The Wandering Gold is an action packed debut YA Fantasy-Adventure novel set in an Asian-based empire during a war between the Imperials (Fyrrainians) and the assassins in the snowy North (Northerners). The reluctant protagonist is a twelve-year-old girl whose magical healing abilities force her to fight in the war.

Wonderful book

A young Healer finds herself in the middle of a years long war between the Fyrrainian Empire and the Northerners in this debut fantasy. Riverlei Gold is only twelve, but possesses a great power that has somehow led her to become a prisoner of the Empire she is forced to serve. As part of this service, she is sent to the front along with new companions where she starts to learn more about herself, and her powers.

I really wanted to enjoy this book because this had so much potential right from the beginning. A story of two fighting nations may seem common these days in fantasy novels, but done right, it could still be as entertaining and fascinating as if you've read this kind of story for the first time. I found the two warring nations here sufficiently distinguished so that wasn't too much of a issue.

The pacing was odd at times. I wasn't sure if we were rushing or slowing down. There were some word choices in the writing I found odd as well, and wondered often if that was really important to the character development or not.

The main character shines at times, and in other times I found her grating on my nerves. At the end of the book, I still didn't know what to make of her. I just thought that this book could have been a lot better with more editing, and a few more revisions.

In sum, I think this book will appeal more to younger readers, and those who are new to the fantasy genre.

I give this three stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc!

Twelve-year-old Riverlei Gold is the only child ever to serve the Emperors of Fyrrain. As a magical Healer--one of less than twenty in existence--Riverlei is chosen to venture to the Northern Frontier where the fighting between the two warring countries of the North and Fyrrain is most intense. With an assassin trained to kill magic-wielders hot on her tail, a betrayal destined to fall when she least expects it, and deadly memories of her family resurfacing, Riverlei must choose between protecting Fyrrain or protecting her secrets.
I loved the detail the author went into when it came to the magic system of the book. I liked the characters, but I couldn't relate to them which gave me a hard time connecting with them. The book kept a great pace for the most part with little time of it being slow.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Riverlei Gold, though only 12 years of age, has been working forcibly for the Empire since she was seven. She’s a Healer, a very rare magic user, and spends her day using Ingredients to heal any who are brought to her. With a war raging in the Northern Frontier, Healers are in high demand, especially as they keep ending up killed. Riverlei must do as she’s told, and so she finds herself heading to the warfront, hunted by assassins and haunted by secrets.

This was a good read overall. The author included some in depth details concerning the magic system of this world, which was quite interesting. I enjoyed how the use of Ingredients aided in the Healing magic depending on their properties. The rest of the worldbuilding was solid, but I felt that more cultural details could have been included to make the characters, culture, and world more immersive.

The work started off strong, introducing the characters well and situating them within the world. But by the middle, the plot slowed down drastically, and there were several different places where the story ground to a halt. This made it a little difficult to maintain interest in the story during the middle, but the plot picked up again in the last quarter of the work. This also made the tension of Riverlei being hunted by different factions not really be apparent during these sections of the story.

While the characters were fine overall, there were none that really stood out to me based off their personality, characteristics, or mannerisms. They were all just a little bit bland. Riverlei didn’t really read like she was 12 years old to me, either – her voice came across as much older generally. I did enjoy her relationship with Sho and Tai, and felt that the back-and-forth between those characters was well written.

There were a few errors, such as a missing word and a few uses of incorrect punctuation, but they didn’t detract much from the work since there weren’t many.

Overall this was a solid fantasy read set in a pseudo-Asian world.

I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.