Jo SpurrierReviews

I ordered this book direct from Australia because I wanted to read it that badly. It was totally worth the price plus shipping. Spurrier has created this fascinating, complex, political, and harsh world that (while never wanting to live there) I fell right into. Her world building was superb, and subtle. And the plot was great. I got hooked into the story and wanted to scream because the ending just ended and I wanted the next book so I could find out what happens next.

The book did have it's flaws, which isn't unexpected considering it's Spurrier's first book - but to be honest, I overlooked most of them because this book was much better than some other authors' 10th+ book.½

Elodie receives a letter from a mysterious sender offering her work as a housemaid and when she was hired at Black Oak Cottage, she had no idea she'd find herself working for a witch—Aleida—who was not expecting a housemaid to turn up on her doorstep. Amidst her employment, no matter what the old witch throws at her, to Elodie it's still better than going back to her abusive home even if it means dealing with the consequences of a dead witch—Gyssha Blackbone, who made monsters—, a bitter curse and a battle of magic. Somehow, someway it's Elodie's job to clean up the mess the old dead witch made which lead readers on a otherworldly journey filled with magic, monsters, witches and more.

… and based on the reviews, ‘A Curse of Ash and Embers’ was not as terrible as I thought it would be. I actually quite enjoyed myself. From the relationship between Elodie and Aleida, the cause the death of Gyssha and her resurrection, Dee’s upbringing, outstanding world-building, and the characters themselves had me hooked from the get-go.

The likable characters, refreshing and unique premise, and lack of romance really brought this story together. Though this could really end as a standalone, I am really excited to continue the ‘Tales of the Blackbone Witches’ series to see how Dee and Aleida grow and evolve.

This was such an interesting take on a tale about a witch.
Elodie's family gets a mysterious letter sending her away to Blackbone Cottage to be a handmaid. After quite a journey, where she meets a wizard and a warlock, she arrives to find out the one who sent for her is a witch. Although it turns out Aleida didn't send for her, and it's still unknown who sent the letter.
Much of the story revolves around trying to get rid of that warlock she met on the road, with plenty of other twists and turns thrown in.
Overall a pretty interesting story and am interested to see where the story goes from here.

We spend endless months in the Alaskan like northern winter of Ricalan which has been colonized from the east and is being invaded from the west. The story is well told and moves at a decent pace, but we aren't exposed to anything we haven't been before in fantasy novels of the last 4 decades. The characters, though they have some potential, lack interiority and are more told than shown.½

Daughter of Lies and Ruin is the second book in the Tales of the Blackbone Witches series. Unfortunately, I think it had that typical second-book syndrome...where it doesn't quite live up to the first book and almost feels like filler to just get to the (hopefully) third book.

Elodie grew a lot over the course of the first book and I was hopeful to see that continue, but she was more concerned with what her mentor, Aleida was doing than anything else. I really enjoyed Elodie's character, but in this book not as much. The relationship between her and Aleida didn't feel as organic.

That being said, the book is overall an enjoyable, fast-paced read and I do look forward to another in this series. The writing is descriptive and immersive and I'm fully invested in Elodie's journey at this point.

Thank you Voyager via NetGalley for the e-copy to read and honestly review.

As good a sequel as you could ask for. Elodie's basic goodness and compassion slowly force Aleida to not only look inside, but realize that change toward, shall we say, chaotic good isn't such a terrible thing. Sly humor, interesting new players and plenty of action make this a fast and very enjoyable read.

Dark, extremely gritty and unsparing in its treatment of darn near every character, but what a great read! I'm so glad I bought all three in the series at the same time. Great world building and cast of players.

A dandy fantasy. At first, the use of contemporary language seemed odd, but that changes quickly. Both Elodie and Aleida are great characters, there are beasties aplenty, a magical orchard, dandy fights and a very smooth plot flow. I'm so glad I ordered the sequel before I finished as I'm raring to read it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this whole series, and how the characters developed and reacted. Four stars for this 3rd book because I felt that some of the threads were straightened out and tied off a bit too smoothly and easily.
Looking forward to whatever she writes next.

