To the North by Evan L. Grove is the first book in The Awakener duology, a fantasy story set in a land full of magic and diverse creatures of many races. From powerful giants to talking cats, prepare to see an intricate world filled with history and realistic characters.

Emily Lee is a young woman without magical powers, which is strange for someone of her race. Despite this, as her father gets stuck in the capital of Odelia after the occurrence of some catastrophic events, Emily will try to do everything in her power to save him and get him home. She meets Lehksi Olent, one of the Scriptors, a very talented magician that uses her abilities to investigate weird occurrences around the country and fight dark powers. She and her young brother Marty, a cat-like creature known as a Haesees, are going to see themselves surrounded by trouble as they try to complete Lehksi’s latest job. Follow the adventures of Emily, Lehksi and Marty, as they travel all around the country to find some answers about the terrible things that are happening and try to defeat a new evil that’s starting to awaken and cause disruption all around the land.

Where should I start? This book is simply amazing. Creative, imaginative and unique. The story is intriguing and complex. The world depicted has many details that the author took the time to develop well: the magic system, the many characters and its different races, the political tension and its history; there were just so many things and they fit the story perfectly and were well explained to the reader. It takes some time to fully understand what’s really happening and how the world works, but the wait is completely worth it, it just lets you breathe in the world little by little, which allows you to be immersed in it as the story progresses. This intricate world building and deep lore reminds me the masterful worldbuilding done by George R. R. Martin.

This book was an adventure, and I can say I enjoyed it a lot. Each character has its strengths and weaknesses, I just loved how complex each of them were. The overall plot is also very intricate, and it was great getting to find out with each chapter new things about the world and about the story that was being told. Also, the storytelling is incredible, the author kept me glued to the page, I just wanted to know what was going to happen next, to the world and to the characters that I had started to feel attached to.

To the North by Evan L. Grove is a compelling dark fantasy novel filled with intriguing characters and a magical storyline that will appeal to readers looking for an epic fantasy novel. I can’t wait to read the next book in this duology to find out what comes next!

Pages: 389 | ASIN: B08P95R798