Synopsis:
Ferrian has been running his whole life. Running, because he has no choice. Wherever he goes, Winter follows. Wherever he sleeps, frost creeps at his door. From town to town he hastens, frightened, tired; forever trying to keep one step ahead of the cold, the snow and the devastating storms. It is a kind of curse, and Ferrian has no idea what it means. Only someone with a knowledge of magic might be able to to help him, but sorcerers are nearly extinct in the world. Two brothers remain, however; the last of their once-noble kind, holed up in a secluded valley, waging their own private and very personal war. Ferrian, captured by the local law enforcers, finds himself unexpectedly amongst friends sympathetic to his cause, and together they set out on an adventure-filled quest to find the last sorcerers. What is the Winter? Can it be controlled, or is it really a curse? And how many people — friends, enemies, innocent countryfolk — will fall victim to the strange magical storm before Ferrian learns the answers?
Review:
I read this book as a judge for FanFiAddict for SPFBO XI. These are my personal thoughts and do not represent the thoughts of the whole team.
I had put off reading The Sorcerer’s Valley for quite a while. Not only was it the longest of the books I needed to read for SPFBO, it was the longest book in the entirety of the contest. That length comes with positives and negatives, but as I started to read Megan Leigh’s fantasy work, I found myself…enjoying it. The story and the mystery surrounding the main characters was interesting and compelling and I wasn’t forced to keep reading. There are definitely some negatives I’ll go into in a bit, but by the time I finished, I will absolutely say that I’m glad I read it.
There are essentially three main characters — Ferrian, Arzath, and Requar. Ferrian is a teenager cursed with impending winter wherever he goes. Because of this, he is constantly on the move, never getting close to anyone. Soon, some of the powers that be discover the magic that is attached to him and he becomes a pawn in a power struggle. Meanwhile, alternate storylines surround Arzath and Requar — sorcerer brothers who are constantly at odds. Over the course of the book, these characters go on their own journeys as well as discovering the truth of each other in the process.
I felt that (for the most part), the work that Leigh put into these three characters paid off. They were interesting and pushed the narrative along. The world she puts them in is a fairly standard fantasy land that feels very familiar. Before I get into what didn’t work for me, I absolutely think people should give this book a shot. It has just a couple reviews even though it has been released for 9 years and that’s a shame. It’s a good book, but does suffer from a few notable issues.
Now…let’s discuss what dragged this book down for me.
First, the length. It is a large book by any metric. And with the pacing and story on hand, Megan Leigh could have separated this novel into at least two or three other smaller works that moved right along, pushing readers from one into the next into the next. Even if she wanted to keep this book in one piece, it could have been trimmed by a good amount, keeping the core of the story intact.
And the second — the characters beyond our mains. I was messaging some of our other SPFBO reviewers as I read and when I got to the 65 percent mark, I suddenly had an epiphany — there were basically no female characters in The Sorcerer’s Valley. For most of the first two-thirds of the book, any female characters were either barmaids, or the mother of one of the main characters who died before the book even started. Shortly after I wrote to my fellow reviewers, Leigh did introduce a major female character, but it was still a jarring realization. Also, over the course of the book, the POV goes from Ferrian to the sorcerers to…side character #1…#2…#3, and so on. I lost track of how many people were guiding the narrative and there were even a few scenes when the author did as well and POV floated from one character to another midway through the chapter.
Ultimately, I believe there is a great story in this novel — it just needs some chiseling to expose what’s underneath all the things hiding it. While I was hesitant to start it, it kept me going with an interesting narrative and compelling main characters. I would love for more readers to discover Leigh’s work — the book deserves more eyes on it, even after all the time since its initial publication.
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