Elyth is an Acolyte of the Voice, of First House in the Ascendance. The order she belongs to is charged with keeping the purity of the Ascendance, identifying and removing worlds where the ‘Deep Language’ has been corrupted. Elyth’s role is to go to those planets and, with the power of the Deep Language, kill them. She believes, absolutely, in the Ascendance and the peace it brings to the galaxy. On her latest mission, Elyth goes undercover to Qel, a planet the First House fears to be undergoing an uprising and corruption. Once there, she discovers that all may not be as it seems, and her faith in the First House, and the the Deep Language itself, is tested.

From the first chapter, I was drawn into this book. The writing clearly weaves the story in your mind, and it was easy to sink into and step into this world. The chapters are long but that helped get me invested into the story, and each one felt like a small tale in and of itself. The descriptions of the magic system are beautiful and powerfully described, I could feel it resonating with me whenever Elyth connected with the planet, while Elyth herself is a capable and intriguing character with a lot of strengths, flaws and a strong internal voice. The latter was particularly important as the cast of secondary and background characters is very limited. It is a small cast, but Elyth holds the book together and the secondary characters did all feel fully realised.

That being said, I did find the story was slow in places, particularly around the start where a lot of set-up occurred and there was little indication of what the mystery was and where it was headed. I also found, once it did start to get going, there was a degree of predictability, particularly in relation to the main male character in the book. I also went in expecting more of a science fiction element, but despite a few instances of space travel, the book comes across much more fantasy-esque.

Overall, I really enjoyed Every Sky a Grave. It is the first in a new series, but also works well as a standalone which is something I really enjoy in any kind of series. I was engrossed in the story, and it was easy to slip back into it each time I picked the book up. There are some really interesting themes, and I am looking forward to seeing where the story goes from that ending.

This book was a pleasant surprise. Reading the first few pages didn't give me high hopes - the prose is quite stylized and a bit tricky to follow initially and the authors somewhat idiosyncratic use of some words kept throwing me out of the story.

But it is worth persevering - there is some fascinating world building here and the prose style sets a mood once you adjust to it. We follow Elyth, who is a true believer in the First House who use the Deep language to prevent corruption of planets and peoples. That means if a planet starts deviating from what it is supposed to say and believe she is sent in to destroy it. It isn't clear what exactly this deviation or corruption consists of, or why it is bad, or what the consequences are. And it wasn't clear until a long way through the book that in general, the planets seem to get evacuated, so our heroine is a bit less of a mass murderer than is first implied.

Elyth is sent to a planet where her order fear the rebirth of an old corruption of the language that previously led to them utterly destroying seven planets. Elyth follows her orders without question initially, until she encounters someone who shakes some of her fundamental beliefs. Despite this, she still attempts to carry out her mission. Elyth was an interesting character -the style of writing means that you are at a distance from all the characters, and while your only point of view is Elyth's she seems a pretty unreliable narrator. It is hard to tell if, or how much her character changes during the book. I found the ending and her actions at the end of the books pretty jarring, perhaps because of how opaque she is as a character. All that said, I found the world building fascinating and am really looking forward to the next book.

What an exciting read! Humanity has conquered the galaxy, and order is kept not through military force, but through words. A select few are granted the training to harness the Deep Language, a force of ultimate power - and where nescesarry, destruction. Language is sacred, and when a strain of it become polluted, swift action is declared nescessary by the authorities to stop the polluted strain of language spreading and infecting the galaxy, with an agent being sent to use the Deep Language to destroy the planet, persuading it with words that its time has come. Elyth is one such person, sent to a planet which the authorities have deemed dangerous. When her ship crashlands, a course of events is set in place which force her to acknowledge that everyone has their own truths, and what she has been told cannot be all there is to know.

I absolutley loved this book - it's fast-paced, with a fascinating concept and well-written characters. Suffice to say, I am very much looking forward to the next one!

3.5*

I was sent an invite by the publisher, via NetGalley, to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Every Sky a Grave has a very interesting premise to it. There is a language. The Deep Language, which possesses the power to destroy worlds, among many other things… but that gives you an idea of its power!

