Master of the Void did a couple of things right for me from page 1. I appreciated that I got to know the characters before something important happened. This gave me a sense of Orimund and Derrius, and others, before their personalities were put to the test. I would say there are a good number of characters in the book, however, I can’t personally say that I was confused at any stage by them. I was able to clearly draw a line in between the main and the secondary characters from early on. What I was oblivious to, until the clue that made every piece fall into place, was the big and clever twist in the book. I found this trap clever, covering the tracks in the sand, so to speak. Well played, Wend Raven. You caught me!

Going back to my simple joy of enjoyment, I knew from the first page that I was going to gel with the prose. It was to my taste in terms of revealing info and details in an exploratory manner. Not only that, but there were also small passages where the description of one moment or other was done so well, it made me stop for a minute to appreciate it. This book is the Zack Snyder version of Justice League, the 3,5 hour long one, in the sense that you get all the bits and bobs during the slow buildup, you get to see the lives and dreams and personalities before things take a dangerous turn. Might not be to everyone’s taste, but damn did it click with me.

This is a coming-of-age story, with a Young Adult vibe all the way through, and I truly, truly enjoyed it. Yes, it has a love triangle, but it’s not cringey and it doesn’t fumble. No graphic battle scenes, no crude and gruff men. Simply magic of the most cosmic sense, adventure to span the years, and a sort of a clash of cultures. There’s sea voyage, even! But also, the impending doom. Of course.

To me, Master of the Void was one of the more complex stories at its foundation compared to some other titles I have read in the SPFBO9. I didn’t feel lost or swamped with info, I was enjoying my time with the book, and I can only give credit to the style of prose for delivering the expansive plot so well. This is one of my top titles in SPFBO9. I found very little if anything to pick at. Perhaps the start was a bit on the shaky legs, but looking at the big picture, this ended up being quite a wholesome fantasy read for me and I can’t wait to read what happens next!