The author's take on these themes is superior. Never mind that some themes might have been explored in older fantasy novels. The courage and the point of it and the execution floored me.Īnd that might have been more than enough for any novel, but this one forges forth and gives us some of the most engaging reveals I've ever read. The traveler's rules for our hapless scholar put him through a profound and genuine change, revealing his heart's innermost desires, smashing walls and unearthing all the buried dreams of a lifetime. The first was probably the hardest hitting. On the surface, it's a novel about a scholar putting his books away to fully experience the world no matter what anyone thinks and taking up with a fascinating traveler.īut that's like saying LoTR is about some short person taking out the trash.Īs I was reading, I counted three times I was brought to tears. Quite aside from that, the novel has a truly delicious and deep worldbuilding that is matched or perhaps overmatched with the depth of characterization. Regaining spirit, driving forward your dreams, fighting anxiety, and finding wonder. I think I just found one of my most favorite books of all time.Įven if the novel didn't remind me of Cat Valente's best writing, with all its poetry couched in prose, the way the stories within stories kinda blows me away.īut you know what really speaks to me the most? One part fantasy travelogue, one part emotional underworld journey, The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming is a sumptuous, slow-burning story about stories and the way they shape our lives. Each has their part to play in rewriting Ronoah’s personal narrative.

The people they encounter on the way-children of the sea, a priestess and her band of storytellers, the lonely ghosts of monsters-are grim and whimsical in equal measure. Beguiling, bewildering Reilin, who whisks Ronoah up into a cross-continental pilgrimage to the most sacred place on the planet. Asides from a fiery devotion to his godling, the one piece of home he brought with him, he has nothing.

After a graceless exit from his homeland in the Acharrioni desert, his anxiety has sabotaged every attempt at redemption. You change or you die.”Īshamed of his past and overwhelmed by his future, Ronoah Genoveffa Elizzi-denna Pilanovani feels too small for his own name. WINNER OF THE 2019 IPPY AWARD FOR FANTASY! WINNER OF THE 2019 READERVIEWS AWARD FOR FANTASY!

Theory by Sienna Tristen