Pathfinder's Way: Volume 1 (The Broken Lands)

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Fallon is just as good of a reason to love this book. He's a warlord and head of his clan. He is also very smart and cunning. He's trying to find a better way for his and the other clans to co-exist. Not everyone wants that change and attempts on his life has proven that. What I really loved about Fallon was that he is pre When the people she serves betray her into servitude to the Trateri, a barbarian horde sweeping through the Lowlands intent on conquest, Shea relies on her wits and skill to escape, disguising herself as a boy to hide from the Warlord, a man as dangerous as he is compelling.

The disrespect Shae has had to deal with from the very beginning was getting to be too much when it got to the point where Fallon came in. I think I was just over her bad treatment at that point, so that doesn't exactly fall all on Fallons shoulders.

This is NOT COOL, NOT SEXY, and NOT ROMANTIC. It's just disgusting and horrifying. And he does not repent of any of it. But somehow, in the end, our heroine, who is normally smart and capable and awesome, loses all her senses and decides he's the guy for her. ARGH!!! BARF, BARF, BARF. Shea has wonderful skills that were learned through hard work and persistence. Nothing was given to her. She worked hard for years to get where she was and she takes intense pride in her work. Furthermore, she is strong and opinionated which is something that ruffles feathers but she is more often than not correct with her deductions and decisions. What makes her interesting is that she does mess up. Shea messes up in grand ways and she is belligerent with her commanding officers. They keep her around only because she is good at what she does.

The writing was extremely out of place with what I'm assuming was supposed to be a no-later-than-19-century timeframe. The narrative and dialogue consistently slipped into modern day speech cadences or phrases like "bite the bullet" or "shoot the shit" to the point where it completely destroyed whatever believable world-building we were going for. That was pretty much another way to say kidnapping. There wasn’t a lot of places a relationship could go from there. This was fun. I just sunk into the narrative and came up for air around 3:00 am. Loved the world and loved the heroine. The wilderness was well done and that’s what makes Shea so believable. She came out of the crucible of Highlands, and she is resilient and tireless and always learning. She was treated badly by Highlanders and she is really out of place in her society. She fits much better with the Trateri.A Random one but one I appreciated nonetheless. She isn’t described as drop dead gorgeous repeatedly by everyone, as many fantasy books with female leads tend to do. She was described as pretty several times but also as average. She herself doesn’t seem to give a single shit about her appearance. I will admit, I usually like the female lead to be attractive and to many that might sound a little shallow, but I read to dive into a completely foreign life and become a completely different person, that yea I'll confess I would like to be prettier than myself. But in this case, it was a relief Shea was average like many of us because it just makes her more real.

I don't think that I can sing this book's praises enough to fully do it justice but hot damn I'm going to try my best!And yet, the world itself was just interesting enough that I might possibly get book 2 on sale, or try something else by this author. Maybe. On a slow news day. The ending was just so abrupt and left a lot of questions that reflecting I realized I knew more about the characters then the entire world they lived in .... After listening to Rules of Redemption, I rushed to get this book in the hopes it would have a similar entertainment value. The world-building is well-done and well-developed throughout the book. It's the usual fantasy setting, and it has a system of Lowlands and Highlands that I wish we knew more about. There are also some weird and creepy creatures roaming the woods and the Lowlands, and I like the more sinister vibe it gave to some parts of the book. It also helped to show how skilled and knowledgeable Shea was because she knew all about those creatures and tried to teach others to help them survive. It's so obvious that her best friend and mentor should have been the guy for her. They spent hours and hours together, they respect and trust each other even after seeing each other at their worst, and they've almost died countless times together. And they hold actual conversations (gasp!), ones that encourage growth and reflection rather than presenting as one giant power struggle. How could that not be the most intimate relationship of her life, especially considering the other options?!