Saturday 3 September 2022

Defend the Dawn by Brigid Kemmerer


To save their kingdom, they must embark on a dangerous journey...

The kingdom of Kandala narrowly avoided catastrophe, but the embers of revolution still simmer. While King Harristan seeks a new way to lead, Tessa and Prince Corrick attempt to foster unity between rebels and royals.

But the consuls who control the Moonflower will not back down, and Corrick realizes he must find a new source for the lifesaving Elixir.

When an emissary from the neighboring kingdom of Ostriary arrives with an intriguing offer, Tessa and Corrick set out on an uncertain journey as they attempt to mend their own fractured relationship.

This could be their only chance to keep the peace and bring relief to the people of Kandala, but danger strikes during the journey to Ostriary, and no one is who they seemed to be. . .

I had such high hopes for this book. Bridget's writing some of the best, most inventive fantasy around right now. But this book suffers from a terrible case of Middle Book Syndrome; an awful lot of nothing happens for large swathes of it.

The language is beautiful as always, and the cultures are well thought out and make sense together. I did enjoy the way the world is opening and widening up (there's no map in my proof copy but hopefully there will be in the full book!) Brigid is also writing another trilogy and I do wonder if this one has suffered a bit for it. It just seemed to go for so long without anything actually changing!

I will probably still try the third one, just to see how things work out, but I won't be rushing out to buy it on the first day. I hope other readers enjoy this one. I'll be rereading the Cursed series over here...

(Also: random mention of some places having electricity? Did we know that there's electricity in this world?)


Defend the Dawn publishes on the 20th of September. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.

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