Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Buehlman builds on the lore of his Blacktongue series with this thrilling prequel to The Blacktongue Thief. It's presented as the journal of Galva dom Braga, who recalls her journey to and experiences in the goblin wars, dwelling on memories of late friends and lovers and supplementing her account with letters from family members. To save humanity from goblin occupation, Galva is off to join an all-female unit tasked with fighting the goblins using their corvid companions, large mutated attack birds. She marches across Gallardia with her brothers Pol, Migaéd, and Amiel, each of whom is in a different squad of the Western Army of the Illuminated Kingdom of Ispanthi. Readers know from the start that Galva survives, but all other lives hang in the balance, and Galva's unwavering love for her imperiled friends and family keeps the stakes of the many battles high. The result is an introspective look into how Galva came to be a fierce warrior. Series fans looking for insight into Buehlman's badass heroine's psyche will want to check this out. (June)
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Review by Library Journal Review
The first war against the goblins was the Knights' War, because the Knights of Gallardia won. The second was the Threshers' War, because the goblins sliced through the once-invincible knights like threshers through a field of grain. Now comes the Daughters' War, because the Gallardians' daughters (aided by hard-to-defeat war-ravens) are all they have left to send into battle against the goblins. This is the story of how the hard-bitten Galva of The Blacktongue Thief came to be that exceptional knight, and of her coming of age through the loss of innocence, faith, and hope. It's also the story of how Galva, her ravens, and her cohort win the war, lose the peace, and hide as best they can from the consequences that are coming for them. VERDICT Readers who were caught up in the political shenanigans, hopeless battles, and pyrrhic victories of Brian McClellan's In the Shadow of Lightning or Daniel Abraham's Age of Ash will be enthralled, while those who like their grimdark fantasy to trip over into horror will find similarities between the characters of Galva and Alex Easton from T. Kingfisher's What Feasts at Night.--Marlene Harris
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