become one of my favorite fantasy series.
I liked this story since the first pages and was fascinated by the very complex world building and the plot that kept me hooked.
It’s a classic epic fantasy, well written, full of drama and secret. You want to turn pages as fast as you can because you don’t what’s going to happen.
The world building is amazing and very complex. I want to learn more about the ancient civilizations and I was fascinating by the magic system and the belief system.
Some of the characters are a bit flat and need some more character development. I loved the female characters as they are strong willed, complex and well written.
As the book end with a cliff hanger I can’t wait to read the next instalment.
This one was highly entertaining and I recommend it.
Many thanks to Jo Fletcher Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I liked this story since the first pages and was fascinated by the very complex world building and the plot that kept me hooked.
It’s a classic epic fantasy, well written, full of drama and secret. You want to turn pages as fast as you can because you don’t what’s going to happen.
The world building is amazing and very complex. I want to learn more about the ancient civilizations and I was fascinating by the magic system and the belief system.
Some of the characters are a bit flat and need some more character development. I loved the female characters as they are strong willed, complex and well written.
As the book end with a cliff hanger I can’t wait to read the next instalment.
This one was highly entertaining and I recommend it.
Many thanks to Jo Fletcher Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
queenmackenzie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I have been wanting to read David Hair’s work for a while, and I really loved the concept of this new book, which starts a brand new series called the Tethered Citadel. Even so, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, since the blurb doesn’t give much away. It took me a while to get to know the characters, though I did like most of the right away, and there were moments in the first half in which I felt there were too many points of view and things were moving a little slowly, but as I got further in I started to appreciate all of it, and in the end I really loved it.
Map’s Edge is set in a world that has seen many upheavals; from the shattering of the ancient Aldar kingdom and the Ice Age their twisted magic brought forth, to the conquering of smaller countries by the Bolgravian Empire, a Russian-like people who wish to erase all other cultures in favour of one uniform nation. Raythe Vyre, the central figure in this story, is an Otravian noble who joined the rebellion against the Bolgravs and was forced to run when things went badly, ending up in Teshveld, a town on the fringes, full of people escaping their pasts and the watchful eyes of the Empire. Raythe is a sorcerer posing as a healer, and when he awakes one night to a group of Bolgravs at his door, ordering him to heal one of their men, he discovers they have just returned from an expedition in the newly discovered lands of Verdessa, where they have discovered vast reserves of istariol, a substance that fuels magic.
Sensing opportunity, Raythe incapacitates the enemy group, and calls a meeting with those of Teshveld that he trusts, to organise their own trek up into Verdessa, to mine the istariol before the Empire discovers it. Now, at this stage, I was expecting a Fellowship of the Ring-style group, a ragtag little team up against the world, but as Raythe rightly realises, mining and transporting a vast quantity of istariol takes a lot of people, and almost the entire town of Teshveld packs up their belongings and begins the long and dangerous journey North in search of wealth and freedom. I wasn’t sure how to feel about this at first, because a big group is hard to keep track of, and it can be difficult to remember and care about more individual characters, but I needn’t have worried. David Hair brings them all to life brilliantly, a group of morally grey, complex people, all scarred in some way by the invading Bolgravs.
‘ “If I die alone, let the wolves devour my bones,” she quoted from an old poem. “Let the crows eat my eyes, and the starlings take my hair to nest.”
“But give my sword to my son, so I’ll be with him when the fight is won,” Jesco added, concluding the verse.’
Of course, there are key people that dominate, all of them with their own agendas and past traumas, and I loved getting to know them all. The first half of the book focuses very much on the way their dynamics develop in these close confines, and the power plays between all of them. Though at the time I wanted the story to move faster, I am grateful for the time spent on character development, because it pays off later during the more action-based scenes.
Apart from the challenge of entering Verdessa undetected, and the dangers of the road, Raythe and his people are being followed by Toran Zorne, a tenacious member of the Bolgrav secret service who has been hunting Raythe for two years, and tracks him on his mad quest north, creating further obstacles for him and his people.
‘Overhead, the planetary rings, silver bands of light that carved the sky in two, glowed like the blades of a sky-god.’
A big part of this story, as you can tell, centres around character tension, but another crucial, and beautifully crafted element, is the world building. There is so much packed into this book, so many little moments that suggest greater things, that made the world feel much vaster than the confines of the map. The mythology of the Aldar and their floating cities, the planetary rings that split the skies at night, the folk songs and stories, the range of different cultures represented within Raythe’s caravan, the magic system so reliant on the spirit world – it all builds such an exciting backdrop that I would happily explore for hours on end.
I really loved Map’s Edge and, what with the massive twist that comes right at the end, I cannot wait to get my hands on what comes next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Rape
dlgardner's review against another edition
4.0
Maps Edge by David Hair is a page-turning adventure filled with excitement and intriguing characters. Fast paced, the story moves from a hideaway shack in a small village where the main character Dash meets a fate he didn’t expect. With blood on his hands he takes his daughter on a quest to find a mineral lode of magical ore and convinces a good portion of the village to go with him. From there they journey to the map’s edge, a rightful title for this epic fantasy with an evil predator at their heels.
The plot is unique in its own right, and surprises showing themselves at every turn. For those loving an epic fantasy, with plenty of bare fisted combat, this book is for you.
The only nitpick I have is I would have liked to have been grounded in the time/world a bit more as the use of firearms surprised me.
The plot is unique in its own right, and surprises showing themselves at every turn. For those loving an epic fantasy, with plenty of bare fisted combat, this book is for you.