I have no idea where I picked up the recommendation for this book, and it kicked around in my kindle for a few weeks before I started it. I can't understand why it isn't it better known. I so enjoyed the different magic system and especially the complex and developing characters.

Daughter of Lies and Ruin by Jo Spurrier is the second book in the Tales of the Blackbone Witches, following on (in an episodic way) from A Curse of Ash and Embers, which I previously reviewed and which introduces the main characters. Although the second book follows on from the first, the stories in both are entirely self-contained.

In Daughter of Lies and Ruin we see Dee and Aleida on the road, tending to some business in another region, when they start noticing strange magical things happening around them. When Aleida says they shouldn't get involved... well what stories would there be if protagonists could ignore trouble when they stumbled upon it?

In this book the dynamic between Dee and Aleida is very different to the first book. They are no longer getting to know each other and have fallen into a stable teacher-apprentice relationship, wherein both characters influence the other. So while Aleida teaches Dee magic, it's also nice to see Dee's empathy starting to rub off (a tiny bit) on Aleida. I also appreciated the aspect of magical worldbuilding whereby different witches have different strengths and Dee does not have the same strengths as her teacher so can't necessarily be taught directly in all forms of magic.

And then there's the new characters we meet in this book. We get another spunky teenaged girl, but one who is spunky in a different way to Dee (and introduces her to the concept of trousers on women), there's a surprising number of bandits, and an antagonist who isn't even doing it out of malice. I won't say more for fear of spoiling too much, but the combination made for an enjoyable read.

I enjoyed Daughter of Lies and Ruin and I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first book or who enjoys epic fantasy. I believe this series is being marketed as YA, however, although the protagonist is sixteen, it feels more like a BFF (big fat fantasy) book to me than a YA book (lengthwise it's probably somewhere between BFF and YA). Jo Spurrier continues to be one of my favourite Aussie fantasy writers, and I will continue buying every book she writes.

4.5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.½

A new fantasy that balances a swords-and-wilderness setting with a charming absence of prophecy; these people just trying to live their lives are complex and compelling enough.

A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier is a novel in a new fantasy series by the author of the grimdark Children of the Black Sun trilogy (which started with Winter Be My Shield). That said, A Curse of Ash and Embers is being marketed as YA so at least you know it won't be quite as full of torture as the earlier series. Whether or not you consider the book to be YA is a matter of personal opinion; to me it's just a fantasy book, but I also wouldn't hesitate to give it to an interested teen.

I really enjoyed A Curse of Ash and Embers and I can't wait to read the next book in the series. Elodie was a very believable and grounded character, who generally leaned towards doing the sensible thing. The world she lives in is a fairly standard pre-industrial European-ish fantasy world, but at the same time magic is an uncommon phenomenon and Elodie didn't really believe in it until she left home. I enjoyed watching Elodie finding her place in her new world. It was a satisfying mix of "well, someone has to cook and clean" and her trying to reconcile her own experiences of her new mistress with the stories told by the villagers she meets.

I haven't generally been very much in the mood for fantasy books recently, but once I started reading this one (which I thought was a novella for some reason — it is not) I was instantly hooked on the story. Spurrier's writing style continues to be gripping even in this narratively more straight-forward book (first person, single narrator) and I certainly would not hesitate to pick up any other books of hers.

The story put me slightly in mind of Pratchett's Witches books, but more because Elodie seemed like she would fit in as an apprentice witch in that world than any more obvious similarities in satire or style. That said, I also really liked one particular worldbuilding aspect in A Curse of Ash and Embers: that the witches wants are basically clubs studded with crystals. Unlike a traditional style (eg Harry Potter) wand, they were as well suited to bashing people as wielding magic...

