Tracy M. JoyceCritiques

Rada is six years old, but she acts and thinks older than her age. Rada carries a huge responsibility on her shoulders and seeks out help to save her newborn sister and mother. This is a gritty fantasy story with underlying sensitive topics, with various characters introduced along the way.


I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to Booksprout, StoryOrigin, and author.

Rada is six years old, but she acts and thinks older than her age. Rada carries a huge responsibility on her shoulders and seeks out help to save her newborn sister and mother. This is a gritty fantasy story with underlying sensitive topics, with various characters introduced along the way.


I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to Booksprout, StoryOrigin, and author.

The Chronicles of Altaica make for a great read, the kind that you keep reading as you stumble off the bus and still read right up until you arrive (sigh) at the door of the day job. Adventure and danger, hard rides and mountain crossings, spies and plots and murders, primal magic and goddesses, war and strategy, skirmishes and battles and desperate duels. Here is a whole world of rivalries, peoples, cultures and absorbing characters.

In the first part of The Chronicles of Altaica, the villagers fled an invading army, got swept out to sea and then were rescued by people in another country that they knew nothing of. My difficulty now is to urge you to read this sequel, Asena Blessed, without blurting out 'spoilers'. I will highlight some aspects of the world building and the characters that I particularly liked.

Animal guardians have become a feature in fantasy tales since their appearance in Phillip Pullman's books. We readers may have grown used to these linked animals existing mainly for the sake of the humans, like enhanced pets. Tracy Joyce turns that idea on its head by considering the wild nature of the linked animal. What if the linked animal has its its own intentions; and what if it could be too powerful and difficult to control? Some scenes in Asena Blessed took me by surprise me because the guardian acted on its own account, and the result was not remotely cutesy.

Complicated heroes. Throughout the first book the reader identifies with the dilemmas of the central character, Isaura. In Asena Blessed, however, she is swept unwillingly into the spirit realm and emerges more conflicted than ever. Her resulting actions are not necessarily noble at all times. I often blinked at the turn of events. 'Did she really do that?'

Matriarchs and Female Warriors. To say this book includes 'strong female characters' is an understatement. Among the Altaicans, all adults train for fighting and the tattooed and hardened women ride with the men. Key movers in this story include the female keepers of lore known as 'Kenati', the matriarch of the wolf-like Asena clan , the Lady Malak, who strives to undermine the power of the tyrant Ratilal, and an intervening female spirit who may or may not be a goddess but who in any case seems to be playing her own game.

Plausible Warfare: We have all endured movies and novels in which the fighting scenes are over the top: every warrior seems to know all the modern martial arts. Bows fire multiple arrows at a time, arrows and sword blades cut like lasers through the heaviest body armour, and so on until it all gets silly. Not so here. The tactics, weapons, armour, siegecraft and melees are based on the author's research of warfare in our own non-Altaica world. The fighting here is brutal, the wounds nasty, and soldiers do appalling things to civilians. This is a fantasy world but it is no fairy tale.

Your reviewer made a classic blunder when buying Book One of the Chronicles of Altaica: not getting Book Two at the same time. And made another blunder on opening it for 'just a quick look' at lunchtime. I was embroiled in desperate situations on page 38 before realising I was late for work. Quick peeks are not going to work for you with this pacy story. Fortunately 'Asena Blessed' is now to hand and I will be soon immersed once more in this world created by Tracey M. Joyce.

'Her stories are gritty, a little dark and morality is like quicksand. You won’t find any unicorns or fairies here.' (Tracymjoyce.com.)

From the first lines we are on the run with Isaura fleeing a huge army devastating her home. She and some of her community flee down river in a barge which the wind and currents take out into the ocean despite all they can do. The desperate group endures storms and scorching sun and, as the food runs out, they begin squabbling. As the long days pass hope ebbs away, and they become suspicious of one another, particularly of Isaura who, we learn, is not considered 'one of them.'

'Two things your race is known for -magic and murder. Hill clan witch!' .... No one would look at Isaura, no one would speak to her.

Much of the engrossing first part of the book takes place in the cramped confines of the barge. Tensions and fears are exacerbated by the harsh conditions. We readers are plunged into a time of starvation, death and grief, complicated by the corrosive power of envy and a mire of moral complexity. We even get a little romance when Isaura finds herself awkwardly playing cupid to Gabriela and Jamie, who are among her few friends.

'My kingdom for a good looking man who has a fully working brain'. Isuara.

As the refugees drift on helplessly toward apparent death, the action shifts to the peoples and complexities of Altaica, 'a land rich in tradition; ruled by three powerful clans. A land with a history marked by warfare; where magic as we know it does not exist. Instead what is here, in abundance, is a more primal power. (Back cover.)'

'By the gods, how long have they been on this boat? How much longer can they last?' Umniga the Kenati of Bear Clan.

