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Ring and Wraith
Since the fall of the kingdom of Esteldia, all have suffered under the new rule of Simuragh. Decades pass and people forget, except for one.
Emilia is a potato farmer, living her days struggling to meet the tax that Simuragh has placed upon the land. After an unruly visit from the Black Guard, the personal mercenaries of the Simuragh royalty, Emilia's father is killed for fighting back.
Death himself offers her a deal she can't refuse, a deal that makes her his personal mercenary. But when she meets the man Death wants her to kill, her emotions get in the way.
Can she balance her morals and complete the task Death has set before her?
Emilia is a potato farmer, living her days struggling to meet the tax that Simuragh has placed upon the land. After an unruly visit from the Black Guard, the personal mercenaries of the Simuragh royalty, Emilia's father is killed for fighting back.
Death himself offers her a deal she can't refuse, a deal that makes her his personal mercenary. But when she meets the man Death wants her to kill, her emotions get in the way.
Can she balance her morals and complete the task Death has set before her?
350 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 13, 2026
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 22, 2026
I picked up this book at the 2026 Tucson Book Festival, where the author had a booth. The book that had originally piqued my interest had sold out, but he did have Ring and Wraith, and after chatting a bit, he sold me on it (also, he has great covers).
Now, I did open up the book and read the first few paragraphs before I bought it, and the writing was tight. But now I'm at chapter 6, a little over 60 pages in, and I'm afraid the writing needs a lot more work. I probably wouldn't have purchased the book had I read the third paragraph.
The story is fine. I loved the idea of a spunky potato farmer from a small village finding tragedy and her journey as death's mercenary. The art, again, is great. But the author has a few very glaring issues with his writing. I'm not sure what he does for editing, but if he has an editor, he needs a different one who will be more critical. The biggest issue is that he doesn't trust the reader (me). The narration is filled with extra sentences explaining things that we already understand due to context.
One example is as follows:
"The Knight turned towards the defeated old man with not a scratch in him. He brushed his hair out of his face and said, "An old style." Commenting on the way Mr. Took moved. "Easily out maneuvered with a little experience.""
There's no need for the "commenting on the way Mr. Took moved" because contextually the reader knows a) that he's commenting and b) what he's commenting on.
And I could even get over that if it happened a few times, but again, I'm only 6 chapters in and it's everywhere. It makes reading the story a slog, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to finish it.
It's a shame, because I think with some more rounds of editing, or maybe a more critical editor, this could be a really good read. But as it is now, I personally don't think it's worth the price. That being said, I wouldn't be opposed to reading something else by this author. Also, I might be back to add to this as again, I'm only at chapter 6.
Now, I did open up the book and read the first few paragraphs before I bought it, and the writing was tight. But now I'm at chapter 6, a little over 60 pages in, and I'm afraid the writing needs a lot more work. I probably wouldn't have purchased the book had I read the third paragraph.
The story is fine. I loved the idea of a spunky potato farmer from a small village finding tragedy and her journey as death's mercenary. The art, again, is great. But the author has a few very glaring issues with his writing. I'm not sure what he does for editing, but if he has an editor, he needs a different one who will be more critical. The biggest issue is that he doesn't trust the reader (me). The narration is filled with extra sentences explaining things that we already understand due to context.
One example is as follows:
"The Knight turned towards the defeated old man with not a scratch in him. He brushed his hair out of his face and said, "An old style." Commenting on the way Mr. Took moved. "Easily out maneuvered with a little experience.""
There's no need for the "commenting on the way Mr. Took moved" because contextually the reader knows a) that he's commenting and b) what he's commenting on.
And I could even get over that if it happened a few times, but again, I'm only 6 chapters in and it's everywhere. It makes reading the story a slog, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to finish it.
It's a shame, because I think with some more rounds of editing, or maybe a more critical editor, this could be a really good read. But as it is now, I personally don't think it's worth the price. That being said, I wouldn't be opposed to reading something else by this author. Also, I might be back to add to this as again, I'm only at chapter 6.
Displaying 1 of 1 review