Gorgeous prose, rich South Asian mythology, and stories nested within stories!!


The story follows a mysterious storyteller called Ari, who has the ability to perform magical bindings of old. It reminded me of Patrick Rothfuss's <i>The Name of The Wind</i> in how the story was framed, with the current day setting bleeding into the past with each retelling that Ari performs to a songstress he meets early on in the book.

The first 20% of the book felt harder to get into because there were some instances of overexplaining, although I understand that this might be because of the tradition of storytelling that R.R. Virdi has done research on. That said, because storytelling in the past was done orally, this might be why it doesn't quite translate as well in text at times.

Despite my issues with the initial pacing, it definitely picked up more afterwards, so don't let the first part of the book put you off!! The rest of the book is worth the wait!

I really loved learning about Ari's past and how it shaped his experiences and who he became. I'm not sure yet that I understand who he is now, but the lead-up feels natural and I look forward to reading more in the next installment! I would also really love to learn more about Eloine, his love interest, just because she seems to have such an interesting backstory but so far too much of the story is focused on how beautiful she is and how she has an effect on men, which can feel a bit tired at times. She clearly has so much more to offer and I wanted to see more into her past!!

Overall, a great start to an epic fantasy with intricate worldbuilding and a complex magic system.

Can't wait to read more!

The world was so interesting and intricate, It was certainly my favorite part of the book. I really enjoyed it. I also liked the characters, they were easy to follow along, although I did have some trouble getting into the whole thing at the start. I did think that the book had some pacing issues, some boring moments here and there, but I still enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to whatever the author brings next!

I'll admit it took a little while to get into the story but as it became a retelling between Ari and his mysterious new friend he gifted a name to, the story picked up and was very interesting.
I really enjoyed seeing Ari change through the story and desperately would like to know where his childhood story leaves off to how he got to become The Storyteller.
Eloine is utterly mysterious and I kept wondering who she'd turn out to be every time a new girl's name was mentioned from Ari's past.
The book ends so abruptly I felt like I'd just been slapped and, like I said, desperately want some missing pieces filled in. It's a big book so you'd wonder how you could possibly be left with mysteries, cliff hangers and wanting more, but I absolutely do!

The First Binding

I am SO for any book that includes South Asian representation!

The prose was flowery and lyrical - unnecessarily descriptive at times - but R. R Virdi is obviously extremely talented with words.

I loved the concept of the main character - a travelling storyteller - and I thought this fit well with the style of story, but I didn't always connect and empathise with Ari.

The magic system was excellent and totally unique. You can tell the author put a lot of thought into how it works, and did not just copy other fantasy styles.

Overall, this book is significant and many people will enjoy it. It's not my favourite, but I think it is important that books like this are written.

I really couldn't get along with this book at all- the writing style was very elaborate, almost overwritten in places(especially at the beginning), which had the effect of making the whole story seem quite stiff and stage-y, and the characters all come off as a bit pompous. In the end, I didn't really care about their story the way the writer clearly did- I got tired of being told that they were important and magical et cetera et cetera. I imagine if you really love high fantasy in the style of The Name of the Wind, you'll really like this- the two share a bunch of DNA. But as for me, I didn't enjoy it at all.

I really wanted to like this book but it was written in a style which put me off rather than drew me in. Also I found the main character, Ari, very difficult to identify with as he was not a very likeable character and so I found I had little interest in him or his stories.

An interesting premise but ultimately the style came across as pretentious and simply wasn't for me.

While RR Virdi's writing is descriptive, I found the delivery of the story to be tedious at best. The main character, Ari, is a mysterious storyteller who likes to work his crowd up into a curious, captivated frenzy before he finally gives them a tale. The book is written in much the same way - drips and drabs of information that leave you with more questions than answers, with the intention of spurring you into reading on. Instead, it left me frustrated and impatient. I would not be sitting in a tavern with bated breath waiting for one of Ari's tales, either, as the questions I had were not burning enough for the wait to be worth the answers, and as a result the story felt as self-important as Ari was.

Ari, as a whole, was an unlikable and quite frankly pretentious character. I had no investment or interest in his journey or his success, nor that of anyone he crossed paths with.

It's a shame and I do wish that I had enjoyed it more, as the worldbuilding is rich and detailed, and there was some interesting lore.

It quite simply wasn't for me, but there is most definitely an audience who will love this.

It took me a chapter or two to really get into this book due to it being slightly different then what I'm used to. However, after that initial difficulty I loved it! The writing is beautiful and the world is so different and unique. Im big on world building so it was very refreshing to see something so different and well thought out. I also adored the characters, who doesn't love a mysterious bard.

100% buying this as a physical copy the minute it comes out.

I really enjoyed this book, it is well written with a good storyline, well developed characters and a good level of world building. I look forward to reading more by this author.