Maiden of War

Maiden of War, Volume 1

By: G.D. Falksen

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

A routine mission finds one girl and her fellow warriors fighting for their lives in this action-packed adventure, the first in a new fantasy series perfect for fans of Pierce Brown and Sabaa Tahir.   

“If you’ve been looking in vain for a rich story about kickass warrior women, your search has ended. G.D. Falksen’s MAIDEN OF WAR is the candy your ears are hungry for.” (Yuri Lowenthal, actor (Spider-Man, Naruto, Prince of Persia))

When their Republic was ravaged by plague and fell into chaos, a monastic order of girls called the Daughters of Zahra took up arms and became known as Warmaidens. Fifty years later, the plague has passed, and the Republic survived, but the Warmaidens live on, training for battle since childhood and providing protection to their communities.

When a threat surfaces from the north - a warlord who has proclaimed himself a living god - Roxshana and her Warmaiden sisters embark on an expedition to bolster the northern kingdom. Their expectations of a routine mission are immediately dashed as they find themselves under attack at every turn. Encountering pirates, a dragon, an army, and her own surprising feelings for the northern kingdom's prince, Roxshana fights for the fate of the Republic...even as misgivings haunt her.

Are Roxshana and her sisters on the right side of history, or are they merely pawns in a sinister political game?  

©2020 G.D. Falksen (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

Not Interested Enough for Books 2 and 3

The writing here is good but not great. The main characters are all wholesomely good and have very little arc of development. The exposition is heavy-handed. There's a lot of action, but I felt invested in very little of it. This is just the first book, so it's mostly just a first-act setup with a lot of ends intentionally left loose at the end. I am not interested enough to read books two and three.

An interesting series worth listening to.

The three books in this series were my first experience with this author and performer. The books were of a medium pace, interesting, YA in their content, and fun to listen to. The plot is familiar, but with enough interesting twists to engage the listener. I am looking forward to the next outing from this pair.

Enjoyable Tale Overall

This is a great story with excellent narration. The ending lets you know that there may be more to come. It will be nice to see these characters and this world further developed. There's plenty of potential for an epic series.

An exciting, well-written adventure

GD Falksen is a great storyteller. His descriptive writing brings the characters to life and takes you right into the action. Once you start listening, you don’t want to stop until you get to the end of the story. I look forward to listening to his next Audible book.

Creative new world

I truly enjoyed this book. Well written plot line set in a creative new world.

EXCELLENT

I preordered this book by accident and didn’t realize it until I got an email informing me that my preorder was ready for download; oops! I recognized it from where I had been browsing the titles, hoping to hit gems available through audible plus, and – despite being somewhat annoyed - decided to give it a try before I decided whether or not to return it. I’m very glad I did, because this book was well worth it.

Roxshana, an orphan recently sworn to a religious order – the Daughters of Zahra, more commonly known as the Warmaidens – dedicated to charity and defense, is part of a group sent north to escort the princesses of a northern kingdom to the south so one daughter (the eldest, about twenty) can be married to a government official in a treaty marriage and the other daughter (the younger, about ten) can be educated with the Daughters. Things go awry on this supposed-to-be peaceful escort mission as an army sworn to the All-King – a warlord claiming to a god who supposedly wants to put all people from horizon to horizon under his rule – first demand the king’s surrender, then put the city under siege. As a war breaks out around them the Warmaidens are forced to defend themselves and the citizens, making choices under difficult circumstances as they hold out in hope of rescue from the nearby Ashari border troops.

What I absolutely loved about Maiden of War is – despite its misleadingly simplistic plot – is its beautiful and many-layered characterization as well as the detailed and fantastic worldbuilding. A reader will recognize that certain countries/cultures/practices are inspired by actual historical fact (the Senate of Ashara is a pretty obvious shout-out to ancient Greece, the tribal kingdoms bound by kinship is obviously modeled on ancient and not-so-ancient celtic societies, etcetera), but they are altered and new ideas are sewn into the old in such a way that makes the setting both familiar and different at the same time. I also like that plot is kept moving by events even as quiet moments of reflection make this a story about the emotions and effects of war and politics as much as the book is about war and politics.

However, Maiden of War reads like it is the first book in a series. It had better be, because there is so much that the open ending – and I do want to be clear: IT’S NOT A CLIFFHANGER, but an OPEN ENDING because the main plot of the book is dealt with even if every possible loose string isn’t tied up in a bow – does not grapple with directly. I want to know what will happen regarding Naomi’s choices and whether or not she will stay with the Daughters as Roxshana’s Sister as well as her best friend. I want to know what will happen to Valemar and his people as they flee south. I want to know how Ashara will react to the refugees that have fled into their country from the north, as well as whether or not the hints about some senator’s warmongering is true or exaggerated. I want to know what will happen regarding the All-King. So, despite the fact that this is not labeled as a series, this had better be a book one. I will be severely disappointed if it is not because I want more.

Overall, Maiden of War is excellent. I am very happy I accidentally purchased it, I will keep it, and do highly recommend it. I will keep an eye out for any further installments because, in case I was not clear, I love this and would be overjoyed to read more.

Maiden of War

Fantastic story, I really enjoy G.D. Falksen. Can't wait for book 2, 3, 4, 5.

I liked the concept, but...

... I was disappointed in the story development, especially the main character!

In my opinion, the author did what many do, paint themselves into a corner, then allow the main character to escape by some lucky twist of fate!

While all of this is fictional, there still has to be a line of possibility, with in the story. Unfortunately, this story contains many outright, not going to happen, scenarios!

I kept expecting and hoping that the author would suddenly have the main character be force to use her magic abilities, but sadly she didn't have any!

I will not continue this series!

Good story but

The reason it only got 4 stars was because I found the narrator was not too good. To me she sounded kinda young but the main character is only 18 and had a bit too much on her shoulders

Fantastic Story

They are basically warrior nuns. I have seen this in other shows and books, but I really believe this could have happened in some reality.