Obsidian: Awakening (Book one of Obsidian Series)

Product Information

In June, I began reading the first chapters of every entry to this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO9), a competition designed to highlight the best in self-published fantasy.

It is about the fact that even monsters are human, and they are the monsters they are because they’re human. How much you've learned about the world, the politics and the characters without feeling like you at the time.As it was, it felt like neither of them had the emotional intelligence to stop the game playing, and - rather than being determinedly vengeful - Zahara seemed merely petty. In any fantasy, names and titles are the best part, and this book holds no exception to this unspoken rule of mine. There are some dark and brutal elements to every character arc presented, and this is not a story with a happily ever after.

The equally sharp characterisation is superb, from all the mannerisms to their distinctive patterns of speech. Though, as much as I adored the magnificent world building, it was really the phenomenal character work that quickly became my favourite aspect of this book.It might even be impossible to sympathize with his choices and his path, but he suffered more than anyone should ever have to. Two cultures engaged in a longstanding war become enflamed as the manipulations of those who wants to take a powerful king down start turning the wheels in motion.

Obsidian: Awakening” by author Sienna Frost was a book I kept hearing about via social media circles as having all the main elements in a fantasy novel I crave: engaging characters, captivating writing, compelling themes. The opening chapter features warlord/conqueror/heir to the Salasar Empire, prince Muradi, who has just slaughtered a tonne of Shakshi on a campaign in the White Desert.

I have mused for decades upon the boundaries of my empire, the design of my obsidian tower, but never upon you… my love. All of the characters get enough time that you get to know all of them, they are all flawed and are dealing with trauma.

To end a centuries-long war between a nomadic race and an empire, Fate asks a freed man to shackle himself to a woman he cannot have, a young girl to choose an arranged marriage over freedom, and an ambitious conqueror to give up his empire for the one wife who wants him dead. I’ve got to say I didn’t notice this issue myself, however, and it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the novel. Quotations just aren’t the same out of context, and the characters are so rich, the story so layered and complex! There are characters on opposing sides, but we're not necessarily supposed to be rooting for one over another.Their beginning descriptions were pretty similar: full of pride and absolute conviction in what they believe, refusing to accept the trauma of their life and everyone else sucks if they do.