The Daughters' War

January 1, 2024

Set in the same magical fantasy world of Buehlman's LJ-starred The Blacktongue Thief, this prequel hails back to the times of the goblin wars when Galva has just joined the army's new Raven Knights, with their giant war corvids, hoping to vanquish the goblin horde that has overrun the city. With a 150K-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2024

The first war against the goblins was the Knights' War, because the Knights of Gallardia won. The second was the Threshers' War, because the goblins sliced through the once-invincible knights like threshers through a field of grain. Now comes the Daughters' War, because the Gallardians' daughters (aided by hard-to-defeat war-ravens) are all they have left to send into battle against the goblins. This is the story of how the hard-bitten Galva of The Blacktongue Thief came to be that exceptional knight, and of her coming of age through the loss of innocence, faith, and hope. It's also the story of how Galva, her ravens, and her cohort win the war, lose the peace, and hide as best they can from the consequences that are coming for them. VERDICT Readers who were caught up in the political shenanigans, hopeless battles, and pyrrhic victories of Brian McClellan's In the Shadow of Lightning or Daniel Abraham's Age of Ash will be enthralled, while those who like their grimdark fantasy to trip over into horror will find similarities between the characters of Galva and Alex Easton from T. Kingfisher's What Feasts at Night.--Marlene Harris

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 29, 2024
Buehlman builds on the lore of his Blacktongue series with this thrilling prequel to The Blacktongue Thief. It’s presented as the journal of Galva dom Braga, who recalls her journey to and experiences in the goblin wars, dwelling on memories of late friends and lovers and supplementing her account with letters from family members. To save humanity from goblin occupation, Galva is off to join an all-female unit tasked with fighting the goblins using their corvid companions, large mutated attack birds. She marches across Gallardia with her brothers Pol, Migaéd, and Amiel, each of whom is in a different squad of the Western Army of the Illuminated Kingdom of Ispanthi. Readers know from the start that Galva survives, but all other lives hang in the balance, and Galva’s unwavering love for her imperiled friends and family keeps the stakes of the many battles high. The result is an introspective look into how Galva came to be a fierce warrior. Series fans looking for insight into Buehlman’s badass heroine’s psyche will want to check this out.

Starred review from May 15, 2024
Galva dom Braga, the only daughter of a powerful duke, has enlisted in an experimental unit. She is a Corvid Knight and commands two giant birds that are the newest weapon the kynd have against their goblin invaders. Also fighting in the war are Galva's three brothers, each of whom holds an important position in the army. The goblins are vicious, and Buehlman does not spare the reader descriptions of the atrocities committed during the battles. He excels at characterization, and readers will mourn the losses just as much as Galva does. In this prequel to the The Blacktongue Thief (2021), Buehlman fills in the gaps of Galva's life prior to the events of that book. Readers see how Galva became a hardened warrior and how her past traumas and losses in the goblin wars shaped her. While The Blacktongue Thief was sardonic and employed dark humor throughout, The Daughters' War is stark and serious like its main character. Fans of the previous book will relish this prequel, while those who have never read Blacktongue will find much to enjoy in this unflinching look at family, loss, love, and war. Highly recommended for all fantasy collections.

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