Humanity is spread throughout the universe. Cultures and technology on each planet vary, but the Order rules. If a planet deviates from what is expected and corrective measures do not work, a planet is marked to be destroyed, by an agent of the First House of the Ascendance.

Elyth, our protagonist, is a one such agent: a model agent; the best. We are first introduced to her on the planet Revik, where she infiltrates what is essentially a base and begins the process of assassinating the planet. She does this by communicating with it, speaking the Deep Language, telling the planet to die. Once this process is started there is no going back.

Upon completing her mission, she is urgently called back to begin her recovery period, which is very important. However, this period is cut short when she is sent to Qel on a secret unsanctioned mission. It is on Qel, where most of the story takes place.
I must admit, I was a bit on and off with Every Sky a Grave. There were parts where I was pulled in and others where the pacing felt off. The story became entirely too slow. I think it was around 10% into the book before a meaningful conversion took place. The mission on Revik felt too long for me. I felt it was over described and longer than it needed to be. There were several other sections in the book where I had the same feeling.

That said, there are also some excellent sections. The power of the Deep Language becomes increasingly interesting, especially as we get deeper in the book. Elyth is forced to challenge her thoughts regarding the Order and First House of the Ascendance. Challenge her beliefs. There are also a couple of good side characters, though only one felt truly fleshed out, though I know there is much more to come from him. I won’t spoil who this person is, but he and Elyth end up travelling together and it is he who challenges her perception of the world.

I was heading towards giving this book a 3* rating, but the last 25% was much improved in pace and direction. The growth and development of Elyth in this period was interesting and I loved the ending, which is why I gave it 3.5*.

Most of the way through the book I thought I wouldn’t read the follow up. However, as the ending is strong, and I really grew to like Elyth and another character, I’m certainly interested in book 2. I hope it’s as good as the last quarter of Every Sky a Grave.

Unfortunately, this book didn't do it for me and like quite a few books lately, it was the writing style.

The story itself was fine, but I didn't click with it. I felt no connection to the characters, didn't feel like stakes were rising or that tensions were pushing things to breaking point.

It was all just fine.

Although, I'll admit, I was intrigued by the idea someone could literally end a planet, but found the concept of the language based magic system a little confusing for me tbh. I don't know if that's just I'm dense or what.

I think that people are going to like this book, but it wasn't for me unfortunately and it had been so nice for Harper to reach out to me and send me a digital copy of the book without me having to request it. That really made my day.

A great start for a new series, gripping and entertaining.
I loved the amazing world building, the storytelling and the fleshed out characters.
The plot is fast paced and kept me hooked.
I can't wait to read the next instalment, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Jay Posey's Legend of the Duskwalker series was a personal favourite. Even though I personally thought the first book trumped books two and three, Duskwalker was a great platform to establish Jay in genre fiction. A dystopian post-apocalyptic setting, enigmatic heroes, well-etched characters and kinetic action sequences.

So when Every Sky a Grave was announced - ( with similarities to Mark Lawrence, for fans of Ann Leckie and Star Wars! Ha ha clever marketing there, eh.) and the wonderfully kind folks at Harper sent me an ARC, I was thrilled.

was dropped right into the middle of an action scene ( And we know Jay writes some phenomenally explosive sequences, maybe perhaps his experience in writing for the gaming industry!) - and that formed my first impressions of Elyth, a warrior-monk in the ways of the Deep Language, Advocate of the Voice and loyal to this organisation called The First House. I know, this was a bit overwhelming and I felt the same way. We are thrust into an inter-galactic conflict of sorts between two power-houses - The First House ( a feminist org, blessed with the magical powers that originate from their mastery of this arcane language, the Deep Language, wielding power over not just people but physical aspects of the various planets) and Hezra, a technology-focused organisation that has been trying for centuries to breach the outer edges of the known galaxy and fare beyond.

