Tuesday, September 22, 2015

REVIEW: An Heir to Thorns and Steel

Title: An  Heir to Thorns and Steel
Author: MCA Hogarth
Genre: Fantasy
Price: $2.99 (ebook)
ISBN 978-0989263146
Point of Sale: Amazon 
Reviewed by: Psyche

MCA Hogarth has a refreshingly idiosyncratic take on fantasy and this book is no exception. Morgan Locke is a university student in a fantasy realm that feels broadly Victorian but with radical difference in areas like the role of religion and the degree to which magic and mythological races turn out to be real.

Locke has suffered a debilitating  lifelong illness that is getting even worse.  Some bizarre guests arrive to spin a wild tale that he is a prince from a distant land.  This leads the hapless Locke through a serious of adventures where he acquires both allies and enemies and the stakes get very high indeed.

While this is the first part of a trilogy and I enjoyed it, I feel strangely unmotivated to read the later parts.  If you are embarking on a Hogarth book for the first time my recommendation would be to start with the more nuanced Mindhealers sci fi series or the almost-a-classic-already Spots the Space Marine.

7/10