Reviewed by Cheryl
TITLE: Apple Boy
SERIES: Quiet Work #1
AUTHOR: Isobel Starling
PUBLISHER: Decent Fellows Press
LENGTH: 486 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 15, 2019
BLURB:
A lost lordling, a farm boy, and a tale of mystery, magic, and murder!
After a traumatic event, Winter Aeling finds himself destitute and penniless in the backwater town of Mallowick. He needs to travel to the city of Serein and impart grave news that will bring war to the Empire, but without a horse, money, and with not a soul willing to help him, he has no choice but to line up with the common folk seeking paid work on the harvest.
As wagons roll into the market square and farmers choose day laborers, Winter is singled out for abuse by a brute of a farmer. The only man who stands up for him is the farmer’s beguiling son, Adam, and on locking eyes with the swarthy young man Winter feels the immediate spark of attraction.
Winter soon realizes there is a reason he has been drawn to Blackdown Farm. The farmer possesses a precious item that was stolen long ago from Winter’s family, and he determines to retrieve it. He also cannot take his eyes off Adam, and as the young man opens up Winter can’t help wondering if Adam is just kind or his kind!
REVIEW:
It’s been a while since I’ve read a fantasy and this is quite a gentle one in that we’re not asked to get our head around crazy names or anything too complicated. It was fun to figure out from clues through the book, accents, place names, descriptions etc the contemporary setting of the different places. It may or may not have been deliberate, but I found it amusing. (I’m pretty sure Adam is Irish)
The world building as a whole is rich and fresh. I think just about every possibility has already been explored but there are some nice little touches here that make this world just a little different and “keeps it real”. There are a couple of info dumps but to be honest, I find them in every fantasy book I read. Even Lord of the Rings has them. How can you describe a whole new world without describing it? They’re kept to a minimum though and done in an entertaining way.
There are a couple of really nice twists and the challenges facing Winter and Adam have a very “real” almost contemporary feel that I really liked. I felt I got to know Winter and Adam as people not caricatures or simply characters.
The story arc seems simple at first but becomes more and more complex as the surprises start coming. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time and the author really keeps us on our toes unsure of where the danger might come from or whether our characters are walking on solid or shifting ground. Even by the end of the book I’m left with a feeling of being unsure of who can be trusted out of everyone but Winter and Adam themselves.
The warning says that the book ends on a cliffhanger and in a way that’s true, but don’t be put off. It’s not a terrible cliffhanger. One story arc has been completed and we’re left with a spark to ignite a new one, but there’s enough of a satisfactory ending to leave you feeling comfortable about leaving our heroes where they are for the time being until it’s time to check in with them again before they start the next stage of the adventure. That’s not to say that all questions have been answered and the entire story arc has been resolved because that is very much not the case. Everything is completely up in the air but in a way that doesn’t leave our boys in imminent danger so we can continue to breathe until the next installment comes our way.
I for one will definitely be eagerly awaiting the next book.
RATING: 
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