The Fallen Herald by Simon P Edwards (Heavens War: Book 1)

7/10

For a first novel, I found this an enthralling read with enough loose ends to want to know how this story continues. The world of Rune seemed to be fully conceptualised as much as any fictional words can be real. You could imagine the different parts of the world and the differences between the cities and countryside. The earlier chapters, after a good prologue, are slightly clunky making it slightly more difficult to care about what happens to the original characters Thorn and Alazla until much later in the book.

It is a tale weaved from many perspectives but I found the weakest link to the story was the character of Thorn who, although the original protagonist, is a weak individual who has the love of his friend and family, but doesn't appreciate it until he is lost. Thorn is the easiest character to manipulate in one of the oldest ploys of an attractive older woman.

Although I found some of the religious hierarchy confusing to begin with I found this an enticing story. I felt that the second half of it, with new characters and story development, was much more satisfying and would look forward to reading book 2 and finding out where these characters end up.