Elyth, is our sole POV throughout the book. A smart, thoughtful conscientious young woman who is equally adept at holding standstill yogic poses and cycling through a million thoughts, rock steady or infiltrating behind enemy lines in a frenetic burst of speed and action. As we meet her first, she is using her knowledge of the Deep Language to accelerate a whole planet's entropy speeding its implosion and demise. Because she has been instructed to do so, by her Order. And post this, she is plucked halfway out of her recovery, to be sent to another rogue planet Qel, which the First House suspects has been corrupted beyond repair and Elyth is supposed to make her judgement based on the time spent on Qel and eventually destroy the planet.

But the folks she encounters on Qel makes Elyth question her own beliefs. Because this is a planet that is flourishing, with people who care deeply for their forest reserves and then Elyth meets this enigmatic puzzle-box of a man the folks call Eth Ammuin who is charming and dangerous at the same time and thwarts all attempts by Elyth to understand him. And then, Elyth discovers to her horror that while this planet may be an aberration, a sore thumb sticking out under the First House's watchful eye that wants to 'subdue' the whole galaxy under their care and governance, there are truths that Elyth has been ignorant about - wrapped up in the conditioning that she has been subjected to, her whole life.

This is the central conflict presented in the book, where Jay brings together an almost impossible mix of thoughtful meditation on aspects of power, language and freedom and also cinematic big action sequences like daring prison escapes, large-scale natural catastrophes and fluid hand-to-hand combat scenes. Frankly, I wanted to like this book a lot more but the going was tough. Despite Elyth's fairly unique personality - her physical abilities to take on pain, her grit and courage in the face of surmounting odds is at cross-roads with her need for 'inner peace', her relentless questioning of the world around her and everything that has been taught to her - I just couldn't get behind her or like her. While this first book, an ambitious series starter is predominantly about her character going through a full arc of change and discovery of hidden truths and potential, Jay's choice of narrative flow is of the slow meandering manner. We take our time, going from the power-centre of the Ascendance's First House to the planet Mel - and then going from point A to point B while she is escaping capture, simultaneously capturing planet data and getting all the more confused

There are very few secondary characters in the book of importance - chiefly Elyth's mentor, the lady known as the Paragon who is the most powerful 'Speaker' at the First House and then there is the enigmatic Eth Ammuin. While the Paragon is perhaps like the Oldest Jedi of the Order, her portrayal didn't expose her motivations and her background. Perhaps Jay will dwell more on the the larger gamble of a power-struggle show-down between the Hezra and the First House in his later books and am sure, the Paragon will have a larger role to play there. Coming to Eth Ammuin, I wouldn't want to spoil the suspense - but I truly enjoyed his character a lot and look forward to a lot more of Elyth-Eth Ammuin partnerships.

The pacing is a drag, but perhaps that was a conscious decision from Jay. Because once the conflict takes a physical shape in that last 20% of the book, the narrative took wings. But apart from these glitches, I think Every Sky a Grave is an ambitious series starter and has a lot to offer, going forward. It is certainly a slower than usual Jay Posey book - more cerebral, if I may use that word. The poses that Advocates use while training, almost reminds me of Yoga. But anyways, deep deliberations on the role of self in this vast galaxy, reflections on misuse of power and authority - mixed with absolutely entertaining action makes for a runaway series starter and I can't now wait to watch Elyth and her companions take this fight to the galaxy and beyond. Recommended.

This is the first book in a new sci-fi series, I'd probably describe as "epic" sci-fi. While it's very much a science based story it does have a bit of a fantastical feel to it. At it's centre is a very conceptual magic system based on language and truth.

I really enjoyed our main character Elyth. She was brought up as part of this community of people, learning and ancient "Deep Language" and how it can be applied to influence things. She sees things through those eyes, but starts to question when things around her don't quite line up with what she expects to see.

Elyth is sent to a planet where she falls into trouble and we really see her discovering this new place while trying to survive while being completely alone.

The issue I had with this book is a totally personal one, and it's that so much of the goings on and the magic system is incredible conceptual so I really struggled to follow it. There were parts that I didn't really follow or understand, which dampened my enjoyment.

Overall I enjoyed the story as a whole, as long as I didn't worry myself about really understanding what was going on.

