The world building and magic system in this book is unique and absolutely fascinating, on a par with Brandon Sanderson.

I found the perspective between characters shifting a bit too fast for me and that was a bit disconcerting for me.
Would love to read a prequel book based on the first chapter.

A big thank you to netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure this one was specifically for me. At first, I really thought it would pull me in, but I found it hard to get through at times. I would recommend it because the characters are all fun to read about.

Grieving Gold is already going to be one of my favorite books of 2024! Grieving Gold is a beautifully written epic fantasy that combines elements of fantasy and horror with a steampunk twist. The book centers around a diverse set of characters, including a conman/ex-noble on the run, a successful military general trying to make amends with his estranged sibling, a naive but extremely intelligent scientist who may also be a spy, a determined and dangerous huntress from the deep, and a street urchin who can only think of vengeance. The author elegantly weaves each of these stories together, while also giving each character their own voice and attention. The book is action-packed with well-developed characters and dynamic world building. If you're looking for an imaginative, fast-paced, gripping read with a cast of complex characters and fantastic world building, I cannot recommend Grieving Gold enough. Easy five stars! I can't wait for the next book!

Find your strength in the light, or lose your chains in the darkness.

Luminocity is a city bathed in the light of three godly suns. It's on the brink of war, while something dark and eldritch is bubbling beneath its surface.

Five main characters have to navigate the city's complexities: Lax, a disowned nobleman who now makes a living through daring heists; his brother, Val, an officer who is desperate to please his dying father and protect the city from imminent invasion; Dawb, a street urchin who witness unspeakable horrors happening to his friends; Ilumi, a young and eager scientist with a secret mission; and Aiana, an underground warrior who wants to prove herself. In addition, there is the mysterious Duke, a dark and sinister force, who makes his way through the city.

My biggest issue with this book is trying to follow the multiple POVs. Aside from the five main characters, we're also given brief POVs from minor characters who experience something that may contribute to the overall plot. That made it hard to follow and at times I struggled to continue. The world-building is very complex and I had to keep my wits about me. That doesn't make the book bad – in fact, I found the world-building quite interesting, especially the South American twists.

My favourite character was Lax. I'm a sucker for heists, particularly in fantasies and I enjoyed his prowess. Ilumi is another great character – her secret or ultimate goal is never really explained to the reader and I'm intrigued.

The author has said he's influenced by Brandon Sanderson and that is quite clear. I'm quite sure I can see how he draws from books like 'Mistborn'. I think this book is worthwhile if you persevere but it is quite long. It's the first in what I believe is a series. I'm interested to find out what happens to the characters next, and I hope the next book comes quickly because with a storyline this intricate and with so many strands, I'll probably forget most of it before book two and I don't think I'm willing to read such a long book again! A valiant first effort.

Grieving Gold is the first book in a series that promises to thrill and captivate readers. The book is a fast-paced read that will keep you on the edge of your seat. McDaniel has crafted an expansive world with detailed settings and intricate magic systems to transport you to a new and exciting realm. The well-developed characters have unique personalities, complex motivations, and fascinating backstories that make them come alive on the page. The plot is equally impressive, full of suspense, twists, and turns that will keep you guessing until the end. If you're a fan of fantasy novels and looking for something new and exciting, this series is a must-read.

This is the start to one heck of an epic fantasy series. Grieving Gold follows numerous characters story lines and they don't all intersect within the first read. Each character is thoroughly developed as the book leads you through political intrigue, something dark festering beneath the surface, a new take on magic, and various relationships.

Since there were so many different PoVs, you could easily get lost with who was doing what, but the story is well developed and pulls you in. I can't wait for the next book!

Great world building! Enjoyed the Author's writing skills. A must have for any book collection. Received a free ARC copy from NetGalley. Look forward to more from the new voice.

I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down. Massive thanks to netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I unfortunately did not have a great time reading this book. The writing style was not for me. I do think it was a good story overall but its not one I would recommend over other fantasy books.

I felt like this book was mildly hard to follow. I liked the concept and some of the characters but it felt choppy to me and that made it feel like a slower read.

This fantasy story is about Luminocity. It is an ancient city built on the rotting remains of an old humanity, stood among the skeleton ruins, been there for years, decaying, all voided with deadly and creepy buildings that are surrounded with misguided history.
In the metropolis, affluent men can have destitute loved ones. There are street creatures that may feel like kings, superiors, when they have the proper good people as family. But no matter what happens, the three suns and three gods above them keep an eye on all things, shining their light and fueling whatever keeps mankind going. But there is a fourth sun, a fourth god, whom mankind took for granted. There are several different characters that push the storyline in different light/prospective. They all have different lives and have different perspective to life.
However, when conflict is developing, it could be different from the typical border skirmish that most people are aware of. Beings are haunting the city, and they appear to have their tentacles in all kinds of pies.

Truth be told, with regards to the world structure, it required me investment to understand and imagine the world. Yet, as the story advances, everything appeared to be enclosed by a bow and as the plot and the characters got together, it got really fascinating.

This has SO MUCH potential!

There is so much to love here but I just couldn’t give it a higher rating as there were a few things that really dragged it down for me.

Positives:
The magic system and the world building is really interesting and I really enjoyed how we were introduced to everything. No info-dumping in sight, we just learnt and were shown how things worked as we went which I loved.
The characters we got to see most of I really loved and I soon found their voices really distinctive. I also loved that all of the characters felt really nuanced and developed - no one seemed too one dimensional which was great. #
The plot was complex and engaging - full of twists and turns for each character and I was constantly wanting to know what would happen next.
Pacing was really well managed - something which can be really tricky with so many POVs.

