Wow! The worldbuilding was entirely superb, easy to grasp and yet very developed. I love viking fantasy and the story had me completely hooked. The action scenes were so well written that it felt almost like watching a movie. The plot is intriguing and has enough plot twists to keep you reading nonstop!

3.5/5 stars

This was a wonderful Viking inspired high fantasy. Incredibly action-packed, great world-building, and beautifully written. The characterizations for the main character, Hessa, was superb. I think the other side characters could benefit from more explorations, though; it seemed like Hessa and the Gods were the only memorable characters to me. Full review to come!

This book is so phenomenal! Full of epic magic and the struggle for redemption, this Viking high fantasy novel pulled me in right away and didn't let go. It's been a while since I stayed up to the wee hours of the morning to finish a novel (especially with work the next day). This book is what a griping fantasy should be. A unique but recognizable world, a strong hero/heroine that can stand on their own without excessive plot devices, beautifully written and choreographed fight scenes, and stunning prose.

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC!

This book was - unexpected. I don't think I've read another quite like it, which is a fact that gives pause and also praise, I think. Hessa, the main character and narrator, is an Eangi - a warrior Priestess of the goddess Eang. The Eangi are born with "Eangi Fire" which grants them superior fighting and healing abilities as well as the ability to decimate others in short bursts. Eang is the goddess of war in a New pantheon of gods, each of whom rules over one of the main groups of peoples in this world.

Hessa's conflict starts off seemingly small; she's being punished for failing to comply with the task of killing a particular traveler. She has gone to a remote mountain as penance, to seek forgiveness from her goddess, when tragedy strikes and raiders attack her town. She suddenly finds herself as the very last Eangi, and as the story evolves, she finds herself playing a part in an all out war between the gods.

The setting of this novel is what was really interesting; I don't think I've read many books about characters like Hessa (the nearest comparison would be that the Eangen might be like the Saxons or the Vikings; the Algatt people to the north could be Celts, and the Arpa are Romans, complete with superior technologies and organized legionary forces). The mythology and worldbuilding in this debut novel felt fresh and exciting, and while at moments I was a little lost in the sizable character/gods cast and geography, by the end I was on the edge of my seat. I should also mention that this novel subverts certain tropes - there is absolutely no active romance to be found in this book, as Hessa's husband is amongst those killed in the first chapter, and she doesn't seek out anyone else that way. She does however form a couple of very strong friendships!

Some of the things that I struggled with while reading this book: the start is slow. Hessa begins the book in a spiral of failure and self loathing and self flagellating because she believes she has failed her goddess and been cast out. She spends a fairly long time believing her entire priesthood and many of her people have been killed off because of her mistake. She overcomes all this by the end, which is very satisfying, but in the first several chapters we don't know anything about her failed task, her goddess, the entire mythology of the novel, etc. so it is difficult to empathize, and that makes events drag on for a while. I also wish that characters like Sixnit and Omaskat were better developed; Hessa is SO connected to Sixnit, but I felt like we were barely introduced to her character in the first place before the story whips off.

All that said - I thought this was a pretty great debut novel and I would certainly recommend it, especially to fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree and The Fifth Season.
4/5
(Holding review on GoodReads until January as requested!)

Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long is an excellent fantasy novel that has it all: a strong female main character, historical fiction, mythology, action, complex characters, and an epic, gripping, and suspenseful narrative that kept me turning pages to find out more.

I loved Hessa. She is an excellent main character. She is complex, she is strong, intelligent, and has a strong moral compass despite her flaws and faults. When she attempts to atone for her mistakes, she discovers that a lot of what she was brought up to believe in regards to the multitude of gods and goddesses is not as it appears, she starts to question everything she thought she ever knew. The internal vs external struggles, battles, and obstacles were presented in with an excellent balance. I love how Hessa was able to self-reflect, reassess, and alter her beliefs and actions as the story unfolds. I also love the complexity of the relationships that are presented throughout the novel. The full character cast (including the presentation of the multitude of "old vs newer" deities) was described appropriately and with a wonderful literary descriptiveness that allowed the reader to feel as if it was all a part of their own upbringing and belief system as well. I felt I was on a quest right along with Hessa at times.

I also loved the feel of the novel. A very Norse/Roman-esque presentation was given and it really added another layer to a jam-packed novel.

This is an excellent epic fantasy that really checks all of the boxes for me. I loved every minute of it!

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR, Instagram, and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 1/19/21.

Hall of Smoke is the debut novel of H.M. Long, and what a great debut it is. It’s stand-alone fantasy that starts deceptively small and grows into epic proportions.

The book is set in a pre-industrial, almost tribal world that doesn’t instantly or obviously refer to ours, though the largest warrior culture reminded me of Rome and the smaller ones of both North American native cultures and Asian cultures. It’s a good mixture where nothing is so directly borrowed that it would jar and everything blends together to form something unique and new. The mythologies and habits are rich and they are brought up organically as the story flows. Countries and cultures have formed around different gods and though languages and habits remain fairly similar, the gods’ dislike of one another has transferred to humans too. Wars and raids are regular.

