It’s great to find series starters that you love! And we love when a guest reviewer finds a favorite book that will become an epic series! Keep reading this book review to find out what And I Read thought of The Black Coast!
Summary
When the citizens of Black Keep see ships on the horizon, terror takes them, for they know who is coming: for generations, Black Keep has been raided by the fearsome clanspeople of Iwernia. Saddling their war dragons, the Naridans rush to defend their home only to discover that the clanspeople have not come to pillage at all. Driven from their own homeland by the rise of a daemonic despot who prophesies the end of the world, they have come in search of a new home. Meanwhile the wider continent of Narida is lurching toward war. Black Keep is about to be caught in the cross-fire of the coming war for the world – if only its new mismatched society can survive.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Black Coast by Mike Brooks is one of my favourite books that I read in 2020. It was refreshing to read a story in which two groups of people try to find common ground and live together, rather than the usual kind of warfare or pillaging. By switching between the perspectives you experience the fears and hopes of both parties first hand. It was fascinating to discover the traditions and values developed by different kinds of people. The raiders are more progressive towards equality, but on the other hand, lack the tolerance for same-sex relationships.
You can probably guess that the Black Keep settlers see things exactly the opposite way. The only thing that takes a little bit to get used to is the way the language of the people is structured. People refer to themselves in the third person, based on the way they want to be perceived by the other person. Let’s give you an example: A king addressing his subjects would say: “This king greets the people of this town”. But talking to his wife he would say: “Your husband loves you very much”. The king sees himself more as a husband than a king towards his wife.
The first couple of chapters obviously explain that concept in more detail, but towards the end of the book, it will feel natural. It turned out to be a handy tool to describe the relationship between people without going into too much detail.
Find The Black Coast on Goodreads, Amazon (UK), Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.