The Copper Promise

The Copper Cat #1

by Jen Williams

There are some far-fetched rumours about the caverns beneath the Citadel…

Some say the mages left their most dangerous secrets hidden there; others, that great riches are hidden there; even that gods have been imprisoned in its darkest depths.

For Lord Frith, the caverns hold the key to his vengeance. Against all the odds, he has survived torture and lived to see his home and his family taken from him … and now someone is going to pay. For Wydrin of Crosshaven and her faithful companion, Sir Sebastian Caverson, a quest to the Citadel looks like just another job. There’s the promise of gold and adventure. Who knows, they might even have a decent tale or two once they’re done.

But sometimes there is truth in rumour.

Soon this reckless trio will be the last line of defence against a hungry, restless terror that wants to tear the world apart. And they’re not even getting paid.

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Epic Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, High Fantasy, Adult

535 pages, Paperback

First published February 13, 2014

About the author

Jen Williams lives in London with her partner and their small ridiculous cat. Having been a fan of grisly fairy tales from a young age, these days Jen writes dark unsettling thrillers with strong female leads, as well as character-driven fantasy novels with plenty of adventure and magic. Her debut novel, The Copper Promise, kicked off the Copper Cat trilogy in 2014, and since then she has twice won the British Fantasy Award for her second trilogy, the Winnowing Flame. Her first thriller, Dog Rose Dirt, was published with HarperCollins in July 2021. Jen has two upcoming releases in 2023: Games for Dead Girls with Harpercollins, and Talonsister with Titan. When she’s not writing books she enjoys messing about with video games and embroidery, and also works as a part-time bookseller and a freelance copywriter.

Reviews

[Charlotte May · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The rumours are true?” Gallo smiled mildly. The urgency that moved through him sometimes was gone again, and instead he was left with the steady thickening of his own blood. “Yes, all the rumours,” he said lightly “and all the nightmares.”

What a pleasant surprise this was! Don’t be fooled by the cutesey front cover – this fantasy has a dark side and I was absolutely hooked.

Mages, magic, sword play, pirates and dragons! What’s not to love?

Wydrin, aka The Copper Cat and her partner in crime Sebastian, an exiled Innsmouth knight work as sell swords. They provide their services to anyone needing protection on adventures, and they’ve been through many dangerous circumstances and travels together.

When they are hired by the mysterious Lord Frith to assist him in breaking into an ancient Citadel, Wydrin thinks they are in for a grand adventure. But they would never predict the drama and magic that is unleashed when they enter the Citadel and what follows after.

I won’t give too much away, but be certain that you are in for a truly wild ride, with demons, curses, magical creatures and lots of wine. There are battles for good and evil, where the lines aren’t always clear, strong friendships that outlast even death and just the tiniest hint of romance (which tbf is more than enough for me haha).

If you like heroic fantasy then I truly urge you to pick this one up – you won’t be disappointed.


*******************************

Why doesn’t this have more hype?
Fantasy fans - stop sleeping on this book! It is so good!!!

[Petrik · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

The Copper Promise should’ve been classified as a collection instead of a full novel.

Believe me; I’m disheartened by my rating towards this book, but an honest review must be given. I’m sorry, Jen Williams, you know how much I loved The Winnowing Flames trilogy. If you’re reading this review, please do not read whatever I write below.

As I said, I absolutely loved The Winnowing Flames trilogy by Jen Williams. The trilogy was completed last year, and it is one of the best trilogies I’ve ever read. If you haven’t read it, fix it ASAP. My super positive reading experience with The Winnowing Flames trilogy was the most significant booster that finalized my decision to go through Jen Williams’s backlog of books. I realize that it can be an odd experience going through an author’s backlog of books, especially when it’s a book that has been published for several years before their newest, and usually, most polished work. This, of course, isn’t always the case; there are also authors that, in my opinion, haven’t been able to write another book that’ triumphs over their own incredible debut. The Copper Promise is Jen Williams’s debut novel, and unfortunately, I have to say that it is a far cry from the brilliant quality shown in The Winnowing Flames trilogy.

I’ll keep this review brief. The Copper Promise doesn’t read like a full novel; many reviews have mentioned this, but it is a collection comprised of four novellas bundled into one. The odd structure of the “novel” was easily the biggest downfall of the book for me. The Copper Promise did start superbly; the first novella—Ghosts of the Citadel—was so incredibly well-crafted as an intro to a series that I honestly thought this book would’ve been able to receive—at least—a 4 stars rating. However, everything that comes after seems to progressively decline in quality. The second and the third novella felt like fillers that are so disjointed from each other. Wyrdin, Sebastian, and Frith were a trio of characters that I felt invested in at first, but as I read through the book further, I somehow ended up feeling more distant and dispassionate towards them. The characters didn’t have any memorable characterizations and developments yet, and by the time I reached the final novella—even though it was quite good—I was already at the point where I simply didn’t care anymore; I never felt like I was scared for the character’s fate and predicament.

I definitely would’ve preferred reading The Copper Promise with a single narrative rather than four different novellas bundled into one package that's marketed as a novel. If you’re going to read this, I highly suggest you treat this book as a collection with separate self-contained novellas instead of a novel. The Copper Promise didn’t click with me, and if I may be brutally honest, I would’ve given up reading Jen Williams’s other books if this was my first experience with her work. Fortunately, I’ve read and totally loved The Winnowing Flames trilogy; I’m still very much looking forward to reading Jen Williams’s newest book in 2021, but I doubt I’ll be continuing with this trilogy, not anytime soon anyway.

You can order the book from: Book Depository (Free shipping)

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!

My Patrons: Alfred, Devin, Hamad, Joie, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas.

[Luna. ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ★☆★☆

Buddy read with the fantasy addicted crew at BB&B

"I could kill for ever."

I actually devoured this book and enjoyed doing it, I can't remember the last time I read a book this size in four days. I have been really busy lately but made sure I had time to read this beauty because I literally had to know what happen next. I loved it. I've just finished it and am already looking for any excuse to do a re-read.



I'm actually really surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, it had everything I look for in a fantasy book. There were times while reading the Copper Promise that I thought to myself 'was this book actually written for me?' It had everything I love in a good fantasy book, some might say the things I love are cliche and well used & I agree they certainly are (dragons, mages, gods & Demons) but if it is well written it stands out from the rest of the cliche type books, this book was certainly well written and very enjoyable. I have been reading a lot of heavy, grim, dark fantasy lately so reading this book was certainly refreshing and it was actually fun to read, I laughed so much through this book and I also LOVED the bad guys like so much I think the 'bad guys' were my favourite thing about this book and I hardly ever say that. I found the battle scenes descriptive and brutal. There was a part in this book were a child was abused and it made me sick to my stomach, a few of the torture scenes were very brutal and horrible reminded me of my old pal Glokta from first law. And guess what !? I didn't cry for once, yay!

I really wanted to give this book 5 stars but it did have a lot of issues but I guess you can expect that with any debut novel, a friend told me that this was a bunch of short stories put into one big story and I guess you can tell that with some of the chapters but it is still readable and a great story. There were times in this book were I honestly was like "this shit is so weird" but not the weird were you feel repulsed it was the type of weird that you have never read before, something you can't quite get your mind around but enjoyed reading, if that makes any sense lol.

Okay now a few things I didn't like; I feel like some things in this book just didn't add up. Another thing I didn't like was in the middle of the book it went off to completely random shit that really had nothing to do with the story, like really why did Wydrin go to her home town to kill a bunch of pirates it just had nothing to do with the plot. Also this book was a little slow after that amazingly EPIC start, I felt a little let down, but I didn't skim the boring parts I actually continued reading because I liked the characters and loved the plot and idea of this book. I feel like the author could have left a few of the chapters out, but I still loved it.

