Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky

A standalone, action-packed pseudo-Napoleonic historical fantasy adventure from the esteemed author of the Shadows of the Apt series.

Denland and Lascanne have been allies for generations, but now the Denlanders have assassinated their king, overthrown the monarchy and marched on their northern neighbour. At the border, the war rages; Lascanne's brave redcoats against the revolutionaries of Denland.

Emily Marshwic has watched the war take her brother-in-law and now her young brother. Then comes the call for more soldiers, to a land already drained of husbands, fathers and sons. Every household must give up one woman to the army and Emily has no choice but to join the ranks of young women marching to the front.

In the midst of warfare, with just enough training to hold a musket, Emily comes face to face with the reality: the senseless slaughter; the weary cynicism of the Survivor's Club; the swamp's own natives hiding from the conflict.

As the war worsens, and Emily begins to have doubts about the justice of Lascanne's cause, she finds herself in a position where her choices will make or destroy both her own future and that of her nation. @goodreads

MY REVIEW:

4 STARS 

I killed my first man today

Yes, the cover is what pulled me in but the blurb sounded good so I went for it. The beginning started out good and then it switched to telling the story of how it all began. I thought it was a little bland during those parts.

Emily and her family are upstanding citizens in their town. Their father owned a printing shop until he (lets just say, died.) They have a large home and Emily lives there with her sisters, Alice & Mary, Mary's husband, Tubal and their baby Francis and Emily's brother Rodric. There are also servents, etc.

And then. . . . Denland launches a war on Lascanne and Tubal and Rodric get drafted to go fight. No one wants this of course but they keep saying they will win if they just get more men on the field.

And then . . . . they wanted women on the field so instead of sending one of the servants like some other people have done, Emily goes herself.

. . . and I breathe it like the air, now. The smell of the guns is become to me like water to a fish: a thing I take for granted. At first it was simply something that I did not notice any more. Now it is a part of my life I cannot live without. There is power in pulling a trigger: power over the world, in that split moment of sound and fury.

Emily has been trained with other women. She has watched her friends die and come too close to death herself. But, she fights on and on and on.

Maybe it was just me, but there are some warlocks in the book and I'm not sure why they didn't just blow everyone up. I might have missed something though.

One of my favorite characters was Mallen, he was just too cool and he saved Emily many times over.

I thought this was a really good book that drags you <-- literally, through swamps and fighting and a revelation that is too shocking for Emily to believe. To me the revelation wasn't all that surprising knowing how the world works. It was just sad at all the needless deaths and things.

Overall, it was a really good book and I loved Emily's bravery.

GOODREADS REVIEW:

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1937048982