Summary:
When the end of ages comes for the empire, the princess must rescue herself.
An army of three brittle allegiances aims for the throne of Derebor, laying siege to the castle Talorr, where Vierrelyne, the last living daughter of the tyrant king, waits locked in a tower cell for the prophesied apocalypse that only she can prevent.
To escape the castle with the aid of her closest counsel, she takes a formidable ancient weapon from her family crypt: a holy suit of armor and a diadem infused with the soul of a demon prince. With this power, Vierrelyne is unstoppable, but its presence is corrosive.
Vierrelyne is haunted by what it means for her to tame the power she has been given, and by what means she might conquer the Bringer of the Scourge. For, if the prophecy she dreads is true, the weapons she wields might destroy everything she holds dear.
Review:
Bringer of the Scourge is one of those princess in a tower stories where said princess is actually a badass and is hellbent on getting some revenge. Throw in a demon bonded within a diadem, a scarred wizard with a glass eye who can see multiple realms, a middle-aged mentor who raises an army of mercs, & a misunderstood prophecy and you get all the fixin’s that cook this fast paced fantasy tale.
The cast of this story is relatively small, which is good because this book is barely more than 250 pages. And although there are three separate POVs, each get their growth arc. Vierrelyne is the princess in the tower. For fifteen years her overbearing (let’s face it, dickish douche canoe who we never see on page thankfully because he needs a punch to the coin purse) father kept Vi locked up because of a prophecy. And while Vi can be taken as naive due to said captivity, she really isn’t because her mentor, Kharise, trained her in a vast array of skills, especially swordcraft. Vi is incredibly nuanced for such a caged character and I found her arc extremely satisfying, specifically when it came to the diadem and the demon prince within (see below). And I really got a good chuckle during Vi’s first foray into battle because she does win but she constantly upgrades her weapon after defeating some peeps, I don’t know why, but that made me laugh.
Mehren is a scarred (both physically & emotionally) wizard who was sent to help Vierrelyne achieve her status in the prophecy. Part of what made Mehren my favorite character is that he’s very fallible but loyal to a fault, and then because of his past, he’s cursed to see the various demons and creatures in the many different realms while awake. I found this idea very interesting and enjoyable. And the way Vi and Mehren came to rely on each other was endearing and relatable as both needed each other’s support. Mehren coming into his own by the end of the story was magnificent. I also really liked how Mehren’s magic worked with the chalk magic because he was afraid of his own blood after his harrowing past experiences, that really solidified a good character for me.
Kharise was also great as she’s the weary older been-there-seen-that type we all love. But she ended up having an arc that we typically don’t see for those character types. Very good stuff.
Now, this is a prophecy-based story, essentially someone (Vi presumably by everyone and her father (ugh)) will be the Bringer of the Scourge, aka opening the gateway for the Scourgelands to the world, letting demons through. I liked that McDowell skewed this prophecy trope by the end after spending most of the story harping on it. The way this was handled gave me such satisfaction as a reader. And the demons were also quite fun, especially the demon prince housed within the diadem (Vi’s mother’s no less). There was your standard demon trying to seduce the user with power and Vi fell for it (a fantastic scene btw with a past lover!) but the way in which it was resolved I found perfect. There is more than enough lore that we barely scratched the surface of and I’m glad it wasn’t too much. The Scourgelands (the demon realm) has a lot to offer and based on the ending, I feel we will get a lot more of it!
The backdrop of this plot was good but wasn’t the focus, and I do think that was the smart choice. Yeah we have your raising an army montage. We have your baddie doing bad things with the Scourgelands. We have your post demon possession comedown. And we have your revenge-driven climax. All those aspects were enjoyable, don’t get me wrong, but that was never the focus, and I liked that. The focus is the characters and their growth, Vi and Mehren at the forefront. Very smart choice to take this story.
The prose is really strong and the pace is fast, almost too fast at times (think the raising an army montage, it happens really fast and sort of easy but not a big deal like I said above). Because this story is very introspective, there were times that backstory took precedence over present day, especially in the opening scenes of Vi in the tower, but it was never a turn off. I quite enjoyed the introspection and inner workings of Vi but Mehren’s were my favorite by far. He just has a lot of depth and the way McDowell wrote his character was excellent, I just wanted to know more because I truly felt his pain by the prose.
Can we also give some mad love to this cover??? It’s just stunning! By far one of my favorite covers in the SPFBOX competition.
If you are looking for a quick read with some great characters, some heartbreak and hope along the way, then pick up Bringer of the Scourge. It’s ending has me eagerly awaiting book two!