27 February 2021

An Heir Comes To Rise – C.C. Peñaranda

Synopsis

In a clash of steel, a mortal body may fall. But in a clash of dreams, a powerful heir may rise.

A SWORD…

In the impoverished outer town of a kingdom where fae outrank humans, Faythe, an orphan with a talent for swordplay, knows the importance of keeping her head down around the fae patrol. She and best friend Jakon long for a better life, and her desire to swing her sword in combat may bring the purpose and coin she’s yearned for.

A DREAM…

When she draws the attention of royal guard Nik, she soon learns that her mortal nature isn’t the only reason to remain out of sight. Nik is a Nightwalker, a silent assassin of the mind with the power to enter others’ dreams, and whether she trusts him or not, he’s about to awaken abilities in Faythe that shouldn’t exist in a human. Nightmarish abilities. Deadly abilities. Abilities that will teach Faythe blood really does run thicker than water…and if she doesn’t trust in higher powers soon, blood will run indeed.

AN HEIR…

For this is no battle Faythe can fight with steel. Within the city walls, suspicions are arising, and here in the outer town she has deeper bonds to protect. It seems everyone will die with a dark secret to tell, but what if one unlikely human girl was born harboring the darkest secret of all…?

Review

Don’t waste your time reading my opinion. Go read this book… Go… Now…

I’m like this cat… I’m suffering a hard book hangover, I need the next book for the day before yesterday…

I told you to go read the book!

You are still here? Well, I guess I can tell you a little about why you should read it.

The heir of souls will rise again,
Their fate lies in her palms.
With rings of gold and will of mind,
She’ll save the lives of men.

Faythe is a 19-year-old young woman. She was orphaned at 9 and was “adopted” by Jakon, who is 3 years older than her and was also orphaned.

They both live in a small one-room hut without any luxury. She works in a bakery doing deliveries, and he works on a farm, neither receiving large amounts of money.

Faythe’s biggest dream was to have a real sword, as she and Jakon enjoyed training with sticks. Dream that Jakon fulfills one day by giving her Lumarias, a very fine sword that had been made by the blacksmith Marlowe, who ended up becoming very close to both of them.

Faythe sounds like a normal person, but more than once she has seemed to feel someone else’s emotions, even thoughts. Also, she is not able to rest when she sleeps. All these mysteries are solved when she accidentally ends one night in the mind of a fae she had seen on the street. Nik is a royal guard and Nightwalker, capable of entering into the dreams of others and discovering their secrets, and even hurting them. Unbelievably, Faythe is also a Nightwalker, a pretty incredible one since that ability has never been heard of in humans.

Since Faythe was becoming a danger even to herself, Nik begins to train her in her ability, but the lies and secrets put Faythe and her friends in even more danger than before. Faythe’s worst fear is not being able to protect her friends, like she wasn’t able to protect her mother…

This book caught me quickly. Faythe and Jakon live a fairly austere life, but they are happy. Their friendship is an impressive bond and seeing their relationship throughout the history has enchanted me.

There was no arguing with Jakon; they were both as stubborn as each other. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with, but against one another, it could be cataclysmic.

Then Marlowe “joins” them, who is officially an angel. Jakon is actually too. So Faythe is surrounded by angels. And then a fae guard appears on the map who begins to help her and quickly becomes very important to her, even if she doesn’t want to admit it (forbidden love, here I go ?).

My first perception of Nik was the typical perfect character (not without flaws, but perfect for you to love him ?‍♀️). As I always say, I will never complain about these characters.

But I was wrong, and it’s aweful because I can’t say anything else without spoilers…

And then there’s her friend Ferris… I honestly dislike him. I know he only does what is necessary to survive, and the truth is that participating in The Cave, in battles to entertain the rich, was Faythe’s decision, but I feel that Ferris is the little voice in your head that encourages you to do stupid things, and there goes Faythe and listens to him ?.

“Your heroism is not admirable; it’s reckless.”

This brings me to our protagonist. I don’t like Faythe very much. Her story fascinates me, but her personality stresses me out. She has more than one very unfair outburst against people who are just trying to help her, and she realizes how selfish she has been, but only when it is too late. In truth, I still like her, I admire her courage, her intelligence and her strength. In addition to her devotion to her loved ones. Maybe that’s why her reckless and self-sufficient attitude bothers me so much.

… Gods, she wouldn’t be of much help, but she would damn well try to intervene. Against man, against fae, against the damned Spirits if need be—she would fight for those she loved.

Like I said, this book caught me right from the start. But, halfway through I literally couldn’t put it down. The level of tension is very high. I honestly had all the pieces to put the puzzle together, but I wasn’t able to connect them until it was too late, just like Faythe…

Obviously I give it 5/5 stars and it goes to my favorites. It has magic, friendship, romance, secrets, sword fights, looooooots of action, lots of emotions, lots of everything, everything a good story needs. I don’t know how else to say that it is a book that everyone should read. To give you an idea, it’s somewhat similar to Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn (review here) and Jamie A. Waters’s The Dragon Portals (review here).

That’s it, you know now what it’s about. Now go read it and suffer with me that the next one has not come out yet.