Symphony of the Wind (The Raincatcher’s Ballad Book 1)
Longlisted for the Booknest 2018 Fantasy Awards – Best Self Published Fantasy
A bounty hunter with a death wish. A girl with fearsome powers. A kingdom on the brink of destruction.
Serena dreams of leaving her unforgiving desert home far behind in her very own airship. But when an assassin’s knife meant for Serena kills her friend instead, the rebellious orphan ventures into the corrupt heart of the kingdom to discover who put a price on her head. With each new turn, she edges closer to uncovering the awful truth… And the mystical powers brewing deep within her.
After his fiancée’s death, soldier-turned-bounty hunter Tyson Gallows is eager to sacrifice his life in the line of duty. When a foreign enemy assassinates a high-ranking official, he vows to bring them to justice. On the hunt for a killer, Gallows exposes a sinister plot that proves his fiancée’s death was no accident.
Driven by revenge, Serena and Gallows must join forces to take down the conspiracy before the kingdom falls to ruin.
Symphony of the Wind is the first book in a gritty epic fantasy trilogy. If you like hardened heroes, bloody action, and dark magic and monsters, then you’ll love Steven McKinnon’s visceral adventure.
Buy Symphony of the Wind to climb aboard a brutal, breathtaking thrill ride today!
Huge statement of intent from a young Scottish author.,
What follows is 650 pages of heart pounding action, brutal fight scenes, adventure, incredibly well written villains and a great story that just leaves you wondering when the sequel will arrive.
If you’re in any way interested in sci-fi, fantasy, grimdark, etc, then please give this book a chance.
Thrilling Fantasy,
Dalthea is recovering from the war with the Idari, parts of the city still closed off due to the horrifyingly destructive power of an ignogen fusion bomb, dropped on what will be known forevermore as the Night of the Amberfire, when thousands died and the Dalthean fleet was destroyed. Even now, the threat of the Idariâs return feeds the political machinations of Prime Councillor Thackeray, allowing for ever tightening Orwellian style security measures, but unrest is growing. The kingdom is built on ignicite and needs only a tinder spark to explode. When a Raincatcher ship, the Liberty Wind, is targeted, suspicion turns to enemies within the state. And the ignited fire roars.
That all sounds exciting, but Iâm not going to lie, the first two chapters didnât have me. I had this weird issue because I wasnât sure of the genre and it felt a bit too steampunk, which is not my thing at all, and I just didnât get it. Then thereâs a moment in the third chapter where Gallows and Damien, two Hunters (mercs), get sent out on a grunt job and encounter a snake problem more sizeable than they imagined and I was so stunned by how much I was enjoying myself that I had to actually put the book down and think about it for a good few minutes. Totally blindsided. That feeling didnât much change until the last page. This book is insane and it has everything. Iâm pretty convinced the author wrote a checklist of all the cool stuff a writer can put in a novel, then methodically went through ticking it all off. If someone had told me that before I started, it would have been a hard nope from me, but he makes it work. You want a terrifying underground Doom/Resident Evil style fight against genetically altered animals and undead monsters? You got it. You want a Star Wars style fighter battle in the sky? Yep, itâs here. You want brutal one on one fights? Present. You want larger fights against desperate odds? Oh boy, youâre in for a treat. You want death? Bucketloads. You want humour? Laughs galore. You want characters to love like theyâre your own child? Take a handful. You want villains who just wonât die? Neither do I, but you got âem anyway. You want conspiracies, surprises, magic? Done, done, and done. Itâs a big book and heâs got it all in there.
To say that itâs action packed is a serious understatement, but thereâs more than enough space for character development, and certainly enough time to make you fall hard for the people who make up the rag tag group of main POVs. Each time anyoneâs in mortal peril it gives you heart palpitations. People die in this world. And some of them stay dead. Itâs complicated, with the whole Wraith thing, but trust me when I say that your favourites are in danger. They might have that last minute reprieve, or they might not. Thereâs a suddenness to it, a lightening strike that switches things from bad to seriously very bad in an instant. The pace flies. Sometimes itâs so quick that I missed parts of what went on because I was too eager to find out what happens nextâ¦and I had to go back and read it again. You know that thing where your eyes keep flicking down to catch a glimpse of the next bit no mater how many times you try to stop yourself? That.
The world building is encyclopaedic, with a comprehensive system of government, religion, society, and culture. Itâs fleshed out through layers of detail and a full vocabulary- everything from tech and weaponry to gods and myth, all inserted seamlessly into the narrative so it never has to be ponderously over-explained. Thereâs a weight to it, a known, multilayered history and a sense of the past reaching out to affect today. Though the action all takes place in Dalthea, the wider world is present and connected by travel, trade, and war. Itâs a diverse place, with a multitude of different types of people. Skin colour is rarely mentioned but names are suggestive of ethnic variety and the persecution of anyone with Idari blood, regardless of how far back in the family line, as well as the identification of the âotherâ or âforeignerâ as targets and scapegoats is pointed in its veracity. Women of all types are excellently portrayed- complex individuals with roles throughout all levels of society, from Guildmaster to soldier, politician to prostitute. The main female character, Serena, is young but not stupid as a result of plot-necessity. She makes mistakes through inexperience and innocence, but makes up for it by saving the day more than once. She’s got intelligence, courage, and attitude- it’s refreshing. Her self discovery could easily have become overwrought, especially with the whole discovering-her-powers thing, but she has such an amusing youthful dismissiveness that is properly appealing. Sheâs all: so you want me to believe all this propaganda youâre sprouting? Cool. But you know I donât, right? That snark doesnât end with her either, itâs threaded through the book and itâs where a good deal of the humour originates…
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Who wants her dead,
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.