As I said, A Curse of Ash and Embers was a great read and I highly recommend it to pretty much all fantasy fans. The next book is out in 2019 and I'm hoping that means it will be a relatively short wait (fingers crossed for less than a year) before we find out what happens next. I should note that A Curse of Ash and Embers does not end on a cliffhanger or anything — the story arc is fairly self-contained — but I still want to read more. Hopefully soon.

5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.

A solidly written debut set in a land of ice and snow where magic is shunned, though other peoples use it. The main characters are a prince and his brother who are on the run and sheltering with tribal peoples and a young girl with deep powers, also on the run, who has been enslaved by a sadistic magic wielder who takes his power from others and who uses her and any others he can find as batteries.
The story looks at where they come from and how the power struggle affects them and their countries and how they try to escape.
Well enough told, but it was a pleasure to be finally finished--it seemed to drag a bit in spots. I may follow on, just to see what happens, but it will probably be quite a while before I do.

North Star Guide Me Home by Jo Spurrier is the final instalment in the Children of the Black Sun trilogy. I have also reviewed the first two books, Winter Be My Shield and Black Sun Light My Way, both of which I loved, especially the first book. This review contains spoilers for those earlier books but any spoilers for this one are under a spoiler tag.

Some things are broken beyond mending ... Grievously wounded in battle, Isidro's life hangs in the balance - but the only person who can help him is the man he can never trust. Sierra is desperate to rebuild shattered bonds with her old friends, but with Isidro incontrovertibly changed and her own wounds still fresh, things can never be as they once were. Burdened by all he's done at Kell's command, Rasten knows he cannot atone for the horrors of his past. But when their enemies in Akhara follow Cam's small clan back to Ricalan, carrying a thirst for vengeance, the skills Rasten swore he'd renounce may be their only hope for victory...

My favourite storyline in this book was Isidro's. The story starts with him pretty out of it after the events of book two. He's lost a lot of blood and his crushed arm is not getting better. Saving his life results in the loss of the troubling arm (which has been an ongoing problem for him since the first book) and also the loss of a lot of blood. What I really liked in this book is that instead of falling into the much-overused trope of the characters suddenly inventing blood transfusions (think about how often that happens, also tracheotomies get invented a lot), Spurrier takes the more sensible path of having Rasten be familiar with with the side-effects of extreme blood loss and letting the characters deal with it from there. The side-effects included fatigue and, more crucially, Isidro's wits being addled. (That isn't a spoiler, it happens very early on.) Watching him deal with this once he regains consciousness was fascinating, scary and sad, especially when he's sufficiently self-aware to realise that there's something wrong with him. Obviously it was hard for him, but it was also hard for the people around him to deal with. Delphine's reaction, in particular, was heartbreaking, and interestingly at odds with what Isidro was feeling as he got better.

On a slightly different Isidro note, after spending two books putting up with a dysfunctional arm that caused him a lot of pain, he now has to adjust to a missing arm. On the one hand, once it heals it doesn't hurt, but on the other, things like picking up a baby become a bigger deal than for two-armed people.

Isidro, Sierra and Rasten all have emotional wounds as well as physical ones — or more so than physical ones, a lot of the time — that have to heal before they can move on with their lives. Isidro has difficulty sliding back into family life once he's physically strong enough. As well as overcoming the physical ordeals he's been through, he also found himself with "tainted" power, because of a blood magic ritual Kell forced him to be part of. Because blood magic is inherently pretty evil, Isidro has to grapple with the feeling of having been made into something evil (from his point of view) and it's an interesting struggle. It's not hard to see the parallels with real world stigma. Sierra's emotional journey, by contrast, is more about learning that it's OK to be safe in one place and that she is loved and wanted, not just needed. And forgiven, when she didn't necessarily expect to be.

