The Dollmakers
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The standalone fantasy debut novel “The Dollmakers-A Novel from the Fallen Peaks” by Lynn Buchanan follows the apprentice dollmaker Shean of Pearl who sets out to prove that her delicate doll golems can stand against the evil creatures that terrorize the continent. I loved this book! It was the highlight of my summer and I’m looking forward to more stories from the Fallen Peaks! The story kept me interested the whole time. Sheans journey was engaging and there was a competition element in the middle part of the book I really enjoyed. I also was very curious whether Shean would be able to reach her goal of proving everyone wrong. One thing that surprised me was the story structure. While I am used to reading the climax near the ending of a book here, the last third felt like an epilogue. But honestly it was kind of refreshing to me. The protagonist Shean is a well thought out, complex character. She starts out as an absolutely unlikeable, entitled young woman who is willing to do anything to get what she wants. But after making her own experiences and meeting different people we see her emotionally slowly growing up. While we focus predominantly on her journey, the book also offers other point of view characters that are in stark contrast to Shean personality wise and give the world more depth. In addition there were also the dolls that felt like side characters as well even though they don't talk. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book, especially the way the dollmaker profession was integrated into society and the structure and rules of the craft. I was also intrigued by the mentions of the other countries and hope to read stories set there some day. The main setting in a rural forest surrounded by a town that specializes in the tending and harvesting of giant silk spiders was magical and very unique! The magic system is based on the art of carving magical symbols to imbue an object with qualities like animating a doll. It is easy to understand but has great potential to get more complex in future books. Furthermore I loved that large parts of the magic are not widely known and remain as something the reader can discover later on. The magic system reminded me faintly of the novella “The Emperor's Soul” by Brandon Sanderson which I also really loved. I can't believe this book is a debut since it felt really polished! I would pick up the next book by Lynn Buchanan without hesitation and recommend you give “The Dollmakers” a try as soon as possible! A big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Description
Book Information
Posts
The standalone fantasy debut novel “The Dollmakers-A Novel from the Fallen Peaks” by Lynn Buchanan follows the apprentice dollmaker Shean of Pearl who sets out to prove that her delicate doll golems can stand against the evil creatures that terrorize the continent. I loved this book! It was the highlight of my summer and I’m looking forward to more stories from the Fallen Peaks! The story kept me interested the whole time. Sheans journey was engaging and there was a competition element in the middle part of the book I really enjoyed. I also was very curious whether Shean would be able to reach her goal of proving everyone wrong. One thing that surprised me was the story structure. While I am used to reading the climax near the ending of a book here, the last third felt like an epilogue. But honestly it was kind of refreshing to me. The protagonist Shean is a well thought out, complex character. She starts out as an absolutely unlikeable, entitled young woman who is willing to do anything to get what she wants. But after making her own experiences and meeting different people we see her emotionally slowly growing up. While we focus predominantly on her journey, the book also offers other point of view characters that are in stark contrast to Shean personality wise and give the world more depth. In addition there were also the dolls that felt like side characters as well even though they don't talk. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book, especially the way the dollmaker profession was integrated into society and the structure and rules of the craft. I was also intrigued by the mentions of the other countries and hope to read stories set there some day. The main setting in a rural forest surrounded by a town that specializes in the tending and harvesting of giant silk spiders was magical and very unique! The magic system is based on the art of carving magical symbols to imbue an object with qualities like animating a doll. It is easy to understand but has great potential to get more complex in future books. Furthermore I loved that large parts of the magic are not widely known and remain as something the reader can discover later on. The magic system reminded me faintly of the novella “The Emperor's Soul” by Brandon Sanderson which I also really loved. I can't believe this book is a debut since it felt really polished! I would pick up the next book by Lynn Buchanan without hesitation and recommend you give “The Dollmakers” a try as soon as possible! A big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.