Cry, Voidbringer is a dark fantasy novel, written by Elaine Ho, published by Solaris. An ambitious, gritty and raw proposal that weaves together themes such as power, corruption and the erosion of innocence through morally grey characters, playing with different perspectives and an East Asia inspired worldbuilding, delivering an impactful novel when all is taken into account.

Hammer and Crescent are both part of the Faceless, elite soldiers stolen from their homes as part of a blood tithe when they were children, trapped into fighting a war that was not their own. After a raid on the orders of the Queen of Ashvi, they find no riches, but a Godschild, Viri; a child whose powers could change the war's direction in Ashvi's favour. But after having to take care of Viri, Hammer wants to protect her from the system that already broke the own hammer; but the Queen has other plans, to use Viri as the weapon that will secure Ashvi's claims, at any cost.

With this premise, Ho cleverly divides the plotline into characters, taking the time to flesh all of them, creating deeply flawed characters that the reader will end forming strong feelings.
The own Hammer is the best example of it: conscripted as a child, marked and beaten into becoming a soldier; no much more than a slave, and deeply broken. However, there's still humanity in her, and Viri is the catalyzer needed for her to show it. Crescent acts as the second part of the pair of soldiers, the optimistic versus the pessimistic that is Hammer; the romance that appears between these two characters pretty much fits into the grumpy and sunshine trope.
The third part of our "found family" is Viri, the Godchild they retrieve during the raid. A twelve year girl stolen from her home, extremely powerful once the scope of her powers is revealed. The Queen of Ashvi pretends to use her as the weapon that will build up her kingdom, and doesn't hesitate to manipulate her; we see how Viri is gradually shaped into something terrible. A process that Hammer wants to stop, give back her humanity, allow her to enjoy a childhood she wasn't able to get.
And finally, we have Naia, counsellor to the Queen; a former Faceless, a sempiternal foreigner for the people of the kingdom, who is trying to change the system but who is trapped between the wall and the rock. She's quite complex to analyze, as we can see how she is quite conflicted inside, trying to keep the Queen favour but also trying to improve things, but always inside the own system. Despite she fulfills the role of the antagonist to our characters at many moments, she's also one of the most interesting points of view in my opinion.

A novel that starts slow, weaving together all the layers that are part of this story inside an East Asia inspired worldbuilding; but this is more a story about broken systems, that invites the reader to think about themes such as corruption and power, and especially, if that flawed system can be changed from the inside or if it needs to previously be destroyed to build something over it. The narrative is raw, gritty, but full of emotion, delivering punch after punch (especially the ending is just chef's kiss).

Cry, Voidbringer is an excellent debut novel, a proposal with rich worldbuilding, complex characters and emotional punches that is not afraid of becoming thought provoking as we advance through its pages. A novel whose sequel I need as soon as possible!