Umniga, a wise woman who discovers the strangers has her reasons for wanting to rescue them, altruism not being the first. She and her acolyte Asha can't do it alone but must persuade the clan chiefs to help. They mistrust one another and see no reason to trouble themselves over strangers. They want to know what is in it for them. A canny play of brutal politics between factions now begins, breaking out inevitably into conflict. When we pick up again with Isaura's particular fate we are hurtling at a hard gallop toward the second book, Asena Blessed.

You can obtain signed copies of the books at Tracy Joyce's website. The beautiful covers of Altaica and Asena Blessed are designed by Karri Klawitter.

This was a great start for a new fantasy series, with a well thought out and designed world and memorable characters. I love Isaura and Pio and their family and friends and was thinking about the story long after I read the last page. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series and finding out what happens next

This well crafted second novel in the Altaica Chronicles continues straight on from the storyline of book one. Rich characterisation, detailed world building and a twisty plot all come together in a very satisfying read that doesn’t disappoint the way sequels sometimes do. It features more of the gutsy Isaura – my favourite of the main female leads from Altaica – and more of most of the things I enjoyed in book one. What I liked best about this series was the element of surprise. Each time I thought I had the story figured out, it would surprise me, either plot wise or character wise, giving it an addictive Game of Thrones feel. Tracy Joyce has a knack for mounting a rear attack on the reader’s preconceptions – she did so in Altaica and has managed the same in Asena Blessed. Looking forward to the third in the series.

Altaica veers off the main fantasy road into fascinating byways that bring together many less explored elements into a satisfying whole. While it touches on some tropes there is no 'been there before' feel about this story. The author has done her research and combines politics, warfare, magic and a host of complex characters to create the world of Altaica. Much of the story involves travelling from place to place, which satisfied the wanderer in me. I liked the magic, too, which is connected to the earth and to birds and other animals. Old Umniga, the feisty chief healer, was one of my favourite characters and I would happily read a whole separate story about her life and adventures. Head-hopping between the minor characters was a little distracting, but otherwise I remained engrossed in the world and characters and am keen to dive back into the world of Altaica again. Tamora Pierce fans looking for a new read might enjoy this epic fantasy series.

What a great follow up to Altaica! Isa really comes into her own here, assimilating into a new culture without compromising her strong character. This story is well thought out and neatly structured. It has everything you could want: psychic connections with wolves, tricksy ghost ladies, an old wise woman, manly clan lords, a stubborn mule hero, ancient mysterious documents, magic crystals, bloody battles - the list goes on. Well worth a read.

This story has a rich cast of characters and beautifully detailed world. It somehow manages to skate just close enough to some typical tropes to make you feel you got your money's worth from a real fantasy story without it feeling in the least bit, well, tropey. The pace picks up nicely just at that 2/3 point where most stories get a bit sluggish, and I swallowed the last third almost in one sitting. Looking forward to seeing how Isaura copes with everything that has happened while she was busy being a...well, I'm not one for spoilers!

I received this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Altaica it the first book in the Chronicles of Altaica series and sets up the story that's to be told. The book starts off at a rather quick pace, pulling you in to the story where we learn about an invading army and a group of villagers desperate to escape from them, but then the story hits a lull, nothing really happens after they escape and it's languid pace was a bit off setting. The story pace picks up again once we switch to a new set of characters on the continent of Altaica. Here we learn quickly about three clans, Boar Horse and Bear, and learn a little about a group of people known as Kenati. We learn that there was a war not long ago and that the people of Boar clan are bitter about the loss they suffered in it. As the story progresses we meet more character, a few forgettable who are seemingly not a big part of the story but others we learn they are. The rest of the story is quick paced, and there are many thing that set up the potential for the second book, set to release next year. Overall, Altaica is an enjoyable read and the characters we see a lot of we begin to become fond of, save a few who cause problems among both groups, stirring up trouble and distension within both.

I received this book through netgalley in exchange for an honest review I requested the book because I was drawn to it by the excellent cover art. After reading the blurb I knew I wanted to know more about the book.

Isaura is different among her people although she grew up with them they are different and she's sometimes treated badly although she's the village healer.

An army is roaming the land destroying everything in its path Isaura and her close friends devise a plan to save those in her village interested in leaving.

Isaura finds her self feeling strange and things are happening to her that she doesn't understand but she a strong willed girl. I love the development of the characters personality. Pio and Lucia I love the fire that's within those two while I look forward to Elena's eventual demise as her jealousy for Isuara slowly and steadily poisons her soul and will inevitable tear poor Curro apart. The characters are well written and each one makes you want to know more about them while as events unfold you want more of the story.

I really enjoyed this story and I feel it was very well written for an authors first work. It felt finished I didn't "feel" like I was reading and I feel the author achieved what she was trying to convey with this story. I got drawn into the world of Altaica and look forward to book 2