Book Review: Kurintor Nyusi by Aaron-Michael Hall

Book Review: Kurintor Nyusi by Aaron-Michael Hall
 
This epic fantasy novel is full of diverse and well-realised characters, intriguing worldbuilding, vivid and descriptive writing, as well as fun-to-read dialogue. It tells the tale of one girl’s self-discovery and ‘awakening’. This is just in time for a looming battle with a wayward demon goddess who tricked a god a while back and is still making trouble.​

The girl in question is Nurisha. She’s the adopted daughter of a retired military man-turned-smith, and has been trained by her Da in sword-fighting and archery. This kickass female character knows how to handle herself! But she’s also sweet, loyal to her father and to her husband-to-be and trusting of others.
 
When the birthmark on Nurisha’s wrist starts itching, she heads to the local apothecary to get it checked out. This sparks a turn of events that leads Nurisha to discover that she’s actually something much more than she realised, and that there’s a group, the Keepers of the Nine, who are currently searching for descendants of the ancient Kurintor people. The Kurintors have magic and great powers and are the only ones who can fight against the demon goddess.
 
But Nurisha is also being hunted down by those who are interested in her for more dubious – and not so honourable – reasons.  
  
There are also plenty of riveting subplots, including Nurisha’s not-so-pleasant admirer who happens to be the town overseer’s son and so hard to shake off without causing trouble. He’s brilliantly described by her Da as a “coxcomb skamelar” who “ain’t worth teats on a bull.”
 
We also see inside the story of the ‘bad guy’ Alyelu, who has some seriously nasty father issues, as well as another young man called Xavion who is also discovering just who he is, and that he is ‘twinned’ to Nurisha (awkward! Cue lots of jealousy from her betrothed).
 
I really enjoyed the chapters with Nurisha, especially the moments between her and her Da. The dialogue was fun and believable and really sucked me into the story. There are a lot of unusual names, places and peoples to take in, which I enjoy, but if you’re someone who doesn’t retain more than a couple of character names then there is a handy glossary at the back to remind you who is who and what is where. There were also a few occasions when the word choice was a bit too complex for me and I had to head to Google!
 
Kurintor Nyusi is an enjoyable, well-paced fantasy for those who love multiple point-of-view narratives and in-depth worldbuilding.
 
My rating: 4/5
 
Goodreads | Author website
 
>>My debut novel, a grimdark epic fantasy called MELOKAI, is out now! Available from Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Google Play Books, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Read more about my books here.<<
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