The Winds of War by Mosha Winter

In a moment of recklessness, Rizu of the Rhaavi attempts to assassinate Empress Seline and in her failure she is exiled, her Chieftaness, husband, and children taken as hostages to the capital. 

Maxon Blackwater prepares for battle, as the successor to the Empire's Aegis he knows he will eventually have to take on the role of War God one he feels he will never be ready for. 

Hatsun is on his way to The Great Library an enormous honor not just for himself but for his entire country of Shuhei. His future is bright and he is prepared to take on any challenge put in front of him. At least intellectually, and while his truly unmatched intellect will make a discovery that will rock The Ring to its very core he will also discover that in his pursuit of knowledge, he stumbles across a horrible secret within the halls of The Great Library. One that will make him realize there are things far more important than books. 

Empress Seline is trying to hold together a fractured empire, besieged by enemies on all sides when a cult of fanatics rises from within her people, ones willing to commit horrible atrocities in the name of The Matron she knows she must seek allies outside of her council. With the arrival of The Rhaavi Chieftaness and Yuei the Dragonrider she sees an opportunity to take back power, even as the world around her burns. 

I first stumbled upon this on Bluesky, Mosha's description of their book immediately hooked me and it topped my list of must-reads and luckily enough I was able to get an eArc, because this was truly phenomenal. Far better than I had imagined it would be for reasons that surprise me. 

As always the characters are what I latched onto and what stood out the most for me. But not for the reasons they normally do, I don't necessarily like any of these characters. Hear me out here. These characters spend the vast majority of the book making horrible decisions, backstabbing each other, inflicting cruelty, having cruelty inflicted upon them, and exist in a religion that almost requires its followers to be zealots there is no way they could have been written as wholly likable. It would be disingenuous to do so. They are literally living through the worst times in their lives. Kirana, Yuei, and Riza especially are living with generational PTSD and PTSD of their own, there's just no way anyone can write them as wholly likable heroes and if Winter had even tried this would have been a completely different and far less compelling read. And while yes, these three especially make some very stupid decisions when you take into consideration their past and their people's they are understandably stupid decisions. I will also be honest, you are going to hate Hatsun most of the book. He's obnoxious at best and a straight-up incel at worst. The fact that he really doesn't redeem himself until the end allows for exceptionally done character growth, but also a reasonable expectation of stumbles going forward and that I find wholly believable. 

The world-building is top tier. Like genuinely some of the best I have read. And so much of it is gleaned not from the story itself but quotes at the beginning of every chapter. Having Hatsun be a scholar was a stroke of genius as well and I absolutely loved the fact that he just happened to stumble upon one of the world's most important books in some back alley second-hand shop. As a reader, this made me incredibly happy. The magic system is interesting as well. At first, it feels very simple but as we learn more about the Hollows it becomes far more complex and I genuinely can't wait to learn more. Especially with the ending. I have a feeling Kirana is going to be a badass in book 2!

Now, all of this is wonderful it truly is but the thing that makes this story stand out is the vast array of creatures found in this book. Omg, there are so many unique animals that I genuinely lost track of them. Bats, freaking dinosaurs, dragons, giant sea monsters, and more that I can't even begin to do justice describing. The most amazing part though is that many of these animals are used as part of warfare but not as beasts of burden. Their riders have emotional connections with them and are highly regarded seemingly regardless of whatever country they hail from. This incredibly diverse animal kingdom makes for an incredibly unique story from that perspective. 

This is a must-read if you enjoy epic fantasy and I can't thank Mosha enough for the eArc!