Keifon never wanted to leave home. His choice was bleak: ship himself overseas, or be shut out by the man he loved. But he followed the gods’ will. He only wanted to spend some time alone, make himself useful to the foreigners as a medic, and make up for the things he’d done.
Two strangers, two years, one mission: Travel the back roads of an unfamiliar country and heal those who need to be healed. Including, perhaps, themselves.
Comment: At some point I've read a positive comment about a character in this book, when someone was replying to another person in a blog. I had not heard of this book before but that comment caught my attention and when I looked up the book, the cover was very peaceful and suggestive and the blurb good enough to suggest possibilities and I wanted to try it. I've finally did but, sadly, I wasn't as marveled as I hoped.
In this fantasy story, we meet Agna and Keifon, two very different people, from different countries and backgrounds, who are partnered as a medical team. Their work will mean they have to travel in a caravan which will take them to several places and their job is to be medics/healers to those who travel and to those who seek them when the caravan stops for a while in some city or village. Agna and Keifon don't start with the right foot and they can't help but be wary and dismissive of the other, at least until a certain event forces to really help each other. Can they accomplish what they are meant to do while also dealing with the personal - and emotional - reasons which made them decide to accept this contract in the first place?
This is the first book I try by the author. I was seduced by the cover to be honest and clearly the story would feature two roads, the physical and the metaphorical one. The protagonists are at odds at first but challenges and events force them to interact and, later on, to become closer and finally to rely on each other. I liked the idea, I liked the development but things didn't go towards the type of path I imagined. Not only did it take them too long to get along, but by the time they did my attention was already lost.
In this world, there are many countries, each one with their own gods and culture and the author has included a lot regarding many of these fictional places to make it seem richer and wider. The differences between people can seem too many at first but as the story developed, certain elements became quite interesting but, sadly to me, the overall effect stopped being as appealing the further along I went.
Besides the cover, what I liked the best about the idea of two people who didn't get along, becoming friends. This is not the first "road trip" plot I try and often the best thing about it is the rapport developed and how close people can be by sharing something. It got obvious pretty early on that Agna and Keifon have different reasons to accept the caravan job and even more so when we think of their personalities. I got the idea and created the expectation they might become friends and perhaps confidants as they both went along, and probably they would look out for each other as they both found love.
Keifon is dealing with heartbreak and the blurb (as well as the person whose initial comment influenced my decision to read this) indicates he likes men or is bi, since he also has a daughter he left behind. So, I didn't expect to see a romantic relationship between him and Agna but I also didn't think it would take so long for them to be on the same page. The book is divided into three parts, and they are at odds for the entirety of the first. Since, by then, I was already a little bored, I can't remember properly how they become friends, it was something to do with mutual favors and a life and death situation.
Among all this, we have glimpses of their lives, personalities and the reasons why they are in this journey, but some things happened too slowly, others later on too quickly and I found myself looking for to the end of the story. Agna, in particular, seemed to be spoiled for too long and I couldn't exactly understand why she was looking for her old mentor, so practically all parts focused on her seemed boring. Keifon was more interesting but he seemed to act as a martyr, and while this is fascinating in terms of personality, it can also be boring if read in a certain way.
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