Review: Sand and Ruin and Gold by Alexis Hall

Sand and Ruin and Gold

by Alexis Hall

Published by Riptide Publishing

Ebook (received from Publisher via NetGalley, thank you!)

LGBT, fantasy, romance, short story

 

Once upon a time . . . that’s how the old stories always begin.

Once upon a time there was a king of a fallen kingdom. He was just and he was beloved. Or so the numbers said. One day, he gathered together the greatest, wisest minds in all the land—not sorcerers, but scientists—and he bade them fashion him a son. A prince. A perfect prince to embody his father’s legacy.

The scientists each brought the prince a gift: beauty, strength, ambition, intellect, pride. But they must have forgotten something because when he saw the mermaids dance at the Cirque de la Mer, he ran away to join them.

For a year, he trained them, performed with them, thought he was happy. For a year he thought he was free. But then Nerites came: A merman who refused to be tamed. A captive from another kingdom. A beast in a glass cage.

The old stories always end with happy ever after. But this isn’t one of the old stories. This is a story of princes and monsters.



I was excited about this one. How could I not be? I mean, mermans. And princes and monsters, and there was no doubt how much I yearned to read Sand and Ruin and Gold. The only disappointment was how short the story was. I could've read three hundred pages about the Prince and Neritas and the Cirque de la Mer and the whole world that we only got a climpse.

The atmosphere of the story was unique, calm and fairytale like, even though it had a little bit melancholy feeling on it. I truly enjoyed it and it was perfect read after hectic day. Hall's writing was flowing and just perfect for the story.

The story and its characters were really good and as I said, I could've read three hundred pages of this. However, there was so many mysteries left, especially when it comes to the Mers and it was good because reader doesn't need to know everything always. The Prince was good, solid narrator, really sweet, caring and intriguing - especially since he was created by scientist and wasn't like normal humans. It gave the story quite interesting twist as the Prince's and Neritas tender love story formed. The Prince wasn't like other humans and Neritas wasn't human at all. It was almost charming and intrigued heck out of me - still does. There were also lots of great thoughts about freedom and underneath, what's right and wrong. It was such a thoughtful, calm and so enjoyable story. I'd loved to learn more about the world, though, since it seemed to be almost like dystopian world.

Truly enjoyable and great short story. It's not very long, thirty-nine pages so that's the only downside. Great read after busy day, though, and I loved how I could devour it on one sitting. Hall did a good job and I can honestly recommend this to everyone who enjoys merfolk stories as this one gives a little different kind of story about merfolk, and humans of course.

4 of 5 stars.

Sand and Ruin and Gold on Goodreads.

 

Thank you, Riptide Publishing, for giving me a chance to read and review The Circus of the Damned!

(A copy of this ebook was provided in return for an honest review.)