Review: Seeds of War by João F. Silva
Blurb:
"He ran like the monster he was. And the smoke followed."
GIMLORE is a single mother and war veteran turned crime boss set on protecting her family and her town.
ORBERESIS is a petty thief pretending to be God to protect a terrible secret.
REDNOW is the world's most feared mercenary, but his best days are behind him and there's one job left to do.
In a world of dangerous monsters and devastating smoke magic, the seeds of war are being planted. Allies must be treasured and enemies defeated.
The Smokesmiths is a gritty epic fantasy series with a harsh world of smoke magic, alien creatures and ancient secrets where characters do their best to come out on top. Peace will not last.
Review:
Wow. Just wow. I was invested in this book from the first chapter, and I felt so immersed in the story . Compelling characters, a unique magic system, and political machinations aplenty. Silva creates flawed characters with clear motivations, and yet those characters are still somewhat likable. Sure, they’re morally gray, but they’re fueled by grief, debilitating health issues, and loneliness. This is a masterclass of characterization, with three of the most compelling characters I’ve read in recent years. They’re grifters, murderers, and liars, yet Silva makes you care.
Let’s look at the characters:
Gimlore: The ultimate mom. She has a dark, violent past and may be lying to her villagers a little, but her motivations are clear. Save her village. Keep the Elixir. Kill Sirestine bastards. Silva writes her incredibly well, and she’s both a likable character and a character with some depth. I especially love her scenes with Keryon, when they both try to outmaneuver each other.
Orberesis: A great twist on the con-man archetype. Yes, he’s lying to everyone and impersonating God Himself, but the main thing he wants from all of it is for his headaches to stop. He has two complicated relationships: 1) his best friend who’s known him since he was just a con man and doesn’t like how Orberesis has changed and 2) Solvi, a smokesmith who worships him, and who Orberesis lusts for.
Rednow: The blood collector. My personal favorite. A grizzled old man but also the most fearsome fighter around, who just wants to pick a successor so that he can retire. He didn’ get much time in the first half of the book, but his sections as the book went on were some of my favorite parts, and Silva’s prose really shined. I also really just wanted Rednow to get a chance to ride off into the sunset and settle down on a farm. Give this man a lawn chair and a beer and let him relax!
Silva does well in creating the world and the political dynamics, but the most impressive part is the idea of a continent that arose out of nothing but now houses the Elixir, the thing so many of the factions want. Especially since Orberesis is the one who created the continent.
The magic system is amazing. One of the most well-realized that I’ve read. The smokesmiths burn herbs and breathe in the smoke, gaining powerful abilities, even if it’s not all that healthy for them. The range of abilities different smokesmiths had was very cool, and the creation method of smokesmiths gave me Witcher vibes. Get a bunch of kids together, give them a super dangerous thing that could give them special abilities, and see who survives.
The story moves along at a good pace and works so well for the most part. However, I didn’t love the ending. We get into several battle scenes, which I found compelling still, but then two particular scenes (one with Orberesis and one with Rednow) clashed with the story up to that point,. I enjoyed the humanity of the story, and then suddenly it was about warring gods. I get that it is setting things up for book two, but it just felt too easy for Orberesis, and I wasn’t as invested in backstory about the gods as I was in Gimlore, Rednow, and Orberesis and their stories.
As a whole, however, this was a fantastic read, and I’m excited to get into the prequel novella Ruins of Smoke and then to Thorns of War!
