AUTHOR : Mark Lawrence 

PUBLISHER : HarperVoyager 

PUBLISHED : 5 April 2018

PAPERBACK : 528 Pages

The above description is of the copy that I have. The book was originally published 4 April 2017.

SUMMARY : It's not until you're broken that you find your sharpest edge

"I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin"

At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.

But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.

MY THOUGHTS :

NON-SPOILER : 

When writing fantasy, sometimes you need exceptional writing skills to make an otherwise dull storyline interesting, and sometimes the fantasy content of the story is so fantastical that it does the job for you to an extent.

But what if you combine an exceptional storyline with remarkable writing skills?. You get Mark Lawrence. His writing I must say is a work of art.

I was utterly fascinated and thrilled by this book till the end. An exceptional book with an exceptional female protagonist who for once is not a girl to run pining after a boy. 

This book was nothing like I've ever read before. So pick it up to experience a modern literary masterpiece that I guarantee you will thoroughly enjoy. 

SPOILER : 

This was the first book I ever read from Mark Lawrence, though I'd heard a lot of praise for his work I didn't quite get around to experiencing it for myself, a choice I don't regret as it would have ruined the fun I had reading the books previous to Mark Lawrence's work. 

I was hooked since the very first sentence of the story. 

"It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men." 

And that was just the Prologue. 

Now, after that halfway through the story I was like 'Hmm, I doubt he brought enough men.' 

Our story begins with Nona Grey, who is about to be hanged for almost killing a ring fighter trying to protect her friend. But she is saved by a nun and taken to Sweet Mercy Convent and initiated into the ranks as a novice, but this isn't a regular convent, these aren't regular nuns, these are Superpowered Ninja Nuns, that's right. They are schooled in the arts of Magic, deception, combat, and mysticism. 

Throughout the story, the mystery slowly unfolds as to how Nona ended up at the gallows in the first place and where she comes from. 

Oh, and the story takes place on a planet called Abeth. The people of Abeth are descended from four distinct bloodlines Gerant, Hunska, Marjal, Quantal. Gerants are distinguished by their great size, Hunska by their speed, Marjal by their ability to tap into lesser magics, and Quantal by their ability to work greater magics by walking the path, which is this extradimensional realm, which materializes as a literal path to those who are able to reach it. 

Abeth is a brutal place, fed by a dying sun by concentrating the heat from it by a giant lens (which they call the moon) on the surface, carving a green strip of land out of the frozen tundra that is Abeth. Abeth is a dying world, the ice is slowly closing, the moon slowly falling. There is a whole poem about the falling moon which is repeated in several instances in the story. So yeah, it's falling. Ain't nobody safe up in this bitch. So obviously the dying world is a crucial underlying part of the plot. 

Aside from the magic (which is awesome by the way), there's something so human about Nona that everyone can relate to, her absolute loyalty to her friends is a notable characteristic in Nona, in some instances the very reason that pushes her above and beyond her limits to protect them. There are a plethora of outstanding characters in this book. The fight scenes are brutal, gruesome, visceral, and feel real in an anime live-action fight scene gone right sorta way, oh the writing makes it so real and enjoyable. 


Overall this book provides you with everything you need in a great fantasy book. I recommend if you haven't read it, bring some meaning to your life by picking it up. 

So I'll leave you with this quote from the book. 

"Sister Thorn offered protection, Sister Cage offered only War" 

If you are still not Captivated then you are dead inside and there is no hope for you. 


CHARACTERS :

Here are my choices for who should play the characters, and that's how I mostly see them in my mind. So here are some suggestions. 


1. ABBESS GLASS

Judy Dench. 


2. NONA GREY

Dafne Keen. 



3. SISTER APPLE

Jaime Ray Newman. 




4. SISTER KETTLE

Poppy Drayton. She played Amberle in 'The Shannara Chronicles' and currently she is a part of the cast of 'Charmed'. 



5. SISTER TALLOW

Katrina Law. 



6. SISTER PAN

Alfre Woodard. 


For more fan cast suggestions refer to the second book's review.