What is SPFBO 9?  This is  a competition where authors of self-published fantasy can enter their work. The objective to find a winner out of the 300 entries submitted.  Ten judges (or judging teams) each receive 30 entrants.  Each judge/team will eventually submit one finalist to the second round where a winner will eventually be decided upon. Check out Mark Lawrence’s post here to look at this year’s entrants, judges and allocations list.  Also, check out this page to see all the lovely finalists and the scoreboard for Phase 2 of the competition.

Today I’m posting my final SPFBO Finalist review, Hills of Heather and Bone by KE Andrews.

This is a book with beautiful writing, a lovely setting and plenty of emotion.  The author provides some trigger warnings over on Goodreads so take a look at those before picking this one up.  Personally, I thought this was a beautifully written tale with so many lovely descriptions.  I did have a couple of issues but let’s start from the beginning.

As the story sets out we make the acquaintance of Percy and Morana.  They live in a small cottage on the outskirts of a rural village.  This is a world full of magic and myth and our two characters both possess magic – Percy has a gift with plants and also is a healer to the small community in which they live.  Morana’s magical ability is unfortunately one that makes their life balance on a knife edge.  She is a bone weaver, she can bring back the dead and usually there is a price for doing so.  Boneweavers are being systematically sought out and removed from society for the threat they pose.  Consequently, our main couple live a life of constant fear of discovery with the necessary running and hiding that this leads to.  We are given a brief insight into the cosy life they’ve managed to achieve when their worst fears are realized and they are discovered by a group authorised to seek them out known as Failinis.

From here on out the couple go on the run, trying to find sanctuary and seeking out family along the way.

I won’t elaborate further on the plot. Instead let’s take a look at what worked for me.

I loved the writing.  It’s so beautiful and frankly a pleasure to read.  The setting, which has a delicious Scottish Highlands feel is also spot on.  There are so many lovely descriptions (I know these don’t work for everyone but what can I say – they work for me) including the plants and flowers that were a joy to read.  The magic is really intriguing, there are various forms, people who can charm animals, or move earth, conjure fire, etc, etc.  And, I will say, I love reading about a couple that are actually already in a loving relationship.  It’s so refreshing.

So, looking at the magic here I was puzzled why the Boneweavers received such a bad deal.  I mean, okay, this is necromancy by another name and I understand that a good deal of ignorance and fear fed into the general public’s overall dislike, but, some of the other magical abilities seemed very threatening, fire for example.  It puzzled me and I wanted to know more.  I do understand that this is a look at prejudice but I think I just wanted a tad more about the world to stop my incessant questions.

In terms of characters.  I really appreciated, as mentioned above, the focus on an already married couple and for a relationship that is realistic with hopes and fears, love and upset, doubt, etc – and this is an emotional read, make no doubt about that.  The author writes this couple so lovingly.  Morana suffers from terrible physical pain and also carries a good deal of emotional pain too.  On top of this she worries about Percy and the uproar that his life has become as a result of her outlawed magic.  Their relationship felt real.  That being said, the show stealer for me was the curmudgeonly chicken that accompanied them relentlessly, loves Percy and is jealous of any and all affection he shows to Morana.

The plot does fall into something of a pattern.  We meet our couple in their cosy cottage, they are confronted by the Failinis, they make a run for it, hiding out in the woods and taking all sorts of precautions to prevent discovery, they find a new place, start to find a rhythm and are again confronted and find themselves on the run, etc.  To be fair I did find this aspect a little frustrating.  I think I would have enjoyed it more if they’d taken some of the action into their own hands,  Not settling down so easily, taking more precautions, being in control a little more and I think even though they were on the run this element lacked tension, because although the couple were frequently sent running into the night with simply the clothes on their backs Percy’s magic was such that they never really lacked for food or shelter.  It took away a little of the fear and hardship that the situation would naturally create.

Anyway, I had a couple of minor issues but nothing that spoiled the read or prevented me from picking this one up.  It is a beautifully told and emotional tale and I loved the author’s style. I will definitely keep an eye out for what KE Andrews comes up with next.

I received a copy courtesy of the author, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 7.5 of 10