"I changed my mind. It's been a slow morning and I am easily bored. You, fresh - meat. Who would like to die first?" She held up one of her daggers, showing it to the youngest guard. "This one is called frostling, and the other is ashes."
"That's the copper cat," he blurted. "She'll kill us all, and take our bodies back to crosshaven to feed to the graces!"

Kindle cover with our MC's on it.

I loved Wydrin so much, i found her character very likeable and relatable for me, I swear we could be twins. Wydrin is not your typical sassy sell sword MC, she is like a man but she is still feminine, like she can make jokes with the boys, burp louder then a boy and she's a pig but still a lady. The witty comments that Wydrin say left me in stitches she is so rude and it is hilarious she has no filter (like me LOL). She is so loveable I just want to cuddle her. She is totally my number one favourite female book character ever now & she's a crazy brutal warrior who isn't afraid of anything except maybe losing her bestie Seb.

Sir Sebastian is another amazing character, and guess what HE IS A GAY KNIGHT, I no right, coolest shit ever. Like I've never read about a gay warrior before and I was so impressed with how the author portrayed this character. He is not weak or feminine he is a man who is very strong so I'm really glad the author made it realistic. Seb goes through a lot of heartache through this book and on more then one occasion my heart broke for him. HE IS MY PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLL, I felt so protective over Seb. I really truly love him so much and will always remember my gay knight in shining armour *heart eyes* Seb goes through some interesting situations in this book, I would love to see what happens in the next book in regard to his broken pact with bezcavar (the prince of wounds)

Lord Aaron Frith (little princeling as Wydrin likes to say) I had my issues with this character, I found him selfish and an ass throughout the book but couldn't help myself liking him. There was one point at the start were I wanted him to die but he made up for his shitty actions and showed the reader he actually has a heart. The things that Frith went through made my blood boil, he was blood thirsty for revenge and I felt it too. When he actually got his revenge I was cheering out loud, he really FUCKED everyone up and it was amazing. Basically my favourite chapter was when he got his revenge.

"'I love the stories like that' said Wydrin. 'Kings hidden under hills, magic in the ground.' She went quiet for a moment. 'Although the it's less entertaining when it's actually happening to you'"

The brood army is another favourite of mine. Yes they are the bad guys and yes they did horrible things, but I loved them. When they first found the books and were fighting over the words, I fell inlove even when they killed the innocent people wondering if they had 'words' on them I actually laughed out loud. Oops LOL. I love the names they called themselves so much (ephemeral, crocus, toast, talisman, ennui, glorify, belonging & maelstrom) and cannot wait to see how they develop in the next two books.



Y'Ruen my baby, I hated the ending but loved it at the same time. Y'Ruen hands down was my favourite character I LOVE dragons! I like how the author thinks of dragons as evil, huge, intelligent creatures because that's what they are. She isn't like the dragons in GOT (small/useless) she is huge like I mean can burn down one town in one breath, this is how I imagine dragons, so she was spot on for me.

Oh and I nearly forgot to mention it had a bird man & Griffins ! That's how epic this book actually is. It is so magical with lots of magic and explosions, read it now please !

There are so many other characters but I won't mention them because I really couldn't careless for them. I really feel like I should write more for this review but my Brain is not working right now, so I may add more lately or re-edit in a few days.

I recommend this book to everyone who loves classic fantasy and wouldn't mind reading something a little different! So everyone enjoy reading it :D

[Eon Windrunner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read with my friends over at Buddies, Books & Baubles

Reread notes:
This was just as much fun as the previous reads, but this was the first time I was able to tell (even though there are four clearly demarcated parts) that these were a bunch of short stories spliced together and as such the narrative does not always flow well, especially in the middle of the book. I think overall the book would have benefited from a rewrite, but it is still immense fun in it's current format and it is still a book I love. As another positive the second book in this trilogy is WAY better than the first and the third and final book is FANTASTIC and a SUPERB closing book. Also, it has pirates, a brood army, sword fights, magic, griffins, an undead army, mystics, demons and a dragon. Among other things.

Original review:
This book delivered one of those wonderful surprises you get when you didn't expect the serving of awesomesauce just dished up.

I'm not much for detailing what happens in a story, so I will only say that this book reminded me a lot of old school fantasy with , well, a lot of fantasy elements. Many books in the genre nowadays tend towards a minimalistic approach and I loved how this one went the opposite way.

This book will not blow you away like the best epic fantasy novels do, (I'm looking at you guys The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance) but it just has that little bit of something that makes a book extremely enjoyable to read. This book was fun.

Recommended!

[Choko · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** 4 ***

A buddy read with the Fantasy Fans at BB&B!!! Dragons! Need I say anything more?

Going into this book I only had the cover to go by, which gave me promises of Dragons and not much else. As we all know, they are my favorite creatures ever, so I was all in! While reading it and after, I wish I had known from the beginning that this book is actually a collection of four separate novellas, put together as a base for the complete story, which will be brought to an end after two more books, written as complete entities. The novellas comprising this book, including Ghosts of the Citadel, Children of the Fog, Prince of Wounds, Upon the Ashen Blade, have apparently been published before separately, but are the background for the story to come. So, my main problem with the book, the choppiness and continuity issues, was just explained by this fact and I still wish I had known it going in.

The action takes place in the world of Ede, a world where powerful mages and Gods used to walk the earth and fought wars. One of those wars happened when the Gods became too strong and destructive to the world's population, taking human lives as nothing and only vying for power among themselves. So, the mages created a trap for them in the Citadel, which became their prison for thousands of years. Now only legends are left of that time and the Citadel has become a place of interest to adventurers and "Heroes", but those who have attempted to find its secrets and brave its mysteries in order to gain fame or fortune, have never come out alive... Or come out at all, as it may be:)

" ..."I love the stories like that' said Wydrin. 'Kings hidden under hills, magic in the ground.' She went quiet for a moment. 'Although the it's less entertaining when it's actually happening to you"... "

I remember reading "The Black Company" by Glen Cook and thinking after every time millions of lives were lost in order to imprison an evil which would destroy everything in its path, some adventurous idiots would go digging for gold around it, and because of their inquisitiveness or pure greed, they would free that same evil Every Time, and it would bring more death and mystery to all... Well, it does not help when the idiot adventurers are likable and our main characters in the story.

" ... ‘What I’m telling you,’ said Wydrin, ‘is that we have a way of killing the rabid dogs that are infesting this town. You said to me that I looked like the sort of person who has seen trouble, and doesn’t mind dealing some in return. Well, here I am, ready to cause some mayhem. Are you going to help me? I know that you want Fane and his scum gone."..."

Wydrin, aka the Copper Cat of Crosshaven, with a reputation of brazen and fearless knife wielder, and her partner in adventuring, Sir Sebastian Carverson, an exiled Ynnsmouth knight, are employed by Aaron Frith, ex lord of the Black Forest, deposed by a band of thugs who murdered his whole family and tortured him to disfigurement and chronic pain... He wants for them to enter the Citadel and is ready to pay very well, while Sebastian is perfectly agreeable, since his friend, Gallo, has gone in there earlier and has not exited for several months at that time. It sounds pretty simple, right? Get in, find whatever they need to find, and get out, guaranteeing full pockets and a grand adventure. However, the discounting of the old legends prevents them from truly understanding the danger and consequences their action could bring. Although they complete Frith's goals, they manage to unleash a tremendous evil on the land, far beyond any one mind can imagine.

The three main characters are very well developed and we get a debt of understanding for all of them. What surprised me was the fascinating and imaginative secondary characters, as well as the ruthless bloodshed and loss of life the story brought us. Talk about merciless killings by evil, or otherwise just not knowing any better villains. I know that sounds silly - not knowing any better or just sociopaths? Well, in this case, the villains I am talking about, have the bodies of grown creatures, but they are newborns and discover the world and everything in it on their own, acting on instinct and led by a truly evil entity. As despicable and cruel as their crimes are, their lack of understanding what they are doing somehow justifies my personal weakness for them - by the end of the book I was absolutely in love with the sisters and wanted to adopt them and teach them how to be almost human. Ephemeral is by far my favorite character of the whole book!!!

