Sanyare: The Last Descendant
by Megan Haskell
Introduction
I received Sanyare: The Last Descendant from the author in return for a fair and honest review. It is a hidden gem with few reviews and I’m glad I was asked to review it.
Genre / Intended audience
Fantasy / adult
The heroine is near 100 and looks in her twenties so it is not YA, but there’s no explicit sex. There is extreme violence, but it doesn’t happen to the main characters and isn’t dwelt upon.
Narration
Close third person, past tense, almost exclusively from the main character’s POV
Characters
Nuriel Lhethannien AKA Rie — a human changeling raised by elves
Lord Garamaen Sanyaro — mediator and truthseeker of the nine realms
Hiinto, Niinka, Tiik, Possn, and Gilk — pixies loyal to Rie
Curuthannor — Rie’s elven foster father
Lhewen — Rie’s elven foster mother
Othin — King of the Upper Realm
Aradae — Shadow King
Braegan — Blood sidhe in the Shadow realm
Prince Daenor — commander of Shadow Guard, fire elf, bastard son of the Shadow King
Cendir — Shadow Queen’s brother, second in command of the Shadow Guard
Master Whixle — a gremlin master smith
Faerleithril and Faernodir — twin heirs to King Aradae
Rolimdornoron — High Court Chief Messenger and Rie’s boss
Setting
A fantasy multi-world universe where various realms (including Upper Realm, Shadow Realm, and Human Realm) are inhabited by magical beings. A few magical portals allow travel between realms. The human realm, where magic is limited, isn’t described in the story. Most of the story takes place in the Shadow Realm.
Theme
Self discovery, coming of age, destiny
Plot
Sanyare: The Last Descendant opens with an action-packed attempt on Rie’s life, which she survives with a little help from her pixie companions. The encounter sends her on an adventure to the forbidden Shadow Realm where she tries to identify the who and why behind the assassination attempt. Along the way, she discovers that almost nothing she thought she knew about herself is true.
About the Author
Sanyare: The Last Descendant is Megan Haskell’s debut novel. There is also short story prequel to the novel and a sequel in the works. Find out more on Goodreads
or the author’s website.
My Opinion
The story moves along at a good clip starting with an action packed first chapter. Rie is an interesting character, if not very fleshed out in this first novel. The story is original with an unexpectedly polished and profession style for a new writer, certainly better than most independently published works.
Haskell knows how to set a scene and keep the action clear and compelling. She is particularly good at fight sequences. I was never once confused about what was happening or who was doing what. The story itself is a straightforward adventure and coming of age tale. The world building and various inhabitants of the Shadow Realm were interesting, and I’d love to see more in this series. Of particular note were the pixies who were much more ferocious and helpful in a fight than any version of pixies I’ve read of before. I like that the pixies are scary and vicious, not the cute adorable sort. I enjoyed Rie’s swarm and how she worked with them as a team. They’re flying piranhas in effect, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be on the other side of a fight with them. They were smartly used by Rie given their abilities as nearly undetectable spies.
There were questionable plot points alongs the way, but the final chapter made at least some them clear. I didn’t get why Rie trusted Braegan, and she blurted out too much information to people she didn’t know at all, at times. I’ll chalk it up to an over-trusting personality unless a better explanation comes along in later books. Those incidents came early in the book; the rest was amazing.
Some of Rie’s abilities and the love interest seem to come a little late to the story and almost out of the blue, but not so much as to detract from the story for me. I didn’t really care for the love triangle either (it was more like an instant romance with one of them and the other was just a third wheel), but again nothing that ruined the enjoyment of the story. Rie and Prince Daenor had plenty of chemistry (if a little too quickly) and I’d love to see more of them as a pair.
I really enjoyed reading Sanyare: The Last Descendant. I give it a solid four stars for a well written and original story.