Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway | HORIZON by Fran Wilde
Welcome to Mother/Gamer/Writer for the Horizon Blog Tour. For today’s tour stop, please enjoy my review of this engrossing fantasy, an excerpt from the novel, and enter for your chance to win a set of the books!
I received this book for free from the mentioned source in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.
Horizon by Fran Wilde
Series: Bone Universe #3
Published by: Tor on September 26th 2017
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 448
Format: ARC, Hardcover
Source: Blog Tour
View on: Goodreads
Grab it: Amazon
Review Score:
About the Book:A City of living Bone towers crumbles to the ground and danger surrounds. Kirit Densira has lost everything she loved the most―her mother, her home, and the skies above. Nat Brokenwings―once Kirit's brother long before the rebellion tore them apart―is still trying to save his family in the face of catastrophe. They will need to band together once more to ensure not just own survival, but that of their entire community.
Jumping into the end of a trilogy is never easy. Especially one as rich and vivid as the Bone Universe by Fran Wilde. Having not read the previous two books, Updraft and Cloudbound, I really had no idea what to expect. But, the amazing cover and synopsis drew me in and the fantasy lover inside of me could not resist.
Horizon is told from multiple perspectives: Macal, Kirit, and Nat. Being a lover of the first person perspective, I dove right into to each magical point of view. I will admit though, that not having read the other novels, it did take me a moment to fully understand the world and its heartbeat. Some might even say Horizon is more science fiction than fantasy with a steampunk-ish feel, which to the authors’ credit, shows how much of an amazing writer she is. The world Wilde created is gritty, raw, intense, and full of mystery and moving (almost living) cities. Within each page, readers can feel the urgency of the characters and their fight for survival. There are a lot of strong personalities in the story, each one fighting to save their home. And navigating these cities, either by sky or on the ground, is no easy task.
If you are wanting a fantasy that speaks on ecological desolation, climate catastrophe, deadly air battles, towers that fall from the sky, and characters that will make you root for them, then I highly recommend Horizon. Although I do suggest, start at the beginning (as I wish I had) so that you can fully appreciate the magnificence that is the Bone Universe. Overall, it’s a fantastic read for teens and adults alike.
My Rating
Excerpt from HORIZON by Fran Wilde © 2017
Tor Books
Too soon, the sun broke the horizon. Light spilled across mud and grime, illuminating the body of the dying city. Time to wake again.
That morning, like many before, bone eaters watched from high perches as we fed the city rotting animals and garbage. The city’s thick gullet took it all in. It spat out the cracked bones.
The giant black birds carried the marrow away.
The thick odors of the city curled around us. As the sun rose higher and the day heated, the smell grew worse. Rot and waste, bird and bone. No matter how hard we scrubbed our skin with the ground’s unfamiliar dust, we stank. Our moods followed suit. Wik grumbled and muttered.
Ciel swore at me as we passed each other, her arms empty, mine burdened. “Clouds, Kirit, we can’t keep this up forever.”
Dreams and waking wound through each other now. But in daytime, the heat and stench of our surroundings felt true, in the way dreams are rarely true. The long days beneath the clouds and nights of hard- fought sleep turned every thing slow and nightmarish. Our only comfort was each other.
The worries that lurked below Ciel’s words felt like the old songs. Her curses became cadence, then verse. We break the bones, we miss the stars, clouds, Kirit when can we go home.
“This is our punishment, since being cloudbound didn’t kill us,” Wik said in passing. “Our way to appease the city.”
My breath caught. Such worry in Wik’s eyes.
“Do you really hold with that tradition? We broke no Laws.”
I said it loud enough for Ciel to hear too.
“Kirit,” Wik said, reaching out, then stopping. “We broke all of them.”
That was truth, and I knew it in my heart. We’d broken War, Trespass, Treason. We’d thrown ourselves down from the city to the midcloud. We’d been driven down farther by the blackwings, and—worst of all—I’d hastened the city’s death, instead of saving it.
My shouts had cracked the Spire, had killed the towers and sickened the city below.
Now we had to keep it alive for as long as we could. To help the bone eaters keep the city fed, though food was growing scarce.
Now we appeased the city on the ground, without cease.
3 Winners will receive a Set Copy of Bone Universe Series (3 Books in Total) UPDRAFT, CLOUDBOUND and HORIZON
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