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An eclectic mix of reviews, recipes, crafts and cakes. There may be the odd dinosaur.

The Least Envied

The Least Envied (Songs Unsung, Book 2) - Sean DeLauder

From the first page you are thrown in to a new and exciting world, which quickly becomes the norm. Full of strange creatures (Wogs sound terrifying and sort of cute at the same time- think bony gremlins), fascinating technology and well written characters.

One of the things I really liked about this book was it made me think, there are many philosophical threads throughout the story, but one of the most interesting is about heroes. What makes someone a hero? Is it a one off act of strength and bravery? Or a series of smaller actions? Once a hero is that you then stuck for life? Or can even initially dubious characters become the heroic archetype? Yet this is done subtly and cleverly throughout, no heavy handed take home messages here.

Something I enjoy in my fantasy fiction is humour, humour at daily events/ideals and humour between characters, knowing nods to us as readers that yes the world is a big and scary place, but it is incredibly strange and often hilarious. This is something that Sean writes well and makes the characters come to life.

The plot is quite complex and there were times I had to stop to remember quite what was happening. The only thing I would improve is the length, it’s slightly too long and would benefit from a couple of chapters being cut.

However, overall I thought this was a very good read, interesting, funny and thought provoking. Definitely recommended for fans of fantasy, westerns and Sci-fi.