Friday, June 6, 2014

Nihal of the Land of the Wind Chronicles of the Overworld, Part One by Licia Troisi

Nihal is a tomboy.  She loves to play war and runs through the building like a warrior leading her men to the next encounter with the enemy.  Nihal is just a young girl, but she has high hopes of becoming a warrior.  So what the only Dragon Warriors were men.  That doesn't impress her.  Her sword skills and athletic ability are what she needs to be a warrior, not which sex she is.

Open Road Integrated Media and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It has just been published, so check with your local bookstore for a copy.

I liked this book for a lot of reasons.  I grew up with boy cousins and played "war" myself.  Nihal is different; she has blue hair, violet eyes and is half-elf.  I was different because I wore glasses and came from parochial school.  Her enemies were larger and stronger than mine, but I still felt like we had something in common.

Nihal doesn't know her background and doesn't find out until her father is dead.  When she learns she's the only half-elf alive, something in her soul dies.  Her determination to be a warrior remains, and she undergoes a terrible test to show she can fight and survive.  Becoming a warrior was not all she thought it could be, but it did give her a chance to kill her enemies.

She secretly loves one of the other warriors, has a sorcerer friend who seems to care more for her than she knows, and she ends up assigned to a dwarf for training.

Her despair and sorrow keep growing and the dwarf finally tells her she needs to leave and learn about living.  Killing for revenge doesn't work; you have to fight because you want to live and protect those you love.  Nihal is angry, but she goes with the understanding she can come back when she's learned her lesson.

There's love, sorrow, fighting, dragons, sorcerers and the Tyrant in this story.  It keeps you flipping pages from beginning to end and I'm already waiting for the sequel.  It's a very good fantasy read, give it try.

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