The Ranger of Marzanna by Jon Skovron – Review

Published: April 21, 2020

Publisher: Orbit Books

Series: The Goddess War #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 528 (Paperback)

My Rating: 4.0/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

When their father is murdered by imperial soldiers, two siblings set out on opposite paths—one will destroy the Empire forever and the other will save it—in this thrilling new Russian inspired epic fantasy from Jon Skovron.

Sonya is training to be a Ranger of Marzanna, an ancient sect of warriors who have protected the land for generations. But the old ways are dying, and the rangers have all been forced into hiding or killed off by the invading Empire.

When her father is murdered by imperial soldiers, she decides to finally take action. Using her skills as a ranger she will travel across the bitter cold tundra and gain the allegiance of the only other force strong enough to take down the invaders.

But nothing about her quest will be easy. Because not everyone is on her side. Her brother, Sebastian, is the most powerful sorcerer the world has ever seen. And he’s fighting for the empire.

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I’ve been realllllly excited about this book since seeing that cover. It’s definitely going to be one of my favorite pieces of cover art for 2020 as it hearkens back to all the faerie art I loved in my younger years. The Ranger of Marzanna is basically a sibling rivalry story with a lovely bit of Russian influence (and a sloppy dash of Scots and Roman Empire). 

The story starts off with soldiers attacking the farm where Sebastian (mage extraordinaire) lives with his parents. They kill his father, who used to be a famed General and take Sebastian and his mother back to the capital where he is encouraged to join the military and use his power. Sonya, his sister, was out in the wilds (killing soldiers) and returned to find her father with a sword through his chest and her mother and brother gone. She valiantly heads off to save them, while unbeknownst to her they’ve joined up with her enemies to save themselves. Sonya is furious and thus begins the division. 

Sonya is determined to use her powers as a Ranger to kick out the empire and Sebastian is just happy to be able to display his elemental magic and have people tell him he’s doing a great job. Basically, he’s a golden retriever. He just wants to please everyone and get pats on the head and be loved. Sonya is honestly a bit tougher – she has her Ranger gifts, which she’s paid a great price for and she’s a feisty devil. Marzanna is a goddess of winter and death and her gifts bestow animal gifts on her followers. Sonya is fox-like and therefore gets fox-like gifts, but at the slow loss of her humanity. 

I honestly like much of the story and most of the characters, but some things just didn’t jive. The dialogue was often awkward and Sonya in particular sounded too modernly casual. She was supposedly talking like a peasant, but none of them spoke that way. Sebastian on the other hand was quite formal but it felt right for the setting. Sebastian absolutely killed me because he just couldn’t do much of anything without instruction and encouragement. I mean, there are people like that in real life but it is so strange when portrayed in a book! 

Overall, this was an entertaining read and I will absolutely read the rest of the series. It was fun and while not perfect, I wasn’t really expecting it to be and it wasn’t as high fantasy as the cover made me assume. 

*Minor nit-picky thing – I swear the term Ranger of Marzanna, in it’s full and wordy glory was used 500 times. It really started to drive me crazy and I mentally went through and thought of all the ways the author could have used it differently or less. *