So that’s the positives (and they are really strong positives!) but for me the revolving door of POVs made it impossible to really sink into the story and enjoy the read. I’m not a huge fan of split POVs at the best of times, but there were just so many characters here I struggled to identify each one and struggled even more to connect with them. I genuinely think if some of the POVs had been emitted I would have been rating this much higher, or even if each chapter had the character’s name at the beginning I think that would have really helped. Each character did have a really distinct voice but particularly at the beginning when I was trying to get to grips with a lot of characters, and then later when we would randomly have another POV thrown in, it was difficult to make the switch.

I am really torn on whether I will read the next installment. On the one hand the characters, world building, writing and plot were all genuinely excellent - but I found it really challenging to have so many POVs and they really detracted from my enjoyment (and I’m not sure I want to put myself through the torture of reading something so close to being excellent but not quite hitting it).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC

You definitely got straight into the action with this one. It took me a while to figure out what was happening. On the whole I think it was a good story but I didn't overly enjoy it. I didn't particularly like any of the characters. It also felt like it was hard work to read for me.

Very original fantasy/science-fiction novel

The first in a series, this novel is based in a fantasy world influenced by Central American traditions and food. Many of the characters have "powers" linked to their blood (lies, chances, weight etc..) and are well-developed. The action takes place above and below the city of Luminocity and there's a lot going on in the plot which moves along at a good steady pace. It's entertaining and engaging with a slight horror element thrown in. I look forward to the next volume. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Grieving Gold is the debut novel of Hungarian-born author Daniel Makk, writing under the pen name of Daniel McDaniel. The tale is set in the city of Luminocity, built upon the grounds of an ancient civilsation. And something is hiding in the darkness…

I do have a few quibbles with this book. This is a multiple point of view story, told by five different narrators, with standalone chapters from various side characters scattered through the book. Whilst an MPV structure isn’t in itself an issue for me, the sheer number of characters, combined with the chapter lengths do make the pace of the overall story relatively slow. I also felt that the magic system introduced in the book needed more detail – it’s left relatively undefined. This is the first book of an intended series, however, so there is time yet to rectify both of these issues.

A strong debut novel likely to appeal to fans of Brandon Sanderson and Brent Weekes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, Endless Equinox, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

•Hard Worldbuilding
•Dark Secrets
•Dark Twists
•Bizarre Ritual
•Multifaceted Characters
•Political Intrigues
•Technology and Experiments
•War
•Five POVs

There is a thing about fantasy that you must dive into it completely. It immerse you and doesn’t let you go until the dark secrets and twists reveal themselves . The characters have a complex relationships. There are multiples perspectives. The world building is heavy and jaw dropping. The characters are mysterious and multifaceted. The description is epic. This is a great beginning to an epic fantasy series. The book has a blend of genres like horror, science fiction and fantasy.

Luminocity is an ancient city and it stands on the decaying ruins of the ancient civilisation. There are three sun gods and one mysterious god. The book has a scary beginning. There was some experiment being carried on by a the scientists on a woman called Liz yet as a reader I was oblivion to her identity. Then the author takes us deep inside the epic world of light and shadow and introduced me with the characters. The revelation at the end shook me. The author has kept the mystery till the end. The twists and turns were so unpredictable.

Laxerion Tama is holding grudge against his father but when the news of his father being on death bed arrives, he has to go with his brother Val as his father summons them both to divide the family wealth. Yet there are buried secrets and truth. His father is harbouring secrets. As soon as he go there, he gets to know about everything. War is on the brink of horizon and the outcome of the test is harbouring some secrets. After so many unexplainable things happens in the plot, Ilumi, a young scientist arrives in Luminosity. She is harbouring a secret too. She finds a woman and save her. There is a mystery of a huntress and history of women hunters. Aiana is dealing with her demons. Duke is trying to find the thief’s and there is a young urchin searching for monsters who hovers in the night. The ending gave me the hint of vengeance. Can’t wait to read next book,

Thank you Netgalley, Author and Publisher,

Thank you NetGalley, Endless Equinox, and the author for an eARC in return for my honest review.

It has been a long time since I've read a book with such detailed and epic world-building. As I was reading, I could see the world like watching a movie. However, there were times when I wanted more action and less world-building. It's because the action scenes are so well written, and, again, you can envision the scenes in your mind's eye like a movie. Also, there were times when I found specific details weren't necessary to the story, and those details interrupted the flow of the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters. There are a ton of characters, main and side, but they are all well-developed, so you'll love reading about each of them. The chapters are written in different main characters' POVs so you get to know all of them very well. I did find myself audibly going "oooh" when the author revealed how the main characters are interconnected.

I am very excited for the next book!

4/5 stars; 0/5 spice

It's interesting. It's enticing. It hits a niche spot that I didn't know I needed scratching.

I absolutely love this book. It's refreshing and different - and don't be surprised when I reread this book later in the year.

The only thing that may deter you is how confusing the book is. It jumbles around with the characters, but it's smoothly written once we overlap.

I'm so excited to see what comes next! I need a new series to fan over!

I found this book difficult to get into as multiple characters with diverse stories switch from very early on. The double prologue was also more confusing than helpful. The various alien concepts, strings, multiple suns, etc., are something you gain understanding of as you read through.

The above paragraph is not negative, just reflective. I found the book very clever indeed. Clever story line, clever character development. It'd be interesting to know where the author got his inspiration from (e.g. Rowling in Edinburgh, Tolkein in Namibia/RSA). I found myself reading it quickly as it was very immersive and a bit of a page turner!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy. Thoroughly good read.

Not quite sure what to write as I enjoyed this book in parts because it was literally split into interleaving parts!

Whilst I liked the characters and the original locations, I felt the book, as a whole, did not quite come together. Sad really as there are some fascinating characters, locations and concepts.

The fact that I only scored it 3 Stars should not put you off you reading this book as the series has enormous potential and I will certainly be looking for part 2.