Lee James’s Azriel (Watchmen Saga #1)
Description
Bree was a bodyguard to the king, now, haunted by a rash promise, she keeps her own company.
Traveling though a new land, Bree comes to the city of Azriel, and is unexpectedly embraced as a Watchman, one of an elite group who defends the city from strange, spirit creatures, called Yirtzi.
Something about Azriel calls to her. In this foreign land, Bree feels at home. Here, she learns more of who she is, of who her family was. But she also learns of the paths she can choose to walk and who she could become, and she begins to grasp at the severity of the promise she made – a promise she regretted even as she made it.
Disclosure
I personally bought this book. There was no agreement with the author, publisher, or any third party that I would publish a review. The following review is unsolicited, unbiased, and all opinions are my own.
Note: I personally know the author of this book, this does not affect my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.
Review – Spoiler Free
Azriel is a light, fast paced read that is easy to get swept up into. There were many times that I read for longer than I had planned. James writes in a way that a lot of the story – Bree’s history, the current climate of Azriel, even world history – is hinted at but not fleshed right out at first. Much of this is because Bree is new to this area and we learn along with her, but it also makes for an interesting reader feeling of thinking you know what’s going on, but wanting to continue reading just to be sure.
Reading this, and knowing James personally, was so much fun. There were definitely times when I could totally picture her speaking the text – sharing some description, or making a joke. It definitely made for some fun Easter Eggs along the way.
Azriel would have scored higher in my ratings (and I really wanted to rate it higher), if some more time had been taken to flesh things out some specific things, it felt a little like Bree landed in a situation and was whisked away on an incredibly fast journey of self-discovery.
This really comes to light because there is a lot of story taken on in Azriel: a lot that is happening and a lot of history that the reader needs to catch up on. Amidst all that stuff, some things get a little lost, there were a few spots where I got the timeline or the location confused. Pieces slowly fall into place as Bree discovers an learns more, and after I finished the book and let things mull in my brain, parts of the story that I hadn’t understood worked themselves out.
There were some cliché things, especially with Bree’s character, but I found that this actually helped Azriel lean more towards a clean action story, with undertones of light romance – something that I know there is a huge audience for, and whose readers would love this.
Overall, this is a light read that pokes at deeper things like love, redemption, belonging, and faith. I will definitely be checking out the next book, Marsena, when it’s released.
Quote
It is widely assumed the young know no fear. They rush in when they should retreat. They trudge forward when the world tells them they are marching toward a helpless cause.
But the young are strong.
Azriel, Lee James
Ratings
- Quality of Writing – 3
- Plot – 4
- World Building – 3
- Characters – 3
- Ease of Reading – 4
- Overall Enjoyment – 3
- Final Rating – 3.5 (Actual: 3.3) – Liked It/Really Liked It
Want to learn more about the numbers I use for rating, and the qualities I’m thinking about when writing a book review? Check out my post How I Rate and Review.