Rasten, of course, is the most broken character. He spent a decade as Kell's servant, suffering abuse and doling it out on command. Sierra is the first person, since his family was murdered when he was ten, to care about him and he has difficulty coming to terms with that idea. His coping strategies mean that he isn't present for the whole story, but they are entirely plausible. I know a lot of people who have been reading this series have enjoyed Rasten's character development most, and I don't think those people will be disappointed. I wasn't (although I still liked Isidro's story more). The last thing I want to say about Rasten is a spoiler for the very end and it is under a spoiler tag.



What I liked best about Rasten's story is the way Spurrier subverted the Noble Sacrifice trope. It's so often easy to kill off the redeemed bad guy to avoid dealing with the ongoing fallout of their earlier actions. But it gets old. And I'm not sure that it's a healthy trope. Rasten wanted to die so much, but him living was a more interesting outcome, not only for him but also for Cam, Mira and the others, who have to deal with his presence. Isidro and Sierra moved on from hating him relatively early, having some idea of what he'd gone through to become who he was. But for the others and for Rasten himself, it's a much longer journey to acceptance.



The middle book of the series, Black Sun Light My Way, was definitely the darkest of the lot. This one was almost gentle in comparison. If you were hesitating over reading the conclusion because of the darker aspects in the second book, don't. It's not that nothing violet happens, but it's more action-movie violence (battles, exploding heads, generally quick deaths) rather than degrading torture. (I had actually managed to block out the details of the most horrific scene in Black Sun... until the specifics were mentioned. For most of this story, you don't have to relive the characters' past horrors, just remember that they had happened.)

On a final note, this series has very good titles. They are both metaphoric (there's no actual North Star in the story) and accurately descriptive (they do go home). They describe the main thrust of the story (or, at least, Sierra's story if not everyone's) well enough that I think can distinguish which arcs go in which books reasonably well. Clever.

If you've read and enjoyed the earlier books in the Children of the Black Sun trilogy, you absolutely have to read North Star Guide Me Home. If you haven't read the series, but got this far in my review anyway, then I can't recommend it enough. All fans of BFF (/epic/high/grimdark fantasy) should give it a go. I look forward to seeing what Spurrier writes next.

5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.

Black Sun Light My Way by Jo Spurrier is the sequel to Winter Be My Shield, which I absolutely loved when I read it last year. This review contains minor spoilers for book one.

Before I started writing this review, I went and read over my review of the first book and I was struck by something I hadn't realised when I was reading. Although the two books follow the same characters and are linked by a logical sequence of events, they actually explore very different themes. While the first book dealt a lot with ostracism, particularly of mages, the second book deals much more strongly with difficult choices and personal sacrifices.

The torture (of various characters at the hands of the evil Blood-Mage Kell) is also dealt with differently. It seemed to me that in the first book all the torture was near the start and used to establish that Kell was in fact pretty evil. Black Sun Light My Way does something similar with recently enslaved people being raped (well, threatened by rape, I don't think any of it took place on the actual page) and beaten by the invaders. But the most horrific (to me) bits were later on in the book when Kell's torture dungeon was revisited. I didn't think any of the violence was gratuitous but if affected me more than in the first book, partly because of elements of choice Spurrier incorporated into the story (I can't be more specific without spoilers). This is not a book for the faint of heart.

The next paragraph contains minor spoilers about a specific scene.

I also found Rasten's character much more interesting in Black Sun Light My Way than in the previous book. In Winter Be My Shield we saw him as the torture-conditioned and brain-washed apprentice to the Blood-Mage. In this book, we see a lot more of him and his point of view. The way he thinks in contrast with how Sierra (and, y'know, most saner people) thinks is often quite stark. There was a powerful moment when Sierra resists a particularly horrible punishment (easily the most sickening start to a scene) and Rasten can't understand why she wouldn't just submit and bide her time. It's impossible for the reader not to be on Sierra's side (I hope) and the whole scene was a stark and frustrating demonstration of just how much psychological damage Kell has inflicted on Rasten in four years.

