Review: Girl Power!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 11, 2013
One reviewer said he/she wasn't drawn in by the early chapters, but I was. First, we get wooden sword fighting, how awesome is that? But that's only the tip of the iceberg in this very very violent story. First, we're introduced to the newly named Raine. Soon, we meet Jem.Now, I liked the introduction of Jem because the author managed to use one character to describe a lot of the other men in the story by comparing his body to theirs. After Jem, we meet the sickly Leif who's sort of the Ron Weasly in my eyes out of the trio of friends. You just want to hug him.In their town, everybody is born to fulfill a selected role. You have the farmers aka the cultivators, the soldiers aka the Askaris and the Breeders.  Raine wants to be an Askari, a role dominated by the males. Though we meet her at the end of her training, we get to witness the trials to officially become an Askari. During the trials, let's just say being a sickly kid isn't the role you want to play.Once I saw this was a series, I wondered how big this author could make this story, especially with such a contained setting. That question is answered a quarter way through this story. Basically, this story is a lot large than it appears and this author has a thick character bible sitting somewhere.For such a big book, the ending was very simple. And when I say simple, basically the last line does a wonderful job bringing this book to a close and making you want to see what follows.  I'm rarely of a fan of epic fantasy or scifi books, but this author keeps the newly introduced locations, technology, and politics of her fantasy world simple.