Book Review: The Shattered Arch – M.H. Woodscourt
This YA epic fantasy was filled with an open world, action and political machinations that kept me piecing the puzzle together the whole way through.
Prince Jetekesh had lived an untouchable, privileged life until a year ago. On the day he lost his good friend and mentor in a fight against a powerful demon, everything changed. Since then, Jeketesh has been in mourning, determined to make his past right and use his position for good.
When his cousin Rille comes to his home with dreams filled of demons and magic, it seems that the demon Erisydrel who took his friends life has broken free of its watery prison once again. But Rille isn’t the only sign of magic seeping back into the land. Kethalas, sentinel of the Jade Arch brings news of its destruction allowing the demon to walk free into amongst them once more. With multiple dark threats looming Jetekesh is on a mission. Help lies in Shinac, he and his companions will need to find a way in regardless of the destroyed Arch if they want to put the darkness to rest.
Jetekesh and crew will need to traverse dangerous lands, deal with rising political tensions and magic coming back into the world with the prince at the centre of it all.
While this is the plot in a nutshell it is worth mentioning two other POV’s that we get throughout the story. First is the Blood King Aredel of KryTeer. Both he and Prince Jetekesh have ties to Rille as a seer and Jinji, the storyteller friend who was lost a year before hand. Both he and Jetekesh have been touched by truth and I am sure their stories will intertwine more as the series goes on.
Another character worth mentioning is 16-year-old Kajsa, who was my personal favourite storyline throughout the book. She is nervous, socially anxious and relies a lot on her older beau Axel. During a trip to the local town, the two of them are attacked by beasts called the Vashalan. Ancient dark creatures which have been resurfacing across the lands. Kajsa has been tasked with finding the prince touched by truth to warn him of uprising tensions across the nations.
I will admit, this young adult novel took me by surprise. I was not expecting the complex political tensions and character development within the pages. In terms of the political tensions, these were built up over time through our POV’s. Certain character interactions with different terrains and nations were tense and the conversations surrounding forgiveness and past grievances were plentiful. As Prince Jetekesh travelled the land in search of allies in a land called Shing, it was clear that the hurts of the past were not forgiven, regardless of Jetekesh’s father being the one putting a stop to the harmful practices previously running rampant. Some of the inhabitants had forgiven current leadership and were grateful for the peace, while others held on to a simmering hatred for the throne. We also have the forgotten political landscape of Norva where Kajsa was from. This cold and barren region has been all but forgotten. Not placed on any maps, assumed all who resided there had perished long ago, this population is ready to rise and show Amantier what they are made of, and take back their livelihoods. These tensions were well built up through character interaction and paced well so that younger audiences could understand the consequences of past actions.
Another thing I thought was well executed were the character interactions and growth throughout a book one in a series. Each of out POV’s had some form of growth as the story progressed. The selfish Prince was increasingly frustrated with being coddled and looked after to the point he knows he must stand up and gain trust as a leader, rather than having those things handed to him. Kajsa needs to learn to overcome social anxieties and realise her own self worth if she is to traverse across the lands and stop a bloody war before it comes to pass. Even the Blood King had a thing or two to learn about his past actions and what was important at the end of the day. These learnings felt like a natural progression of the characters in this world. Sometimes these can feel forced when there is so much development happening for multiple people, but the author has done a good job of making sure everyone grows in some way.
The Shattered Arch was a great introduction into an epic new world. It gives the reader a lot to unpack and sets itself up for both prequels and sequels should the author wish to go in either direction. I had a good time with this one and am looking forward to what comes next in the series.
