The Hidden Face - SC Flynn

A face without a face - an unmasking that leaves the mask.

Once every few hundred years the sun god, the Akhen, takes on human form and descends to earth. Each Unmasking of the Face of the Akhen ends one era and begins another; the last one created the Faustian Empire. Where and when will the Face next appear, and who will he - or she - be?

Dayraven, son of a great hero, returns to Faustia after years as a hostage of their rivals, the Magians. Those years have changed him, but Faustia has changed as well; the emperor Calvo now seems eccentric and is controlled by one of Dayraven's old enemies. Following the brutal murder of his old teacher, Dayraven is drawn, together with a female warrior named Sunniva, into the search for an ancient secret that would change the fate of empires.

ebook, First, 350 pages
Expected publication: November 25th 2017 by The Hive
The Fifth Unmasking #1
Fantasy
I received this title for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

My thoughts:

I reviewed his previous novel on audio, and do think this one might be better in audio than in print. The talking ones often are.

I did enjoy it at first. We meet Dayraven who has come back to his homeland after being sent away as pawn in  politics when young. I liked how their God comes to earth every 500 years and that country and culture blossoms. And how this country seems to be in decline now. Evil priest behind an aging king and all.

But then Sunniva showed up and it just got so talkey. Clues, clues, more clues, really more clues? And that is where it lost me, half way in. It started well enough but then it changed. Those eternal clues that they solved so fast. Evil people after them. No one bothering to talk about these things before...these things happen. Now that is just silly. 

Good start. Mediocre second half.