It was a bit of a slow start, with the three (3) initial POVs that don't seem to be overlap much in the beginning. The first being from within the Savage Legion and from which the material for the publishers blurb/summary was taken. By far this is the best of the three (3), so it is not hard to understand why. In fact, I was rather irritated when not in this POV. The second seems to be primarily world building and more of a social/political commentary from within the capital city. It tends to be a little preachy at times, but it is clearly important to providing context to the main POV and the dark secret driving the main plot. So here you get intrigue and a plot twist or two. it is also what you get in the Sample (Chapter 1) and the reason why I asked to review the book. The third POV follows the rise of a talented young woman with physical challenges that just doesn't seem to be needed in this story outside of just world building and maybe prepping for the sequel. And that is really what turns this generally interesting start of a story into a mediocre performance ... it needs the sequel to be complete (the ending leaves too much unresolved and doesn't satisfy any of the open conflicts ... to find out you need the sequel and that really really upsets me enough to dock the book a star) ...

I won this ebook through a BookishFirst raffle.
#SavageLegion #BookiskFirst

I won this ebook through a BookishFirst raffle.
#SavageLegion #BookiskFirst ( )

Savage Legion
Savage Rebellion #1
By: Matt Wallace
Narrated by: Lameece Issaq

This is an epic adventure with three strong women characters, each with a different strength. One is a warrior that is pretending to be just a common street person that got caught up with everyone else that is used as battle fodder. She is to save a guy she knows and once loved but know is married to someone very important. Someone she promised to return him to. The other woman is disabled. She lives by her brains and wit.

All three are important in this story and I can't wait for the next book. There is a lot of violence, gore, corruption, cruelty, and injustice. I think these women hold the key to change.

I had a bit of trouble getting started in the book but then it just opened up and flew! I felt like I was there at times. I was anger, mad, sad, and worried. There is enough suspense to keep me up tight for sure!

The narrator was really good! No complaints there. ( )

Savage Legion is set in the imaginary nation of Crache and told from three different perspectives: there's Evie, a vulgar but battle-hardened warrior who fought her way up from the bottom of society; Lexi, an upper-class citizen who finds herself involved in dangerous politcal intrigue; and Dyeawan, a young parapalegic with a mysterious connection to Crache. Matt Wallace has created an intricate world filled with mystique. Admittedly, trying to understand the world mechanics in the earlier chapters was challenging and made for slow reading. Ideally, there would have been an appendix to refer to, although the illustrated map at the beginning of the book was helpful for visualizing the placement of the characters and events. The novel is thematically strong as it delves into the concept of an imperialistic nation founded on the values of military might and explores how that might affect the lives of its citizens. The story is also heavy on politics and action. As the first installment of the Savage Rebellion series, this novel is a promising start in what could be the next big epic fantasy series.

Thank you to Gallery and Saga Press for sending me a finished copy of the book. ( )

"Savage Legion" is a fantasy book heavy on politics and action, light on the things I usually associate with the fantasy genre. I'd say the first third or fourth of the book has a lot of focus on exposition and world building and it does feel a bit slow, but the pace didn't bother me. It took me about a day of on and off reading to get through the first third of the book, but the next day I read the rest in a few hours.

I suppose the only thing keeping this from being a 5/5 book for me is the writing--Wallace's prose is mostly serviceable, which doesn't mean it's bad, it's just okay.

The book feels incomplete but that's because it's the first in a series. I think I would've preferred if it had more of a conclusive ending, but whatever. It's fine, so long as the second book is good too.

*I received a copy of this book through BookishFirst* ( )