You’ve heard the story before: an orphaned boy, raised by a wise old man, comes to a fuller knowledge of his magic and uses it to fight the great evil threatening his world.
But what if that hero were destined to become the new dark lord?
The Academy of Chaenbalu has stood against magic for centuries. Hidden from the world, acting from the shadows, it trains its students to detect and retrieve … detect and retrieve magic artifacts, which it jealously guards from the misuse of others. Because magic is dangerous: something that heals can also harm, and a power that aids one person may destroy another.
Of the academy’s many students, only the most skilled can become avatars—warrior thieves, capable of infiltrating the most heavily guarded vaults—and only the most determined can be trusted to resist the lure of magic. More than anything, Annev de Breth wants to become one of them.
But Annev carries a secret. Unlike his classmates who were stolen as infants from the capital city, Annev was born in the village of Chaenbalu, was believed to be executed, and then unknowingly raised by his parents’ killers. Seventeen years later, he struggles with the burdens of a forbidden magic, a forgotten heritage, and a secret deformity. When Annev is subsequently caught between the warring ideologies of his priestly mentor and the Academy’s masters, he must finally decide whether to accept the truth of who he really is … or embrace the darker truth of what he may one day become.
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(I received this novel as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)
It has been a long time since I have been moved by a somewhat dense fantasy novel.. but Justin Call managed exactly that. In fact, its density slowed my reading pace, but I was never bored. I was engrossed in every word.. every description.. every tale shared.. new and old.
I find, it’s very easy in novels similar to this one, for the author’s to lose my interest. They allow themselves to get so caught up in focusing on the world they’re creating.. how and why it’s different.. that they bog down the pages with excessive details. Don’t get me wrong.. I love details. But there’s such a thing as packing too much into a page too.
Call doesn’t do that. Oh.. he gives you plenty of information. He offers enough to dig down inside and eat at you with worry over the characters’ paths.. collisions you can see (or think you can see) coming.. and crises of conscience.. but he knows where and when to deliver it. He trickles those bits of information throughout his story with a skill I rarely see in modern writers. He finesses them.
The story is filled with foreboding and tragedy.. love and loss.. and not always in the ways you would expect. His characters grow and change, sometimes for the better.. others.. not so much. Some of them seem to waver on the verge of something great or horrible.. and surprise.. surprise.. not all of them take the same turns.
I loved this book. I’m not an emotional person really.. but it brought tears to my eyes at least once. It’s not fast paced, it moves with the trepidation of it’s main character.. young Annev, like it too.. is unsure what it will become. But every step is worth following.. and I cannot wait for the next book..
I read a lot of fantasy, yet when I think of the word(s) “fantasy book” I have a very specific kind of storyline and setting in my mind. Can you relate?
My ideal fantasy book starts out in a small village in an ancient setting. It also includes certain tropes and characters like a chosen one, a dark lord, magic, good vs. evil, a mentor, artifacts, school/training, and twisted secrets. Justin Call is able to take all these tropes and create a fantastic story that enchants the reader from the first page on. I am beyond excited to read the next book in this series and I hope it is just as captivating as the first one (it sure looks more intimidating with those 850 pages though…).
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in accompanying Annev De Breth on his journey to becoming an Avatar of Judgement. I promise there is more than one secret to discover and there might be a chance that not all of these secrets are very fortunate for our main character.
P.S: Have I mentioned we get to read excerpts of religious scriptures about the gods in this fantasy world???? Soooo good!
Master of Sorrows is a fantastic debut novel. It is the first in The Silent Gods series.
Seventeen year old Annev is training to be an Avatar of Judgement at the Academy in his home village of Chaenbalu. Meanwhile his mentor and protector Sodar is secretly training him in how to use his magic, while employing him as a deacon. He must hide his magical abilities and his physical disability, or the villagers will brand him a ‘Son of Keos’ and stone him to death if they find out.
This is an original and exciting coming of age story with an interesting take on the theme of prejudices towards those with magical abilities and deformities or disabilities from those who are non-magical.
There are many imaginative tasks and unusual obstacle courses set for the teenage acolytes of the Academy, who wish to raise to the rank of avatar, which are really well described and easy to visualize. It was great to see Annev making moral decisions as to how he wants to proceed – should he help his less able companions or go all out for himself?
Both Justin T Call’s storytelling and world building skills are very impressive. The story moves along at a steady pace with everything steadily falling into place and making sense as the reader progresses. There are a few different settings used, the Academy, the woods, Sodar’s church, Janak’s castle in Banok and all of them are full of descriptive detail and believable.
The characters are well-written and most of the teenagers’ characters develop as the novel progresses.
Annev in particular develops from being a caring and sensible yet naturally curious boy, doing the tasks his mentor sets for him. He has to grow up pretty quickly and come to terms with his place in the community and what his ideal future could hold for him, and to realize the serious dangers he could be in if he were to leave the village, due to his exceptional heritage. We see him grapple with the morality of telling lies to his superiors and peers, keeping his true nature hidden, while trying to choose the best path forward for himself without hurting or endangering anyone he loves.
Sodar is a very likeable wise old magical mentor and father figure to Annev – thousands of years old and fiercely protective of his ward. His loyalty and patience with Annev knows no bounds.
Annev’s love interest, Myjun is particularly prejudiced against anyone with a scar or disability and I found myself wishing he would wake up to her innate nastiness and pay more attention to his mentor’s advice that they should flee the village.
Fyn is the typical school bully who eventually learns to respect Annev and realizes it is better to work together for a common goal than be all out for himself.
Titus and Theron are Annev’s loyal sidekicks and trusty companions, who begin to find their own strengths and stand on their own feet as the story develops.
Kenton is Annev’s jealous adversary. He will follow Annev as a leader because he has been ordered to, but feels no respect or loyalty towards him and leaves him to die at one point without thinking twice about his decision.
The story has plenty of action sequences, edge of the seat fights, both magical and non-magical, and witches, scary monsters and mysterious creatures coming out of the shadows.
I really enjoyed Master of Sorrows and I am excited to read the upcoming sequel, Master Artificer!
Master of Sorrows is Justin Travis Call’s debut novel. I was intrigued by the lines from the book blurb on Goodreads: But what if the boy hero and the malevolent, threatening taint were one and the same? This is an anti-magic fantasy in which magical artifacts, when found, are confiscated and hidden away as they are considered to be tools of the dark god.
The hero is Annev, a boy born without an arm in a world where those with physical deformities are presumed to worship the dark god. He manages to survive in this anti-magic world only through the use of a magical prosthetic arm. Annev is driven by love and loyalty instilled in him by his surrogate father/mentor, Sodar. Early on Annev feels surges of power and hate when he touches objects of magic. He and his friends are schooled in becoming warriors and must pass a test to become an avatar. they fail, they are forever forbidden to leave the hidden village of Chaenbalu. Only avatars may leave to hunt down magical artifacts. The descriptions of this test are quite well done.
Annev has a love interest, Myjun, that falls quite flat. She espouses the anti-magical dogma sanctioned by her father. Despite the fact that Annev is diametrically the opposite of anti-magical, he maintains his crush on her.
The very long “readings” from the religious tracts slow down the book, and I found I simply skimmed them.
“Master of Sorrows” is a Asian inspired epic dark fantasy featuring a reluctant hero who readers can easily gravitate towards and his journey. Unfortunately for me, this was a bit too slow paced for me and there just weren’t any characters that wowed me. In addition, more often times than I would like to admit had put this down to pick something else to read. I don’t think it was about the novel itself but more about me not being in the right mindset to take on this story. More likely than not, I will definitely consider giving this another try in the near future.