The Wingspan of Treason by L. N. Bayen
Blurb:
Invelmar. A great kingdom boasting unrivalled peace and a brutal grip over the known world. A kingdom built with blood.
Former Invelmari prince Klaus surrendered everything to it. Now he’s fleeing a shattering betrayal and wondering why his parents want to kill him.
Neighbouring Derinda – a once-magnificent realm devastated by Invelmar’s damming of its mighty river – may offer Klaus a new life mapping distant roads. But feuding Derinda makes poor refuge for a fugitive mapmaker, and there’s no peace from his questions here. Questions about who his real family are. Questions about the sentient particles awakening in Derinda’s desert, intent on unearthing the devastating secret buried in its sands…
Because this desert wind is thick with poets and pirates, shamans and spaewives, and the answers are far worse than Klaus could have imagined. His loyalties to his beloved home are fast unravelling, and the desert clamours for a trial of Invelmar’s crimes. But can he separate vengeance from justice?
Does he even want to?
TRUTH IS A KNIFE. LOYALTY’S A CAGE. NO ONE IS INNOCENT.
Review:
The Wingspan of Treason is one of those that catch your eyes in an instant. To start off, the author’s beautifully hand-crafted maps and illustrations. Truly wonderful by every means. Then, the cover and the blurb – both very exciting! And finally, the all-round praise by fellow bibliophiles. So when the author put up an offer of ARC copies up for grabs, it was a no-brainer for me. I absolutely love a good desert setting, and boy was I in for a treat. Not only was I generously provided with a digital copy, but imagine my surprise and delight when I received an email from the author one fine day offering a “goodie box” to accompany my read-through! Filled with delicious cookies, lip-smacking tea/coffee packets, the aforementioned wonderful maps, the beautiful, velvety, hand-crafted bookmarks, cool stickers, and more awesome stuff to top it all off. I mean… just WOW.
Lamia, I well and truly want to thank you once again from the bottom of my heart for the super generous and extremely amazing package that you sent my way. Please know that I’ll be forever grateful for the same.
What’s it about?
‘Why must the desert take everything?’ Verna demanded. ‘These sands know nothing but death … death in every cursed grain.’
I mean… this debut was SO GOOD that it reminded me of one of my fav. stories EVER…
A beautiful story that managed to move me and invoke emotions similar to that of… The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho.
Yes, you heard (read!?) that right! Need I really say anything more!?
The blurb does give a good glimpse of what’s to come, but trust me, the actual reading experience, the journey, and the adventure that this book delivers is even better. Much, much better, rather!
I’ll leave you with this –
‘Cometh the fall of the kingdom of destruction made…’
‘To the dead we are bound … by our grace are the dead repaid.’
The good
First of all, the writing was exceptionally beautiful! Smooth, free-flowing, and elegant in a way that kept me going on and on even though this was a good ‘ol chonky boi. The multi-POV was brilliantly done, and just got better as the story went along. There were also some really good quotes/dialogues present throughout.
The plot was both mysterious and emotional in a way that I wasn’t expecting at all; a wonderful combo! The multiple subplots tied everything up really well, and kept the story progressing in a very engaging way.
The lore and the world building was simply too good. Totally fell in love with the desert setting. THAT GOOD. The history/background was present in great detail, and alongside the recaps/past events added a nice layer and depth to it all.
The characters were really well-written too. I instantly had a connection with them, and each of their journeys (including their growth/development) was fun to follow along. We mainly journey in the footsteps of the trio of close friends – Klaus, Arik, and Verdi, but the others were equally exciting to read.
There was adventure, mystery, love, action, emotions, drama, and a whole heap of stuff that I didn’t see coming, and wasn’t ready for… and wasn’t I so pleasantly surprised!
The “not so” good
I genuinely don’t have anything to complain about.
A truly beautiful debut.
Highlights
Text: The truest of voices spoke from the heart of darkness, where distractions slumbered and the mind was at its clearest.
Quote: ‘People remember the end of a story, and sometimes the beginning. But rarely the middle … and that is where men and women are made and burnished.’
Text: Hope was a perilous road, and often without destination. Wars were fought with steel and sinew, not hope.
Other info.
There’s a beautiful dedication at the start, followed by a great opening quote (I just knew by then that this was gonna be a wonderful read).
There’s 3 x really amazing maps present too! And if that wasn’t enough, each chapter opens with an equally impressive illustration and an epigraph… all courtesy of the author!
A glossary is also present which was a great addition.
Final thoughts
The Wingspan of Treason is well and truly a fabulous epic fantasy debut by all means. It reminded me of The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho (one of the GOAT books in my eyes), and why I fell in love with it in the first place. And honestly, it’s probably the highest of compliments that I can fathom! The writing was beautiful, the characters were superbly penned, the world building and the lore were in-depth and exquisitely crafted, the setting was excellently executed, and the plot was quite brilliantly put forth. Not to forget the amazing maps and illustrations as well! And although it’s quite “chonky” in itself, I was constantly being pulled towards it to see what the next chapter would bring. To put it simply, this is AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you add it to the top of your TBRs asap!
