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Blackwing Volume 1
Blackwing Volume 1 contains the first five novellas of the Blackwing
1: To Kill a Necromancer
2: Hetgarib's Curse
3: The Horned Guardian
4: Ghost Peak
5: The Slain Princess
Jinua's first mission as a paladin is to kill an evil necromancer that's taken over a small town. But not all is as it appears, and soon the young paladin finds herself allying with a necromancer, someone she's been taught to believe is evil and irredeemable.
As the unlikely duo follow a twisted, dangerous trail to find who's sowing the seeds of blood and hatred throughout the continent, Jinua must confront every truth she's ever believed and question the very foundation of her faith and place in the world.
1: To Kill a Necromancer
2: Hetgarib's Curse
3: The Horned Guardian
4: Ghost Peak
5: The Slain Princess
Jinua's first mission as a paladin is to kill an evil necromancer that's taken over a small town. But not all is as it appears, and soon the young paladin finds herself allying with a necromancer, someone she's been taught to believe is evil and irredeemable.
As the unlikely duo follow a twisted, dangerous trail to find who's sowing the seeds of blood and hatred throughout the continent, Jinua must confront every truth she's ever believed and question the very foundation of her faith and place in the world.
479 pages, Paperback
Published September 29, 2023
34 people are currently reading
202 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 13, 2023
Introduced to the author through tiktok where I quite often enjoy and respect their content I took a shot at one of their books about the moment I was able to order a hardcopy.
This is a series of 5 fantasy novellas that tell a story of friendship and growing past generational institutionalized bigotry and hate for 'the other' group.
The story is fun and the characters are each distinct in their voice and their banter. But we have some trouble from the novella format never quite getting to break away from the needs of an episodic story instead of one with more direct growth. The world building is also weak from the novella format, the story is on the backs of the main characters or nothing at all because there is little interesting or really explored to the word itself. The writing was good, and someone clearly actually trusted their editing team to actually catch almost every single error before it hit print which was a fantastic relief and not one we get to see in a story collection like this very often.
The one part it really nails is following the authors views, privately and publicly supporting the LGBTQ community. Of all the protagonists I dont think there isnt a single straight CIS character (one is sorta up in the air, we will see), and never once is it the diversity played for laughs or treated as anything less than perfectly normal, acceptable, and healthy.
Bonus points for maybe having the best written depiction of how 5.0 Oath Paladins work in practice that I have ever read.
Honestly? Its nothing special, it wont redefine a genre, but its nice to know it exists and that even if its never going to hit my top 20 its absolutely worth a place on my shelf. And if anyone wants some LGTBQ+ positive fantasy writing? You could do so much worse.
This is a series of 5 fantasy novellas that tell a story of friendship and growing past generational institutionalized bigotry and hate for 'the other' group.
The story is fun and the characters are each distinct in their voice and their banter. But we have some trouble from the novella format never quite getting to break away from the needs of an episodic story instead of one with more direct growth. The world building is also weak from the novella format, the story is on the backs of the main characters or nothing at all because there is little interesting or really explored to the word itself. The writing was good, and someone clearly actually trusted their editing team to actually catch almost every single error before it hit print which was a fantastic relief and not one we get to see in a story collection like this very often.
The one part it really nails is following the authors views, privately and publicly supporting the LGBTQ community. Of all the protagonists I dont think there isnt a single straight CIS character (one is sorta up in the air, we will see), and never once is it the diversity played for laughs or treated as anything less than perfectly normal, acceptable, and healthy.
Bonus points for maybe having the best written depiction of how 5.0 Oath Paladins work in practice that I have ever read.
Honestly? Its nothing special, it wont redefine a genre, but its nice to know it exists and that even if its never going to hit my top 20 its absolutely worth a place on my shelf. And if anyone wants some LGTBQ+ positive fantasy writing? You could do so much worse.
April 25, 2025
Excellent read!
This story had very solid character development such that, as you went through the nested set of story arcs , you could identify with them and become invested with your reading. ❤️ I enjoyed the character development, and I also really enjoyed the world building - which was just excellent. Imaginative, creative, well rendered, and communicated. It just created this whole context for everything that you were reading that made the experience even better. My compliments on being able to build a realistic and welcoming world to explore.
This story had very solid character development such that, as you went through the nested set of story arcs , you could identify with them and become invested with your reading. ❤️ I enjoyed the character development, and I also really enjoyed the world building - which was just excellent. Imaginative, creative, well rendered, and communicated. It just created this whole context for everything that you were reading that made the experience even better. My compliments on being able to build a realistic and welcoming world to explore.
July 30, 2024
Totally worth the wait
When these books first came out I was broke and couldn't buy them. However, these books were worth the wait. Great job and keep them coming. I wanna know more!
When these books first came out I was broke and couldn't buy them. However, these books were worth the wait. Great job and keep them coming. I wanna know more!
January 16, 2025
Wonderful
Well written. Can feel the conflict of emotions in each of the characters. Easy to connect to the characters and their issues
Well written. Can feel the conflict of emotions in each of the characters. Easy to connect to the characters and their issues
June 12, 2025
I can’t wait for the next book in this series to come out!
August 2, 2025
Good Cozy Fantasy
I enjoyed the characters in this book and the magic system is very unique and interesting. I am excited for the story to continue.