The main character is Hessa, a warrior priestess of Eang, the goddess of war. The country and people are called Eang too and the priests Eangi, which was confusing at times. She’s the only point of view character and the narrative is in deep first person, which works very well. She’s young (nineteen, maybe), but thanks to the constant wars, an experienced warrior. The priests and priestesses of Eang aren’t chosen; they are born with a special gift from the goddess, a fire that both makes them superior soldiers and heals them too. Other gods haven’t gifted their followers with anything similar.

The story begins at a low point in Hessa’s life. She has failed to perform a task from her goddess to kill a visitor to her town, and as a consequence has been stripped from her position as a priestess. While she’s in a remote shrine to pray for forgiveness from Eang who refuses to answer to her, her entire town is butchered by followers of a different god—an unprecedented occurrence. She’s the only priestess of Eang left in the whole country and she’s in disfavour. But her goddess finally appears and promises her that all will be forgiven if she finishes the task given to her. From that point on, throughout the book, she’s carried by one goal: finding the man she was meant to kill so that she can have a place in the hall of death with her loved-ones.

But things aren’t easy or straightforward when one is alone and facing several enemies. While she tries to locate her prey, Hessa learns that the entire world is in upheaval, and not just among humans, among the gods too. As her goddess increasingly fails to come to her aid, she starts to question her devotion and the task given to her. Little by little, as her faith unravels, the stakes become higher, until Hessa finds herself as a pivotal player in gods’ war against each other.

This was a very satisfying story. The plot flows organically from one event to another, with Hessa learning and growing along it. The pacing isn’t fast, but the chapters are fairly short and there is constantly something going on that makes you want to keep reading. Because of the first person POV, the side characters remain slightly vague, and none of them become more important to Hessa than her task, but I liked most of them. And I especially liked Hessa. She’s resilient and determined, and capable of adjusting her worldview when the old one becomes untenable. And in a true manner of epic fantasy, the person who has lost all becomes the most important person in the world. Since this is a stand-alone, the ending is satisfying and doesn’t leave you with a need to read more.

The book is well-written and the language is beautiful. However, there was a glaring, recurring grammar mistake that became so irritating that I have to mention it, just in case there’s time to fix it before the final version is published: the first person singular objective case pronoun is me, not I. It was so seldom in correct form that the mistake had to be deliberate. Other than that, the book was a joy to read.

Hessa is an Eangi, a warrior priestess for the goddess of war. The story starts with hessa trying to atone for disobeying a command from her goddess. Whilst she prays for forgiveness misfortune comes to her village, raiders destroyed it and all her loved ones are killed. Hessa goes on a mission of redemption, a second chance given to her by her goddess, to try and gain her place in the high halls where her loved ones must now reside.
During her journey she finds not all she has been lead to be leave about the ‘gods’ are true. The gods she knows are dying and when her prayers go un-answered her faith in her goddess wains. There are more powerful old gods re-emerging. Hessa must make hard choices and choose her path to try to save what remains of her people and homeland.

This book is laced with mythology and gods. At first I found it had to keep track of all the gods, especially as there are new gods, old gods, miri, immortal gods etc. But once you get to get your head round it it gives the story a deeper context and draws you in. It has history.
The fact it took me so long to get my head round all the gods slightly brought the enjoyment level down for me as I really had to make a conscious effort to remember who was who, but once you get it it’s much more enjoyable and easy to read.

I liked how Hessa creates friendships without them becoming romantic, it’s a nice change from the predictable friends to lovers trope.

I enjoyed reading about hessas struggles with ‘right and wrong’, how she had to make choices based on her new found knowledge and not the beliefs she has grown up with serving her goddess, her opinions and decisions changed throughout the book and it felt really natural. Her constant questioning of her goddess and other gods she met made me feel really connected with her and her goal.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has a real interest in gods, mythology or power struggles.
It has a very Viking’s vs Romans feel, a new empire trying to consume the old.


I will publish this review on my good reads in January as per your request.

Action packed female led fantasy set in a Norse inspired world with gods and magic and plenty of fighting. This was definitely my bag. Best of all the MC is fully rounded and complex with an ongoing tendency to question her actions and grow. A gripping read.

Another new author to had in my ever longer list of fantasy author I love! Very epic and a strong main character that I loved from the very start and just grew more attach to it as the story evolve! Totally recommended!!

I'll give this book a rate betweeen 3,5 and 4. While it is very good written, with detailed world and original culture, in some moments it was too slow and there were pages that could be more "show" not "tell". But I liked the characters, especially Hessa (she's the main character, and, of course, best developed). I loved that the novel doesn't fall in cliche tropes and is original in itself. I think this is a position that will take a good place n fantasy world.