A Book Review: The Broken Heart of Arelium
Title of the book: The Broken Heart of Arelium
Author: Alex Robins
Publisher: Bradypus Publishing
Publication Date: 16th of March 2021
Genre: Epic Fantasy, Military Fantasy
Why I picked up this book:
If you follow Bluntly Bookish on Instagram, which I think you should if you want to get notified when a new blog post goes up, you’ll be aware that I received a free ARC of this book, in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I may have squealed. This is it right? This means I am officially amongst the elite. Those of us bestowed with the sacred responsibility of reviewing books before they are released to the general public. Those of us tasked with separating good from bad, dreadful from delectable. Yes, that may be overstating it massively, but I was, and still really excited about this opportunity. There is something strangely intimate about being amongst the first to read a book. You feel more closely connected to the author than you would when reviewing best sellers. It’s almost humbling to be perfectly frank.
About the author:
Alex Robins was born in Norwich, England back when it was still trendy to wear lycra tracksuits and bright pink headbands. Norwich School Library was where he first discovered his love of reading.
At the age of twelve, Alex moved across the channel to Nantes in France. Speaking very little french, the first few years were difficult and sometimes lonely as he scrambled to get a grip on the intricate grammar and vocabulary of the french language. His taste in books branched out from epic fantasy to science-fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and historical fiction, but he always came back to his favourite fantasy authors when looking to escape the outside world.
After degrees in agronomy, project management, and computer sciences, Alex founded his own company dedicated to online voting. Alex now lives in sunny Loire Valley in western France, surrounded by imposing castles, sprawling vineyards, and two children. After reading fantasy books for the last thirty years he decided to write one.
Synopsis:
Over 400 years ago, twelve great warriors united the beleaguered armies of men and scoured the war-torn lands of evil, pushing the enemy back into the underground pits and caverns from whence they came. To ensure their legacy, each of the Twelve founded fortress monasteries to impart their unique knowledge of war and politics to a select few, the Knights of the Twelve.
But now the last of the Twelve have long since passed from history to legend and the Knights, their numbers dwindling, are harbouring a dark and terrible secret that must be protected at all costs.
Merad Reed has spent half his life guarding a great crater known as the Pit, yearning for some escape from the bleak monotony. Then the arrival of Aldarin, one of the few remaining Knights of the Twelve, sets off a chain of cataclysmic events that will change Reed forever.
To the north, Jelaïa del Arelium, heiress to the richest of the nine Baronies, must learn to navigate the swirling political currents of her father’s court if she hopes one day to take his place. But the flickering flames of ambition hide the shadow of an even greater threat.
And deep within the earth, something is stirring.
Review of the book:
The premise of this book is interesting and parts of it reminded me of some of my favourite book series. The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Poppy War. A war against the forces of good and evil long since forgotten, ancient knowledge fading from memory, crumbling secret societies holding the fate of the world in their unknowing hands, an unlikely hero holding back the flood, arcane darkness slowly coming back into the land of the living. Whenever an author puts a new and creative spin on this, it’s often the recipe for success. The Broken Heart of Arelium is one of these interesting takes. The premises had promise, the premise is interesting, the premise is well thought out.
This is why reading the book was ever so slightly frustrating. It has all the markings of a hidden gem but ends up being closer to a diamond in the rough. Part of me can’t help but feel it would have been drastically better if it had gone through one more round of editing. Another set of eyes to call out details that were overlooked.
It would have picked up on issues of characters being misnamed. Like when we follow Aldarin and Reed across the plains, Greylings hot on their trail. When they finally find a moment to rest, we find ourselves listening to Aldarin explain the origin of his order, the history of this arcane dispute. Only to have him misnamed as Arelium, the name of the region they are travelling through, moments later. While not a glaring issue on its own, it does pull the reader out of the story.
Another such issue is where consecutive paragraphs contain contradicting statements. Like when we read: ‘Cracks formed along riverbeds, draining lakes of water, their fish suffocation on dry land’, followed mere sentences later by ‘The seas and lakes churned with white foam, ten-foot-high tidal waves obliterating those foolish enough to have settled too close…’ It’s an easy mistake, and the fix is easier still, which makes it all the more frustrating to see.
The characters do somewhat make up for these plot holes, but not enough to overlook them entirely. In theory, they are all perfectly fine, they have a backstory we can believe, and emotions we’ll accept. The issue lies in the superficiality of it all, they are not memorable. An angry outburst is followed seconds later by a heartfelt apology. A romance seemingly blossoms out of proximity. Their development coming out of thin air. In reality, it feels like the characters sole reason for existing is to further the plot. As opposed to being fully fleshed out individuals, with relationships, memories and personalities that exist beyond what we are seeing.
Finally, the pacing feels unnatural. For a book that markets itself as a fast-paced epic fantasy, it is a stop-start in parts. That’s not to say a novel should be high-intensity action from start to finish. I’d rather not have adrenaline coursing through my system for however long it takes me to finish the book, thank you very much. It’s just that the lulls in the story, often filled with exposition dumps, felt like they were simply there to bridge the gaps between one tense moment and the next. There was no natural ebb and flow.
All in all, it’s not a bad book. It’s just that it could have been so much more, so much better. The story is interesting and parts of me want to know what will happen beyond the battle of Arelium. This is why it left me frustrated, as I am not sure I will be able to overlook the issues with writing and editing.
What are your thoughts? Have you been getting your hands on some ARC’s recently? If so, did you feel it was different reviewing them, or is it all run of the mill to you? Please let me know in the comment section below, and until then - just one more page!