The Wretched of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler
This is by far one of my favorite book series I have ever read. It is the first book in the Legends of Muirwood series, a trilogy. Lia, the book’s main character, has always been known as a wretched, abandoned by her parents. She was left as a babe on the door steps of an abbey and raised to be a cook. The nobles and elite send their children there to learn about the Medium. They learn to read wisdom from tomes and write in tomes of their own. But, wretcheds are not allowed to learn to read or write.
During a particularly powerful storm, Lia sees the Aldermaston invoke the power of the Medium to stop the rain. It’s at that point that she knows the Medium is real and despite not ever having been taught of the Medium in the abbey’s school, is able to invoke its power on her own.
She meets a young Maston named Colvin who has discovered that the King of Comoros has began to expel Mastons from the kingdom and have them murdered. Colvin has heard of an uprising and is on his way to join the rebellion against the king and Lia joins him on the journey.
The first time I read the book, I felt the first one or two chapters were a little confusing as it was introducing a lot of world building early. There were new terms and a religious system to grasp but Mr. Wheeler does a great job connecting you with the characters and, by chapter three, you have a full grasp of the new kingdom you’ve delved into and are totally involved in the characters’ lives and their struggles.
Once the action begins, hang on tight because the action continues through till the end. When you think that things are getting relaxed, a new event pops up to keep you reading. If you have a chance, I highly encourage you to give this series a chance. You won’t be disappointed.
Below you will find a link to Amazon, where you can find the book for purchase. It comes in paperback, eBook, and audio. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, at the time of this writing, it is available to read and listen to for free. I do want to disclose that this link is an affiliate link to Amazon and I do receive a small percentage of the sale for linking the item on my website.
