Sword and Verse

 

In November, I unexpectedly received a print edition of this book through the mail courtesy, of EpicReads. I was in the middle of several e-book read-to-reviews and was also helping edit another one when I decided I’d had enough and decided to sit down and read a “real” book. As this was sitting in my to-be-read pile, I picked it up and was disappointed. I was disappointed when I had to go to bed, disappointed when I had to drive somewhere or when  work interfered with finishing this book.

I fell in love with Mati and Raisa’s love story from the beginning, and their world became a space in my mind I could fall into and forget the stresses in my daily life. I already enjoy worlds that involve gods and goddesses, but they are usually based on the traditional Greek and Roman mythological gods that are well known without much mystery left. This book introduced me to gods and goddesses I had never heard of. I enjoyed the setup of each chapter beginning with a blurb that were glimpses into the past and near the end, the present, in the POV of the gods and goddesses. The conflict and resolution flow was seamless. The dialogue was the best I have read in a while because it wasn’t full of he said, she said. The story was set up in a way that the reader knows exactly which character is speaking and the tone of voice that they are displaying.

I read in the author’s acknowledgments that this was a book ten years in the making. It is well worth the wait!