Review: Stranger of Tempest

Stranger of Tempest
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Lynx is a mercenary with a sense of honour; a dying breed in the Shattered Kingdom. Failed by the nation he served and weary of the skirmishes that plague the continent's principalities, he walks the land in search of purpose. He wants for little so bodyguard work keeps his belly full and his mage-gun loaded. It might never bring a man fame or wealth, but he's not forced to rely on others or kill without cause. Little could compel Lynx to join a mercenary company, but he won't turn his back on a kidnapped girl. At least the job seems simple enough; the mercenaries less stupid and vicious than most he's met over the years. So long as there are no surprises or hidden agendas along the way, it should work out fine.

Stranger of Tempest intrigued me when I read the synopsis, it sounded like it was going to be a good and potentially humorous read. I'm not going to lie....I wasn't expecting it to be quite as good as I found it! I genuinely really enjoyed this book, and I hated to put it down. I had a lot of fun reading this! It even reminded me a little bit of the Ketty Jay series...that's the vibe I got! I also got some Lord of the Rings vibes and not just because of the Balrog-eqsue monster on the cover....all I'm going to say is the Mines of Moria. 

Stranger of Tempest drew me in from the beginning, it has such a brilliant opening! One of the best I've read! It was at that moment that I knew I was going to enjoy this book, it cracked me up and intrigued me. It was a great way to introduce Toil and the others. 

I liked Lynx, he was a relatable book nerd and food addict on the surface, but underneath he's an ex-soldier dealing with a lot of stuff from his past and PTSD and so on. He's a really good fighter, and he has his own code of honour...his people are also hated, which meant he doesn't always have a great time around other people. I liked reading about him, I liked his perspective it was interesting and he's got a very mysterious past still. I'm still not sure how I felt about Sitain, she bugged me once or twice and I wanted to give her a shake, but to be fair to her she did realise most of the time when she was being ridiculous. I'm intrigued by her mostly because of her magic. I can't wait to see more of it and see her master it. 

There are so many great characters in this book, I liked all of them to be honest, except for the traitor. Forever disappointed he and his accomplice didn't get their comeuppance. I even loved Reft, the not as scary and mean as he looks guy! Kas I completely loved, she's a badass and she cracked me up so many times, I need more of her in the next book! Toil is more difficult. I loved her, but she's also mildly untrustworthy, let's be honest. She did still become part of the group, sort of, and like Kas she's a badass. I'm so curious about her character, I was as I was reading about her anyway, but the ending intrigued me even more. I need to know more about her and her past! Like I said...there's a lot of interesting and memorable characters in this book!

Stranger of Tempest is hilarious. Seriously, there's plenty of humour blended in with the action, magic, danger, tension and more serious aspects. It was brilliant. I found myself chuckling away as I read this so many times. The ending had me full out cackling as everything came full circle in a brilliantly humorous way. 

I really enjoyed the storytelling, I couldn't put this down, it was a struggle and then I was excited to get back to it as soon as I could. It's been a while since I've been genuinely excited to get back to a book and even only managing to read a chapter kept me going. I felt like the narrative really flowed, the switches from past to present and character to character worked so well. Once the past caught up with the present, the narratives merged smoothly in to one. It was fast paced, and you'd learn about something or someone in either the past or the present and then see it or them in the opposing narrative. I just thought it was brilliantly done. It kept me interested, kept me intrigued and I liked the way everything was connected and wove together. I genuinely enjoyed every single page, and I finished this so fast! 

To be honest, I just loved it all. The world and the creatures and the magic in it, I loved learning about it and reading about it. The magic system was so interesting, with the guns and everything and the different classes of mages. The monsters where intriguing and a little bit different. The world was vivid and atmospheric. I liked the way the mercenaries where formed in their Deck, it was a nice little touch and the deck and the game where explained without being overly complicated, which I liked. It didn't take too long either. I love it when a book has complexity to it, without being so complex it's a slog to get through and you have no idea what's going on half the time! I loved the plot, the humour, the writing, the characters. I loved the banter between the mercenaries and how they all interacted, there's a great mix of characters, and plenty of strong female characters which was brilliant to read about, and it was just such a good read for me! 

The plot from this book is wrapped up nicely with a little thread of intrigue for the next book....which I need now! RIGHT NOW! I refused to read the sneak peek at the next book in the back of this one because it would make the wait even worse! 

Stranger of Tempest is a fast paced, fun read with memorable characters that you want to know more about! It's a brilliant blend of humour, action, magic, adventure, and more. The writing and storytelling are very well done, and done in an interesting way to keep maximum intrigue and the plot hooks you in. Stranger of Tempest is a thoroughly enjoyable read, and I can't wait for the next book! I have plenty of questions, there's still plenty more to learn about the characters and the fragments and I'm so excited to see where this is all going to go!