This novel tells the story of how the first Protectresses managed to come to be within their male-dominated societies on the Planet Elystra.
A group of vicious slavers kidnapped twenty girls from all walks of life from their homes and forced them to go on a dangerous journey to the market. They also stole the Agrusian Stone, which was fabled for its beauty and pricelessness. Among the stolen was 18-year-old Sahria, a faithful girl who was in the middle of religious training for her god Arantha. She creates bonds with several of the girls on the wagon train and in her cart, and she is determined to save some of them if she can.
This story was one of the best prequels that I have ever read. Usually, when I read a prequel, it is very short and only focuses on one aspect of the series. This time, I haven’t even started the Wielders of Arantha series before reading this. I had absolutely no idea about anything in the series or anything in the universe of this book. The first thing that I noticed was that the book was 215 e-pages, which is quite long compared to the other e-novellas that I tend to read. Then I got started to read the story.
The worldbuilding of this novel was incredible. Soon, I was transported to a world where women were in danger of having their lives turned upside down simply by these slavers kidnapping them. Some were in the middle of what was supposed to be the best day of their lives but were simply ripped away. These women formed bonds as they tried to do what they could to stay alive during in the horrible conditions.
Every single girl had their own personality. I can remember each one that Sahria sat beside in the wagon by name, which is difficult for me to do normally. I won’t say too much about them, as the most fun in this novel comes from finding out the stories of each individual one.
This novel has a fast pace, but it isn’t fast enough for any details to be missed. It simply keeps the readers engaged all the way through. I can’t wait to start with Pawns and the rest of this series.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an amazing New Adult fantasy read.
I received a copy of this book for free and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 6/5