Every Sky a Grave is an intricate tale seeped in mystery and intrigue, with even a little magic mixed in. It felt like sci-fi mixed with fantasy; it's set in an otherworldly, sci-fi , realistic setting with fantastical elements dotted here and there. It definitely had an original concept, dealing with the power of language along with the power to destroy or create, all within a sci-fi setting. It had some action, mystery and political intrigue which did make for an interesting read.

The world building is complex - a little too complex at times. Don't get me wrong, it's fantastically rich and vivid in its descriptions of the worlds but I was a little lost at times. I was just a little lost at times and a little confused at what was happening. I'm fully aware that that may be down to my understanding, however it did hinder my enjoyment of it as a whole.

Elyth was a great character; she's strong, intelligent and intuitive. Despite this, I felt a little detached from her and her story. I enjoyed her as a character more as the story progressed, but her lack of background just didn't allow me to gel with her really as a character. Her character arch did make me empathise and care for her and I liked how she developed as a character - especially at the very end! I loved Hok and his team; I kind of wish we had more of them in the story. I love a team and seeing group dynamics. I had my suspicions early on about the true 'villain' of the story but it was still good to see it all unfold, and see that it's more complex, with grey characters rather than straight up good and bad individuals.

I'm in two minds about the writing. First, it took me a while to get into the story and it wasn't until 30% of the way through that I started to feel invested in what was happening. I did like how metaphorical and vivid the writing was though; some of the metaphors and symbolism in the story were beautiful. However, it did seem to slow the pace of the story down at times.

Overall, I did enjoy Every Sky a Grave. I thought it was an original concept that I've never really encountered before. I liked the world and its vivid descriptions. I'm in two minds about continuing as I'm intrigued to find out what enfolds next but aware that the story didn't quite gel with me as a whole. I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy a complex sci-fi story and likes a bit of originality and intrigue.

I really enjoyed this book, the main character was well rounded and easy to like. The world building was fantastic, with all the magic laws well explained. I cannot wait to see where they go next!

I absolutely loved this book. And I'm so glad it is the start of a series and not a stand alone. I was hooked right from the start and I really enjoyed the writing style. Can't wait to read the next book!

Elyth owns a weapon inside her mouth: she has knowledge of the language of worlds. And she can wield this language to form the destruction of planets. The galaxy is vast and humans have inhabited much of it. But Elyth, and the other agents like her, can eradicate that as and where they, and the Paragon that rules them, sees fit.

This premise had me instantly intrigued and I loved seeing Elyth in action immediately as the novel opened. Her abilities were very unique and clearly explained, which this sci-fi saga novice greatly appreciated. I would have loved to see the focus prolonged here, however, as the novel focused less on these initial aspects as attack and action began to dominate. These features that replaced them quickly proved just as engaging, however.

As worlds were navigated and new characters were introduced, much of the focus still remained largely on Elyth. I enjoyed learning about her character and seeing her feisty attitude and resilient nature as she tackled these new environs and personalities. This proved to be a novel as much as about internal as well as external navigation and I enjoyed seeing the two continue to be developed.

The initial stages of this book provided the perfect introduction to what was to come but the end portion blew all the preconceived notions that were built along the plot's trajectory out the water. It is unfair how much I want to read the next instalment, right now, and how long I know I shall have to wait for it!

