The Vassal of Falhara (The Book of Fylos, 1); Dani Frost

“The Vassal of Falhara” is a whimsical “chosen one” story featuring a cast of characters all derived from different animals. You have the Purebreeds—humanoid animals that are just one type (racoon, bear etc.) and then you have the Chimera—humanoid animals that combine different breeds. To say the two races don’t like each other is a bit of an understatement, as the Purebreeds often raid the villages of the Chimera and turn them into slaves. That’s where this story starts: our MC, Morgan, has her village raided, her father killed, her mother taken as a slave, and she left to die. Determined to fulfill her father’s dying wish and save her mother, Morgan sets out to find where they have taken her, only to discover along the way that the dying goddess, Falhara, has made Morgan her Vassal. Thankfully saving her mother and bringing Falhara back are closely tied together. But despite the dire circumstances of Morgan’s quest and the danger she finds herself in as she crosses Purebreed territory, I never once really worried for her or questioned that she would succeed. So, if you are looking for low stakes, whimsical, very YA fantasy book, you may enjoy this one.

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Sometimes low stakes reads are fine, they can be pretty relaxing and you can just enjoy the world building and the unique magic system the author has set up. But almost too much comes too easily for Morgan for my tastes. Fate takes too big a role in making sure the people she needs to find come to her and help her on to the very path she needs to be on. She learns how to use magic very easily and becomes very powerful very fast. This is mostly evident when she has to navigate pretending to be a slave, and how easily she is able to go through that ordeal despite the danger.
 
I would have also liked for the animal races to play more of a factor; outside of telling the reading that this character is, for example, a Canine and that one is a Squirrel-mongoose, they all act very human and their animal attributes rarely come into play or seem to matter beyond distinguishing the two groups from one another. And while the pacing is good at times, I thought that the competitive race Morgan finds herself in to go one a bit too long. All in all though, I think YA readers will have more fun with the unique characters of this book, and with the low tension it would be a very safe read for young readers as well. But, for me, it was too easy to put this book down and not feel drawn to really dive in for long stretches of time, hence the 3.5 stars, but that’s just my personal preference when it comes to non-cozy fantasy. But thanks to the author for sending me a copy for an honest review!