Black Shield Maiden by Willow Smith and Jess Hendel

Look, this has been an extremely difficult review for me to write. It takes A LOT for me to DNF a book. And judging by the premise alone, I thought this book was going to be right up my alley. Which is why I initially picked it up. But I think I managed to get about 30% when I simply couldn't anymore. It was not the writing – the authors start out strong, and thorough structural edits I think this book might even have worked.

But.

It was the lack of even the slightest bit of research into world building that drove me out of my skull. I don't know if the editor was sleeping at the wheel, was simply ignored or what was going on here, but it was the factual inaccuracies that made me give up.

The first was characters travelling through the Saharan desert and picking coconuts from palm trees at oases... While coconuts do occur in Africa, thanks to global trade, they will only thrive in areas with sufficient rainfall. I did much eye-rolling. It didn't end there.

Later, the main character ends up in Scandinavia. And I mean, the premise is awesome – a young black woman, traded as a slave, finds her way to the far north where she becomes the warrior she was always dreaming of being. And that's fine. That's a fantastic story.

Then more world-breaking stuff happened for me.

I always have a quiet chuckle when I read scenes where characters run through a forest at night. Having done wide games during my youth in Girl Guides, I can attest to the fact that running through even a pine forest is not advisable at night when you do not have a flashlight. Yes, there was running through a forest at night. There was also a spot of single-handedly slaying a wolf with a kitchen knife. At which point I sighed mightily and spent much time researching the physics of knife-throwing and the strength of wolfskin. And I could not suspend disbelief.

Then said character single-handedly lugged a large deceased wolf back home. Now, I consider myself to be quite fit and strong for a female person. But there was that time when I had to lug a semi-comatose 54kg boerboel x boxer from the vet and upstairs to my home. It didn't happen. I only got as far as the stairs because the dog could kinda stumble. A friend of mine who has Newfoundlands tells me that back in his younger years carrying an anaesthetised dog of 85kg from the vet's consulting room to the car was "like wrestling a bag of wet cement". 

So, a young woman singlehandedly carrying a large dead wolf (possibly weighing 80kg or more) slung over her shoulders through a forest at night back to home base? And barely breaking a sweat? Sorry, I know fantasy gives us dragons and wizards, but I simply could not suspend disbelief for this. I struggle to lug a 20kg bag of laying pellets from the boot of my car upstairs to my house.

But wait, there's more...

Said character then skins the wolf that very same night and makes her friend a natty wolfskin tunic to wear the next morning. Oh, and she makes a necklace from the teeth, too. Even Ayla (IYKYK) couldn't have this girl beat, I tell you. And hot damn, that's gonna be a super-stinky tunic in a day or so.

This is the point where I gave up. I'm sorry. I tried. The premise was definitely one that I would have loved like crazy, but these are the types of glaring issues that I would not let fly with the authors I edit or beta read for. To see this make it to print with a traditionally published book... I don't care who the author is. 

Other than the factual sinkholes, the writing is all right, if somewhat workmanlike. There were often parts that I felt were rushed, where there was not enough motivation to carry me through to why characters do certain things. But yeah... I think the editor was either inexperienced or ignored when this one went out into the world.