I wasn't sure if this book would be for me. Generally, I find I prefer to watch my sci-fi and read my fantasy - but the comparison to Star Wars made me think it might veer more towards space fantasy so I was intrigued.
Something called 'The Language' or 'Deep Language' allows certain people to commune with planets and the wider universe. This has allowed people to gain more power and expand further through the galaxy. But the Language can be corrupted and if a planet is deemed infected an assassin is sent to kill the planet, essentially by talking it to death. Although this is described as a technology, there's not really any detail of how this works so it reads more like magic or mysticism (use the Force) - perhaps more detail will emerge in the sequel.
The main character Elyth, is an assassin space nun (I may be stretching it with nun but she's from a female only secretive organisation that trains people to kill planets with their mind) whose recovery from her previous planet-ending mission is mysteriously cut short as she is sent to assess the health & threat of another planet. Elyth is resourceful, complex, and conflicted. The relationship and connection she builds with a planet, learning about it's character, is really interesting and actually quite lovely. The concept of planets being a living soul with a way for people to communicate, connect and change them on almost a spiritual level is fascinating with beautiful, absorbing imagery and great potential to expand further.
I also love a good political conspiracy with questionable loyalties and motives. But I think this might also be my main issue - we are dropped straight into the action with our main character in the process of ending the life of a planet and then rushed on to the main plot without little time spent on the wider world. I don't mind not being told everything or having to work it out for myself but, although I did enjoy the story, I didn't feel I had a great understanding of the world and politics, even though they loom large over the rest of the plot.
I'm really interested to see how the story develops in the sequel and hope that some of these mysteries will be more fleshed out. I feel that my rating will be dependent on how I feel about the next one.
At the moment i'm hovering at a 3.5/5 to 4/5. Not perfect but a lot of fun.

Every Sky a Grave is the first installment in the epic sci-fi series that not only telling a story of an amazing woman's fantastic journey that is full of action and danger but also a story about her finding her true self and purpose in the world.

The idea of words hold such an unthinkable amount of power is what drew me into this book. As someone who loves learning and knowing something new about languages, that is a plus for me. I rarely read fantasy or sci-fi books which the source of power is the language. I was truly intrigued by the concept and accepted the publisher's offer right away to read the e-ARC.

Let me tell you, Every Sky a Grave did not disappoint. I love sci-fi but I won't deny the fact that sometimes the genre scares me because some sci-fi books can be quite heavy for me. Fortunately, that is not the case with this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it from the moment I read the first page. The words were beautifully written, they carved these stunning outer space and foreign planets in my head. I definitely loved the way Jay Posey described the planets and the world growing on them. I know it won't go well with the story since the FMC was on a secret mission, but I'd like it if Elyth engaged deeper with the people so that I could know more about their culture and life on the planet.

Aside from the world-building, this book also has some kind of political issues going on that I didn't really care about and understand. The story itself didn't confuse me but the game of power was confusing. I'm about to write what I got after reading the book, please correct me if I'm wrong. I think the world is called the Ascendance and inside it was the Grand Council and below it was the First House and the Hezra. I gathered there was some tension regarding power and influence over the Grand Council between the First House and the Hezra. The main problem of the story lies heavily in that matter. I don't want to spoil anything so I'm going to stop there.

It was rather hard for me to grasp my head and fully understand the hierarchy and everything about it in this book. If you're hesitant to read this book after reading my rant or the quote above, don't worry, you can still enjoy the story without having to be an expert on the political matters. I do hope there will be more explanation about those stuff in the sequel because it'd feel so much better if I really know what's going on.

What impressed me is that even though this book has that confusing hierarchy, at least for me, this book also has such beautiful quotes and a raw view about the world that contains only the truth. I found some of them are relevant in our world, in this lifetime. Elyth, our FMC, saw these details about the world that were amazing yet so natural. I loved how she can connect deeply with the planets she visited. I know it's part of the job but she still felt everything even after the missions are cleared. You really need to read the book to understand what I'm trying to say because I doubt my words will stir your feelings half as good as the whole story will do to you.

Talking about feelings, Elyth and eth ammuin's interactions never failed to make me laugh and brought joy into my boring life. IMO, they are the highlight of this book. I loved their chemistry, they were perfect as partners. Sadly, it took me a while to get there because the first half of this book felt very slow. It's like I'm riding a rollercoaster and the highest point of the road is just in front of my eyes but the ride takes a painfully slow time to go forward and so I'm left with this weird feelings: I know the climax is going to be good but I got bored waiting for it to happen but I don't want to stop reading because I know something big is going to happen.

Thankfully, I finally reached that highest point and it was spectacular. That specific moment near the end was mind-blowing, my mind was shooting all these epic and badass images and I could only say wow. Every Sky a Grave ended in an intriguing note that made me craving for more. I'm genuinely curious about what's going to happen in the sequel but I wish there would be more magic and action.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for sending me an eARC of Every Sky A Grave by Jay Posey in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I must say the first chapter was not easy to enjoy, I found it to detailed and neverending. Nevertheless I was curious to see where the story was going, and I'm glad I persevered.

