Secrets. Scheming. Magic. Secrets abound on the island nation of Godewyne. The fact that defenses are weak at the King’s seat, Castle Godewyne, is not a secret to power hungry noble Aderlard Maculinus; nor to court Jester Josh who seems to be closely guarding a few secrets of his own. Speaking of secrets, what is the hidden agenda of the royal assassin and what is Wickenshire’s blacksmith, Ranulf, hiding about his past? How will Ranulf’s secrets affect his orphaned grandson/apprentice Rollie? Will these and other secrets be revealed or pushed into the shadows with the arrival of a mysterious stranger who wants to commission Rollie to forge an odd Druid token out of a mysterious metal? And once the secret of the token is revealed will anything ever be the same?
I was given the opportunity to read this story by Fraser Scott. The beginning sucked me in the "prelude" or the little backstory was really interesting and proved promising for the rest of the story. Honestly I don't really know what happened. I think you can blame it on the editing or the fact that it's seemingly Scott's first novel/book. But I completely got lost in what was going on for the first two chapters. The back and forth between characters wasn't clear. There were very noticeable errors in the writing. Hence why I feel if there was an editor...they completely dropped the ball.
I cannot lie. This wasn't an easy book to read. Within these pages I feel there is a really great story that just needs a little help getting through the translation. I really liked that the characters were complex and developed, all things needed in a great story or in this case a series. It's just when there are many interacting that author has a bit of trouble helping the reader differentiate between who's saying what and what's going on. When it was a singular character, everything was smooth sailing. In my opinion that is. The world building was a bit stiff as well.
Things did get a little better as the book went on, but that truly isn't saying too much.
If I was rating on cover alone... 5 Stars.