Title: Under the Rushes
Author: Amy Lane
Narrator: Nick J. Russo
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Run Time: 11 hours and 52 minutes
At a Glance: Amy Lane…you take my breath away.
Reviewed By: Amy
Blurb: Ten years after Dorjan trusted a boy’s word over his superior officer’s, he and his best friend, Areau, are still living the aftermath—and trying to stop the man responsible. Locked in a careful dance to bring down a corrupt government, Dorjan struggles to balance his grief with Areau’s anger. Just when Dorjan reaches the end of his rope, he sees a familiar face in the shadows, and the boy he trusted a decade before offers him unexpected kindness.
Taern remembers the soldier who found him under the rushes and listened to his pleas to save his family. When Dorjan reappears in his life, Taern is both captured by his commitment to justice and terrified by the risks he takes. All Taern wants to do is fix him, but the oncoming destruction has been ten years in the making, and Dorjan doesn’t want his help. Not if it puts Taern at risk.
Powers clash and a world’s fate dangles between Areau’s madness and Dorjan’s nobility. While Dorjan fights to save the world, Taern joins the battle simply to save Dorjan, knowing everything hinges on the heart of a man in armor and the strength of the man who loves him.
Review: Amy Lane…you take my breath away. Each book you write makes me adore you more. Lane’s strongest skill is world building, and Under the Rushes is a brilliantly woven story in a make believe place. The author gives you enough information to not be lost, but doesn’t saturate you with information. She weaves it all into the story brilliantly.
I was introduced to Amy Lane via her Green Hills series, which is all world building. She does it again in Solid Core of Alpha and Truth in the Dark. But not since Solid Core of Alpha have I felt that she stretched her wings with her world building abilities. I know people say Amy Lane’s writing is angsty, but that’s needed in a story like this. It makes her characters real for me. They all have their own demons, and it affects their relationships and lives. The three stand out characters (Dorhan, Areau, and Karissa) lost their childhood at a young age. They all deal with this in different ways, and some of these issues are never resolved. This is the constant reality of the author’s books surrounded by fantasy. It is why I believe her books work so well.
Narration: Nick J. Russo, who I would have never picked for this book, somehow always makes his slow cadenced, southern sounding voice work. In theory, I shouldn’t like it, but I can’t help it; I adore this narrator. Amy Lane has such a great audio collection. I haven’t listened to one bad narration for her yet. Under the Rushes is a must buy!
You can buy Under the Rushes here:
