The Revenge of Thousands

I received this novella to judge for SFINCS. Opinion is my own, and does not represent that made by the team. I did also happen to purchase this in paperback, as I prefer to read physical, and I liked the cover.

As a prequel, I was surprised how character focused this was, especially because it came out after the series first book (something that seems quite popular in current fantasy series). It opens right into a very morally grey set of characters, and as with all wars, they are on both sides. I enjoyed all of the perspectives and the ways in which they were different. And the author definitely has a deft hand with written intrigue.

The world seems to have a system where whenever someone dies, everything they’ve ever handwritten disappears. It’s intriguing for sure, though just barely touched upon. I don’t know if this is because you are supposed to be teased into reading the first book, or because it was originally explained at length in the novel, but as a standalone for SFINCS, it didn’t really work for me, feeling more like a possible companion to book one in that sense, rather than a standalone prequel.

The action sequences, though rather short, are intense, written well, and definitely make you feel like you’re thrust right into the thick of it. Because it’s character focused though, I do feel like it fell a bit short on delivering against its title of “The Revenge of Thousands.”

Personally a 3.5/5*. I am trying to judge it as a standalone for the competition, but my own thoughts are that I would very gladly continue right into the first book!