I fell in love with Elyth and was happy to accompany her growth as a buman being, and to see her relationships with the inhabitants of Qel evolve.

I look forward to read the next book! I do hope there is one.

My thanks to HarperVoyager for an invitation to receive a digital edition via NetGalley of ‘Every Sky A Grave’ by Jay Posey in exchange for an honest review. I elected to purchase its audiobook edition, narrated by Laura Lefkow, and combine listening with reading the ebook.

“From the void, all come; to the void, all return.”

This is Book One in Posey’s Ascendance Series. Over the last 8,000 years humankind has spread throughout the galaxy by mastering the fundamental language of the universe and advanced technology that harnessed its power.

Elyth is an assassin of worlds. If a planet deviates from the strict order laid down by the Ascendance, an agent is despatched to use the Deep Language to sow the seeds of the planet’s destruction.

After fulfilling her latest mission, Elyth is called by the Paragon, the ancient matriarch of the First House of the Ascendance, and asked to undertake a clandestine mission to stop an uprising on the planet Qel before it can take hold.

However, almost from the moment her craft enters Qel’s atmosphere, things go wrong and Elyth has to use her skills to avoid being discovered. While Elyth is very much a true believer in the principles of the First House, she slowly becomes aware that she is a pawn in a multi-layered game between the First House and the technologically-oriented Herza.

Elyth was a wonderful character. She is no cold hearted destroyer of worlds as is obvious from the opening pages. While she fulfils her duties with the precision of a surgeon, she feels love and compassion for each planet acknowledging “what a precious treasure it had once been.” I felt this too especially as it is made clear that it was the inhabitants that were responsible for the corruption.

I was drawn quite quickly into this novel. While there is plenty of action, it is also quite contemplative. Posey is clearly a skilled storyteller with rich descriptions and well developed characterisation, including strong women. There were echoes for me of the Bene Gesserit in the powerful First House, labelled by the Herza as ‘gray witches’.

I probably would have appreciated a bit more exposition in the opening chapters though I soon picked up on the background as the story played out.

While this is the first in a series, it is quite self-contained. I will be looking out for news of further works in the series as well as checking out Posey’s other titles as I enjoyed his style.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

I received an uncorrected proof copy of Every Sky a Grave in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Jay Posey and Harper Voyager.

In Every Sky a Grave we follow Elyth, an agent for the First House of the Ascendance. This female-only order regulates the galaxy and keeps peace and harmony throughout. When a planet’s path deviates from what the authorities desire then an operative is sent to do a task. Their objective is to use the Deep Langauge, the greatest of all the Ascendance’s technologies, to assassinate the planet. Elyth uses these words of power to bring forth the assigned planet’s destruction. Upon completing her mission on Revik, she is urgently called back to base and given a crucial follow-up mission. This task, which takes Elyth to the planet of Qel, makes up the lion’s share of the action that takes place in Every Sky a Grave.

52049876. sy475 Elyth is a model agent for the First House of the Ascendance. She is highly trained and experienced in stealth, reading people, manipulating situations, combat, and with the Deep Language. She is a true believer of the First House’s cause. When upon Qel, her mission does not go to plan at all. When events go a bit haywire Elyth has to use analyse the strange scenarios and improvise on the assignment that isn’t like any that she has completed before. There is a mysterious and powerful entity on or surrounding the planet, and that something, or maybe the planet itself, may not give in to Elyth’s words of power and doom.

Every Sky a Grave, the first novel in The Ascendance Series, was my first time reading anything by Jay Posey. The intriguing premise won me over completely, I think the cover is beautiful, and the publicist presented it as science fiction for fans of Mark Lawrence. Every Sky a Grave does have a Book of the Ancestor in space vibe to it. Like Nona, Elyth is the sole third-person point of view perspective and she operates for a female-only assassin/warrior establishment. Similar to Lawrence, Posey is a skilled wordsmith who creates excellent imagery, presents quality and exciting set-pieces and makes me truly empathise with his protagonist throughout. Even if she is stubborn, headstrong and blindly dedicated to her role in First House of the Ascendance. I enjoyed following her patterns of thinking when dealing with a scenario or drama.

