Broken Souls and Bones

I have to say that I myself am really suprised at the raiting as it took me more chapters than I would have liked to get into the story - but then it really pulled me in. It starts slow with lots of character introductions and world-building and therefore the storyline doesn't pick up until much later, but it's worth it - so give it a chance. The magic system is very interesting and I would have loved to learn more about it (maybe in the second book) and the characters are intriguing, first and foremost the two main protagonists Lyra and Roark. The latter uses hand signs - which he developed together with the prince - to communicate, instead of speech. Andrews has executed this so well that the dialogue scenes with Roark are among my favourites in the whole book. He is intelligent, witty and gives as good as he gets. The side characters, above all Prince Thane, Emi and Lyras chosen brother Kael, are complex and make the story even more enjoyable. If you love a viking-inspired fantasy story with fantastic characters and world-building you should read Broken souls and bones.