Savage Legion is the first in an epic fantasy series by Matt Wallace. As with many first entries in a series, this novel spends a good portion of its time introducing us to our main characters and setting the stage. The world building done in this novel was well done. It may have slowed my reading due to the time it took to absorb all of the details, but I never felt overwhelmed. This novel felt like a good introduction to the world that Wallace is building and to the conflict that will unfold in the subsequent books. As the title of this review states, there were two traits of this novel that really stuck with me. Savage Legion was surprising and thought-provoking.
The novel was surprising for two reasons. Wallace heavily features women as the main POV characters in this novel. While that by itself is not atypical of the genre, Wallace's execution of those points of view was refreshing. Many times when I read fantasy works by men, I have a hard time relating to and believing in the female POVs. Wallace made each woman feel real, relatable, and believable. There was also a wonderful amount of representation for various underrepresented groups in fantasy. Evie is a woman of color. Taru is nonbinary. Dyeawan is a person with physical disabilities. There are references to LGBT+ relationships, without making them a huge deal or something to gawk at. It was so nice to see all of this representation, especially when I hadn't expected it at all.
Additionally, Savage Legion was very thought-provoking. While I don't personally think it's a necessity for all fiction to offer huge conversation starters or commentary on modern life, I definitely appreciated it in this story. I don't want to spoil too much of the plot by delving in to deep here, but there's a lot going on in regards to environmentalism, human rights, politics, and more.
I'm interested to see what direction this series takes next!
The novel was surprising for two reasons. Wallace heavily features women as the main POV characters in this novel. While that by itself is not atypical of the genre, Wallace's execution of those points of view was refreshing. Many times when I read fantasy works by men, I have a hard time relating to and believing in the female POVs. Wallace made each woman feel real, relatable, and believable. There was also a wonderful amount of representation for various underrepresented groups in fantasy. Evie is a woman of color. Taru is nonbinary. Dyeawan is a person with physical disabilities. There are references to LGBT+ relationships, without making them a huge deal or something to gawk at. It was so nice to see all of this representation, especially when I hadn't expected it at all.
Additionally, Savage Legion was very thought-provoking. While I don't personally think it's a necessity for all fiction to offer huge conversation starters or commentary on modern life, I definitely appreciated it in this story. I don't want to spoil too much of the plot by delving in to deep here, but there's a lot going on in regards to environmentalism, human rights, politics, and more.
I'm interested to see what direction this series takes next!