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Aldo is scared of his father; who barely stops short of physically harming his adopted son from fear of upsetting his wife. He thinks that Aldo is a burden and useless, ignoring the blatant talent he has for carving wood. Is it because Aldo is not his own? He and his wife had tried for years to have a child, only to suffer loss after loss. After one such loss, they find a baby – merely weeks old – wrapped up against the cold on their doorstep. His wife is immediately besotted, but Aldo’s father isn’t so sure of the babe. His skin is too dark for the northern tribe folk, singling him out as different. Include the strange, tear-shaped birthmark on his wrist, and, well. The boy is never going to fit in.
Aldo dreams of warmer climes, other people with the same colour skin as him. He has strange visions, which are followed by blinding headaches. He hates his life in the frozen north and he hates cowering from the man who raised him.
Tears of Prophecy starts off really, really strong. The prologue gripped me; especially the way that Genethliou manages to portray the nameless woman’s fear, melancholy and grief. He never names her, however, you feel as though you know her and have lived through the tragic events she’s recently experienced along with her. You weep with her, your heart breaks for her and you wish her all the very best when she melts into the night. It’s a tremendous opening.
However, when we get into the main text, Genethliou seems to lose momentum – especially with Aldo. I didn’t really care for him, despite him being the protagonist. I was more interested in the sub-plot with the scholars far to the south.
Despite this, Tears of Prophecy is still a decent read, and the first book in his series of The World of Prophecy. I’m excited to see where the saga goes from here.
S. A.
Tears of Prophecy is available to buy here
This review was originally written as part of the Reedsy Discovery ARC program. You can read the original review here