book review – Page 2 – Creative Cornerstones

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Traitor Son is a slow burn military fantasy romance with a satisfying civilization-building thread and a touching, relationship-focused ending. However, it ends rather abruptly without resolving any of the plot problems. The second book is scheduled to release only 6 months after the first, so I’m guessing it was split for the sake of length, and is really one story.

Synopsis

The Emperor slaughtered Remin’s family as traitors, and he wants Remin dead too, assigning him the impossible task of retaking the Andelin Valley from sorcerous invaders. But after 7 years of warfare, Remin triumphs and returns to claim his prize: the Emperor’s daughter as his wife. But the treacherous Emperor hands him a scrawny, neglected, illegitimate girl instead of the Princess Remin expected.

Ophele, who has spent her life hiding in the library from the abusive nobles who call her ward, is terrified by the new husband forced upon her. But an unexpected spark grows between them as they travel to the Andelin and begin to build the capital of Remin’s new duchy. As demonic creatures, summoned by Remin’s defeated enemies, plague the town, Remin and Ophele must decide whether or not to trust each other and face their problems with a united front.

Characters – 4/5 Stars

This is a character-driven story, based around Ophele and Remin and how they must overcome the abuse and traumas they’ve experienced in order to build a new city and life together. Basically her father, the Emperor, has ruined both their lives. Ophele is shy, sweet, and a total bookworm. It’s fun seeing her gain confidence over the course of the story and apply her book smarts to the efforts of building their new city. She’s the opposite of a morning person, which leads to many jokes I personally appreciated immensely.

Remin was a bit less interesting to me – he’s a brooding giant of a man, surly but loved by his men, distrustful and paranoid about the Emperor’s plots on his life (with good reason). He fits squarely into the “strong, silent type” who gets softened up by the girl. I felt more attached to all of his knights, who are very well developed side characters.

Plot – 3/5 Stars

This plot feels almost identical to Under the Oak Tree, and I don’t know how much of a coincidence that is. After the couple gets married and travels to Remin’s new duchy, most of the book focuses on the minutiae of how they’re planning the town (which I love – leveling up vibe!) and defending it from demons summoned by the former occupants Remin recently defeated. Otherwise, the plot centers on their relationship, or lack thereof. There’s a lot of back and forth about Remin liking Ophele but thinking she’s going to kill him on behalf of the Emperor, and acting like a total brute toward her. Then Ophele sits around feeling terrible about herself, and the misunderstanding drags on despite them both actually liking each other.

This felt rather repetitive and miserable in the second half of the book. However, Remin’s behavior is clearly shown as problematic and the conclusion centers around how they resolve the conflict in their relationship. It was a satisfying ending, except that nothing came of the Emperor’s plots. It felt rather like Chekhov’s gun – a setup that didn’t deliver. But I’m deferring judgement because I really think that this was one story split into 2 books – I’ll definitely read the second!

Worldbuilding – 3/5 Stars

Fun, but nothing super special. They have a Renaissance-level society. I think the best part of the worldbuilding was all the accurate details about the process of planning a civilization from the ground up – infrastructure, labor, moving supplies, planning for sponsoring of the arts. All of this was clearly well researched and I loved seeing the characters achieve each new step in their goals! There’s definitely more to learn about the magic system of both the Emperor’s bloodline and the sorcerers who’ve been summoning the demons. But that was all setup, leaving mostly questions.

Writing – 4/5 Stars

Pretty good – nothing gorgeous, but clear to read and not bloated. I feel like it got better as the book went on! The first few chapters had a lot of passive voice, but I stopped noticing that as I read. I might not have guessed this was a debut – it’s well organized and enjoyable to read.

Content

There are 3 sexually explicit scenes in this book between the married couple. I almost wondered if someone else wrote these scenes because of how flowery the erotic parts are – I couldn’t help but laugh. But there’s good emotional content there too.

The rest of the book reads PG-13.

I received a free advance review copy from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

You can buy a copy of Traitor Son by Melissa J. Cave on Amazon when it releases on November 1st!

By Caylah Coffeen

Rating: 5/5 stars!

Virtuous Sons is a delightfully original Greco-Roman buddy story that thrills with its snarky dialogue, unusual action scenes, and deeply loyal characters.

Snapshot:

Griffin and Sol, young Greek and Roman patricians respectively, defy their elders and fates, running off to the city of Olympia to attain greater power and make their mark on the larger world. Faced with political upheaval at the center of the Greek world, demons on the Western front, and their own losses and regrets, Griffin and Sol fight alongside each other with wit and audacity on their virtuous path to fame and glory.

Characters: 5/5

This story is all about two reckless, ambitious, smack-talking young men called Griffin and Sol. They’re the best warriors of their generation and they know it. As a result, they’re unbelievably audacious, delighted in the equal competition each presents to the other, and at times completely and excellently ridiculous. I laughed so much while reading this story. They’re like oil and water and rib each other constantly. Griffin is cavalier, spoiled, restless, and desperately thirsty for a fight worthy of him. Sol is depressed, rigidly disciplined, aloof, and quietly confident in his own superiority.

