Review: The Great Hearts

Hello world! How are you? I am suffering for the hot and I really am in need of some rest, but at least I am having a great time with my reading, yay!
Today I’m here to talk about a book that I loved and I am dying to write this review since I finished it, so here I am, at last!

A big thank you to the author. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Great Hearts
Author: David Oliver
Publication date: December 17th, 2017
Page count: 315

Calidan Darkheart is an Imperator. The voice of the Emperor in the wild. A secretive and dangerous job, hunting down those deemed a threat to the Emperor’s rule…whether monster or man. Twisted and bitter, he heads down a dark path to hunt a nightmare from his youth.
This is his story.

The first instalment of a new series, David Oliver’s debut novel features mythical beasts, epic sword duels, dark rituals and a friendship for the ages. Following in the footsteps of authors such as Mark Lawrence, Joe Abercrombie and Brian McClellan, The Great Hearts melds gritty, vivid action with the soft, warm purr of a gigantic panther.

I started the reading and I was hooked up from the start. This book has a lot of great things to it, that’s true, but what really did it for me, and it was so since the first pages, is Calidan’s voice. He’s the narrator of the story, and he is a great character too, but it was his voice, his way to tell the story that drove me in.

The author did a good job with his world-building, I liked it and I liked that there is more to discover about it, and the story is great, captivating and fast-paced, with the majority of it set in the past and a couple of chapters set in the present… just enough to ensure that you would need the second book ASAP!!!!
In this first book, we met Calidan and Cassius, and we learn how they have grown up to be the men, and the Imperators, who they are now. It is an introductory book, at least for some part, but it’s not suffering from it. We start to know our characters, even if I really need to know more about them because I need to know how Cassius is the way he is now. And yes, I need to know!!! Need, need, need!!!

Anyway, I was talking about the story… it’s intriguing, fast-paced and captivating. You don’t get bored while reading, that’s for sure. But the best thing about this books is the characters. Calidan is the voice of the story, and I loved it as I loved him as a character. Obviously, I need to know more about him, too. Cassius is another great character, and even if I fear what I would discover, I need to know more about him. He’s a quiet one, but he seems to possess a great heart. And speaking about great heart… well, we have one of that, too. We have a gigantic panther! And she speaks! And yes, you have read it right: a gigantic panther who speaks! One fault of this book, for me, is that we don’t see enough of her around. It’s not just because I loved her (how can’t you?) but because I found that sometimes her absences was quite… not right, like the author was forgetting about her existence (impossible, I know, but I had this impression a time or two). Anyway, she’s great. I have to admit that she’s not the first favorite of mine because the right order is Calidan, Cassius and then her. But she was adorable! And I don’t need to say that I hope to see more of her around. Because yes, I would read the next book!!!!!

This book it’s a dark coming of age story, with great characters and a speaking panther (yes, again! How cool is that???).