Tristan’s Folly – 4 Star Book Review

Welcome to one of the December 2nd stops on the blog tour for Tristan’s Folly by Marcus Lee, organized by Storytellers On Tour. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more great reviews!

Hoping to follow this tour on social media? The tour host is on Twitter and Instagram at @sot_tours and all hosts have been encouraged to use the hashtags tristansfolly #thegiftedandthecursed #readindie #storytellersontour

I’ll be featuring this one on my socials later in the day at:
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Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.

You may also be interested in my 5 star review of book three, The End of Dreams.

About the Book

Tristan’s Folly
The Gifted and the Cursed Book Two
by Marcus Lee

Published 31 October 2020
(Kindle)

Genre: Dark Fantasy Romance
Page Count: 331
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Tristan’s Folly is the stunning sequel to the acclaimed Kings and Daemons, and the second in The Gifted and the Cursed trilogy.

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.

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

My Review

My Rating: 4 Stars
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I was granted complimentary access to a review copy of Tristan’s Folly by the author through Storytellers On Tour in exchange for an honest review as part of my participation in the blog tour for this title. Thank you to both Marcus Lee and Storytellers On Tour for this opportunity! This has not swayed my opinion. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

I would like to start by saying that I have not read the first book yet, and I went into this knowing that I was reading a sequel blind. I feel that one of the important measures of a great sequel (or later series instalment) is how readable it is to someone who didn’t read the previous book. It was certainly not unreadable! I enjoyed this book a lot and I love the low fantasy world and rich characters Marcus Lee has created. With that said, there are a lot of POV characters whose backstories were clearly established in the previous book, so when this book launches the reader straight into the action there’s a lot of reading between the lines to be done to catch up. It’s not impossible, but this book would definitely be best experienced after reading book one.

I would also like to give my compliments to the cover designer! I don’t know why the fantasy subsection of the publishing industry seems to have agreed the colour of the year is purple, but this is one of the best purple fantasy covers I’ve seen this year, and it definitely got my attention when this tour opportunity came up.

This is a very character-oriented book with lots of action and fantastic dialogue. It neither falls victim to “float head” syndrome nor weighs us down with too much flowery prose; it described just enough to give us context and beats, but leaves the focus on the characters. Although there is a romance element, it doesn’t bash the reader over the head with romance. It’s a dark fantasy first with a smattering of romance for interest. Just how I like it!

My favourite charcater was Daleth. Yes, I know, he’s the antagonist! Lee has done such a good job of making this villain empathetic with relatable motives, and I loved his POV sections. It reminds me of how Iago is the best part of Shakespeare’s Othello (and no, you can’t change my mind!)

Obviously since I haven’t read book one yet, I can’t comment on how this book works as a sequel, but I can say it’s an amazing book all on its own. I think the parts were I felt a little lost here and there or wished I had a stronger connection to a character are because it’s a sequel picking up where the previous book left off, and those little things I’m missing just happened a hundred pages or so back, it’s just not in this volume. Perhaps if I were to re-read this one after reading the first book my rating would increase to a full 5 stars. Revisit in the future, perhaps?

Overall this is a solid dark fantasy and I would recommend it to all fantasy lovers. 4 out of 5 stars, great read!

About the Author

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 the first of many. I genuinely hope so.

Who knows, now these creatives juices are flowing, I might just keep on writing anyway.

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