I was bothered by how imperfect Sir Sebastian was, I think mostly because I was comparing him in the beginning with Hadrian from the Raira Chronicles, which is always a mistake. Sebastian is a good man, but he makes bad choices, a lot like we all do. However, some just grated me more than others, and I am glad that he had the strength of character to see the way to go at the end. Wydrin was adorable, if not perfect either, while Frith gave the trio the pretty but broken and brooding addition. The magic was very cool and the setting imaginative and compelling. It had sword fights, magic fights, and a lot of humor, which is, of course, my favorite part:):):)

" ... "She pulled away to peer up into his face. ‘You look like a sack of dog’s testicles, you know that? And I don’t mean that in a nice way..."

Overall, I enjoyed the book quite a lot! The first and last parts were awesome, some let-down in the other two, but finished with a bang! As I said, the issues I had were with continuity, but that was explained away with the understanding of the separate stories being stitched together. I would recommend this to the adventure and fantasy fans out there and if you take it for just the entertainment it is, just enjoy it!!!!

I wish you all Happy Reading and may you always find a flight of fancy in the pages of a book!!!

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like dragons?

I said, Do You Like Dragons?

Honestly, this was the point, along with all the old gods that started waking up, that got my interest revving for this book. It wasn't so much the standard Sword and Sorcery stuff that filled the first two sections of the novel. It was written well, but it was very much the same kind of thing I've been reading for a long time, and it's been done. A lot. All the standard fantasy tropes, from awakening magic, thieves with hearts of gold, discovery of nobility in oneself, and even a bit, or a lot of mischief.

Later on, though? Big battles and old gods and one hell of an epic battle against a dragon that Just Won't Die.

I've been a big fan of Skyrm. Just think that with a much better story and a bit more epic and focused without the afterworld stuff and you'll have a good feel of this novel. :) I really got into it after all the magic and the big stuff started rolling, and this was what I was missing in the first parts of the novel.

I wasn't really looking for all the comfortable and standard tropes. But I did really enjoy the dragon and the gods. :) That was extremely fun. :)

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 3 out of 5]

🐉 This Ain’t ‘Bout No Silly Cat It’s ‘Bout A Bloody Shrimpin’ Dragon Buddy Read with my Ever-Ungrateful MacHalo Daughters and Mascot Son 🐉

Actual rating: 3.36547896548963 stars. And a half.

Jen Williams. Thou art my Winnowing Flame goddess ergo I 💕lurves💕 thee forever after and stuff. That being said (instant Crustacean-to-English translation: uh-oh). Okay. No. Wait. You know what? I was going to unleash the Not-So-Nice-Stuff (NSNS™) first, but in the spirit of all disgusting things revoltingly Chritsmassy to come, I shall be uncharacteristically nice and charitable and considerate and stuff, and start with the Why-That-Was-Pretty-Fishing-Awesome-Indeed-Stuff (WTWPFAIS™) instead.



Sorry, this is what happens when I try to grow a heart and be kind, benevolent and all those horrible things that I am not. I’m afraid it cannot be helped. Allergic reaction and all that.

So. The WTWPFA™. (Yes, it seems I’ve decided to cut the crap most dramatically today. Lucky you and stuff.) Here goes:

1) Creatively creative ideas galore. Which was to be expected. I mean, this is Jen Williams, after all. So QED and stuff.

2) The Bookish Horde of Doom. I can’t really say much about them because spoiler spoiler spoiler, BUT. They are the yummiest characters in this book. Because I said so.

“We are ruin. We are your children.”

Yes, you are, my babies! And daddy loves you! Oops, sorry, I’m afraid I tend to get carried away when my scrumptiously evil daughters are around. They have somewhat homicidal personalities, you see, and therefore remind me of my other murderous children (you know, the delightfully vicious ones with the serrated pincers?). Anyway, the Bookish Horde of Doom. They are merciless. They are green, they have scales, they have pointy teeth. Ergo, they are sexy as fish. Also, they have a thing for books and works. And that, my Comely Decapods, is bloody shrimping amazing indeed. And that, my Tiny Arthropods, means that they should have been the stars of this book. But they weren’t. Which is slightly unacceptable and a little outrageous, methinks

3) The coolest, most vindictive mini mummies ever. Need I say more? Didn’t think so.

4) Severed limbs aplenty .

5) The cutest little girl I have ever meet in the entirety of my entire life. (Her eating habits are a little unusual for a kid her age, but she hasn’t yet eradicated gluten and lactose from her diet so there’s hope for her yet.)

6) Cursed islands, pirates, demon worshipers, lethal lizards (well lethal for some people’s toes, anyway) and griffins. And stuff.

7) A delicious cast of secondary characters that is nearly almost more delicious than the MCs themselves (which isn’t that difficult, really).



No, this is NOT the Copper Cat this series was named after. In case you were wondering.

Now. The NSNS™ (don’t remember what it stands for? That’s so sad):

1) This book is really four novellas hastily put together. And it shows. Oh, how it shows. The narrative is as disjointed as a bipolar barnacle, with each novella—sorry I meant to say “part”—being pretty independent from the others and stuff. Which doesn’t work that well and stuff. Nope nope nope it doesn’t.

2) Underdeveloped everything. Yes, there are really great, fresh ideas here: interesting characters, intriguing world, original-ish (yes, that is a word) magic system. The problem is, they never get beyond the idea stage. It kinda sorta feels like Williams had all these cool concepts swimming in her brilliant little head but didn’t really know how they worked or what to do with them. So you get a clunky, flat world that is full of potential but still at the embryonic stage. (Oh my, what big words I use today.)

3) The main characters. Sigh. I’m afraid they too suffer from acute Underdevelopeditis. (What? You’ve never heard of it? Strange. It’s quite the deadly disease, you know. It’s affected millions of unsuspecting characters already. The Black Death was a complete joke compare to it, from what I’ve heard.) The sad thing is, I actually like all three MCs but they’re just not not not…You know, they’re just not and stuff. There’s great potential there but they lack complexity, and you never get to understand who they really are or what motivates them. Williams never really bothers to explore their personalities and you’re left with Super Extra Sketchy Characters (SES™) with little depth. This is particularly true of Wyd, the heroine, which sucks a teensy little bit considering she’s, um, you know, the bloody shrimping heroine and Copper Cat of little infamy. *waves at her new boyfriend Jojo Cabal* Which takes us too…

4) The Big Kitty Bake Off Rip-Off.



Yes, it is very sad but it is very true, our Slightly Flat Heroine of the Feline Moniker (SFHotFM™) has as much in common with cats as this lovely ancient lady up there ↑↑ Which is to say, pretty much nothing, zilch and also nada. It’s all lame silly, pointless kitty analogies that add nothing to the character/plot/story/whatever/choose all that apply: Wyd is lazy as a cat *eyeroll*, independent as any self-respecting feline *eyerolling intensifies*, and her beloved knives are like cat claws *loses an eyeball* Yay, all hail the Copper Cat and stuff! Might as well have called Wyd the Copper Shrimp, really. I mean, it is a truth universally acknowledged that all shrimps are lazy, independent and that their pincers are like kitty claws. Ha.
5) Too much unnecessary cat foolishness, not nearly enough blood-thirsty dragon yumminess. I rest in my case and stuff.

So. Long crappy non-review short: no, this book isn’t bad. Some people even fangirl/boy/whatever about it. But that’s only because they read it wrong before The Winnowing Flame of Luscious Scrumptiousness was published. It’s an enjoyable enough story, yes, but it lacks the sheer gloriousness and utter magnificence of my girlfriend Vintage and my boyfriend Tormalind and my girlfriend Noon’s splendiferous adventures. QED and stuff.

