The Heron Kings

Starred review from February 10, 2020
Lewis’s excellent debut introduces a band of well-drawn outlaws who don’t care who wins the civil war that’s ravaging their land, just so long as it ends. Young healer Alessia abandons her monastic order when it bows to the bloodthirsty General Taurix, peasant Ulnoth is out for revenge after soldiers murder his family, and soldier Corren leaves his battalion to avoid killing innocents. Though their personalities initially clash, the deserters band together in a forest encampment, where they attract other refugees. But living peacefully proves impossible, and the three new leaders enact a cunning, deadly defense against the increasingly vicious armies. When they learn that the warring armies might themselves be pawns in a larger political game, it’s up to Alessia, Ulnoth, and Corren to stop the violence once and for all. The central trio are marvelously realized, and their developments amid the ongoing horrors are effortlessly convincing. Readers who love medieval-esque fantasy will delight in this rousing tale of rebellion.

February 15, 2020
There's a Robin Hood feel to Lewis' debut, as average citizens rise up against the warmongering upper class with justified anger. Sister Alessia abandons her temple when a warlord slaughters patients and threatens to destroy the temple itself if she continues to help the opposing side's injured. While searching for somewhere to establish a hospital, she encounters Ulnoth, whose farm and family were destroyed, and Corren, a disillusioned soldier who realizes the meager pay isn't worth the atrocities he is being asked to commit. Together, they struggle to survive, rescue several others, and accidentally grow into a community. With Corren's military training, every person is taught to fight, and everyone learns their own limits. They wander the countryside, launching guerrilla raids against both sides in order to survive, and stumble upon key information that could change the course of the war. Readers will root for the found family as they look for a way to get the information to the squabbling nobility?and convince them it's real?without risking their newly established community.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)