Forest of Souls (Shamanborn, #1)

by Lori M. Lee

Charlie Bowater (Illustrator) and Laura Benton (Cover Designer)

Sirscha Ashwyn comes from nothing, but she’s intent on becoming something. After years of training to become the queen’s next royal spy, her plans are derailed when shamans attack and kill her best friend Saengo.

And then Sirscha, somehow, restores Saengo to life.

Unveiled as the first lightwender in living memory, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King. For centuries, he has used his influence over the Dead Wood - an ancient forest possessed by souls - to enforce peace between the kingdoms. Now, with the trees growing wild and untamed, only a lightwender can restrain them. As war looms, Sirscha must master her newly awakened abilities before the trees shatter the brittle peace, or worse, claim Saengo, the friend she would die for.

• ISBN10: 1624149243
• ISBN13: 9781624149245
• Publish Date: 1 July 2020 (first published 23 June 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 5 April 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Page Street Publishing Co.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: —> 4.5 Stars

BUDDY READ WITH MY AMAZING AUSSIE SOUL SISTER, DARCE!

OMFG I NEED THE SEQUEL, BROKEN WEB, RIGHT THE F NOW! This was absolutely incredible. Honestly I just absolutely loved it! The World Building, the Character Development, the PLOTTTTT just omfg. (i don't know why I capitalized the first letters in those, even though they are not proper nouns. Just ignore that; I'm all mixed up because this book was Freaking Phenomenal. Hahah

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog coming soon!

Oooh, this was thrilling!
So far, I think I haven't picked up a book from Fairyloot I didn't like. This is a fresh take on the whole power/magic/chosen one theme and keeps you on your toes.
This magic/power system is a little complicated and I wish we had gotten a little more world-building, or better said in-text explanation. Before the actual story begins there is a glossary explaining all the different types of shamans. I did go through that but of course, didn't remember all of it. And once I was in the middle of a chapter I also didn't feel like stopping just to look stuff up at the front.
I'm really curious to see how this whole system will be developed further in the next novel. So far, the story was interesting and held many surprises - including of course the giant cliffhanger we got.
After reading a good amount of YA recently (as I am trying to finally get through all my subscription box books), I love that we still got something that felt unique. There are so many novels with a similar concept. If I just mention "chosen one", I'm sure there's an entire list of books that'll pop into your head. But this still was different!
I appreciated that there was no romantic plot involved. I always get extremely annoyed when that's thrust into a novel for no reason, so I was glad not to deal with that here. However, the important relationship here is friendship but I feel like this wasn't explored thoroughly. Not really many memorable interactions or even depth to the friend of the main characters. It just seems like potential was squandered here.

[bookishzelda]

Forest of Souls was a book that once I started reading, I could not put down. I just needed to know what was going to happen.

I loved the plot and thought of this as a fast paced adventure. I read the book in a day because I needed to know what was going to happen. I actually think I read Lori’s other books in a day as well. I just think her writing style really appeals to me. There is definitely an elimination of mystery to the story as well as a plot that branches in a couple directions. Although some questions are answered in this first book there are still more that need to be sorted. The ending of the book left you hanging but also felt like a comfortable cliffhanger. If there can be such a thing.

There isn’t really romance in Forest of Souls but there is potential for romance. Which I liked even better. Say if in the next book some things developed it would be so natural because of the ground work in this book. At the same time if nothing develops, I wouldn’t be upset either because that would also seem natural.

I loved the friendship and familial bond between Sirscha and Saengo. No matter what they have one another's backs and even though there are things they have to work through. They are able to put those things on the back burner in order to conquer more pressing problems. I think because it feels like they know they have to hatch some stuff out but they also know they can make it through it because their bond is strong.

There are other side characters that I really liked. Meilek, Theyen and Phaut, were all characters that added their own special touches. I felt like Kendara and Ronin are a little more enigmatic and I hope there is more revealed in the next book.

Like I said I don’t want to spoil the plot because there are things that are mysterious and revealed throughout the story. I did really enjoy Forest of Souls and I’m really excited for the next book and to see what road all the characters end up following.