★★★★★ 5
Great New Fantasy Series!
Format: Hardcover
I came across The Road of Bones by Demi Winters as I was scanning NetGalley and when I read the summary I was intrigued. I'm always interested in a good Fantasy but when you throw Vikings into the mix, I'm on board. Now, I did have this book on my TBR shelf, but I'm going to tell you, thankfully when I cracked this book open I happened to be on vacation because I couldn't put it down and I've been telling everyone I know who will listen that they need to read it. Not only because it is good but because I NEED someone to talk to about it.
Winters starts this book out with a bang and pulled me in from the start...Silla Nordvig is our fmc and she is on the run. We find out very quickly that she and her father have been moving from village to village but we don't truly know why and unfortunately as they are headed on their way out of their most recent village, Silla's father is killed and Silla is on her own trying to survive. What she doesn't understand is why the queen of Iseldur has sent warriors to bring her back to Sunnavik and based on her father's last words to her, Silla is determined to travel the Road of Bones and get to Kopa and the safety of a shield house.
After barely surviving her first stretch of travel, Silla overhears a group discuss their travels and she sneaks into their supply wagon. What she didn't count on was that the wagon belonged to the notorious Bloodaxe Crew. To make it to Kopa, she has to win over Axe Eyes, the crew leader, while not falling for the Wolf's handsome face. As she finds herself getting closer to the whole crew (and slowly winning them over), the queen's hunter is on her tail and is determined to bring her back to Sunnavik no matter what it takes.
Like I said, I couldn't put this book down. There is non-stop action in this book. Whether it is the danger of traveling the Road of Bones and coming across the various monsters there or trying to escape the queen's assassin, the Bloodaxe Crew and Silla are always facing some sort of danger along their travels.
As for the characters, I love a book that has me feeling all the things for all the characters and this book did this for me. First, there is Silla. I won't say a lot about her backstory as I don't want to ruin anything here but she is put through the ringer here. That said, she doesn't ever give up and I love that about her. Don't get me wrong, she has her moments where she questions everything and doubts herself just like anyone who has gone through what she is going through would but she always tends to sit in it for a moment and then pull herself back together. And despite all this, Axe Eyes still refers to her as "Sunshine" which compared to him is probably fair.
Wolf/Jonas - He values family and loyalty so that is a plus but I have a lot of feelings here and I can't say anything for fear that I will give anything away and sway someone's thoughts. That said, I had high hopes for him and I will talk about him more in my review for book 2.
Axe Eyes/Rey - As grumpy as he likes to come across, he truly is a protector and while he likes to pretend he doesn't like Silla around, he also doesn't truly want her gone and when things go wrong, he is the one who tends to come through for everyone. Again I won't say a lot here as he has some secrets that are revealed and feed into the next book.
Rest of the Bloodaxe Crew - The rest of the crew are a great supporting cast and help to move the story forward.
Ultimately, this book was one that did a great job of combining the character's stories with the overall plot and there is an underlying story here. It's not just about Silla trying to get to Kopa. The queen of Iseldur is up to something and while we only get snippets of what the queen wants Silla for through her assassin/hunter, there is definitely something bigger at play. Admittedly, it wasn't a surprise to me as to what Silla's background was but I also couldn't help from feeling all the feelings for Silla as she starts to realize what she is up against and what that means for her. Also, it's a harsh world that these characters live in and Winters did a fantastic job of putting it down on paper and getting me absorbed into it.
If you're looking for an adult fantasy to pick up, consider grabbing this one. It has a great story, strong writing, solid world-building, and well-developed characters. Plus...then we can talk about all the things. The next book, Kingdom of Claw, comes out early in 2025 so you won't have too long to wait to see what happens with these characters. I'll definitely be picking up the next books in the series to see what happens for these characters as this book/series has me in a chokehold.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2024
