The Vision Prelude (Law of Sacrilege Book 1), by Joshua Landeros, is a fantasy story about Pinus Ave Longavian. He is a Jengsehi knight leading an expedition to open up trade with the people of Sebel. In the process, he’s taken back to his past.

I enjoyed how Joshua Landeros brought his world to life. It was easy to see what he was describing. He created a caste system and magic rules that felt real and natural. Neither one overwhelmed the story. In reading this, I got a remarkably good sense of the Jengsehi. I was able to see the island they lived on. The culture was rich. Religion wasn’t discussed much, but enough was there to get a good sense of it. While this was a religion that Landeros made for his world, I could see the real-world influence on it. And I liked how he didn’t just make it so that there wasn’t any conflict.

While there was a lot about the Jengsehi, there wasn’t much given about the Sebels. In a way, this is a good thing because they have been closed off from other cultures. They don’t trade with anyone. Pinus could change their minds but not necessarily in the way he intended. It got far more personal for him than he then he thought it would. I would’ve liked to have seen more from the Sebels to truly explain why they were closed off and why Pinus’s reaction to his father’s death was such a turning point for the Sebels.

The Vision Prelude (Law of Sacrilege Book 1), by Joshua Landeros, is a riveting and well-imagined world with characters that feel real. I enjoyed the book so much that I wanted it to be longer to fully bring the two cultures together. I look forward to seeing where the author takes this in future works.

Pages: 167 | ASIN : B0BN8RZKN3