On a cheerier note, Delphine, a mage from the invading country, becomes an interesting prominent character. Her role evolves significantly over the book and I found it most interesting when she was used to give an outsider's perspective on the characters we know and love. Spurrier uses her to great effect to highlight some of the differences between her culture and the other main characters', at the same time helping the reader understand how aspects of both cultures work. She was a character that at different times I cheered for and against, and that I could feel that way is a mark of Spurrier's excellent writing skills.

The last thing I want to mention is that I loved the ending. No details because spoilers, but it's not your usual book two ending. More got resolved than I expected, but there's no shortage of problems left for the characters to deal with in book three.

Black Sun Light My Way was an excellent read. I don't recommend skipping Winter Be My Shield, so if you haven't read the first book, do that first. In general, though, I highly recommend this series to all lovers of epic/high/big fat/whatever you want to call it fantasy. As I said earlier, it's not for the faint of heart, but on the other hand it's not significantly worse (in terms of ick and violence) than a lot of the genre.

4.5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.½

This book should be entitled "The Impossible Choices Plaguing my Favourite Characters, and the Heartache that Ensues." Sierra, Isidro, Cam, Mira and Rasten were all put through so much throughout Black Sun Light My Way, it was kind of a relief when the book ended!

I thought the strongest element of the previous book was the characters, and this is again the case. Sierra continues to surprise me, willing to make extraordinary sacrifices for her make-shift family - the people who saved her from certain death in the last book. The character that surprised me is Isidro - I'd never really doubted his bravery nor his god-naturedness, but he shines throughout this novel. The author does a brilliant job of examining the motivations and psychology of all her characters, and even though the focus is firmly on Sierra, Isidro and Rasten, I love the glimpses we get into Cam and Mira's relationship.

There's a lot of blood, violence and torture in this book, as we get intimately acquainted with the rituals of Kell the Blood-Mage. Although I found it disturbing, and sometimes had to skip over the worst parts, I never felt it was gratuitous. Even the sexual violence served a purpose: to show the very real dangers the slaves faced at the hands of the Akharian Slavers, and to depict Kell's complete dominance of over Rasten. I was glad to find that Rasten became one of the key players in this instalment, and I feel like I have gotten to know him a lot better. He's a complicated character - groomed as a Blood-Mage and prone to anger and violence, but he shows that he genuinely cares for Sierra.

The expansion of the world is another aspect I liked about Black Sun Light My Way - we first came upon our Riclan comrades in the full blast of Winter, and now, as the Thaw begins, we get to witness the new challenges that they face. I'd mistakenly believed that their troubles would lessen as the weather warmed up. The world-building is again impeccable, and I enjoyed the way that the Akharian and Riclan lifestyles were explained, especially when the Akharian mage Delphine suffered from culture shock.

Jo Spurrier has delivered another amazing book in Black Sun Light My Way, and fans of Winter Be My Shield are sure to enjoy it as much as I did. This series is also perfect for those looking for something outside of the usual sword-and-sorcery of high Fantasy, and it is a great entry point for newcomers to the genre.

You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic.

I was expecting this novel to be great based on Tsana's review, but I hadn't anticipated exactly how much I would enjoy it. I had to read it over three days, and when faced with a few moments of spare time I found myself cracking the spine to read a few paragraphs. A vivid and engaging book, I have to give Jo Spurrier my respect for writing something I couldn't get out of my head!

The strongest element of the book are the characters and their varied relationships with one another. The protagonist Sierra is treated horribly because of her powers, and the stubbornness of some characters in persisting with the belief that she is a demon, even after she saves their lives, astonished me. In fact, Sierra's treatment at the hands of the other characters frequently had me seething, and at one point I had to stop reading because I was close to shouting. At a book. Any book that incites such a strong reaction is evidently well written!