➽ And the moral of this Jen Williams You Might Not Like Me Very Much Right Now But I Still 💕 Lurves 💕 You So Yay And Stuff Crappy Non Review (JWYMNLMVMRNBISLYSYADCNR™) is: I want to be called Toast when I grow up. Most awesomely ruthless name ever, if you ask me.

· Book 2: The Iron Ghost - on the Back Burner of Doom (BBoD™)
· Book 3: The Silver Tide - to be read when my great grandchildren have great grandchildren



[Pre-review nonsense]

This ain't no gloriously scrumptious Winnowing Flame, my Little Barnacles.



Yeah, I'm with you on that one, Mrs B. By the way, my dear, how are your poor, poor nerves handling this slightly dispiriting experience? Mine are doing better than expected, surprisingly enough. Okay, so they weren't feeling so good earlier, but a very dear Scottish friend payed them a visit a little while ago, and it kinda sorta helped. My poor nerves really have the coolest liquid friends ever and stuff.



➽ Full This Had The Potential To Be Somewhat Awesome Not As Stupendeliciously Amazing As The Yummilicious Winnowing Flame Of Yumminess Obviously But Still Somewhat Awesome It Could Have Been Only That It Bloody Shrimping Wasn't Sob Sob Sob Crappy Non Review (THTPTBSANASAATYWFOYBSSAICHBOTIBSWSSSCNR™) to come.

[Mogsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.blogspot.com/201...

The Copper Promise came out earlier this year in its full entirety from Headline Books, but with nary a US release date in sight. Argh, doesn't that just drive you insane?! I kept my eyes and ears open for any news. And waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I needed this book in my life. Being on the wrong side of the ocean be damned, I just went ahead and ordered my copy from the Book Depository. From there, this oh so gorgeous book found its way into my hands at last.

Was it worth it? You betcha! I craved for this book so hard because I thought it sounded amazing. And as it happens, it contains a lot of things I like. We’re talking classic quest narrative here. And don’t forget mages, knights, and sellswords. Hey, there are even pirates! Oh, and did I mention the dragon? Not just any old dragon either, but a dragon god of destruction. Unleashed after an eternity spent imprisoned in the dark depths of the Citadel, now all she wants to do is tear the world asunder.

Enter an unlikely group of heroes who may be the world’s last hope. Unique and intriguing, the characters are what made this book so awesome. We have Lord Frith, jaded and broken, thirsting for revenge after witnessing his whole family killed by usurpers who then nearly tortured him to death for the secret location of his treasure vault. Then we have Sebastian, the exiled knight whose only crime was falling in love with another man. And last but not least, we have Wydrin, the cheeky mercenary who calls herself The Copper Cat. She’s great -- and has a scary obsession with sharp blades too, I might add.

I enjoyed how naturally the character relationships seemed to flow with the story. Each person had to overcome their own individual challenges at some point before coming back together again to resolve the final conflict, but this was done so artfully that their separations and reunions always felt so right. Somehow, characters were exactly where they needed to be, but always in a way that made a lot of sense and didn’t feel forced. Even with the complex relationships and switching between perspectives, I still felt a closeness with each character and this made their interactions easy and entertaining to follow.

The novel’s format had a lot to do with this. I was glad I knew something about it before heading into the book. The Copper Promise is actually a collection of four serialized novellas – Ghost of theCitadel, Children of the Fog, Prince of Wounds, and Upon the Ashen Blade. Together they form the overall story arc, every section being a part of the whole. In spite of this, I also noticed that each part had its own dramatic structure – a main conflict, rising action, etc. So in a way, it’s a bit like getting four exciting climaxes in a single book! But even with the almost seamless transition between the parts, if I hadn’t known about the serialized format I imagine reading all four of them together would feel like a pretty uneven ride with lots of ups and downs. It also gives the book that “pulpy” feel. I was prepared, so it probably wasn’t as distracting for me.

More importantly, the four parts come together remarkably well, showing us the bigger picture. It’s true that they work as smaller narratives by themselves, but believe me, it’s a lot more rewarding when viewed it as a whole. Grab this book to have them all together, and enjoy it all at once. I know I certainly had a good time doing so.

Great book. Simply good old-fashioned adventurous fun, with just a touch of grit. Sound yummy? Then you should definitely check it out too.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought for the first half of the book that this would be a 4 star read but I found the second half less enjoyable. I don't know why because there was plenty of action. I found , for me, it lost momentum and the ending was one of the main places where the fact that this was a debut novel showed the most.

Still, a fantasy story with enough original detail to make it fresher than some fantasy fare. I doubt I will continue the series

[Samir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Very entertaining and light-hearted read. Perfect palate cleanser.

[TS Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

The Copper Promise is a good debut from Jen Williams; one which harkens back to the days of classic sword and sorcery fantasy with a quest or adventure, mages, knights, dragons and gods.

This novel is a bundling of four published novellas, which resulted in a slightly disjointed narrative structure with each 'book' having a self-contained arc.


UK covers of the published novellas.

The worldbuilding is essentially classic medieval fantasy, save for the absence of elves, dwarves and trolls. There are also some interesting touches around the magic system which combined the power of words with the might and magic of will; even though not the most original of concepts, the execution was respectable. What is missing, however, is a map of the world which I personally view to be an important component in fantasy books.

I found the plot to be straightforward, but even in its relative simplicity, the story is fun and enjoyable. The simple prose and tone of the writing also fit the narrative pretty well. Although there are some dark parts while dealing with the more villainous elements, it is overall not a grim, nor philosophical tale.

In The Copper Promise, we follow the third person perspective of three main characters. I would say that the narrative is almost straddling between limited and omniscient in that while the reader does get some insight into the thoughts and emotions of the characters, it just did not feel personal enough.

Wydrin, the titular Copper Cat, could have quickly fallen into the trope of the typical femme fatale protagonist - competent, resilient, but bitchy. Fortunately, she does not. Wydrin is badass, funny, and wholly blunt and direct in a refreshing manner. Her companion, Sebastian, initially reminded me of a favourite character of mine, Hadrian Blackwater from the Riyria series by Michael J. Sullivan. While he has similar characteristics with Hadrian that made me like him, there is also a certain touchiness about him which did not endear him to me as much.

Aaron Frith has the most interesting character development; a broken lord who was hell-bent on seeking vengeance against those who had slaughtered his family. Those who also tortured him to obtain the location of a secret vault, and then usurped the family's land. It did take me some time to warm up to him as his vengeful anger resulted in some less desirable actions on his part. In the end, though, he became quite a worthy champion in my eyes.

What I appreciated most about this story was the portrayal of two different sets of antagonists. One is your typical villain who displays marked cruelty and brutality for the greed of money and power. The other group are magical creatures whose very creation was meant for destruction. It was fascinating to understand the perspective of the latter and realised that the concepts of good and evil just might not exist in a particular entity's consciousness or awareness at all. Even more intriguing was observing these supposedly evil and destructive beings gaining some semblance of understanding and adopting human concepts.

While I found the characters likeable, I did note a lack of suspense throughout the book. It is not dull by any means. In fact, there are lots of action, some of which are quite good. However, I never really felt that our main characters are in real danger. Nonetheless, the climactic ending is satisfyingly heroic and for a moment there, I honestly thought something unfortunate might happen.

The Copper Promise is a fun and entertaining read, and enjoyable enough to ensure that I continue with the series to know where the author is taking our Copper Cat, Sebastian and Lord Frith next.

This review can also be found at Booknest

[Justine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The Copper Promise tells the adventures of Wydryn (otherwise known as the Copper Cat), her fellow sell-sword and fallen knight Sebastian, and their employer, Lord Frith. Frith's home was invaded and his family killed, and he is now seeking revenge and restoration of his land. In the pursuit of this he hires Wydryn and Sebastian to accompany him into a supposedly haunted place called The Citadel to retrieve something he believes will assist him with that. Of course everything that can go wrong does, and while Frith ultimately finds what he is looking for, the trio also unleashes a dragon and her army of mass destruction.

The first part of the book is a bit choppy, but as the story unfolds in the subsequent three parts, it all improves quite substantially. It reads very much like a serial adventure story, which is in fact how this first book in The Copper Cat series was originally written. As a result, the reader gets a very fast paced story with hardly any down time.

The characters are colourful and interesting, and even the surly Frith is likeable in his own way. Wydryn is smart and independent, and Sebastian is the typically honourable fallen knight, cast out for all the wrong reasons. The villain role is divided between the demon-worshipping Fane, responsible for killing Frith's family, and of course there is the dragon and her army, simply bent on destruction wherever she goes.
This book can be read as a standalone, but it strikes me that, given the growth displayed in The Copper Promise from start to finish, the best is really yet to come in this series. I am definitely going to continue this one.

[Philip · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5ish stars.

I feel like I just got off of a roller coaster but came away with motion sickness instead of exhilaration.

Not for me, I suppose. Most of my friends had really good things to say. I realize now that this was originally written in the form of four novellas and maybe it would have been more enjoyable for me reading them in that format. Reading it all at once felt manic, chaotic and disjointed. By the end, after being in overdrive the entire ride, there was really no way to kick things up to the next gear for the finale. I would have appreciated if any of the several plot lines would have been explored deeper than surface level. I really liked the first part in the Citadel, very D&D. If more time was spent there and the book had, say, 150 fewer pages, I wouldn't be so dizzy.

The characterizations all seemed flat, hero and villain alike, and I feel like none of them showed any growth. There's the requisite fiery red-head heroine who, in this case, irritatingly finds endless ways to self-reference using cat allusions. There's the jaded anti-hero out for vengeance at any cost who, in this case, is a super-douche with few redeeming qualities. There's the disgraced giant with a heart of gold who puts others ahead of himself no matter the cost who, in this case, sells his soul (or at least his sword) to the devil to protect his comrades. They all just seemed like tools to hit certain plot points. The villains were all supremely villainous with no other character attributes except KILL EVIL POWER.

Having said that, roller coasters usually start out fun and exciting and this was no exception; there were lots of highs and lows. I just wish I could have gotten off halfway through.

Also, the UK cover is really awesome!

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely my surprise read of the year. I went into this with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised.
I was expecting a generic story, with shallow vanilla characters and little if any development. What I found was a decent story line and characters that I actually liked. The main female character is written well, with enough difference to make you feel it isn't a cutout of someone else you have read about, the other main character is 'THE HULKING DOGOODER KNIGHT' guy, whilst coming wrapped in your standard knights packaging, has personality lurking around dark edges at times and is gay. First gay knight story!

The world building is as expected, there is nothing special about the world that makes it any different say from a medieval europe and the magic is limited and reasonably well explained in the end. You'll see a few reviews saying it feels like a series of short stories merged to make a novel. I can see where that stems from, but in all honesty, it doesn't detract from the overall story at all. Wydrim going home and having an adventure added nothing to the overall plot, but added some colour and built her personality, so I was fine with how the book flowed and paced.

Overall a fun, easy to read, didn't tax my brain and made me smile. On a day like today, smiling is good.

Definitely worth a read and I will go on with the series.

[Kristalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Final rating: 4.75/5 stars
Final rating - for the whole series: 5/5 stars

Wydrin thought back to the first time they’d met Frith in Creos, how he’d limped into The Hands of Fate tavern like a man who lived under the constant shadow of death. It had seemed like a simple job, a quick job, sure to lead to riches and stories and danger, yes, but nothing they couldn’t handle. A copper promise, sealed in ale and dipped in bravado, and here they were now. Really, it was a gift of the Graces that they weren’t dead already.

I had a reading block these days. I started 7 series at once - trying to decide which one to read and after reading 100 pages of each book, I just couldn't continue them. And then I finally came across an old recommendation by my friend. From the first page I was hooked (considering what the first chapter was, I knew it would deliver the amount of angst I need at the moment). For that reason alone it gets 5 stars on goodreads, but 4.75 in general.

Well, this was an interesting ride! So many things happened in one book. Actually, four of them, as this was actually 4-part book now published as one complete book, including Ghosts of the Citadel, Children of the Fog, Prince of Wounds, Upon the Ashen Blade. No wonder so many things happened.

I loved this book so much - but there was only one problem I had: the writing. While it was well written and everything, sometimes it was VERY HARD for me to follow who is saying what, especially when more people are talking. I got used to "bla bla", said (Character's name) or anything that can switch and point who is saying the current dialogue. Here, i had to focus on previous paragraph's last person who is mentioned because he/she was probably the one who spoke.
So it was usually formatted like this:

Sebastian looked, and then sat up straighter in his chair.
‘By Isu, I think that’s him.’
Wydrin raised her eyebrows.
‘I thought you said he was a lord?’
Spotting them, the white-haired man came over, doing his best not to limp too obviously. He wore a heavy black cloak that didn’t quite disguise his emaciated frame.
‘My lord?’

So, who said "My lord" in the end? Was it Sebastian or Wydrin? It wasn't always like this, but this threw me off from time to time. It's a good thing you can in most cases just understand who talks at the moment due to dialogue.... but still.

Okay, other than the writing, the rest of the writing was good, easy to follow and understand.

As for the story (or actually, stories), they were great. This book can actually be read as a stand alone - it has a beginning and the end, but of course, their story is not over yet. There are only 2 more books after this one The Iron Ghost & The Silver Tide. Remember when I mentioned it was 4 short stories that make up this one book - Well, they are connected, so they are more like parts of the book itself, following the main story, but also following the new goals and places. Which was great because there was never a dull moment.

So, what do you have here:
✏ Strong and kick ass heroine ✓
✏ Great heroes ✓
✏ Old (un)captured angry gods ✓
✏ Dragons ✓
✏ No love triangle ✓
✏ interesting creatures, magic, mysterious citadel... ✓
And very interesting:
✏ glbt - secondary (meaning, at least one character in this book is homosexual, but it's not the focus of the story.) ✓

► STORY:

In the world of Ede, mages and old gods fought a war. Both of the parties are now gone and only thing connecting them all is the mysterious Ghost Citadel.

Frith family was one of the oldest reigning families of Blackwood. And they are known for their hidden treasure vault which apparently holds many treasures and whatever else. No one knows the location but the Frith members. Young Lord Aaron Frith lost everything when the Istrian people attacked his castle, tortured his brothers and father and killed them, only to torture him too when no one revealed the location of their vault. But Frith didn't break, managed to escape, and now is hell bent on getting revenge on Bethan, the one who ordered everything, her lord Fane, and his torturer Rin.

On the other side of the world, Gallo and his guide Chednit explore the mysterious Citadel, the last stand of mages - where apparently many of the powerful objects and treasures lie. But things go horribly wrong soon after.

A bit later, two of the sell swords are waiting for their new employer: Wydrin, also known as the Copper Cat of Crosshaven, whose reputation is quite big, and her partner, Sir Sebastian Carverson, the exiled Ynnsmouth knight. Their employer is no one other than Frith - who wants to enter the Citadel with them in order to find something, while Sebastian wants to enter the Citadel in order to find his missing friend Gallo. When all details are discussed, the trio goes to the Citadel only to find something much, much worse than the rumored ghosts. And what they unleashed there only starts the countdown of destruction.

► CHARACTERS:

◈ Lord Aaron Frith {grey eyed, white haired (formerly dark brown hair)} is the last surviving member of his family. Jaded, devastated, crippled, tortured (literally), his wounds only keep reminding him of what he lost - his family, home, land, all for a secret vault. But Aaron was too proud and defiant to break, and now that he is out from that hell, he wants revenge. Because of his past experiences, he doesn't trust anyone too much, not even the mercenaries he hired and he questions their trustworthiness all the time. While he is interested in other people, he doesn't want to be questioned and avoids the personal questions, as well as why he wanted to go in the Citadel in the first place. Frith reminds Sebastian of how he was before, angry,devastated and bitter, and Wydrin wants to help him. But Aaron is not entirely helpless, he can defend himself all right - aside his sword skills, he is also an alchemist and can make interesting bombs. (He is actually a big dork from the inside like... "‘I am vengeance,’ said Frith, and immediately felt vaguely foolish. ‘Now go!’")

‘Nothing is worth this, nothing is worth being the one left behind.’

Meet the Mercenaries:



◈ Wydrin, {red short hair, green eyes} the Copper Cat of Crosshaven, is a woman with a big obsession for sharp objects - especially her beautiful two wonderful and lovely daggers Frostling and Ashes. Wydrin is quite dangerous woman, who likes to deal with trouble using her claws (daggers) and is not afraid to provoke people for fun, especially if they are already bent on killing her. She enjoys fighting as much as having a good card game (in which she always cheats).

‘Inside that ratty bag she wears across her back there is a pack of cards,’ he said quietly. ‘Eventually she will ask you if you fancy a quick game of Poison Sally. Find an excuse not to play. Don’t tell her you don’t know the rules, she’ll only offer to teach you, and then you’ll be truly done for. But outside of card games? No more untrustworthy than your usual sell-sword.’

Meeting Sebastian only made her want to help him get better, seeing him broken after his exile from Ynnsmouth knights for a crime that wasn't a crime at all. She is quite wild and strong and very protective of ones whom she considers friends. Her family is interesting as well, given their career of being pirates so it's no wonder why she turned out like this. But the life her family leads is not her type, and so she started being sell-sword.

‘It is better to haunt you, to slowly pick at your mind, and experience the pleasure of watching you fall apart. You’ll never know a moment’s peace, and I will enjoy every—’
‘Hold on.’ Wydrin gestured with the dagger. ‘I don’t buy it. You wish to irritate me to death from a distance, when you could just run me through with that sword? No, I don’t believe it.’

Also, she is sarcastic too, which I liked about her. But my most favorite quote was:

‘What happened to Lord Frith?’ he asked, his voice little more than a croak.
Wydrin sighed.
‘The princeling is so overcome with joy at your recovery he has, in fact, passed out at your feet.’

◈ Sir Sebastian Carverson, {long haired, blue eyed}is an exiled Ynnsmouth knight, who didn't do anything horrible in order to deserve the fate he was dealt. Honorable, kind, good-hearted, his only "crime" was breaking the celibacy oath with a man he loved it gets worse, because his party of soldiers knew about the affair of the two men, and tried to protect them and all were punished for it, while Sebastian was exiled. {It was actually pretty much hinted a lot of times what the reason for his exile was through the beginning, and you can probably guess.} Angry, heartbroken, grieving and devastated, he met Wydrin, who helped him and the two of them formed a team of mercenaries. Now, more or less back in normal, he returned to his old self, and still follows the code of his knights despite what they did to him and still believed in his mountain god Isu. But he will be put to test when the disturbing visions of what they have done in Citadel start haunting him, and even worse, when he sees the pain caused by their mistake.

‘It is not natural, what they ask of us. To live and die with each other, but never to love one another.’

◈ Others: of which the most important is Thirty-Third: who is a child of the old god, who discovers through her newly bonded "father" the meaning of life and that she is capable of being herself, and not just a part of the brood. She was fascinating to read about, her discoveries, feelings, ideas. Crowleo was interesting (and fairy cute as well) and lovely. Gallo was interesting as well, and (SPOILERS) and actually I felt so sorry for him in the end, especially because all he could think about was Seb, and Seb wouldn't even forgive him (or maybe he did in the end, we never found out what they said to each other in that scene) . Many of the characters were well done.

► OVERALL:

A very good book indeed. I enjoyed the fast pacing, great characters and very well done plot. Also the fact that it was made as a stand alone. It made me laugh and feel sad, but I appreciated that - I love when books make me feel. It's amusing book filled with lots of action, great characters and almost no romance (for now) although there are hints. (In the later books, however, there will be romance).

OTHER IMPORTANT INFO:
⚠ Standalone: Made to be read as stand alone as well. Part of a series.
⚠ Point of View: Third POV, multiply characters.
⚠ Cliffhanger: No.
⚠ Triggers: torture, self harm (in the name of the demon), cannibalism...
⚠ Love triangle: No.
⚠ Angst: Yes.
⚠ Supernatural: Yes. Demons, Gods, Dragons, other supernatural creatures :)
⚠ Explicit content: No.
⚠ Ending type: HEA.
⚠ Recommended: Yes.

►REVIEW(S) RELATED TO THIS BOOK:

◈ Sorrow's Isle (The Copper Promise #0.5)
◈ The Copper Promise (The Copper Promise, #1)
◈ The Iron Ghost (The Copper Promise, #2)
◈ The Silver Tide (The Copper Promise #3)

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

A modern sword and sorcery novel with lots of action that could have been ripped from a D&D campaign module, and unfortunately, with about as much characterization.

Wydrin, a roguish warrior who calls herself the Copper Cat, and Sebastian, a disgraced knight are hired by Aaron Frith, a deposed nobleman, to enter and raid the Citadel of Creos, a legendary place that no one has ever returned from. There they find what Frith seeks, but in the process unleash a great evil on the world in the form of a dragon goddess of destruction. The trio then have a series of adventures, both together and apart culminating in confronting the dragon that they released.

I probably should have stopped reading this at 25% or so when I'd firmly decided it wasn't for me, but I stuck with it because I wanted to understand why it was rubbing me the wrong way. For me it was the characters. Don't get me wrong, these are well-designed characters. For me, they just weren't well-written. I don't get any impression of an inner life to these people and some of their actions just happen with very little justification, thought or respect to their characterization. I felt a lot of what they did was happening because the book needed them to do it rather than because the character had a good reason for it.

I also felt that the plotting was contrived in places and the villains made no sense it all. Any of them, from the dragon goddess, to Fane, to the demon. They're just bad because they're bad and they like being bad. To call them one-dimensional would be insulting to lines.

Not for me. Clearly for some people given the number of my friends throwing stars at this.

[Hailee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread July 2021:Although the pacing in this book is far from perfect this series as a whole is one of my favourites so I had so much fun revisiting my favourite characters in this reread that I'm bumping my rating up to a very biased 5 stars.

Original review:
I really struggled with deciding what to rate this book. 3 stars, 3.5? 4? I decided to make it 3.5 stars but to round it up to four instead of down to 3. This is mainly because I just can’t give a dragon based fantasy novel a low rating. I’m biased, I admit it and I don’t care.

The reason behind my struggles was the fact that this book has quite a few problems with the pacing. The author originally wrote this book as four novellas and then amalgamated them into one novel and as such the each ‘part’ of the novel is a story that almost ties itself up at the end and then the read has to wait for the pace to build back up again in the next part. I think the author should have taken time and tried to edit it so that each novella flowed from one to the other rather than just crudely sticking them together and calling them parts one to four.

Another (small in comparison) objection I had was the lack of a map. The characters travelled enough that a map would have been useful and come on, what kind of fantasy novel doesn’t have at least one map!

However the pacing was really the only thing I have to complain about with this novel. There was still plenty of action, the main characters Wydrin, Sebastian and Frith were extremely dynamic and likeable. It was easy for me to get invested and care about what happened to them. The romance in this book was a particular favourite of mine. It was almost of the blink and you would miss it variety, but there is a definite slow build up – no insta-love here – and I can’t wait to see how it progresses in the future.

The world building was competent enough. It was easy enough for me to picture what the characters were seeing as things happened, but I would say that I wouldn’t have complained if there had been a bit more detail provided. When it comes to fantasy books I don’t feel like the less is more style of description appeals to me personally.

I think the next two books in the trilogy were written intentionally as full novels so hopefully the pacing in those will be better so I will definitely be carrying on with the series. The book wrapped up its storyline so that a reader could easily end there and feel complete but I am definitely intrigued enough by the characters to continue. I can’t wait to see what Wydrin, Sebastian and Frith get up to next!

Overall I think this is an intriguing enough first novel by Jen Williams, there is plenty of room for improvement but enough talent that I want to read more from her.

[[ J o ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wydrin and Sebastian are swords for hire and Lord Frith comes to them with a proposition: enter the forbidden Citadel and find a treasure that cannot be found anywhere else. But the Citadel is said to be more than haunted, as this was where the mages trapped the old gods during the last war, and though the heros have not much idea what they will be faced with, they do know that they'll get paid whatever happens...

The Copper Promise started out life as four novellas and this is evident during the novel as it is separated in to four parts. Whilst this made sense, it would have been nice to have seen the author engage with the full-length format and join them up seamlessly, instead of the disjointed obvious four-part book it was. The writing was competent, though occasionally there would be weird, disjointed sentences that really threw me off track, particularly at the beginning of paragraphs: sentences such as (I am paraphrasing) "all of sudden several things happened at once" and "then a strange thing happened". There were just a few sentence structures, errors and grammatical errors that lowered the tone of the book for me, but overall it flowed well enough.

The world-building was very lack-lustre. I do not mean it was a small world: it was a very large world (a map would have been nice, but I read it on the kindle so perhaps it was only missing from that) but the description always seemed to fall flat. Characterisation was fine; at times it seemed very run-of-the-mill and stereotypical and then at times it felt in-depth and rounded. I also found myself rushing through it, both to find out what happens next and also to get through it and finish.

I think I would define the book as slightly schizophrenic. It was equal parts good and bad, with both attributes cancelling each other out to give a great story that was, at times, poorly told.


Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Shop | Etsy

[Olivier Delaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to my favorite bookstore in Dublin the other day looking for adventure. I didn’t want anything too dark or off the beaten path of traditional Fantasy. In short, I wanted OG Fantasy—something with non-subtle and right-in-your-face fireball magic (unlike JRRT), something adventure-packed (unlike Robin Hobb), something with a touch of character introspection and world-building but not too much (unlike GRRM), and I wanted Fantasy tropes like mean and nonredeemable dragons (unlike Paolini's Eragon) and flawed gods (unlike David Eddings). Now don’t get me wrong. I absolutely ADORE the aforementioned authors. But that day I wanted something, dare I say it, a bit simpler and more straightforward. And that’s exactly what I got with The Copper Promise. Pure old-school Fantasy. Pure fun and escapism from start to finish. Sure, the whole thing felt a tad disjointed at times, but that’s only because this book is in fact four different short stories tied together. All in all, Jen Williams does a pretty remarkable job at creating her own mythos in a made-up world that rings true enough for us readers to want to follow her protagonists’ adventures for pages on end. Will definitely read the rest of the Copper Cat trilogy!

[J.P. Ashman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic fantasy adventure!

Full of weird and wonderful magic - a great magic system in fact. A cheeky and loveable rogue character, as well as good supporting characters.

I listened to this on Audible and where as I did enjoy the narration very much, there was a couple of voices for characters that felt a bit off, but that was for me and may well sound great to others.

The Copper Cat herself stole the show for me. She was wonderfully cheeky and a real bad ass in a fight. Her character came through strong throughout and was made all the better from the noble and the knight accompanying her through much of the tale.

If you like magic, dragons, rogues and weird warriors then this is right up your cobbled street!

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Copper Promise is a fun, relatively traditional fantasy — you step into the world and it’s like a well-worn shirt: you know more or less the shape of the continents, the kind of creatures that live on and beneath the earth, the kind of relationships people have to their rulers. It’s somewhat medieval, feudal; there are knights (who will kick out gay members of their number, of course), ancient gods, magic just coming back into the world… And it’s fun because of that feeling. You can just relax into it and enjoy the characters: the somewhat grim knight, the scarred and vengeful mage, the quick and lithe thief. (And also enjoy the fact that the latter is a woman, Wydrin, and she’s very good at what she does.)

There are a couple of hiccups in the structure; it was originally written in a serialised format, in four sections, and sometimes the joins show a little too much. Mostly, though, I just found it well paced and fun. I mean, it starts with raiding an ancient temple structure. Awesome.

At the same time, it’s not hidebound. One of the main characters is gay, and not in some obvious flouncy way, but just because that happens to be part of who he is. Wydrin is a woman, and yet never trivialised in battle or in planning or indeed anything else I can think of; she’s as much of a character as the others, and often brings refreshing snark.

It could be a little predictable at times, but again, that felt like part of the point — it felt like pretty pure escapism in a traditional fantasy world, and I’m all for that.

Originally posted here.

[The Captain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahoy there me mateys! So along with me love of the sea, I also have had a fierce love of dragons. The Copper Cat Trilogy, of which this is book one, was on someone's list of awesome dragon books. The problem was that the author lives in London, the books were published in the UK, and I was not anywhere near that port! Getting a hold of these novels was proving troublesome. Then I heard rumors of books one and two being found on the other side of the pond. Arrrrr! Got me copies.

I found this one to be a highly enjoyable read. While the dragon is fun (aren't they all) the highlights for me were the characters of Wydrin, Frith, and Gallo. Wydrin is the Copper Cat of the story. She is strong, intelligent, snarky, and loves her knives. Frith is a complete and total jerk whom I ended up loving anyway. And well Gallo just has to be experienced fer yerself.

The magic in this story made me happy. The plot diverges a bit with a stint on an island of magical training but I adored that entire section. I also adored a creation of the dragon's called "the brood." Books are cleverly involved. The dragon is more like a force of nature. In my mind she was like a giant locus devouring everything in her path with flames and fury. She is not a nice dragon.

The only minor problems that I had were that the world building was kinda neutral and that I didn't love how the dragon was dealt with in the ending. I am told that book one was originally four shorter stories that tied together. That aspect makes a lot of sense. That being said, I loved the characters and so will likely read book two at some point (plus I already own it - Arrrr!).

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

One word: FUN.

That’s The Copper Promise in a nutshell, beyond anything else it may be. If you take anything else away from this review know that it’s ridiculously, stupendously, maniacally FUN. But beyond that it’s fresh, while maintaining lots of call-backs to classic Sword & Sorcery; it’s hilarious, in that endearingly British tongue-in-cheek wink-wink nudge-nudge kinda way that never goes over the top; and it’s progressive, with a male/female duo at the forefront who are rogueish, charming and nothing more than best of friends.

There’s Sebastian, the down-on-his-luck knight in shining armour who has all the things you’d expect in a fantasy knight: courage, honour and strength, but has been persecuted and cast out of his order due to his sexuality. And there’s Wydrin – the rogueish madman (cough) who’s always raring for a fight, willing to jump into a barrel of dragons at a moment’s notice and generally found otherwise drunk/fighting/sharpening weapons. (delete as appropriate) The difference here is that Wydrin is a mad-woman, and oh what a character she is. There’s not a scene she doesn’t steal, a heart she doesn’t squeeze (perhaps literally and certainly figuratively) or a fight she doesn’t start. She’s a fantastic creation and sits firmly at the centre of this adventure, playing off every other character fantastically – above all else Sebastian. The final main character here is the young Lord Frith, but to say too much about him would be spoiling the party.

The book is basically a series of interconnected D&D-style adventures, each of which star our leads as they are thrust into the gaping mouth of danger – or in Wydrin’s case, jump head first – with the first involving a trip into a dungeon-like Citadel to recover the powers of the long forgotten mages, where they unleash something a lot worse that will dog them throughout the rest of their adventures. It makes for a page-turning novel that essentially has four mini-narrative threads connected mainly by events that occur in the first. It’s a clever device that makes each of the four adventures feel complete in-and-of themselves, and yet allowing an overarching arc to connect them together.

Everything about The Copper Promise screams fun and Fantasy – there’s dragons, magic, pirates, swords, magic armour, demons, gods, monsters, battles and lots of mead. Everything’s cosy and familiar, but the character dynamics are fresh and exciting, bringing in a modern mindset to stories that might otherwise have easily slotted into the 80s myriad of D&D adventures. Williams’ writing style is quick-paced and tongue-in-cheek, keeping a firm hold on the rapid pace but always remaining self-aware, allowing the personalities of her characters to shine through.

There’s not much negative to say about The Copper Promise. If you don’t like episodic adventures it might not be for you, and if you want a fantasy world that’s entirely original in its makeup you might feel a bit stuck in the past. But really it’s a superb bit of pulpy modern Sword & Sorcery that you just…don’t see enough of anymore. And with the second one, The Iron Ghost, out this month, there’s no better time to get to know Sebastian the Ynnsmouth Knight and The Copper Cat of Crosshaven.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 sterren - Nederlandse paperback 🦋🌹🦋
Epic fantasy op zijn best. Als er 6 sterren waren geweest had dit boek ze zeker verdiend. Buiten Goden, draken, vreemde legers en strijdende ordes zijn er drie helden. Wydrin van Kruishaven een huurlinge uit de ruige buurten van de zee en piraten, Sir Sebastiaan Steenhouwer, een volgeling uit een orde die onterecht eruit is gezet en een jonker, Heer Firth, die de pijnkamer overleefde en wraak wil. Dit wordt samengeweven in een geweldig avontuur waar op iedere pagina nieuwe avonturen ontstaan. En door die ontwikkelingen heen worden de onderlinge banden en de karakters van de drie hoofdkarakters steeds duidelijker. De afkeer soms van karaktertrekken of hoe er op situaties word gereageerd. Het begint in een kerker. Je wordt dus meteen in het verhaal gegooid. Ook de scène erna zet de toon. Dan ontstaat een verhaal wat zich over verschillende provinciën/landen zich uitspreid. Dit is wel een van de verhalen waar een kaart niet voorin het boek staat. Je kunt de wereld zelf maken, in je hoofd. En ik ben een beelddenker, dus voor mij versterkte dit gegeven alleen nog meer plezier in het boek. Ik kon de scenes invullen en de karakters, allen binnen dit schitterende verhaal.

[Kitty G Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm having the hardest time deciding what to rate this book (2.5*s or 3*s) becuase it was most definitely a fun book, no doubt about it, and so 'I liked it - 3*s' seems like an accurate description. However, with that said although I did like it I also had a fair few problems with it and I think some of that stems from this being a debut, and some of it stems from not being sure exactly what the message/motives of the author's decisions were.

This story follows three main characters; Frith, Wydrin and Sebastian. Seb and Wydrin have worked together for a long time as sell-swords and know each other pretty well, and Frith is their new employer. They plan to sneak inside the citadel and find out what's actually inside (as no one truly knows much about it any more). Unfortunately, when they do sneak in, things don't go according to plan and instead of finding riches and treasure they find magic and mayhem which sparks off the rest of the events in the book.

One thing I will say about this story is that it's divided into 4 sections and each part feels almost like a fully contained short story just with the characters and some plot elements being carried over. I do believe that Williams originally published the first story as a novella itself and then extended it to the full length this book is today - hence why it has a slightly choppy nature to it and feels like short stories strung together.

We have all sorts of traditional troupes of the fantasy genre thrown into this. As you can see from the cover we have Dragons but we also have Old Gods, Demons, Magical Armour, Curses, Mages, Undead People, Tunnels and Pirates. A large part of this book is just introducing more and more troupes into the events of the plot. I didn't really have a huge issue with this but I never really felt as if I understood if the author just used these troupes becuase she knew them and knew that they were things people might want to see, or if she intentionally packed the story full of them to poke a little fun at the 'norms' of fantasy and do something modern with the ideas. I do feel that some of these troupes and moments were hugely predictable and so you could really see right from page one that there would be a lot of adventure and galavanting about, but maybe not too much genuine connection to the characters or fear for them.

On the whole I feel like maybe this book has great potential, but right now it's being buried under all the references and troupes that Williams has borrowed from. I did so want to love this, but sadly it just fell a little flat for me when I realised that everything was a little too convenient for our characters and that there was no danger element. I think I am going to have to go for a 2.5* rating, but even though this sounds low I like to think it's more 'middle-ground' as it's only half of the top 5* rating it could have got after all! 2.5*s from me, but definitely a book I enjoyed, had fun with, and sped through pretty quickly so if any of that appeals then maybe give it a go!?

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not thew most challenging or ground breaking of fantasys but a great and easy read.
Ticks a lot of the standard fantasy boxes- Dragons , Knights,assasins, thieves, quests , gods and demons, and a dark army. In the wrong hands it might have been a mish mash but its well written and the story carries the elements well.
The three focal characters work very well and its hard not to enjoy there progress and chemistry.
A really good start to a series .

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exuberant frolic, dungeon crawl, high adventure and a non-stereotypical gay side-kick to fall head over heals in love with... all elements that have me adding this book to my all-time favs list.

There's a great trio of lead characters, Wydrin, the Copper Cat and Lord Firth, the man who hires the pair. But it's Sir Sebastian Caverson himself, the Cat's partner, that really makes the book for me. It's so very, very rare to find a gay character in Fantasy to admire. I can only think of one other... Ringil in THE STEEL REMAINS that really worked for me. Sebastian! I totally fell in love with him.

But don't let this put you off the book, this thing about Sebastian being gay is just a sub-plot for his supporting character. There's so much more going on that I'll not reveal. It's a very fast moving book. I'll honestly bet it will be one of the best books you'll pick up this year.

Also, works just fine as a stand-alone! Surprise! Don't see that all to often in a Fantasy opener. There are just enough small dangling plot thread to make you want to pick up the next volume but most of the story in complete with the book.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars. A nice adventure, d&d quest style, with dungeons, action, mercenaries, ancient Gods and mysterious cripples. Very fast moving and constructed in episodes. It starts off simply but the story grew on me, the author has a lot of imagination and the characters are all competent, flawed and relatable.
Nothing too fancy, but enjoyable and humorous, a pure sword and sorcery tale with no cliffhangers.

She pulled away to peer up into his face. ‘You look like a sack of dog’s testicles, you know that? And I don’t mean that in a nice way.’

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was aware of three things before I started The Copper Promise
• First, this is a debut novel
• Second, the author has later written a great trilogy starting with The Ninth Rain
• Third, the four stories within this book are novellas that are loosely connected

Unfortunately, the debut novel really showed. Characters were too inconsistent, their actions volatile and the story lacked some flow. Still, I saw some hints of the later genius of the author, though overall, her later series improved substantially. I would therefore not recommend to start with this one (actually I would not recommend it at all). For myself - already being a fan, I thought that I just had to get through this one and then I could surely enjoy the next instalment which might suffer less from her first writing endeavours. Unfortunately, this was not the case, because I do not care sufficiently about the characters. And so, I rather stop here. 2.5 stars. But please do not let this deter you from reading The Ninth Rain which was a lovely surprise. The author showed some great development and I’m excited for her future work!

[K.J. Charles]

DNF at 68%. Not bad by any means but it's loooong, there's nothing unexpected happening, I wasn't particularly engaged by the characters or the situation. Not bad, just not much there imo and I have miles of TBR before I sleep.