They’re arrogant and violent, yes, but not unintelligent or too foolish (though I know a certain philosopher who’d loudly disagree). They’re sharp, strategic, passionately loyal, with a talent for drawing others to them. It’s really quite a delightful dance watching these two. And it’s not just fun and games either – they aren’t afraid to touch on deeper topics such as grief, fear, trust in the face of lies, and more. Their journey is rich.

Cool side characters too, but the dynamic duo steals the show. Except, we have our eyes on you Damon Aetos, for all the good it’ll do.

Story: 5/5

This plot isn’t what I expected from the blurb, and it’s all the better for it. The description made it sound like a quest story, with two young men wandering around killing monsters and climbing a mountain – a plot you may very well expect from a Greek myth about a demigod or other talented hero. I don’t like quest stories much, and based on the blurb alone, I wouldn’t have picked up this book myself (it was a birthday present). To my delight, this was a character piece which evolved into political (& action) fantasy.

The entirety of the story takes place in 2 Greek city states and the characters run around kicking hornets nests for the heck of it while seeking to prove their prowess to themselves and each other. As they stretch themselves in such a furnace, we learn more and more about their families, pasts, traumas, and dreams – and of course enjoy as they bond (beat each other up and talk trash). The discussions and situation are more “mature” than I initially expected. Navigating a political hellscape takes a lot more brains and nuance than traveling from point A to point B killing monsters. I hope other readers aren’t misled by the blurb, but are willing to give this quite unique story a try.

That said, the plot did rather jump all over the place. These characters don’t really have a plan, so most of what they did felt incredibly random. It seemed like the author was making up a lot of it as he went along (this was published first as a web novel). At times it felt like I was suddenly reading a different book from the one I’d picked up. Sometimes, this is enjoyable as it leaves readers feeling continuously surprised, and I think it works because of who these characters are. But reader expectations are important, and if not for loving these characters so much, it might have been a bit too much of both whiplash and meandering. But not all books need a tightly woven series of events to be great – and you bet there is a master plan deep in the background…

Worldbuilding: 5/5

The author has clearly steeped himself in classical literature. It goes beyond his use of Greek and Roman words or his accurate inclusion of popular philosophies and trends of the time – he gets it. After a certain threshold of absorbing a culture’s art, myths, history, and literature, a person begins to intuitively understand what makes that culture tick. Their fears, desires, aspirations, jokes, and more. It’s a delight to encounter a book so immersed in the classical mindset.

But Striker doesn’t stop there. He presents an alternate version of Mediterranean history – the gods are dead and their names have slipped from the minds of men. And what did you just say about Rome? He also weaves in an alternate magic system based upon the Chinese concept of chi cultivation. He incorporates the popular tropes of progression fantasy perfectly into the realm of Greco-Roman heroes. Because demigods and Roman legionnaires would absolutely love the concept of leveling up! And so do we.

Writing: 4/5

The place this book shines most is in the dialogue. Witty exchanges, perversely convoluted (aka Greek) discussions, and lots of hilarious B.S.-ing and grandstanding by our two endearingly reckless protagonists. However, almost every single chapter begins with an exposition dump, which grows rather tiresome. The prose is written well enough, though it can feel a bit dense at times. And it slows down the pacing when, despite the exciting shenanigans of the previous chapter, the next one almost always steps back with an omniscient voice to explain some element of history or culture. But the action scenes and emotional moments are presented and punctuated exceptionally well.

This story alternates between Griffin and Sol’s perspectives, but they’re both written in first person, which led me to experience quite some confusion when switching chapters. Their voices are incredibly distinct – everything from their manner of speech to attitude and energy – but it’s still mentally difficult to change who “I” is when reading, even when each chapter title names the POV. It didn’t help that I tore through this book in 2 days, so perhaps I just didn’t give myself enough time to mentally shift from one character to the other.

Impact: 5/5

It’s been a long time since I had so much fun reading a story! I went and devoured the next two books in the series immediately after finishing this one. I am ALWAYS on the hunt for stories about rivals and blood brothers, but it’s a strangely difficult itch to satisfy. My sister searched for ages to find a book for me for my birthday, and she is rightfully smug to have gotten it so right! These two, Striker absolutely nailed on the head. I light up talking about them. Now I’ve gotten my mother to read it out loud to my father and youngest siblings back home, and I Facetime in to listen to them all chuckle. I’m in withdrawal waiting for the fourth book! I miss Griffin and Sol!

In the end, there could only be one word to describe that unique quality. That special characteristic that allowed a man chained and robbed of all control of his life to lunge fearlessly at a far stronger opponent.
To disdain me with his eyes and strike my face with his clenched fists.
“The audacity!” I exclaimed in purest joy, and I struck him right back.
Y.B. Striker, Virtuous Sons

Hi, I’m Caylah Coffeen, a freelance editor and marketer of sci-fi and fantasy books. I love reading and writing and am a follower of Jesus Christ.

I’ve worked for Monster Ivy Publishing and Eschler Editing, and am currently a weekly editor with Havok Publishing. Reach out to chat about books and publishing!

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