We Break Immortals

We Break Immortals is one of those books that I have had on my radar many months prior to it being released, and when a tour was being organised to showcase this book, I was compelled to join to discuss this book???s awesomeness.
Let???s get this out of the way in the first instance. This book is a chonker! Not only in page size, but the amount of material that is in there. Thomas H. Riley simply does not hold anything back and at first the book is an assault on your senses as you are plunged into the narrative.
In all honesty, I don???t think I was quite prepared for how much stuff is there! How intricately detailed every part of the book is!
The only way to approach this book, is to regard it as a plunge pool because as an author, Thomas Riley does not take the gentle and soft approach of leading you up to the water, dipping your toe in to test the temperature, have a little paddle and then immerse yourself in the relaxing waters of the story. No, he prefers the much more direct approach of sneaking up behind you whilst you are carefully contemplating if this is going to sting, placing a foot on your arse and shoving you in!
The story is set around three primary protagonists Aren, Keluwen and Corrin as they try to stop a deranged wizard in his quest to become a god. However, the main characters are quite a flawed bunch that have their own problems. Aren, a magical sniffer dog called a Glasseye, is addicted to a substance called Malagayne (which I likened to some kind of opioid). Keluwen, a magick user who is only concerned with her own vengeance and has very few personal limitations (such as instigating a ruse in which she appeals to the less than savoury predilections of the person they are trying to catch at one point) in how she gets that vengeance. And finally, Corrin, whose way of coping with the world is to soak it thoroughly in a steady stream of alcohol (I mean his theme song would be Streams of Whiskey by the Pogues).
Riley does a masterful job of letting each of his characters shine in their own ways. In all honesty, I found that I did not ally myself with a particular character, which normally tends to happen in multi POV stories, but was equally fascinated to see each of the protagonists and how they interplayed with the story.
The book itself is layered with intricate and complex detail, which I have to be quite honest, can be a little overwhelming at times. Especially at the beginning. I did spend a bit of time contemplating what the heck was going on and how this impacted the story. And in addition to that, it took me a little while to attach myself to the characters. There is an almost anthropological amount of detail in the first portion of the book in which Thomas Riley gives to the world building, and I think that those used to such tomes as Malazan would find this on a level. However, for me what Thomas Riley excels at is his ability to write tension fuelled plot, which becomes more apparent when you have trod on the sands of initial world building and character introduction.
Like I said earlier, it did take a while to get orientated to the story and this challenged my investment initially. Not that I wanted to pack it in or anything like that, it???s just when you are a little bit challenged, it seems a little like hard work at first (and me and hard work like to nod at each other in recognition but stay the hell away from each other if I can help it!). However, on this occasion I decided to at least shake hands and was thoroughly rewarded, especially later in the book where I surprisingly found myself galloping through the book with the wind ruffling my prized hair follicle.
One of the things that I forgot to mention is that there is a sense of wry wit throughout the story, and it is peppered with sly bits of humour that had me smirking throughout.
I think one of the things that shines through the story is how much Thomas Riley loves the fantasy genre as a whole, you can see the influence that various authors have had on him and how he has translated this love of the genre to his own interpretation to create something quite unique.
Now before you go! And I am sure that you have far more urgent things to do than listen to me rabbiting on about stuff, there is one final point I want to make ??? That Cover!
Do I need to say anymore?
Good! I think we are on the same page then

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: We Break Immortals

Thank you to Thomas Howard Riley and Escapist Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book! I voluntarily leave this review!

Aren hunts down rogue magick users to send to the fires and chases away his disturbing thoughts with a pinch of malagayne. Corrin is a skilled swordsman who could care less what he's hired for as long as there's money in it for him. Keluwen is a user with a grudge and the means to murder. Somehow, along with their companions, the three will find their stories intertwine in order to hunt down a luminous user. A user unafraid to turn friend against friend and slaughter innocents to gain more power.

We Break Immortals brings readers into a highly detailed fantasy world. Bits and pieces are revealed through storytelling and Aren's fascination with history. Mixed in along the way are discussions on myths and poetry. And let's not forget the variety of cities and cultures readers will experience. I loved viewing the world through multiple characters' eyes because they held such a wide variety of opinions. Their cultural backgrounds and experiences brought to light how differently the world can be viewed based on what a person has endured in life.

Sometimes the amount of worldbuilding delivered through dialogue was a bit much and I had to take a moment to absorb the information. Secondary characters and settings drifted out of scenes as dialogue commenced and the balance of characters and setting tipped. However, with the amount of worldbuilding taking place within We Break Immortals, I can understand the necessity for so much information.

Thomas Howard Riley is one of those authors that will lead you down one plotline and suddenly turn it inside out. The main goals of the characters will shift and change, ensuring you will always be kept on your toes. There will be revelations and betrayals, quick escapes, and devastating moments. And all the while the characters will be just as stricken as the readers, struggling to realign themselves with their new situations. With each new obstacle thrown into the characters' paths, readers will find themselves all the more captivated.

I was also amused by the clever writing style. Two of the main characters forge forward with misconceptions about each other's intentions. This provided wonderful conflict and when the two finally met, the ensuing dialogue was brilliant. While the reader knows the true intentions and alliances, the characters have them completely backward. I have never read a book before that executed such a feat between two characters. I needed to know how the situation would resolve it, if at all.

And I cannot end this review without mentioning the magick system. We Break Immortals has a complex system, and it does take a little while to comprehend. I'm one of those readers who may not fully grasp a concept until I see it in action multiple times. And not only do readers have the chance to see a variety of ways magick is used, but they will also discover that there are ways in which magick users can be tracked. Aren is a Render Tracer and specializes in finding the leftover threads of magick and hunting down rogue users.

Stepping into the world of We Break Immortals ensures readers will be engaged in a gripping story. The characters are delightfully flawed, struggling against not only their inner demons but the external forces working against them. The world-building is in-depth and the magick system is complex. Fans of high fantasy and epic fantasy novels will enjoy this book.