Daughter of No Worlds

I am dearly in love with this book. Tisaanah is one of the most incredible main characters I’ve read in a long time–I immediately fell in love with her drive, sparkle and humor! And seeing how Max evolved along with her…just amazing. Can’t wait for the rest of the series.

This is the first book I have read by this author but it definitely will not be my last as I have been blown away by this fantasy romance, packed with action and magic, so much so that I could not put the book down even though it is quite a long read. This book reminds me of the stories written by SM Gaiter, another favourite author of mine who writes about kick ass heroines, out to bring about redemption and seek vengeance for all the wrongs they have suffered. Tisaanah had seen her family and village destroyed before her eyes and been sold into slavery at a very young age. She had suffered all kinds of abuse at her master’s hands till the day she sought to buy her freedom. Her mother had told her she would be whatever she needed to be and that she had faith in her and Tisaanah meant to prove her right. Her mother and her friend, another slave Serel, had risked their own lives to help her seek a better future but she would not let their sacrifices be in vain. She would return with a vengeance to seek retribution but first she had to travel to Ara, join the order of Midnight, train to become a magic wielder with a mentor who did not want to train her and prove herself worthy to the order. She was the daughter of no worlds and the daughter of all worlds and she became a powerful weapon of destruction. But would the weapon destruct her first or would she prove strong enough to take control? I love the non-stop dark adventure and the beautiful romance and I hope to be able to read the next book in the series soon as I cannot wait to see how this exciting story unfolds.

You know you see those indie books with the beautiful covers but the insides are a little less polished and it makes you side-eye every pretty cover ever? Well my friends, this book is not one of those. Judge that book by it’s cover, people. Judge it. Then purchase it, read it, and be left salivating for more. I almost couldn’t believe this was an indie release; it is that well crafted. I am a tricky reader to please, but this one checked all those YA/NA fantasy boxes with flavour notes of Trudi Canavan, Maria V. Snyder and Sarah J. Maas.

It’s the story of Tisaanah, a girl who forced into slavery after her people are conquered by the nation of Threll. She’s lucky though; being what is known as “Fragmented” – having a sort of mottled albinism that indicates certain magical abilities – she’s sold to a lord rather than the mines. She grows up entertaining high ranking men and doing her lord’s bidding. But she has a dream of buying her freedom and joining the Orders, the group of magicians in far away Ara who can teach her to Wield her magic. Events turn sour and she’s forced to flee, leaving her slave friends behind with a promise she will return for them. When she reaches the Orders, they’re reluctant to help her cause. To even be considered she must train with the disinterested Maxantarius, war hero turned grouchy recluse, and pass their tests. But their motives for helping her, even after putting hurdles in her way, may not be all that altruistic. War is brewing in Ara, and they’ll need all the help they can get. Deadly help that only Tisaanah may be able to provide.

First off: oh my goodness, this story has some seriously great progression. Everything is paced so well, from the world building to the character relationships to the romance. It’s also not just a plain old rehash of other similar stories even if you can draw comparisons (Black Magician Trilogy, the Poison Study series). Tropes and cliches don’t feel like the same-old-same-old, and that is a thing of beauty in such a crowded fantasy market. You think you know where it’s going, but then swerves off in a new and slightly creepy direction in the second half of the story when a new character appears.

You want world building that’s fresh? Check out the magic system here – effectively there are two kinds: one more physical-based conducted by the Solaris, the other more mental-based ruled over by the Valturi. It’s a little vague so far, and there seems to be a lot of overlap between the two, but it’s really quite a cool take. There’s the political situation too; so much intrigue brewing beneath the surface that our heroes are only on the edge of during this book. I hope both get delved a little deeper into as the series progresses because there’s plenty of scope.

Tisaanah is such an interesting character, caught between two lives as much as she is between the two spheres of magic. She’s driven and determined, talented but no Mary Sue. I loved her voice, her grit, even her “accent” (for the first time in a book when a character learns a new language, it’s her with the othered-speak, not those around her). Max is that slightly cocky, handsome foil to her, forever with a witty quip to hand that she counters with relish. Their conversations feel real rather than forced for our amusement.

I shipped the mild enemies to lovers romance so hard because it was so perfect. No insta-love/lust, just those little behavioural tells and not always subtle noticing-them-noticing-me hints (and can we get applause for the fact that they don’t start sniffing each other straight off the bat to indicate attraction?) Warning: there are scenes of sexy tiemz that are more graphic than most YA, but not as… anatomical as some (looking at SJM). Even without that, the character friendships and enemy-ships are on point. I could totally see Ti’s familial love for Seren and her pain when her friends are hurt. And when a certain new character turns up? Oh my stars, It’s Complicated barely covers it. It’s is dark and strange and I can’t wait to see where that one goes.

My only pet peeves were with certain writing ticks. Nowhere near as eye-twitch inducing as some (sorry again SJM) but still just a little repetitive. You will not be able to unsee how many times a character has a “wrinkle of thought/confusing/amusement” between their eyes. They’re going to need some serious moisturiser! Also, this may bother some more than others, but swearing. Max drops the f-word very often, and while I’m not usually bothered by real-world swearing in fantasy it did seem a bit excessive and unnecessary in places.

As a book one, it wraps up neatly but with the ending open. No nasty cut-offs here; this is a cliffhanger done by a pro.

I hate it. Because I need the rest of the story now.

So TL;DR: You like teen epic fantasy full of magic, realistic quips, cleverly paced romance, revenge, betrayal, unexpected twists, and fire (lots of fire), read this.

No, seriously, read it.

Then join me in pining for book two. It’s that good.