Skyfarer (The Drifting Lands)

literally have no words to describe this novel. I don't want to say that it was great, because it was epic. I don't want to say it was an interesting read, it was captivating. Damn, I don't even want to say that Joseph Brassey is a brilliant science fiction and fantasy author – he is the author.

To say that this novel has Star Wars-like elements to it, or at least some feeling to it, would be like saying George R.R Martin writes like a high-schooler who had never written a sentence before: you know there's not a chance in hell anyone would believe it. Brassey writes with a flair I have been yearning to encounter in a story, he hits those sweet spots in your imagination that keep those satisfactory vibes going. His prose, in the field Skyfarer was written in, is purely original and uncontested – at least in all my years of reading books. It is, without a doubt in my mind, a dazzling claim to place Brassey right there among the greats: Isaac Asimov, Alastair Reynolds, Brandon Sanderson, William C. Dietz, Steven Erikson, Ray Bradbury…I can honestly do this all day but you get the point: the guy wrote a story that blew my mind.

Brassey's characters are rich, admirable, and memorable. A simple concept taken by the writer soon turns into something immensely enjoyable and fun. His dynamic and in-depth world-building is stunning, take the movie Treasure Island and splash those vibrant tones of colour and detail into the ships, the landscape, the skies, and it immediately becomes obvious Brassey takes pride in what he does. You have all the ingredients for a great story: a misplaced antagonist blinded by a veil of lies and make-belief, forced to carry out the bidding of his dark master, haunted by visions of a past he doens't recognize. A young and naïve protagnist is thrust into a situation she can't avoid and learns through her mistakes and an innate ability she has to nurture, that she has a part in this fight after all – much to everyone else's disbelief.