The Ranger of Marzanna

by Jon Skovron

Overview

When their father is murdered by imperial soldiers, two siblings set out on opposite paths—one will destroy the Empire forever and the other will save it—in this thrilling new epic fantasy.


Sonya is training to be a Ranger of Marzanna, an ancient sect of warriors who have protected the land for generations. But the old ways are dying, and the rangers have all been forced into hiding or killed off by the invading Empire.


When her father is murdered by imperial soldiers, she decides to finally take action. Using her skills as a ranger she will travel across the bitter cold tundra and gain the allegiance of the only other force strong enough to take down the invaders.


But nothing about her quest will be easy. Because not everyone is on her side. Her brother, Sebastian, is the most powerful sorcerer the world has ever seen. And he's fighting for the empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316454629
Publisher:	Orbit
Publication date:	04/21/2020
Series:	The Goddess War , #1
Pages:	528
Sales rank:	480,895
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Jon Skovron is the author of The Empire of Storms Trilogy and several young adult novels. His short stories have appeared in publications such as ChiZine and Baen's Universe. He lives just outside Washington, D.C. with his two sons and two cats.

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/03/2020

Skovron (Empire of Storms) launches his Slavic-influenced Goddess War series with this intricate, well-told fantasy. Sixteen-year-old Sebastian Turgenev Portinari has a rare talent for elemental magic, but his skills are inhibited by his father’s efforts to keep them a secret from the ruthless Aureumian Imperial Army, who recently conquered their homeland of Izmoroz. Sebastian’s sister, 18-year-old Sonya, is hiding her own secrets from the empire: she’s the last of the renowned Rangers of Marzanna, the devoted disciples of the Goddess of Winter, who the empire believes it exterminated. Where Sebastian is immature, sensitive, and vulnerable to the influence of others, Sonya is devoted to her relationship with the goddess and determined to reclaim Izmoroz from the Aureumian invaders. After imperial soldiers kill their father, the siblings are transported to the capital city, where Sebastian is conscripted into the army and persuaded by volatile Cdr. Franko Vittorio to use his powers in service of the empire, setting him and Sonya on a collision course. Both perspectives are depicted with depth and nuance, making the inevitability of their confrontation all the more painful. Skovron does an admirable job balancing large-scale and interpersonal conflicts, and strong supporting characters and cultural specificity add texture. This is epic fantasy done right. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Skovron launches his Slavic-influenced Goddess War series with this intricate, well-told fantasy.... This is epic fantasy done right."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Ranger of Marzanna

"The worldbuilding is solid, the action is nonstop, and Skovron's overall character development is exceptional (especially when it comes to the female main characters, who are all brilliantly multidimensional and identifiable) ... An undeniable page-turner that will have readers salivating for the next volume of this projected trilogy."—Kirkus on The Ranger of Marzanna

"The Ranger of Marzanna pits brother against sister in a bewitching, snow-swept world, where political schemes collide with the machinations of a death goddess. A magical tale of power and sacrifice, manipulation and betrayal."—Melissa Caruso, author of The Tethered Mage

From the Publisher

2020-01-27
The first installment of the new adventure fantasy trilogy from Skovron (Blood and Tempest, 2017, etc.) revolves around two siblings who find themselves on opposite sides of a looming war.

It's been years since the Aureumian Empire effectively conquered the impoverished nation of Izmoroz, but Sonya Turgenev Portinari—a ranger from a presumably defunct group of supernatural warriors who are devotees of Marzanna, the Goddess of Winter and Death—has vowed to get the empire out of Izmoroz so that her oppressed people can worship the Lady freely again. When she discovers that imperial soldiers killed her father and abducted her mother and younger brother, Sebastian, she is shocked to realize that her brother—who is a powerful elemental mage—has enlisted in the imperial army and is using his magical ability to further the empire. With only a young apothecary named Jorge accompanying her, Sonya—who is slowly being transformed into a foxlike deity of sorts by Marzanna—sets out to gather allies in her fight against the empire. As Sonya finds support in the unlikeliest of places, Sebastian’s life is complicated when he falls in love and is betrothed to a woman named Galina. But as his love for her intensifies, so does his duty to the empire—and he soon finds himself using his power to kill. Although the worldbuilding is solid, the action is nonstop, and Skovron’s overall character development is exceptional (especially when it comes to the female main characters, who are all brilliantly multidimensional and identifiable), the one major weakness is the portrayal of Sebastian, whose staunch idealism and naiveté through much of the novel are both irritating and improbable, especially considering the fact that empire soldiers murdered his father.

An undeniable page-turner that will have readers salivating for the next volume of this projected trilogy.

Kirkus Reviews