Follow Emmy on their journey from humble and abused apothecary’s apprentice to lynch pin in a plan to save the world from ‘Dark’ magic in this fantastical coming of age story.Prince Mantos, rightful heir of the Masvam Empire, is murdered to allow Dorai, the Dark Goddess, to seek ultimate power. However, all is not lost, for Mantos has died once before and mysteriously returned from the dead.Into … the dead.
Into this tumultuous conflict steps Emmy, a slave who escaped captivity, only to be enslaved once more.
Recognized by the healer Rel, who shares Emmy’s unusual skin coloring, as a descendant of the Uloni, a race brought forth into the world by the daughter of gods, Emmy may be the key to returning balance to this world.
Enemies become friends, and lovers become enemies as the battle lines are drawn in a desperate struggle to save the world from Dark Magic.
The Moon Rogue is a must read for fans of Becky Albertalli, Emily M. Danforth and Leigh Bardugo.
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Very cool concept with A+ world-building. I like books with multiple POVs and especially when the characters are well done. Easy to follow writing style. The story flowed naturally. It was unique reading about characters with such a different physical makeup than the norm, forces your imagination to work which I love. Descriptions were detailed and the world read as genuine, effortless, and quite encompassing.
A great high fantasy read! This fantasy tale of an all dragon world is highly imaginative and very entertaining. I enjoyed diving into each main character’s mindset and seeing, in depth, how all the pieces of this story world fit together. LMR Clarke’s writing style is compelling and kept me turning pages. Lore and legend are interwoven throughout with key mysteries being revealed right up to the end. The author did a stellar job of creating a magical, diverse and completely immersive fantasy world.
I give this book 4.5 stars. It is a fabulous read and one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read this year. There was one big issue that bothered me, but the uniqueness and the solid social commentary of the story made me hesitate to drop my rating to 4 stars.
Let’s start with what makes The Moon Rogue so special. L.M.R Clarke does not hesitate to take difficult social questions from our own world and engage with them in her fantasy realm. She faces intolerance of difference and considers different social styles that would allow for different relationship possibilities than the norm in our own Western society. I respect how she even takes on religion, religious doctrine and the difficulties of interpretation–because to err is human.
I love that the species of this fantasy universe is not human. They don’t even seem to be hominoid. However, this is also where my biggest difficulty came in. The very first description of the characters had me envisioning a reptilian species something in line with a velociraptor. However, as the descriptions kept trickling in, my mind started short-circuiting. Reptiles, being cold-blooded and covered in scales (that don’t channel blood) can’t blush, but the Metakalans can. Clarke describes her creatures as having flat faces with nose slits and my brain just can’t figure it. Since I struggled to envision the characters, I did end up getting thrown out of the story quite a few times.
My other teenie-weenie criticism is that the matriarchal cultures described in The Moon Rogue are a simple inversion of our Westernized concept of the patriarchy. This doesn’t satisfy my love for nuance and the exploration of what true matriarchal cultures might look like, especially since I personally have some knowledge of two matriarchal societies among us humans.
However, as I mentioned above, these criticisms are personal and do not detract from the overall experience. The characters are wonderfully relatable. I love the way we get to experience the viewpoints of very different characters, experiencing the good, the bad and the ugly of the plot from the perspective of the perpetrator, the victim and the bystander. That is exceptional storytelling!
Additionally, the storyline is impeccable and Clarke’s writing style is smooth. I got pulled in from the very start and couldn’t put the book down. The writing is practically flawless and very well edited. To me, The Moon Rogue represents what is best about high fantasy and indie publishing. I highly recommend it and look forward to reading the next two installments.