Heir of Lies (Black Dawn, #1)

by Mallory McCartney

“Hope was a dangerous thing. It could consume every dream and make them take flight, becoming wild daydreams in one’s heart and mind. Or hope could incinerate everything you thought you knew, burning you down to your core, leaving you raw and exposed for the world.”

Emory Fae has only known one thing—life at The Academy, a school for those who have special abilities. Following in her parents’ footsteps, the pressure to uphold their dream falls on her and one of her best friends—Adair Stratton. An outcast and feared by most, Adair longs to break away from the expectations dictating his future. With whispers of dark magic spreading across Kiero, Adair starts to doubt The Academy is all it seems.

An unexpected visit ignites new tensions as the roguish king from across the Black Sea, Tadeas Maher of the Shattered Isles, and his heir, Marquis Maher, sail to Kiero. Notorious for their pirating and wrath, for the first time in years, they demand the Faes listen to their proposition for a new treaty. Caught in the middle of politics, Adair and Emory, with the help of their best friends Brokk and Memphis, search for the one thing that matters the most—the truth.

Their world is tipped upside down as unlikely alliances are made, and war ravages Kiero. Through the throes of betrayal, lies, hidden magic, and love, Adair is faced with a life changing decision. Will he fight or bow to the darkness within?

But, Adair’s decision will change the course of Kiero forever, setting in motion irreversible destinies for everyone at The Academy as Emory Fae rises as heir.

• ISBN10: 1999254716
• ISBN13: 9781999254711
• Publish Date: 21 April 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: MM Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 456
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Heir of Lies is a crossworlds NA/YA coming of age fantasy (and the first in a series) by Mallory McCartney. Originally released in 2017, this reformat and re-release 21st April 2020 is 456 pages and available in ebook formats (other editions available in other formats). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (and the second in the series) are currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

It should first be noted that I am emphatically not the target audience, being neither young, nor some would argue, particularly adult. That being said, this is an action packed saga full of never-fully-rendered characters (who blend together confusingly) and none of whom I found particularly sympathetic or agreeable. The book is absolutely *full* of the sort of draaaaaaaaaamaaaaa which I generally avoid wherever possible, and I spent most of the read wanting to bang their heads together, and shaking my own. The writing is competent, but full of the sort of stream of consciousness info dumping which makes books more difficult to read and parse in my experience. There are infinitives split thither and yon along with sentence fragments aplenty. I stopped making notes around page 30 because there were simply too many. The book really does have good bones underneath. The author seems to have a real story to tell, but the narrative needs a ruthless editor (or three). I normally have no trouble with multiple PoV narratives, but with this one I didn't sense any change in style or any demarcation, making the whole quite confusing. (It's also in 3rd person omniscient, which is a strange choice for an multi-PoV book and which never felt like a good fit for the story). There are no chapter-length chapters, just huge rolling sections which go on for what seemed like forever.

I did finish the first volume, and I do love cross realm fantasy and epic fantasy (probably my favorite genre). It was an uphill slog. My epic battle was finishing the book. I do not find myself motivated to seek out the second or (upcoming) third book. For fans of the author, or of young adult drama filled fantasy, it could be a good fit.

Two and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

[Inkslinger]

ARC provided by XpressoTours and Mallory McCartney. All opinions are mine and freely given.

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02-02: 'Heir of Lies' by Mallory McCartney left me absolutely conflicted, so bear with me as I work through the things I'm feeling. There are about two quotes in the entire novel I find worthwhile to ever repeat.. and I will share one of them with you.

"He was a darkened duet of body and ability, the two forces creating a lethal harmony."

Sadly, the writer mostly falls back on cliche television statements most of us have made jokes with.

"Naturally, you have to understand I can't tell you where that is located, or I will have to kill you."

The story is about a.. well.. it's sort of a soap opera. The main character is a princess named Emory Fae. She's a girl with an extraordinary gift, in a world where some have special abilities and others have none. Like any society, of course, the majority of one group looks down on the other. All told in the longest, most convoluted way you can imagine, and for the first 30% or so of the book.. also the most mind-numbing. If our grandparents were right and rolling our eyes or making faces too many times might freeze them that way, I'd be dealing with the aftermath of that right now.

There is.. and this is going to sound strange.. an overabundance of text within the spines of this book. What I mean by that is.. the author has a tendency to go on and on, throwing a lot of lovely words onto a page.. often without any real sense of direction. Long drawn out sentences, which by the time you're finished reading, fail to make any real sense because many of those words feel like they're simply there to fill the book. Such an effort made to use descriptors, that the statements become absurd. Like, "..revealing Nyx's uncanny ability to have stone cold features." Really? Being able to remain sober faced is an uncanny ability.. in a place where characters can possess others, take another's abilities, or control the elements? But she's straight-faced.. so.. that's uncanny.

Another thing this story suffers from is overkill. Quite like the last twenty minutes of The Departed. I realize the title is 'Heir of Lies,' but nearly everyone in this story is hiding something major, and it's not even interesting most of the time. One group brings about horrible things because they lied, the next group is aghast at such behavior. That group follows the same path and surprise, the next situation is reacted to in the very same way. It's actually so repetitive that it's ridiculous.

I feel like maybe at one point the author was moved by a series like 'Game of Thrones,' where literally no character is ever really safe.. and while that can be really interesting over the course of years, several books, seasons, what have you.. within one title it's such a narrow window of processing time that it feels a bit desperate.

In fact, this might have made an all right tv series. It's got a really good core. Deep down below all the fluff and missteps, the idea of the story is intriguing. Some of the characters are charismatic and interesting. Brokk, Marquis, Roque, Nei, Adair.. all characters with a ton of flair and fascinating backstories. All characters with a ton of potential. And there are glimpses of an author who understands how to develop them, but they're fleeting. Unfortunately, the main character isn't interesting at all. She's mildly annoying at best and often useless.

More than most titles, the few days I spent reading this book, felt like weeks. Not because so much occurred within it, nor because years and years passed by in the timeline. Though, those things are true too. But because with the exception of a handful of scenes centered mostly on the characters I named above, it was just delivered in a way that bored me to death. Things would occur and then someone would conveniently explain why they happened that way. Oh, there was some secret they didn't tell before.. or.. some thing they didn't realize was important until the moment, but that just meant it read like the author also didn't know how to develop the story properly. It became, show the situation, download the excuses to the reader. Over and over.. and over. And then, after spending what felt like weeks reading the story, to find it end in the middle of the resolutions with a cliffhanger.. was just kind of frustrating.

I've said it before, there are times when cliffhangers work, even are necessary.. but they're few and far between.. and this wasn't one of them. There's no way I'd willingly read a second book to find out what happens. I'm just going to pretend things went the way I think they should have.. and move on.

Honestly, if a really good, really experienced editor took this writer aside, it might even be fixable. But as it is, I can't in good conscience recommend it.

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01-28: Starting this one next. It sounds really fascinating and the synopsis is well written. I love a good 'darkness within' story.. so I'm eager to see what this author brings to the table. Time to shake off the effects of the last one.