Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sarah Ash

[Fiction]

Lord of Snow and Shadows, Book One in the Tears of Artamon Trilogy

The story sets off in the beautiful sun-bathed Villa Orlova, where our hero Gavril, is falling in love with his latest subject (he's a portrait painter), Astasia Orlov. Soon, due to his mother's entanglements with the dark princedom of Azhkendir and the mysterious Drakhaon, he is swept away to become ruler of his birthland and lead his mistreated people into war against the power-hungry Eugene of Tielen.

I found the book very complicated. We seemed to have seen the story from about five or six viewpoints: Kiukiu, Gavril, Astasia, Eugene and others. It teetered on the verge of purple prose, and the alternate spellings (Drak-haon: Dra-gon) and large words took away from the reader engaging in action. However, when there was something to be read about, it was so suspenseful that you couldn't stop reading. The characters are somewhat flat: Astasia is Mary Sue and her brother Andrei is a Gary Stu. So annoying, I think.
Otherwise, the book was very good and the second, Prisoner of the Iron Tower, was even better. I recommend them. My rating: 4 1/2 stars.

~Fiction