Book Review- Of Thieves and Shadows – The Heart of Quinaria by B.S.H. Garcia
Of Thieves and Shadows by B.S.H. Garcia was one of the most incredible indie debuts I’ve had the pleasure of reading. This multi POV, multi species story was the definition of epic fantasy.
Quinaria is on the brink of war, the precious resource of nevethium fuels the greed of the powerful. Three nations have held the peace for centuries, but the same three nations have held quiet resentments and suspicions of the others all this time. When horrific ancient and hidden histories of the world threaten all those who dwell in it, peace will no longer be an option. It is up to Elaysia, a woman who has never wanted the power to lead to find out what the hidden histories of the scrolls hide. Along the way she will uncover more than she bargained for.
Elaysia cannot do this alone; she entrusts an unlikely crew to help her uncover the truth. The group traverses across the lands to discover the secrets held all over the world. Zavier and Jakki who are after Elaysia’s heart, forced to hide their feelings while doing the bidding of their leader. Lumira, a snarky, cat like Beridian with words as sharp as her claws. Davier, soldier of the Az Zar turned rogue to help their cause against the war that is on their doorstep. Finally, Konar; the advisor to Elaysia who holds a terrible secret, one he doesn’t want uncovered, one that could unleash the ancient evil they are all so worried about.
Elaysia and her allies could be all that stands between war and a dying world, that is, if their conflicting ambitions don’t destroy them first.
I’m shocked that this is a debut, this feels like a second or even third series of a seasoned author. There is so much to unpack in these 550 pages! First and foremost, the worldbuilding was some of the best I have read from a debut indie novel. Then we have the sheer scope of characters and how they all differentiate, but somehow work with one another, and finally we have the political intrigue, and machinations that fuel the plot. So many big elements, worked to bring this book together and it was a joy to read!
Let’s take the worldbuilding, not only is the map huge, but we get to experience quite a lot of it during our travels. Once the characters are established, we have multi POV’s experiencing different parts of the world as they each undertake their various tasks. Not only is the physical world we are exploring impressive, but the number of species, creatures (including terrifying bug monsters called deathstalkers) make this world burst to life off the page. We are introduced to a beridian early in the book, these are feline-esk creatures fitted out with stealth abilities and claws to boot. They are fierce, unforgiving, and powerful. From there the different species that play an active role within the world continue to grow around out main POVs. The author has also taken inspiration from the world we live in, giving the world of Quinaria an excellent grounding and making certain aspects feel overly real to the reader. An example of this is our queer character Jakki, at one point in the story, she needed to be careful not to reveal her sexuality as it was not legal in a certain city, they were travelling in. Her entourage were encouraging saying they did not believe in those laws but still begged her to be careful. Something that is very real in our world today.
From the world we move on to our characters. We follow several POV’s in this book, each with their own personalities and motivations to move Elaysia’s plot forward. I love that each character came from a different background, even if they had lived together for some time. Our initial trio of young people living amongst nobility, two of which had feelings for our main protagonist. These didn’t feel forced, nor were they forced on the reader as a plot point. It felt authentic to those characters during the interactions they had with others. We then moved on to Davier who was hired by Az Zar to find out if Elaysia’s people were hoarding the resource needed for advancement. His conflicting motivations for his people, his family and his budding feelings to our crew also never felt forced. Throw in the hot headed Beridians, the monsters along the way and a rich history surrounding the storm birds and you have yourself one heck of a cast. It was so much fun to see these obviously clashing personalities must figure one another out and work together through their grievances.
The last thing I will mention in this review is the political intrigue. Almost immediately, we are thrown into a world which feels like it is on the end of destruction. A new young leader who is highly dependent on her advisor is introduced. It is obvious that she does not want leadership and doesn’t know how to control the world around her. Not only this, but she is a half breed, one illegal to the other powerful nation at play Az Zar. The leaders of Az Zar have caught wind that their precious resource may be being horded, and they are ready to bring down the peace if they can get their hands on it once more. Underlying this is the threat of an ancient evil which could lead to the undoing of everyone and everything. An evil with its heart right under their noses, contributing to the decisions made amongst the nobility every day.
This book has so much going on, I feel like we have only cracked the surface and I for one cannot wait for it to explode.