The only nitpick I have is I would have liked to have been grounded in the time/world a bit more as the use of firearms surprised me.
rowena_m_andrews's review
5.0
I was first drawn to this book because of the title and cover, and that lovely, tantalising ‘At the edge of the map, there’s no going back…’ I am obsessed with maps and cartography, so Map’s Edge had me hooked from that point, even before I read the blurb which confirmed that this was a book I wanted to read.
It must be said that the summary made it sound a little more ‘heist-like’ than the final product felt, although at its core is a heist. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and what it did, as well as the foundation that it is has lain for the rest of the series, and there was more than enough action throughout. Map’s Edge does, however, have that classic fantasy adventure-quest feeling from the offset, one that starts with the odds against it, because the main character had fought and lost against the Empire before, which added a nice flavour to the story.
Fittingly for a book called ‘Map’s Edge’ great care has been taken with the worldbuilding, and Hair has created a breadth and depth to this world that really brings it to life. There is a wonderful blend of variety and interconnectedness between Treshveld where our story begins, across the Bolgravian Empire and the countries that have fallen beneath them, and in Verdessa. And there is a deep sense of history, both recent and ancient, through the ancient race of the Aldar who had perished centuries ago. Even better, for all the richness that this first book has given us, there is very much the impression that we’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of the world the author has created, and I look forward to discovering more of it in the future books.
Another aspect that I really enjoyed was the magic system, which was interesting and for the most part well developed and explained – there were a few places where I had questions, but as this is book one that is to be expected. There are two primary types of magic Praxis and Mirza, both of which see the Sorcerer bonding with a spirit which becomes a familiar that is invisible to anyone but the Sorcerer and other Sorcerers. Praxis Sorcerers have a natural, symbiotic relationship with their spirits while Mirza Sorcerers bonds with their spirits are self-destructive, the Mirza spirits essentially corrupting them from within. As with the worldbuilding, you get the impression that there is more to both sides of this magic system, especially when there is also the Izuvei, sorcerers working to become more attuned to the spirit world, and it will be interesting to see how this unfolds.
While a lot has been put into the worldbuilding and magic, the characters have not been left behind, and Hair has created a broad, varied cast right from the start. Every character, whether main or secondary, has there own motivations and history, and the dynamics between them especially as the group comes together, and threatens to fall apart, and endures a journey that pushes them all to the limit, are spectacular. There is banter, there is emotion and conflict and resolution. The characters and the world, bringing one another to life. Not all the characters are likeable, but you are invested in all of them, no matter where they fall on the spectrum, even if you only want to see their downfall, and that is because of the writing.
This was a fast-paced, entertaining read, set within a world that I want to explore more of. It has the breadth and depth of epic fantasy, the action and excitement of a heist, and it has left me wanting more. I would highly recommend for anyone looking for an epic adventure, and I will eagerly be waiting for the next instalment in this series. In the meantime, I will be picking up the Moontide Quartet by David Hair which has been on the TBR for far too long.
It must be said that the summary made it sound a little more ‘heist-like’ than the final product felt, although at its core is a heist. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and what it did, as well as the foundation that it is has lain for the rest of the series, and there was more than enough action throughout. Map’s Edge does, however, have that classic fantasy adventure-quest feeling from the offset, one that starts with the odds against it, because the main character had fought and lost against the Empire before, which added a nice flavour to the story.
Fittingly for a book called ‘Map’s Edge’ great care has been taken with the worldbuilding, and Hair has created a breadth and depth to this world that really brings it to life. There is a wonderful blend of variety and interconnectedness between Treshveld where our story begins, across the Bolgravian Empire and the countries that have fallen beneath them, and in Verdessa. And there is a deep sense of history, both recent and ancient, through the ancient race of the Aldar who had perished centuries ago. Even better, for all the richness that this first book has given us, there is very much the impression that we’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of the world the author has created, and I look forward to discovering more of it in the future books.
Another aspect that I really enjoyed was the magic system, which was interesting and for the most part well developed and explained – there were a few places where I had questions, but as this is book one that is to be expected. There are two primary types of magic Praxis and Mirza, both of which see the Sorcerer bonding with a spirit which becomes a familiar that is invisible to anyone but the Sorcerer and other Sorcerers. Praxis Sorcerers have a natural, symbiotic relationship with their spirits while Mirza Sorcerers bonds with their spirits are self-destructive, the Mirza spirits essentially corrupting them from within. As with the worldbuilding, you get the impression that there is more to both sides of this magic system, especially when there is also the Izuvei, sorcerers working to become more attuned to the spirit world, and it will be interesting to see how this unfolds.
While a lot has been put into the worldbuilding and magic, the characters have not been left behind, and Hair has created a broad, varied cast right from the start. Every character, whether main or secondary, has there own motivations and history, and the dynamics between them especially as the group comes together, and threatens to fall apart, and endures a journey that pushes them all to the limit, are spectacular. There is banter, there is emotion and conflict and resolution. The characters and the world, bringing one another to life. Not all the characters are likeable, but you are invested in all of them, no matter where they fall on the spectrum, even if you only want to see their downfall, and that is because of the writing.
This was a fast-paced, entertaining read, set within a world that I want to explore more of. It has the breadth and depth of epic fantasy, the action and excitement of a heist, and it has left me wanting more. I would highly recommend for anyone looking for an epic adventure, and I will eagerly be waiting for the next instalment in this series. In the meantime, I will be picking up the Moontide Quartet by David Hair which has been on the TBR for far too long.