I had a mostly positive experience when reading Every Sky a Grave. It took me a while to get into though and some of the chapters in the first half of the novel dragged and seemed overly descriptive, including the opening segment. Throughout the second half, I didn’t have this problem but it may be that whilst reading I became attuned to Posey’s style, just embraced it and enjoyed the ride. The chapters tend to be between 20-35 minutes long so I always made sure that I had at least that time set aside so that I wouldn’t be rushed and could relish what was being presented.

We spend a fair amount of the narrative’s time in Elyth’s head as she is alone but the novel also includes some fine supporting players. The Paragon of the First House is a great character who has been extremely influential in Elyth’s upbringing yet my favourite character is someone who I can’t really mention or describe here without potentially mentioning something that might take away from the reading experience. All I will say is that they were an absolute pleasure to read about and their interactions with Elyth were sometimes humorous, often thought-provoking, but always had me glued to the page.

Every Sky a Grave, although the first in a series, works perfectly well as a standalone. The last 25% to the ending is terrific and takes the novel from a steady 3 to a strong 4-star rating for me. What could come in the next books is exciting and there are a lot of possibilities. I believe I will check out the sequel as I am interested to see what is next for Elyth after the knowledge gained, and the revelations and events witnessed here. Every Sky is a Grave is an intriguing and entertaining read for those who wish to follow the adventure of an assassin of worlds. Even with the sections that dragged to me, I raced through the 400 or so pages in 4 days. Recommended.

I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting when I started this book, especially as I don’t read much Sci-Fi something which I am working to rectify, but Every Sky A Grave grabbed me from the start. Perhaps, because it is a wonderful blend of Sci-Fi and mysticism, exploring the power of language, of words, and the potential for them to be corrupted.

That has to be one of my favourite parts of the book. As a reader and writer, language always has power, and in this book that is taken and made into something more, where the power is something more.
‘It was the language that lifted the human race from the dust… there was power within its words.’

The idea of people being able to talk to planets, and to even use this ‘Deep Language’ – the language of all things – to kill a planet, is fascinating and not something I’ve encountered before. The idea that a planet can be undone through its own fault-lines and core, and the power of language, is quite humbling and I really hope that we will learn more about this in future books, as while well done it never felt as though it was fully explained, although I enjoyed the element of mystery.

There is a lot of worldbuilding in this book, and not all of it is explained. To an extent, the more Sci-Fi aspects such as the spaceships, take a backseat to the rest of the story, which gave the story a very refreshing feeling. We learn more about the First House – the order that uses the ‘Deep Language’ – a secret order, which counterbalances the technological arms of society, and the wilderness that Elyth finds herself travelling through. However, we are given enough to enjoy the wider ‘world(s)’, and it leaves room for exploration in the future books. While also giving us landscapes that are familiar but also different and new, and with a wide variety, and I for one look forward to seeing this developed further, particularly in this beautiful prose.

I found Elyth to be an interesting character, we got to see her develop throughout the narrative, and while she carried the story and was the ‘heroine’, she wasn’t perfect, and her mistakes and decisions that we might not agree with her made her very human, and easy to relate to and care about. Her relationships with the other characters, especially those that are found through the course of her journey were well done and multi-faceted and felt very much a natural part of who she was and the circumstances she found herself in.

It is beautifully written, and the imagery that is invoked catches the imagination and doesn’t let go, leaving you wanting to spend more time reading about this world. Although I will say, there are a few places where it is a little too description heavy, to the point where the pace slowed a little too much. However, for the most part, I found it an excellent blend of description and contemplation, as well as action and exploration, that kept my attention throughout.

This wasn’t quite what I expected, but I loved ‘Every Sky a Grave’ and I will definitely be waiting for the next book and checking out other works by the author in the meantime. I would recommend to anyone looking for something new and refreshing, and who loves beautiful, descriptive writing.

