After I read D. Wallace Peach’s epic time travel fantasy, Sunwielder, I liked the book so much I actually recommended it to my friend and fellow writer, Sarah Mensinga. Knowing that indie authors love and need reviews, we both tried to post reviews on Amazon. Alas, the vagaries of the great God of ‘Zon struck. Because long ago I had let Sarah and her husband use my Amazon prime account for some purchases, the great ‘Zon thought that our reviews came from the closely related or the same accounts and took them both down. Disaster! Well, I thought I’d try to make it up to D. Wallace Peach and spread the word about her excellent and highly recommended book by posting both Sarah’s and my reviews on my blog instead (you can also find both reviews on Goodreads).
Sarah Mensinga’s Review of Sunwielder
I’d heard great things about D. Wallace Peach’s Sunwielder from a friend of mine, and it did not disappoint. The gritty time-travel fantasy book follows a humble farmer, Gryff, who is given the opportunity to repeat pivotal moments in his life so that he can make different, ideally better, choices.
The writing in Sunwielder is excellent, the world-building vast and complex, the characters easy to empathize with, and the plot a solidly woven, intricate knot of a story. I can only imagine that it was dizzying to keep track of what each character would remember at particular moments, but because D. Wallace Peach keeps all her plates spinning so expertly, it was never a confusing read.
I sometimes found the war scenes difficult to get through, but I suppose war is brutal and horrible. It was probably the right choice for Sunwielder to embrace those battles because combat profoundly changes Gryff and the world around him. It’s also clear that D. Wallace Peach did extensive research for the battle scenes, and that authenticity helps ground her story and the world it takes place in.
I love stories that take a single magical aspect and explore it thoroughly, so I found this book really enjoyable. I highly recommend it.
The beautiful cover design for D. Wallace Peach’s Sunwielder
My Review of Sunwielder
I really enjoyed this book. The author, D. Wallace Peach, creates an absolutely fascinating world and a very interesting main character. Once I got into it, I really wanted to find out what happened.
The sunwield is a bronze medallion that allows Gryff Worden to go back in time to pivotal moments in his life, to make new choices and find a better path. He starts his journey after his family is murdered, but in seeking to protect them from such a horrible fate, Gryff goes on an epic journey, becoming an entirely different man in the process, and radically changing not only his own life, but the lives of all the people around him.
Some things I really loved: the vivid characters, including Gryff and his friends. The different cultures, including the Edriisans, who believe that time is never a straight line, but that all choices are branching and woven threads that exist at all times. And while some reviewers didn't like having Gryff relive some parts of his life over again, I found it intriguing to see how all his choices played out.
If I had a criticism, I'd say that some of the battle scenes are a bit too long and complex, and sometimes it was hard to keep track of minor character's names. However, I think many fans of epic fantasy aren't bothered by battle scenes, so that might not bother many people.
Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to fans of epic fantasy and time travel fiction. It's a fascinating depiction of the way our choices can have such a profound impact on the world around us, even seemingly small choices.
Thank you for reading, and if you are interested in picking up an indie fantasy, check out D. Wallace Peach’s Sunwielder!
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