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Profane Rites
Sister Honorata is a woman of unshakable faith, ready for priesthood. It is what she has always wanted. What she was brought up to be.
Honorata’s Trial leads her on a perilous journey into the wild jungles of Pala, a place infested with foes determined to wage war, no matter the consequences. Caught between the threat of a supernatural monster and the subtle influence of scheming mystics, Honorata’s resolve is tested as she is thrust into a deadly battle for survival and forced to confront an evil that threatens to destroy the very foundations of her religion.
Profane Rites is the story of Sister Honorata’s passage from novice to priestess; will the rigours of her Trial bolster her faith? Or will the ordeal twist it into something else entirely?
Honorata’s Trial leads her on a perilous journey into the wild jungles of Pala, a place infested with foes determined to wage war, no matter the consequences. Caught between the threat of a supernatural monster and the subtle influence of scheming mystics, Honorata’s resolve is tested as she is thrust into a deadly battle for survival and forced to confront an evil that threatens to destroy the very foundations of her religion.
Profane Rites is the story of Sister Honorata’s passage from novice to priestess; will the rigours of her Trial bolster her faith? Or will the ordeal twist it into something else entirely?
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 6, 2022
Sister Honorata hates violence and war and uses her gifts to pray over the sick and injured, to heal. She hopes to show people a non-violent path.
Her guard and companion Yonas has a more realistic, if sometimes grim and cynical, view of the world.
Far from her cloistered upbringing, on a quest to find the missing Mother Severa in the jungle, Honorata faces heretics and monsters—and must prove if she has enough faith to conquer evil.
The writing flows well, setting the scene nicely with descriptive language. The dialogue is sometimes stiff but that seems to be mostly due to honorifics and custom.
By the 20% mark I was wishing for more world-building and a better sense of stakes. Honorata’s position requires her to stay neutral in politics and conflicts, but I wanted to know more about why the rebels were fighting the Queen and what would change if they succeeded in overthrowing her. Without details there was no one to root for except Honorata—and I needed more from her story to really engage.
Honorata’s understanding of her faith is challenged by the people she meets on her journey, but the “evil” at work in the land is undefined—what exactly is the “heretic” doing that’s terrible? Her quest is not very defined either beyond “serve all those she can” during her Trial to find Mother Severa. I did like the growing friendship between Honorata and Yonas.
Overall this was mainly an internal faith quest, with some action and a lot of dialogue philosophizing on religion. While I don’t need high-action fantasy all the time, this story felt a little underdeveloped to me.
Thanks to P.J. Wilson for the gifted ebook in exchange for an honest review.
Her guard and companion Yonas has a more realistic, if sometimes grim and cynical, view of the world.
Far from her cloistered upbringing, on a quest to find the missing Mother Severa in the jungle, Honorata faces heretics and monsters—and must prove if she has enough faith to conquer evil.
The writing flows well, setting the scene nicely with descriptive language. The dialogue is sometimes stiff but that seems to be mostly due to honorifics and custom.
By the 20% mark I was wishing for more world-building and a better sense of stakes. Honorata’s position requires her to stay neutral in politics and conflicts, but I wanted to know more about why the rebels were fighting the Queen and what would change if they succeeded in overthrowing her. Without details there was no one to root for except Honorata—and I needed more from her story to really engage.
Honorata’s understanding of her faith is challenged by the people she meets on her journey, but the “evil” at work in the land is undefined—what exactly is the “heretic” doing that’s terrible? Her quest is not very defined either beyond “serve all those she can” during her Trial to find Mother Severa. I did like the growing friendship between Honorata and Yonas.
Overall this was mainly an internal faith quest, with some action and a lot of dialogue philosophizing on religion. While I don’t need high-action fantasy all the time, this story felt a little underdeveloped to me.
Thanks to P.J. Wilson for the gifted ebook in exchange for an honest review.
May 15, 2022
ARC REVIEW
*I received a free digital copy. This does not affect my review, which I leave voluntarily
DNF at 54%
This adult fantasy story in a secondary world, features a young priestess figuring out how to match her religion with the things she sees in the world, a loyal warrior at her side who seems to keep her feet planted firmly on the ground at times, magical healing prayers that may not always work, a dark plot with twisted magic, and an exotic jungle world.
What I love most about this author's work is always the 'normalcy' of the characters. They're not necessarily epic heroes with unnaturally strong powers. Instead they're normal people, with normal fears and weaknesses who suffer from the same things we do as well; hunger, fatigue, irritation. I love that.
I also loved the world and would have loved to see even more of it.
What made me eventually put the book down was the fact that i started skimming more and more. I didn't feel a very strong connection to the main character, mostly because her motivation didn't come across as very strong; i didn't feel she was living towards a dream or a passion very strongly and it made me eventually lose interest.
This was not a hard dnf though and i may or may not pick it up again at some point to see where the plot was going, just out of curiosity, because i liked this author's previous work so much.
Content warnings up until 54% of the book
Sexual content: none
Coarse language: none
Violence and gore: moderate
*I received a free digital copy. This does not affect my review, which I leave voluntarily
DNF at 54%
This adult fantasy story in a secondary world, features a young priestess figuring out how to match her religion with the things she sees in the world, a loyal warrior at her side who seems to keep her feet planted firmly on the ground at times, magical healing prayers that may not always work, a dark plot with twisted magic, and an exotic jungle world.
What I love most about this author's work is always the 'normalcy' of the characters. They're not necessarily epic heroes with unnaturally strong powers. Instead they're normal people, with normal fears and weaknesses who suffer from the same things we do as well; hunger, fatigue, irritation. I love that.
I also loved the world and would have loved to see even more of it.
What made me eventually put the book down was the fact that i started skimming more and more. I didn't feel a very strong connection to the main character, mostly because her motivation didn't come across as very strong; i didn't feel she was living towards a dream or a passion very strongly and it made me eventually lose interest.
This was not a hard dnf though and i may or may not pick it up again at some point to see where the plot was going, just out of curiosity, because i liked this author's previous work so much.
Content warnings up until 54% of the book
Sexual content: none
Coarse language: none
Violence and gore: moderate
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews