A wonderful plot, unlike anything you’ve read before. A great beginning of an epic journey.
A storm during a delivery to a rural area completely changed the life of Robby Ribbon. After a few wrong turns, he’s completely lost and without meaning too finds and rings a Bell that isn’t supposed to ring at all. After the incident, everything changes and war follows. Was it just a coincidence? Robby embarks on a journey that he doesn’t understand, meeting companions along the way that in the end will change more than just his world, they will reveal who he truly is.
I completely fell in love with this book. It starts with something so simple and develops into something more complex and it turns the novel into something epic and memorable. I’m counting the days for the next instalment. It’s a novel that is to be read at a steady pace. For me, it’s not meant to be rushed, it’s meant to be savoured and to be enjoyed to the minimal detail.
The world building of The Bellringer is fantastic. The author takes his time to explain the history of this world and build you a complete painting of how it’s organized. I really enjoyed the map detail: there are maps in the introduction that shows each continent and country. For me, it’s a very positive point since it allowed me to have an overview of the general lines of this world. In the beginning, I had struggled to read it since the pace was a bit too low for my taste, but it’s needed to have a better grasp of everything that comes after. Once the bell in rang, all hell breaks loose and the pace speeds up significantly. Sadly for me, it doesn’t have a happy ending and it leaves the reader with a big book-hangover.
There are several storylines and each one is a different adventure. The best part is that some of them come together in the end and others are left to the imagination of the reader, which for me it’s a positive point. The characters are incredibly created: there are several main and secondary characters and they are all developed in depth. In this novel, it’s easy to be drawn to the characters and just journey with them. Sometimes the reader might even wish to be there to give some insights and advice. They are so well imagined and developed that I could almost hear their voices in my head throughout the novel. Robby, the main character, has a great heart. Even though he’s completely at loss, in the beginning, he takes on a journey that might actually be the death of him and he still has his head held high. Better than Robby, just Shelia, the female character. She is a badass, tough because of her background. I’m curious to see what her role is going to be in the next instalment. There isn’t much information about her apart from glimpses of her past, but I have a feeling she will be very important in the future.
This isn’t the typical fantasy book. I can’t really put it in words, but the feeling it gives and the feeling it leaves in the reader is deep and long-lasting. I have a major book-hangover with this one. I highly recommend it to all fantasy fans. This is the beginning of an epic saga!
I want to thank Xpresso Book Tours and the author William Timothy Murray for sending me a paperback copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Book Traveller 