Power is rarely gained honestly, nor held gently, as author DJanée reveals in the stark novel The Blizzard’s Secrets, a fantasy parable of leadership and loyalty.
The Ruler of Taliver is acting strangely, asking the intrepid young Daia, future Commander of the Forces, to keep secrets from the Seer – a forbidden practice. Luring her into a trap, the Ruler sends her on a frigid mission into the unforgiving Tundra in search of a lost son, the one person who can reveal the truth of a murderous secret from the past. Selflessly determined to protect the current Seer from certain exile, Daia is quickly pulled deeper into tangled webs of the past, and she discovers that her journey may be a clever death sentence, rather than a rescue mission.
A Shakespearean drama of power grabs, betrayals, and broken lines of succession, this dialogue-driven story is packed with plot twists, subtle world-building, and well-drawn characters. Overcoming deep self-doubt in the face of a mighty responsibility, Daia is an exceptional female lead, though Marquis and the Seer are also strong and well-developed secondary characters.
On the technical side, there are some anachronistic or out-of-place words that break the illusion of this imagined world, but on the whole the book is expertly crafted and thematically rich, exploring everything from societal structures and gender roles to the blurry lines of morality and legality. Ending on a powerful note of stirring defiance in praise of self-determination, DJanée delivers a memorable work of speculative fantasy.
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