Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long

Mar 31

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We read this book as the March pick for the Musaeum Society! You can check out the announcement post as well as the chosen book for April!

Well…I have mixed feelings. Hear me out: on one hand, it was a good book. I enjoyed the world-building and really wanted to punch certain characters because they’re just horrible and definitely give Hessa a hug but on the other hand, and this happens with loads of fantasy books I read, but I had a really hard time imagining the places Hessa went and how the world and other characters sort of fit in.

Let’s start with the pros:

Hessa is a pretty badass character.
I think the whole concept of magic and religion is fascinating and I really love when books delve into that.
I definitely loved the Norse inspiration. You can definitely feel it in the setting and world-building, especially with the dynamics between the gods.

The whole concept of an Eangi and their powers - The Eangi are the priests and worshippers of the goddess Eang, the Goddess of War in this book. They have a terrifying scream that aids them in battle especially and an Eangi can be a man or a woman.

Now the cons:

Travelling + world-building: This happens with a lot of fantasy so it really is an “it’s not you, it’s me” problem but I had such a hard time visualizing where the heck Hessa went and that’s partly on me
The super-incredible lyrical writing: The writing was just a tad bit too descriptive, this ties into the previous point about me having a difficult time visualizing things.

I am happy to see that I have more pros than cons and this is in no way me trying to be negative or trying to tell you to never, EVER read this book, especially if you have the same taste as me. This is Long’s debut book and I am excited about where she takes this world next in her next book Temple of No God.

You can get the book here!