Good Evening Bookish Folk!
How are we all doing today? I hope you are all freaking awesome.
Today I am thrilled to be one of the many incredible bloggers coming together this week to talk to you about Marcus Lee’s second book Tristan’s Folly. This tour is hosted by Storytellers on Tour, who I have had the pleasure of working with on a few previous occasions, so definitely check out their site!
I would also like to take this time to thank Marcus for sending me a physical copy of this book!
A few facts about Tristan’s Folly
- Title: Tristan’s Folly
- Author: Marcus Lee
- Series: The Gifted and the Cursed (Book Two)
- Published by Marcus Lee
- Pages: 331
Synopsis:
Tristan’s Folly. An ageing fortress built over fifty years ago to repel the invading hordes of the Witch-King, an invasion that never materialised – until now.
Now it’s a crumbling reflection of its former self and set against Daleth’s savage horde of a hundred thousand men are a mere fifteen hundred defenders, who are surely doomed to fail.
As Kings and Daemons face one another, there is but one shining light that pushes back the darkness, but even her flame might be extinguished thanks to Tristan’s Folly.
In this epic tale of a battle against the odds, the best and worst of humankind will show itself … sacrifice, honour, bravery and love, set against depravity, betrayal, greed and hatred.
Before I get to the review I want to share with you the generous giveaway Marcus and the Storytellers are offering…
It’s both books and is open internationally, so don’t miss out!
Review:
Here are a few things you can expect from Tristan’s Folly:
- A dark fantasy with a sprinkling of romance;
- A visually stunning magic system;
- Seige warfare;
- A dystopia world filled with cracking characters; and
- A unique and refreshing fantasy story!
On to the full review…
Today is day four of this book tour and thus my day, along with Rowena at Beneath A Thousand Skies, to share our thoughts on Tristan’s Folly. It still has another day to run, so head over to the Tour Schedule page to check out all amazing reviews already posted!
As I have said Tristan’s Folly is the second book of The Gifted and the Cursed series by Mr Marcus Lee, and it picks up right where Kings and Daemons left off. Tristan’s Folly does not mess around either, it is straight into the thick of it with so much to lose and even more to win! It is a great second instalment and I was not disappointed.
I praised the magic system in my review of Kings and Daemons and I will praise it again. It is such a lovely magic system. It gives your such a great level of variety throughout the book. It did feel very convenient at times but worry not Lee combats this superbly. One of our characters, Taran, was able to know the truth of an enemy’s words through his gift and that alone could have made many events within this book feel anti-climatic but it didn’t! It didn’t because Lee would always have other and more enjoyable sequences at play. Lee managed to create even more tension where Taran’s ability could have taken it away, the character’s reactions and the way they dealt with these revelations and truths after the fact was brilliantly done. To be honest it was refreshing, too often do you read a book that makes you just sit there and be like really, yes obviously take the bad guy at his word. There is no room for that in this book, so not only is the magic fun it’s a brilliant writing mechanism that shows Lee’s skill at changing the direction and bringing the tension that such events usually warrant a different way.
While Lee is a new writer with only two books out there for the world to see he shows such promise! This is his second book and it is already brilliant. I honestly think he can only get better as he goes on, and I for one am incredibly excited to see his style grow!
I found myself during this read constantly thinking ’oh you clever, clever man’. Again, Lee shows us he is a talented writer. At some points I was like ’mmmm well what happened then?’ because a POV would change and so would the tide of the battle. I swore I had just missed something at first only to soon see Lee reveal it in a far more spectacular way, one in particular point I was so smug and satisfied because of the way Lee wrote the sequence of events was just brilliant! As much as I would love to tell you in detail what and how Lee did this, I won’t because…SPOILERS! And you need to experience the joy of unravelling the events of this book yourself!
Having already met most of the characters in book one it was amazing to see the still growing and progressing. They didn’t plateau and were a joy to read.
I found that I liked Maya a lot more in this book, not that I didn’t like her before but you know how it is!
Now, I have said before but I shall say it again; a main character is only as good as those that surround them in my opinion. If you have a strong character but their interactions are with subpar characters they don’t shine, bu thankfully Lee doesn’t need to worry about this. Maya was such a good character to read because she was so layered and well rounded. She had deep and thought provoking conversations with Astren, but then she was soft and loving with Taran and yet comical and fiery with Drizt and Trop. IT was great to see how she changes with each person she is with!
I also really liked Daleth, I actually really likes his POV’s in book one and he doesn’t disappoint. He is a truly great character because you kind of like him. He is filled with manipulation and deceit (not so different to another character who is in the good side might I add 🤔) and yes its bad to manipulate those who serve him, yet he knows all the names of his men, he gifts them and treats them well. Yes, a good deal of their fire is based off a lie but that isn’t all they are fighting for, they are fighting for Daleth! He doesn’t lead by fear alone but through admiration and they respect and choose to follow him. He is such a brilliantly complex character that brings out much thought from the reader and not only from his own character but what he represents. Which is definitely another strength of Lee’s writing style. He shows you that not everything is as it seems, no one person is wholly bad or good!
Tristan’s Folly is a fast paced book, as I said it picks up right where it left off and it does not stop! This story is filled with action sequences and siege warfare and has you turning to the next page. Lee continues to raise the stakes in this book and sets up for what I expect is going to be a dramatic conclusion to this story. There is so much going on, though not cluttered and incoherent, and we see a lot more internal strife and deception in this book!
I really enjoyed this book as I did the first and I am excited to see Lee grow as a writer and what he has in store for us in book three!
You know the drill, On to the rating…
THE RANKS:
BUY THE HARDBACK | BUY THE PAPERBACK | BUY THE EBOOK | LIBRARY RENTAL OR SALE PURCHASE
I am happy to say that Tristan’s Folly is a BUY THE PAPERBACK! Yayyy
- As I said in my review, this book is delightfully written, with its plot twists and refreshing way of writing! I am super happy to have this book on my shelves and will look forward to having the final book when it is out to make the set complete!
You can get this book from Amazon.Co.UK OR Amazon.com. It is also FREE with Kindle Unlimited.
ABOUT MARCUS LEE…
What Marcus Lee has to say…
Writing hasn’t always been a serious hobby for me…but it has always been there, lurking in the shadows, serving me well when called upon.
As I look back over the years, I realise I was guilty of writing many short stories, as well as poetry, and I’d like to think, that even if they were never intended to be published, they were nonetheless warmly received by the intended recipients.
Then in 2019, I was inspired to write not just a short story, or poetry, but a book. Then, suddenly, one book turned into a trilogy and a labour of love, and it was a love I wanted to share with the world.
So, here we are. The pandemic that put my career in sport on hold also gave me the opportunity to lavish time on my alternative hobby, or if demand dictates my new career.
However, only you, the reader, will decide whether this trilogy, which is still a work in progress, will be my first of many. I genuinely hope so.
Who knows, now these creative juices are flowing, I might just keep on writing anyway.
Epic fantasy has been my favourite genre since I first read The Odyssey and the Illiad as a seven-year-old. Now it’s my turn to see if I can bring another world to life in the imagination of others.
Ways to get in touch with Marcus…
Head on over to Marcus’ website where you can see his upcoming books, other reviews, artwork and more,
Go and follow Marcus, he is a great contributor to the Book Twitter community and is great to engage with too!
_ The Book in Hand _ 
Pingback: BOOK OF THE MONTH | DECEMBER | _ The Book in Hand _