Book Review: Bane Bringer

This installment in The Hisime Ara Chronicles shows us Hisime trying to not only find her place within the Elven society, but also rediscover herself.

She is royalty by birth and yet she cannot fit in.
Her cruel upbringing and horrible mistreatment at the hands of her guardians, followed by her ordeal in the pit, have left marks that cannot so easily be erased. And I absolutely loved the way the author described Hisime's inner struggle.

Despite having taken revenge on Narnim, she is still haunted by the past. By death, abuse and even guilt. And you cannot help but feel for her, when she keeps asking herself if her mind is tainted because of her upbringing; if she is just like her tormentor had been.

The death of her abuser didn't end the dark chapter of Hisime's life. It didn't bring her the closure she had waited for. And now she finds herself without an outlet for a revenge that is consuming her. She’s anxious, agitated and unsatisfied. And a feeling of something missing won’t go away. So she decides to 'fix it'by leaving her new home and undertaking an impossible task: kill all the Orcs she can find.

What follows is a mad hunt through a barren hellscape with Hisime staring down the faces of murderous Orcs and fighting for her life. Whether it's all worth it or not, I'll leave that for you to find out. The fighting scenes however were quite awesome!

Then why the lower rating, you will ask?
Because I for one, needed a little bit more of backstory at this stage, as well as a more 'proper' ending. I would have wanted to know a bit more about Hisime's powers. And the ending felt a little bit incomplete. Unfinished and lacking. Perhaps due to the story being so short. I for one would have wished for more.

And yet, I'm looking forward to Hisime's next adventure and eager to find out what she will become.

Check out this book and more of Misty D. Billman here.