Brother Red

I loved the world(building) and the positive characters, but the antagonists are absent and not even one-dimensional, just pretexts. Also, the book is way too long. Loved the first 320 pgs, struggled and got very bored with the last third, when tension should have raised, but actually deflated.

An epic and gritty story that pulls together the strands of Snakewood, and The Winter Road, and brings the tale to a tumultuous conclusion.
Best book I've read so far this year.

Unfortunately, this book ended up as a DNF for me. I've delayed writing this review because I was hoping I could get back into it as I have another Selby on my shelves and was intrigued by all the 5 star reviews.

The main barrier to enjoyment was the writing style. This world uses a lot of unique language and unique wording, which I have enjoyed from other authors in the past (notably The Bone Ships by RJ Barker) but I never reached a point where I found myself understanding the language used. This is a pretty important aspect of the writing for me as I don't want to have to stop and re-read to gain more context to puzzle the writing out. It stops me from getting integrated into the book.

I really liked the concept for the book and the idea of reading about a fantasy postal service was really working for me. I also enjoyed the intrigue provided by the secondary POV, a magic user hunting for a rare group of people. I think this could be a great read and one I might revisit in the future to see if the writing works for me.

If the writing style works for you, there's quite a few interconnected books to explore.