So to start out, big disclaimer; I did receive this book as an ARC review. I did previously publish reviews on both The Storygraph and Goodreads, but now that the book is out officially, I can publish my full review! To begin, I’ll start with my spoiler free section:
To start; I loved it. I don’t normally read YA novels, simply because I’m at a stage in my life where I really enjoy reading about adult characters, but OCSS doesn’t read like your classic YA. That is not to say that it is a novel marketed as YA but secretly for adults, no, instead, OCSS and Mylee Miller as the author respect their audience.
The carefully laid mystery of OCSS is well-crafted and expects the audience to engage in the story. If you don’t read all the prose in detail, you’re going to miss out on some very clever revelations. Every thing setup in this narrative is paid off in the end, never once did I think “Where did that come from” or “Well what about X”. Miller has a clever handle on their craft and they respect their YA audience enough to allow them the chance to try and piece together the mystery themselves.
Furthermore, this story is not afraid to be dark! Commonly, I see YA is either written for adults or written for infants with no in-between. OCSS has a classic YA feeling that I can see many actual young-adults and teenagers loving for its careful exploration of duty, responsibility and familial drama. Not once do the character’s come across as entitled or as critiques of common struggles of youth. Their youth instead is part of a larger tragedy that I believe many young readers can relate to in the modern day.
Now. Before I move onto my non-spoiler free section. I’m going to quickly say that Of Cold Silver Storms is available for purchase: NOW! If you’re intrigued and want to support an independent author you should absolutely look into purchasing this book, and following Miller’s journey over on their website. If you want more info check out their reviews here:
Now Into the non-spoiler free but still spoiler-light review:
Of Cold Silver Storms Book One follows the tale of King Zachiah and his coming of age in the Kingdom of Promise. Followed by his loyal Defender, Dardus, he faces a land filled with plague and distrust of the crown due to his father’s cruelty. While facing pressure from other Kingdom’s to take out a gang known as the Fledges, he tries to stay alive while searching for his missing father.
In the meantime, the POV switches to Ballad Chimesong, an assassin and master of poison who quickly finds herself tasked with killing the King; Zachiah. When she and Zachiah both stumble upon the same conspiracy, though, she soon finds herself saving the King rather than killing him. Fleeing Promise, the book ends with Zachiah separated from his friend, Defender and potential love interest Dardus and teamed up not only with Ballad but Ransom. A man who had been originally charged with spying on Zachiah by the same Kings and Queens who’d tried to sweep Promise out from under him.
Let me just say, the entire story is addictive to read. It’s hard to put down once you start, but not in a way that feels melodramatic or cheap. But in a way that begs for the questions asked to be answered.
While there is a dual-POV in the book, I will say Zachiah’s narrative, necessarily takes center stage. Ballad’s story helps humanize the Fledges, and makes Zachiah’s choice to either wipe them out or not much more intriguing. If we’d met Ballad or another Fledge from his POV, the impact just wouldn’t have been the same. And the same goes for Ballad; being charged with killing the King is a tall task for any person, but by seeing who Zachiah is and bursting the bubble of the rumors around Promise we get a more difficult task.
Having our dual-POV characters posed against each other could have ended there. Forcing the reader to chose a side, so to say, would have been interesting alone, but things go deeper than that. The entire situation is a ploy for something more darker to come. You see, the title Defender isn’t something Dardus earned by pure fact of serving the King; this is in-fact a more magical title given only to those who serve First Heirs. What’s a First Heir you may ask? Well you should absolutely check out the book to find out, but let’s just be clear that First Heir’s are more than just your average ‘chosen one’.
What you should note, though, is that First Heirs implies multiple. So where are they all? Well that’s another mystery for you to discover in the story, but let’s just say that it all comes back to the Fledges, Zachiah and Ballad.
As you can see, Miller has expertly laid out plenty of mystery atop what could have been a very simple narrative.
Now to look at something else; Zachiah as a blind main character. And let me quiet any concerns; there is no magic “fix” that suddenly cures Zachiah’s blindness, nor are they treated as a helpless waif incapable of going on their own adventure. I was very pleased to discover that Miller does an excellent job of exploring other avenues of narrative that don’t involve sight to detail the world of Promise. As someone who loves seeing scent and touch used in descriptions, seeing them to center stage in the narrative was amazing!
While I’m not blind nor vision impaired (aside from a distinct struggle with depth perception and a massive astigmatism) the topic of blindness is not a foreign one to me. My wife has to keep careful care of her eyes, and has been told since she was very young the chances of her going blind are very high. She actually was being taught braille at one point in her life, and seeing Zachiah use fantasy-braille and other vision aids is nice. There’s a lot of anxiety with the idea, it would change her life and our lives greatly. But having a character who is blind, and still wields a sword, goes on horse rides and missions to uncover dark secrets, is very heart warming.
That said, I look forward to the second book. Now outside the realm of Promise and away from his responsibilities as King, I hope that Zachiah’s blindness can take on more life. Due to the secrets of First Heirs, it’s not often discussed among characters in the book. And while I’m not a fan of blind characters having to explain their condition to others, I would love to hear more about it just in passing. Casual things that show care and research regarding the topic. Maybe Zachiah can meet others with vision impairments, or other disabilities that will help shape the excellent young man he is becoming.
Overall, Of Cold Silver Storms is a refreshing YA Fantasy, and I most certainly look forward to the second book in the Trilogy! I’ve tried to keep as vague as possible so that you had plenty to explore in the book itself, but if you’re looking for a new Fantasy realm with a low entry-barrier I would highly recommend Miller’s debut novel.