The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams – Review

Published: February 23, 2017

Publisher: Headline

Series: The Winnowing Flame #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 414 (eBook)

My Rating: 5 Stars

Synopsis:
Jen Williams, acclaimed author of The Copper Cat trilogy, featuring The Copper Promise, The Iron Ghost and The Silver Tide, returns with the first in a blistering new trilogy.

The great city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves. Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for sitting around waiting to die while the realm of his storied ancestors falls to pieces – talk about a guilt trip. Better to be amongst the living, where there are taverns full of women and wine.

When eccentric explorer, Lady Vincenza ‘Vintage’ de Grazon, offers him employment, he sees an easy way out. Even when they are joined by a fugitive witch with a tendency to set things on fire, the prospect of facing down monsters and retrieving ancient artefacts is preferable to the abomination he left behind.

But not everyone is willing to let the Eboran empire collapse, and the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war. For the Jure’lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain must fall…

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So, I didn’t know much about this book until I started watching Elliot Brooks on Youtube and she LOVES this series and really hyped it up. I wanted to read it and the deal was sealed when The Broken Binding had it as part of their subscription and I ended up with all those nice shiny, embossed hardcovers. I finally picked up The Ninth Rain after saying “screw it!” to my reading schedule and squeezing it in. I loved it. I see the hype and I want to further destroy my reading schedule and read the next two books!

This is honestly one of the most fascinating fantasy worlds I have ever read about and I am so intrigued by everything. Let’s get a bit of non-spoilery history. This world is perennially attacked by insectoid invaders called the Jure’lia and they’ve always been defended by the elf-like Eborans who beat back the invaders. Unfortunately, after the Eighth Rain the Eboran’s life sustaining tree, Ygseril, died and with it the Eborans began to wane. The remnants of the Jure’lia’s most recent invasion linger on and around the world and places where these remnants are found attract deadly spirits.

Now, let’s talk about characters since there’s some context now. Vintage de Grazon is a researcher of the Jure’lia artifacts and she’s accompanied by Tormalin, her Eboran bodyguard/assistant. He’s paid in unlimited wine, because the de Grazon family own substantial vineyards. There’s also a young woman named Fell-Noon held prisoner in a tower because she’s a fellwitch who wields deadly green fire. Lastly, there’s Hestillion, Tormalin’s sister and one of the few Eborans who remain in Ebora. She’s dedicated her life and skill as a dreamwalker to reawakening Ygseril and restoring her people to their former glory. 

Vintage is delightfully odd and calls everyone “my dear” – she’s like the cool, weird aunt who always shows up with cool stuff and has traveled the world. Tormalin seems like a dandy because he’s spectacularly dressed and drinks like a fish, but he’s actually a good person. Noon is… understandably troubled by her past and her current situation, as she promptly breaks out of her prison and joins up with Vintage and Tormalin. The trio of them have fantastic rapport and together they set off to discover the secrets of the spirits and the Jure’lia artifacts. Hestillion is a bit of an outlier at first, but it quickly becomes clear how she plays into the overarching plot. She has ominous vibes. 

The Ninth Rain is 100% one of the most unique fantasy books I’ve read in probably forever. I loved it completely and I will now fangirl about it along with Elliot Brooks. The Jure’lia are the creepiest bad guys – INSECT ALIENS YA’LL. It’s like War of the Worlds with giant grubs that devour everything and beetles that eat your eyeballs out and then control your body and the only ones who can defeat them are the vampire elves with their magic tree! I will be reading the next installment soon because the ending left me shook.