Galen Bray received an inheritance from his dead uncle. He left him a house, lots of gold, and a small business that he wanted Galen to continue. From the depressed Lands of the Princes, Galen took the opportunity to leave the miserable life he’s currently living for the good fortune that is waiting for him at Voulhire.
Voulhire is a prosperous and peaceful nation. History has been told that the divided land was unified and founded by King Idus. They have won wars and overcome enemies, however, the long period of silence will be disrupted. The people of Hillport were still haunted by the memories of Lord Meldorath. And the previously defeated Riva Rohavi insurgents are silently intensifying.
With the sudden turn of events, is the current leadership in Voulhire ready for a new era of combat? Will the peace Galen had just experienced will be short-lived?
THE EBOOK COPY WAS GIVEN BY ONLINE BOOK CLUB IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
"Soon all that the villains of the world would be able to do was cry in the night, their desperations echoing in their own darkening corners of history."
— We Are Voulhire: A New Arrival Under Great Skies#MatthewTysz #quoteoftheday
— — bits (@bitsofinkling) September 4, 2020
We Are Voulhire is a fantasy novel written by Matthew Tysz. A New Arrival under Great Skies was the first installment of the series. It will take the readers to a world of magic, adventure, and a battle between good and evil.
Everything is new to Galen. He is a typical immigrant who needs to be guided to the Voulhirian way of living. His biggest challenge is learning blacksmithing to fulfill his late uncle’s wish. At the moment, I haven’t seen a strong protagonist. Galen is so trustful, kind, and innocent. For me, such traits made him vulnerable. I want to see his full potential and how his character will evolve in book two.
The interesting part for me was the unfolding of Meldorath and Orlin’s identity. There’s an element of mystery with regards to their real disposition like why people are afraid of them. Lord Meldorath, in a way, has a similarity to Lord Voldemort because they fear his name. There was also an instance in the library where he communicates to Eldus through his notes which made me remember a scene in the Chamber of Secrets.
The story is easy to understand as no complex words or narrations were used. This first installment is more of familiarizing the essential characters and describing the past and present of Voulhire. However, such details have resulted to slow plot development. The author also used a mix of first-person (Galen) and third-person points of view. Rather than concentrating on the main protagonist, it focuses on the individual scenarios in each part of Voulhire to shape the story.
The world was more beautiful when I was a child. It was beautiful when I was a young man. All of its evils and corruptions, I knew them well. And still I loved the world.
— — bits (@bitsofinkling) September 5, 2020
In addition, several characters emerged with no clear roles yet like Beth and the crazy prisoner. The ‘Lands of the Princes’, which was mentioned at the beginning, has a vague connection to the incoming events at Voulhire. These details mean that there is so much to look forward to in the succeeding books.
All in all, We Are Voulhire: A New Arrival under Great Skies is a light-read. If you wanted a break from a complex topic, this book is for you. I initially thought that I could recommend this to readers below 18, but, as I read along, I saw a few obscene words and narrations that I believe are not appropriate for them. I didn’t notice any grammatical and spelling errors which means it was well edited.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. Not 3 because of the lack of climactic moments. It’s flat in the sense of the emotions it gave to me. I think it is acceptable because book one is only the beginning and just a part of the bigger picture. It also left me with interesting questions which will be my driving force in reading the next book. That will be my reason for not giving it a 1. I’m interested in following the next episode of We Are Voulhire.
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3oXVyVn
Bits Of Inkling 
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