I enjoyed the characters in this book and the magic system is very unique and interesting. I am excited for the story to continue.
October 22, 2024
Blackwing Volume One by C. M. Alongi is a great read for fans of fantasy works. It is the first and currently only 5 novellas in the series in one book and the only way to get a physical copy of the series. It’s only accessible to buy on Amazon, however the individual novellas are available in E-Book format. It is quite accessible for online readers, and only a bit less accessible for physical readers.
Alongi’s style is one that draws in and captivates readers. It grows and develops throughout the books in the series, showing how she has aged and grown her skills throughout writing this series. She effectively uses it to create entertaining characters and weave an interesting plot. Her descriptions are beautiful, creating a wonderful picture in my mind as I continued to delve into the story. However, there were a couple of spelling errors and printing mistakes such as blank pages that could be fixed to refine the experience for the reader.
The main characters are quite entertaining and have an interesting dynamic. Ontiku and Jinua make a great team, despite being complete opposites of each other, with one being young, inexperienced, head-strong paladin and the other being an older, experienced, thoughtful necromancer. Their dynamic helps Jinua, the paladin, break down the lies about necromancers she has been told by society as the duo travels, fighting evil and injustice along the way. There are other more minor characters that cover an array of people in the world, showing Jinua how different her world view is from the actual way it works.
Jinua goes through a lot of conflict, both internal and external, which culminates in a great change of her character. She stays true to her morals, even as she breaks down the lies that prevail in her society. Ontiku becomes a sort of mentor and partner in crime, no crime obviously, role in Jinua’s life, while he joins her on her quest, which happens to line up with his. Overall, the characters have interesting and complex morals and stories that pay off for the reader in satisfying endings.
The story line seems quite simple at first, Jinua is given a quest by an angel of her god, to kill an evil necromancer that had taken over a small town and was terrorizing it. Then she meets Ontiku and as they work together throughout multiple adventures as they work to track down a mysterious benefactor that funded the evil necromancer. She encounters truth throughout the adventure of what necromancy truly is and how it is used, even when people call it evil.
Necromancers, as the story progresses, are shown to be an allegory for minorities. They had a genocide committed against them that people try to deny, including Jinua at the start. They also are the first to be blamed for any and all problems that people encounter. They are met with hostility and violence from almost everyone, even if they are just children who have no grasp on the real world. They have to hide who they are and live a falsehood or live truthfully away from the public eye.
Overall, Blackwing Volume One is a great read with complex characters that exist within a well-built world. It would be a great read for any fan of fantasy to read as well as anyone who loves interesting and complex world history behind a story set in another world. It builds off of a seemingly simple plot line that changes to one full of complexity and mystery that changes who characters are.
Alongi’s style is one that draws in and captivates readers. It grows and develops throughout the books in the series, showing how she has aged and grown her skills throughout writing this series. She effectively uses it to create entertaining characters and weave an interesting plot. Her descriptions are beautiful, creating a wonderful picture in my mind as I continued to delve into the story. However, there were a couple of spelling errors and printing mistakes such as blank pages that could be fixed to refine the experience for the reader.
The main characters are quite entertaining and have an interesting dynamic. Ontiku and Jinua make a great team, despite being complete opposites of each other, with one being young, inexperienced, head-strong paladin and the other being an older, experienced, thoughtful necromancer. Their dynamic helps Jinua, the paladin, break down the lies about necromancers she has been told by society as the duo travels, fighting evil and injustice along the way. There are other more minor characters that cover an array of people in the world, showing Jinua how different her world view is from the actual way it works.
Jinua goes through a lot of conflict, both internal and external, which culminates in a great change of her character. She stays true to her morals, even as she breaks down the lies that prevail in her society. Ontiku becomes a sort of mentor and partner in crime, no crime obviously, role in Jinua’s life, while he joins her on her quest, which happens to line up with his. Overall, the characters have interesting and complex morals and stories that pay off for the reader in satisfying endings.
The story line seems quite simple at first, Jinua is given a quest by an angel of her god, to kill an evil necromancer that had taken over a small town and was terrorizing it. Then she meets Ontiku and as they work together throughout multiple adventures as they work to track down a mysterious benefactor that funded the evil necromancer. She encounters truth throughout the adventure of what necromancy truly is and how it is used, even when people call it evil.
Necromancers, as the story progresses, are shown to be an allegory for minorities. They had a genocide committed against them that people try to deny, including Jinua at the start. They also are the first to be blamed for any and all problems that people encounter. They are met with hostility and violence from almost everyone, even if they are just children who have no grasp on the real world. They have to hide who they are and live a falsehood or live truthfully away from the public eye.
Overall, Blackwing Volume One is a great read with complex characters that exist within a well-built world. It would be a great read for any fan of fantasy to read as well as anyone who loves interesting and complex world history behind a story set in another world. It builds off of a seemingly simple plot line that changes to one full of complexity and mystery that changes who characters are.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2025
Really enjoyed reading this. Love Jinua and Ontiku, definately giving old married couple vibes. The stories are relatable today with how humanity behaves, epsecially towards something its been conditioned to fear; anything that is not the same. Looking forward to reading more from them, as well as Hylas and Aketa, once I actually find the books.
August 16, 2025
C.M. Alongi never misses.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews