In a world where all humans are slaves to the Aoife, young Teine comes of age and learns that he is to be a servant to his master’s son. Accepting the loss of his dreams of engineering – for objecting will get him put down for having undesirable traits – he soon learns there is more going on in his master’s house then he ever knew.

This needs to be said: this book does not romanticise slavery. No matter how golden the shackle or how many strings certain slaves may pull behind the scenes, the fact remains that careers are closed, they have no choice about their work, can be sold away from their families, and have no control over their lives. There may be little physical discipline, but owners can have slaves castrated or put down just as you would livestock.

I’m not sure how to rate this book. While events happen, the pace of the main plot is very slow. This book has a common problem with first books in a series: it is all set up and worldbuilding, which is very well done, but there is no pay-off. There’s no feeling of a plot or closure to the story. The ending is a cliffhanger – immediately spoiled by the first chapter of the next book being included.

For players of the Tales of Symphonia games, human slaves for half-elves is going to be a touch familiar.

Fantasy fans may enjoy it, as a start to a series, but I’d suggest reading a sample and then buying the full series or not.