The Unspoken Name by A K Larkwood

The Unspoken Name (The Serpent Gates, #1)

by A. K. Larkwood

'An astounding debut . . . unlike anything I've read before' - Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld

Does she owe her life to those planning her death . . .

Csorwe was raised by a death cult steeped in old magic. And on her fourteenth birthday, she’ll be sacrificed to their god. But as she waits for the end, she’s offered a chance to escape her fate. A sorcerer wants her as his assistant, sword-hand and assassin. As this involves her not dying that day, she accepts.

Csorwe spends years living on a knife-edge, helping her master hunt an artefact which could change many worlds. Then comes the day she's been dreading. They encounter Csorwe’s old cult – seeking the same magical object – and Csorwe is forced to reckon with her past. She also meets Shuthmili, the war-mage who’ll change her future.

If she’s to survive, Csorwe must evade her enemies, claim the artefact and stop the death cult once and for all. As she plunges from one danger to the next, the hunt is on . . .

The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood is the incredible first book in The Unspoken Name duology.

Reviewed by Ashley on

3 of 5 stars

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Sadly I wasn't head over heels for this book the way I wanted to be. It was a cool story and had some really great side characters. I definitely enjoyed reading a lot of it. But the two biggest disappointments were:

1. I had no feelings for the main character... and she was objectively the most interesting to me! I felt like she just had so little emotion, which made me have so little emotion for her. A lot of really crazy/intense things happened to her but she rarely had a deep response to any of them, which made it hard for me to really get invested.

2. Other than the occasional reminder that the MC had tusks, there was absolutely no reference or purpose to her being an orc. That sucked because it's definitely highlighted and used as a selling point. But frankly, you can completely forget she's supposed to be an orc at all.

It was a good book but it had the potential to be an amazing book and I'm bummed that for me it wasn't.

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Reading updates

  • 14 February, 2020: Started reading
  • 18 February, 2020: Finished reading
  • 19 February, 2020: Reviewed