The only character to accept Sierra without judgement is the crippled former warrior Isidro, but he has his own issues to deal with as those around him seem to confuse his broken limb with a broken mind. They treat him like a simpleton and refuse to let him do anything by himself, much to his frustration. However, each character is basically good inside, and this combined with their realistic motivations makes it difficult to outright dislike any of them. I found Rasten to be the most interesting character, despite his initial portrayal as pure evil. As a young man kidnapped by the Blood-Mage Kell and groomed through torture as an apprentice, Rasten has a conscience and genuinely seems concerned for Sierra's well being, all the while admitting that if Kell ordered it, he would kill her. He is a complicated character whom the reader slowly warms to and I now find myself intrigued by him. I hope he features heavily in the sequels.

In my mind, the mark of truly skilful writing is when a reader does not have to refer to any maps or appendices throughout the story. I always study a map before beginning a book, but I found myself relying heavily on it for the first half of the novel. This slowed down my reading pace and took a little bit of enjoyment away from my experience. The second half of the novel was more engaging because of my familiarity with the world. As the story hurtled towards its conclusion I found myself wishing it wouldn't end!

Winter be my Shield is a brilliant debut by an obviously talented writer and I look forward to reading the sequels. This is a book that will be enjoyed by connoisseurs of Fantasy but would also make a good starting point for those who are new to the genre. Definitely a book you don't want to miss!

You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic.

Winter Be My Shield is Jo Spurrier’s debut novel and the first book of Children of the Black Sun trilogy. I was lucky enough to receive an advanced review copy of this book from Harper Voyager.

Set in a country where winter lasts about six months and involves piles of snow (much like the cover depicts), the story follows Sierra, Cam and Isidro. Sierra is a powerful mage but was enslaved by the sadistic Blood Mage Kell and forced to feed him power while he tortured various prisoners. She was particularly valuable to Kell because the nature of her magic is such that she gains power when people near her are in pain. You can see how that might be handy to a torturer.

At the start of the novel, she escapes and falls in with other fugitives including the disinherited Prince Cam and his foster brother Isidro who is crippled after suffering torture which Sierra witnessed.

In the country of Riclan, where the action takes place, people with magical abilities are considered tainted and cursed by the gods. Children who show magical talents generally have their powers shackled even then are still considered dangerous and unlucky. Spurrier uses this to great effect to explore ideas of prejudice and discrimination. Despite the fact that Sierra only harms people that are trying to kill her, people are afraid of her and, more interestingly, have difficulty accepting that she isn’t evil. Almost no one offers her any consideration, even after she saves their lives. It’s very frustrating (in a good, well-written way) to see characters make stupid decisions because they’re afraid of her or because they want to profit somehow. It’s also satisfying when it comes back to bite them on the arse.

There are a lot of shades of grey in terms of character in Winter Be My Shield. There are the sympathetic central characters and there is the torturing Bloodmage, Kell. But everyone else is caught somewhere in the middle. The characters that mistrust Sierra and try to hurt her aren’t necessarily bad people (OK some of them are), mostly they’re just acting based on how they’ve been brought up or past bad experiences. Kell’s apprentice, Rasten, is also more complicated than he originally appears to be. He was captured and broken (under torture) by Kell at an early age so how much of what he does is really his fault?

It was delightfully frustrating to watch (and heckle at the page) characters throw away their best hope of not dying (ie Sierra and her magic) out of misguided notions of evil. You know it’s a good book if it evokes such strong reactions.

Spurrier also brought up interesting questions in the way Isidro, the man crippled by torture, was treated. Those closest to him, like his brother Cam, were willing to do a lot to look after him. Other people with less of a connection see him as a useless burden. Of course, he’s sympathetic to the reader, but how much can one really blame the people who want to look out for themselves? Answer: it depends on how they go about it.

It’s been a little while since I read such an involved fantasy novel that wasn’t a sequel and/or by an established author. Winter Be My Shield is a striking debut and I look forward to reading the sequels (and hope it’s not too long a way between them).

5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews at