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A review by theemptybookshelf
Fortune's Fool by Angela Boord
5.0
As soon as I turned the last page on the prequel/sequel novella, Smuggler's Fortune, I opened up the ebook of Fortune's Fool and got stuck right in. I was already so eneamoured with Angela Boord's writing style and heart in your mouth action that I couldn't let the opportunity to launch this book to the top of my pile. And wow am I glad that I took this chance.
'After five years of saying it, I have almost come to believe that my name is Kyris di Nada, and that I sprang full-grown, metal-armed, from the rocky brow ridge of the Irondels.'
Kyrra/Kyris continues the trend she set in Smuggler's Fortune as being such a fun character. Whether it was in the past or the present storyline she went through so much evolution and received some amazing characterisation. I loved seeing her struggle in both timeframes.
There were two very constrasting men driving the story. Arsenault was a delight from the first moment he appeared in Kyrra's past. His pleasant demeanour and kindly attitude was just so wholesome and he was so fun to explore. On the other hand, Cassis was an absolute fuck. We knew before he ever got to speak that he was going to be the villain, but he played the part to perfection.
'I laughed. It has always been my way to laugh when I should cry.'
Fortune's full is a thick tome, at over 700 pages, it took me around 15 hours across a week to get through it. You would wonder if maybe it didn't need to be so long, if maybe the plot wandered a bit too much and there was excess padding. But you'd be mistaken. This book required every single word that it contained. The character history, the worldbuilding, the conflict. It was all absolutely necessary. Whenever I got a free moment I was on my phone, devouring it.
This is a story about silk and guns, revenge and love. It is a story told in the present and a timeline five years ago. From chapter to chapter we might get to see Kyrra struggling to survive the events that shaped her, or we might see her as the male presenting Kyris seeking revenge for those events. I loved getting the story told to us in this way. Especially close to the end when everything cascaded towards an eventful conclusion.
'What nobody tells you is that magic is a pain in the ass. It’s like the dinner guest who always shows up uninvited. It comes too early and stays too late. It ruins your evening plans. It’s the mistake you wake up with the morning after.'
Fortune's Fool is a slowburn fantasy flooded with revenge, loss and surviving against all odds. But is it all worth it? That's a resounding, YES! I had such a blast with these characters and this world and enjoyed every single moment of the 700 pages.
Angela Boord and Fortune's Fool definitely deserved the finalist spot in SPFBO 5 (Mark Lawrence's Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off competition). It came second by only 0.3 and in my opinion it is a better book than the winner from that year which is one of the highest praised Indie novels of all time, The Sword of Kaigen.
'A gun against a man’s head only works for so long. Eventually, he’ll dare you to use it, to see if you’re serious. If you aren’t, you’ll lose him, and if you are…you’ll lose him, too, but it will be worse.'
Angela has proven that she is mightily capable of writing a novella, a short novel, and a full length novel too. The Eterean Empire is already off to a great start and I just cannot wait to see where it goes next. Maybe Kyrra deserves a bit off a break after such a rough life. An unlikely outcome. Bring on the pain.
Rating: 5/5
Check out the review on my blog here. And my full site here.
'After five years of saying it, I have almost come to believe that my name is Kyris di Nada, and that I sprang full-grown, metal-armed, from the rocky brow ridge of the Irondels.'
Kyrra/Kyris continues the trend she set in Smuggler's Fortune as being such a fun character. Whether it was in the past or the present storyline she went through so much evolution and received some amazing characterisation. I loved seeing her struggle in both timeframes.
There were two very constrasting men driving the story. Arsenault was a delight from the first moment he appeared in Kyrra's past. His pleasant demeanour and kindly attitude was just so wholesome and he was so fun to explore. On the other hand, Cassis was an absolute fuck. We knew before he ever got to speak that he was going to be the villain, but he played the part to perfection.
'I laughed. It has always been my way to laugh when I should cry.'
Fortune's full is a thick tome, at over 700 pages, it took me around 15 hours across a week to get through it. You would wonder if maybe it didn't need to be so long, if maybe the plot wandered a bit too much and there was excess padding. But you'd be mistaken. This book required every single word that it contained. The character history, the worldbuilding, the conflict. It was all absolutely necessary. Whenever I got a free moment I was on my phone, devouring it.
This is a story about silk and guns, revenge and love. It is a story told in the present and a timeline five years ago. From chapter to chapter we might get to see Kyrra struggling to survive the events that shaped her, or we might see her as the male presenting Kyris seeking revenge for those events. I loved getting the story told to us in this way. Especially close to the end when everything cascaded towards an eventful conclusion.
'What nobody tells you is that magic is a pain in the ass. It’s like the dinner guest who always shows up uninvited. It comes too early and stays too late. It ruins your evening plans. It’s the mistake you wake up with the morning after.'
Fortune's Fool is a slowburn fantasy flooded with revenge, loss and surviving against all odds. But is it all worth it? That's a resounding, YES! I had such a blast with these characters and this world and enjoyed every single moment of the 700 pages.
Angela Boord and Fortune's Fool definitely deserved the finalist spot in SPFBO 5 (Mark Lawrence's Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off competition). It came second by only 0.3 and in my opinion it is a better book than the winner from that year which is one of the highest praised Indie novels of all time, The Sword of Kaigen.
'A gun against a man’s head only works for so long. Eventually, he’ll dare you to use it, to see if you’re serious. If you aren’t, you’ll lose him, and if you are…you’ll lose him, too, but it will be worse.'
Angela has proven that she is mightily capable of writing a novella, a short novel, and a full length novel too. The Eterean Empire is already off to a great start and I just cannot wait to see where it goes next. Maybe Kyrra deserves a bit off a break after such a rough life. An unlikely outcome. Bring on the pain.
Rating: 5/5
Check out the review on my blog here. And my full site here.