Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

Okay, so I ended up enjoying this book a hell of a lot more than I initially thought I would.

It’s the first in an entirely new trilogy, totally unrelated to the author’s previous works, and unlike his earlier works is told more-or-less entirely in the third person. The main protagonist is Nona Grey, a young girl with a dark past and some pretty scary innate fighting skills. When she is saved from the hangman’s noose by the abbess from a nearby convent she ends up being taught even more scary fighting skills and some mystical magical talents to complement them. Along the way we also get to know the various nuns and novices at the convent and follow Nona as she is dragged into a series of political power plays centred around a prophecy involving a mysterious ‘Chosen One’ who will apprently unlock some ancient artefact.

Without giving anything away, this first book focuses on Nona’s growth and development as she goes from a scared and confused eight year old girl to being a scary but confident combat monster. The characters are nicely drawn, and the way that the story flows made this book a genuine pleasure to read. I seriously can’t wait for the next one.

Definitely a solid five stars.