I enjoyed it. Well, most of it.

I loved the writing and Jay Posey has a wonderful way with description, but I found the world-building a little confusing and I got a wee bit lost near the beginning. It could have just been me thou!?! Despite that, Every sky a grave was an easy read and it certainly had an ending that left me wanting more.

I also liked the use of ‘deep language’ as a weapon, I kind of thought of it was more akin to magic/fantasy than science fiction. I did start reading Every sky a grave expecting it to be a solid sci-fi and it wasn’t, it fell somewhere between the sci-fi and fantasy genre – an interesting middle ground. A middle ground I want to read more of.

My one and only problem with the book was I didn’t really care for the main character – Elyth. I wanted to like her. I wanted to love the kickass wonder women that knows everything, can do everything and makes very short work of destroying whole planets. Yes, whole planets! (I loved the cover design and title until I realised they were a tad sinister.) BUT. That was also my problem, after the first quarter I got tired of Elyth’s ability to be wonderful at EVERYTHING. She needed more flaws! Elyth needed some personality. She was young. AMAZING. Knew everything. Could do everything. And I started to skim some of the chapters after the first 30% despite it being well-written.

Every sky a grave by Jay Posey wasn’t quite for me. It was certainly a good story and I have no doubt it will be loved. I liked it, I just didn’t feel invested in all of Elyth’s journey. It was well written, well-paced and was crammed full of action – if it sounds appealing to you then give it a shot.

I received a copy of the book for review from the publisher, via NetGalley – THANK YOU! Every Sky a grave by Jay Posey is available to buy now.

Well, this book took my by surprise a bit, initially, I thought it would lean heavily on the sci-fi but this was so much more.

Elyth, an advocate of the First House is tasked with an honourable and terrible job. She must go to planets, learn all she can about them, their ecosystems, the people and then she must set about the natural destruction of the plant using words.

Words in this universes are powerful and Elyth and her sisters are the bearers of a language known as the ‘Deep Language’. This language gives them the power to change the course of things, to encourage natural faults to open and to complete their mission and bring about the end of a world. The end of the world isn’t necessarily a sudden thing, but Elyth brings about natural changes that could take millions of years into the near future.

The First House and its Paragon are the observers of worlds and when they deem that they are beyond help, the advocates are sent to put the world down. The Deep Language is closely guarded and there are variants of this being taught by the untrained and causing damage to planets which is spreading, all from one man and the First House wants to stop this spreading before more worlds are lost.

What I love about this is that despite holding such power to destroy, Elyth is so compassionate and mourns the loss of each planet she ends. She feels it deeply and upon returning home, each advocate is forced into 30 days of recovery where they document their mission and then, more for themselves than anything, they document their own personal experiences. Each planet Elyth is assigned to, she keeps a vial of dirt in remembrance.

Elyth’s recovery is cut short due to an urgent meeting and she must be deployed once again on a secret mission. The Paragon herself has deemed Elyth the most worthy for this task, to travel to the planet Qel and understand what is going on there. Upon her arrival, things do not go smoothly. Her ship crashes and she is injured. Alone on a planet and being pursued, she has little options but to try and take the upper hand by making contact with her pursuers. With them, she learns about this mysterious eth ammuin who is spoken about with such reverence and wonders if this person is the source of her house’s worries for the planet Qel.

From here Elyth’s very beliefs are challenged and shocking truths revealed. Elyth, once the destroyer of worlds may be the very person needed to save a world.

I loved this book, it was so clever and well thought out. The use of language as a weapon was cleverly done and Elyth is a wonderful lead character, to see her grow over the book from a devout follower of her house to a strong, resilient woman, fighting for the truth was something to behold.

Jay Posey has created an immersive, beautifully written, action-packed and thought-provoking novel that I cannot wait to read more of. Elyth has worked her way into my heart and her journey is just beginning. A brilliant start to the Ascendance series.

“It doesn’t really matter what sky you’re under. You’re always staring up into the same thing”

“The unknown?”

“A grave.”

Thank you so much to Becca at HarperFiction for the eArc!