• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
FanFiAddict

FanFiAddict

A gaggle of nerds talking about Fantasy, Science Fiction, and everything in-between. They also occasionally write reviews about said books. 2x Stabby Award-Nominated and home to the Stabby Award-Winning TBRCon.

  • Home
  • About
    • Reviewers
    • Review Policy
    • Stance on AI
    • Contact
    • Friends of FFA
  • Blog
    • Reviews
      • Children’s / Middle Grade Books
      • Comics / Graphic Novels
      • Fantasy
        • Alt History
        • Epic Fantasy
        • Fairy Tales
        • Grimdark
        • Heroic Fantasy
        • LitRPG
        • Paranormal Fantasy
        • Romantic Fantasy
        • Steampunk
        • Superheroes
        • Sword and Sorcery
        • Urban Fantasy
      • Fear For All
        • Demons
        • Ghosts
        • Gothic
        • Lovecraftian
        • Monsters
        • Occult
        • Psychological
        • Slasher
        • Vampires
        • Werewolves
        • Witches
        • Zombies
      • Fiction
      • Science Fiction
        • Aliens
        • Artificial Intelligence
        • Alt History
        • Cyberpunk
        • Dystopian
        • Hard SciFi
        • Mechs/Robots
        • Military SF
        • Space Opera
        • Steampunk
        • Time Travel
      • Thriller
    • Neurodivergence in Fiction
    • Interviews
      • Book Tube
      • Authorly Writing Advice
  • SFF Addicts
    • SFF Addicts Clips
    • SFF Addicts (Episode Archive)
  • TBRCon
    • TBRCon2025
    • TBRCon2024
    • TBRCon2023
    • TBRCon2022
  • FFA Book Club
  • FFA TBR Toppers
    • Advertise Your Book on FFA!
  • Writer Resources
    • Artists
    • Cartographers
    • Editing/Formatting/Proofing

Review: Seeds of War (The Smokesmiths #1) by João F. Silva

April 23, 2023 by DustJacketFullofMonsters Leave a Comment

Rating: 9/10

Synopsis

GIMLORE is a single mother and war veteran turned crime boss set on protecting her family and her town.

ORBERESIS is a petty thief pretending to be God to protect a terrible secret.

REDNOW is the world’s most feared mercenary, but his best days are behind him and there’s one job left to do.

In a world of dangerous monsters and devastating smoke magic, the seeds of war are being planted. Allies must be treasured and enemies defeated.

The Smokesmiths is a gritty epic fantasy series with a harsh world of smoke magic, alien creatures and ancient secrets where characters do their best to come out on top. Peace will not last.

Review

Seeds of War is a self-published epic fantasy novel. From the cover alone I was so intrigued, and when I heard it had destructive smoke magic and a host of interesting characters to follow I was even more so. I went into this book fairly blind, as I often do, and once again it paid off. What a ride this book was!

It follows three main protagonists. Orberesis; a thief and a con man who has somehow convinced a host of people he is a God and now has a cult following, even though his one ‘godly’ act is something he can’t seem to repeat. Gimlore: a former soldier and a single mother, who has built a thriving community and is now trying to protect it from invaders. And Rednow; a mercenary for hire who is famed and feared for his power and strength, but is forced to think about retiring after this one last job.

One of the highlights of the book for me was the character development. The struggles they go through were all portrayed well, and I felt every moment alongside them. Put that alongside with the great action sequences, heartfelt moments of emotion and the great world building this book has so much to love.

All three protagonists have their own stories and I found them all equally compelling to follow. Rednow was likely my favourite, but I’ve always had a soft-spot for grumpy veterans/mentors in books. I loved how all of their stories are woven together by the end. It was well done and by the half way point I couldn’t put the book down.

Another aspect of this story I really loved was the magic system and the world itself. The magic of the ‘smokesmiths’ was imaginative and unique, as the smoke manifests different abilities in the different users. I loved that there was a cost to using it as well. The world is also full of cool details, as well creatures that added a lot of life to the story.

The only thing I felt I wanted more of was some more details on the past of some of the characters. Gilmore in particular. She seems like she has a great story to tell, and I’d love to get more details on her past as a soldier. However, this is just the opening to this series so there is plenty of time for that.

This book is a great start to what I’m sure will be an epic story. I can’t wait to see what else Silva has in store as an author.

Thanks to the author for the advanced review copy of this book. This book releases on May 1st.

Filed Under: Fantasy, Reviews, Self Published

About DustJacketFullofMonsters

I’m Jenn; teacher and lover of all things fantasy. Every now and then I get an itch to read something different but mostly it’s fantasy all the way. Character driven epics are my favourite but I am open to reading a lot of different things. My literary roots are firmly planted in Roshar, Middle Earth, and a new favourite Buckkeep. I also love reading Indie fantasy and am looking forward to finding more wonderful fantasy worlds and writers. When not reading I can be found looking after my daughter, my fur baby Sierra and working with my husband on our new rural property. Enjoy my bookish thoughts.

Other Reviews You Might Like

Review: Combat Monsters: Untold Tales of World War II edited by Henry Herz

REVIEW: Feeders by Matt Serafini

Review: Feeders by Matt Serafini

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Sponsored By

Use Discount Code FANFI For 5% Off!

FFA Newsletter!

Sign up for updates and get FREE stories from Michael R. Fletcher and Richard Ford!

What Would You Like To See?(Required)
Please select the type of content you want to receive from FanFi Addict. You can even mix and match if you want!

FFA Author Hub

Read A.J. Calvin
Read Andy Peloquin
Read C.J. Daily
Read C.M. Caplan
Read D.A. Smith
Read DB Rook
Read Francisca Liliana
Read Frasier Armitage
Read Josh Hanson
Read Krystle Matar
Read M.J. Kuhn

Recent Reviews

Titan of the Stars by E.K. Johnston

Recent Comments

  1. Mark Matthews on COVER REVEAL: To Those Willing to Drown by Mark MatthewsJanuary 7, 2025
  2. Basra Myeba on Worth reading Jack Reacher books by Lee Child?January 5, 2025
  3. Ali on Review: Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav BarsukovJanuary 5, 2025
  4. Carter on So you want to start reading Warhammer 40,000? Here’s where to start!January 4, 2025
  5. M. Zaugg on Bender’s Best LitRPG reads of 2024January 3, 2025

Archive

Copyright © 2025 · Powered by ModFarm Sites · Log In