This edition of “Fantasy Review” is for Brandon Sanderson’s Oathbringer, the third part of The Stormlight Archive series.  For a quick refresher of what’s happened in the previous two books, you can read a synopsis of the story so far from Tor.com.

Some spoilers follow.

Synopsis:

After battling against the Parshendi and their new storm, Dalinar Kholin and his Alethi troops take shelter in the city of Urithiru—the ancient home of the Knights Radiant.  They set up a base there to try and regroup as the Everstorm rages around the entire world.  Reports show that when the Everstorm hits a location, all the Parshmen change into warform and flee.  Besides the few groups of Parshmen that hurt or kill on their way out of the cities, this also leaves the nations without a working class.

As life settles in Urithiru, Dalinar and his Kights—Kaladin, Shallan, and Renarin—attempt to make peace with the other nations, and beg to use the Oathgates, which would transport people and supplies across the world instantly.  Very few monarchs take the bait, assuming it is a trap by the Alethi to conquer their lands.

Meanwhile, Alethkar suddenly goes silent.  No news comes from the city, or from Elhokar’s queen and child who still live there.  Elhokar convinces Dalinar to allow him to sneak into the city with some of the Radiants and try to take it back by opening the Oathgate.  In Alethkar, though, there are more than just Voidbringers and Fused.  There are also some of the Unmade, ancient spren who are splinters of Odium.  When Elhokar’s team runs into these creatures, it seems their mission is doomed.  The group (plus or minus a few of their numbers) is transported to Shadesmar—the realm of spren—and unable to return to their own land.

Pros:

This world is so rich.  The characters are amazingly diverse.  The storytelling done here is among the best I have ever read.  Brandon weaves a world that is so tangible, so fleshed out.  His characters act like people, doing things that make sense to them.  Each is unique, with their own cares and concerns.  That’s tricky to do when you have hundreds of characters!

For this part of the story, I loved Adolin the most.  He’s really grown since being introduced as a shallow playboy.  I was actually concerned for him at the end of Words of Radiance.  When he killed Sadias, I thought Adolin would slowly go mad from the guilt.  Plus, he’s got a fiancé who’s a Knight Radiant, a father who is a Knight Radiant, and a brother who is a Knight Radiant.  I anticipated he’d eventually succumb to jealousy.  I was so wrong, and so glad I was so wrong!  Adolin is a caring, hardworking, slightly vain person who only has the good of the Alethi people in his mind.  I can’t get over how much I came to care for him during this book.

Also, during book two, there was a hint of something between Shallan and Kaladin.  I didn’t mind the idea, as Shallan and Adolin hadn’t really formed a deep bond yet.  However, in Oathbringer, when there are hints of a love triangle, I never once wanted Shallan to side with Kaladin.  Adolin is too good a match for Shallan.  They are very well suited.  And his handling of her increased shifts between personalities shows he cares for her, no matter her current form.  Near the end, there was a sort of Star Wars moment (similar to when Han tells Leia he’ll stay out of her and Luke’s way in Return of the Jedi).  Like Leia, Shallan sets Adolin straight, letting him know she loved him and that her other personalities can’t dictate her decisions.

Another piece I loved about this installment was Dalinar’s flashbacks.  We finally got to see his wife, Evi, and what happened to cause him to lose his memories.  I cried several times near the conclusion of the book, when Dalinar thinks of his lost wife, and the pain that returns with all his memories.  It was heartbreaking.  But, Dalinar is such an amazing character.  He’s strong.  He’s unyielding.  He won’t break under any amount of pressure.  I was also surprised how much I came to like Dalinar during this book.  I felt Shallan and Kaladin were more central to the first two novels, but Dalinar really shone in this one.  I think of him as the main character, the hero of the story, much more than Kaladin.

Cons:

This story is huge.  Almost intimidatingly big.  There’s a ton of information and side plots, and considering the first two novels had just as much information and side plots… there’s a lot to keep track of.  While I enjoyed all of these stories so far, I can’t reread them before each release.  They don’t enthrall me the way Wheel of Time did.  So remembering what happened to one minor character in the first book and piecing it together with what’s happening in the third book is rather difficult.  The online synopsis was very helpful with refreshing my memory, but it doesn't even come close to listing all the minor plot lines that weave through this story.

Conclusion:

This tale is a great addition to the whole of the series.  It was the book I enjoyed most out of the three.  I loved the way the characters’ lives developed (particularly Adolin and Shallan) and how they all fought together in the final battle in the novel.  When Dalinar stood before Odium with his assembled Knights, my heart rate sped up.  It was a powerful moment.

Rating:

5 out of 5

You can purchase a copy of Oathbringer from Dragonmount's DRM-free ebook store.

This “Fantasy Review” is for The Stone Sky, the third and final book in The Broken Earth series, by N.K. Jemisin.

Synopsis:

Essun is still determined to find her daughter, Nessun.  The comm of Castrima Under—where Essun currently dwells—has been damaged by their war with Rennaris.  The people must find a new place to ride out the Fifth Season.  Due to Essun’s annihilation of the Rennarin people, the comm decides to travel the far distance to the now-abandoned city.  Essun’s still plans to grab the moon when its orbit circles close, but there is still time before she must leave her place within the com.

Nessun, meanwhile, begins her trek to the other side of the world, with Shaffa and the Stone Eater, Steel, as companions.  Steel can transport them through the earth, but Nassun fears the Stone Eater may “accidently” lose Shaffa on the journey.  This means a longer way is necessary, going to an ancient station capable of taking them through the earth’s core.  But at the earth’s center is something far more frightening than Steel’s mode of transportation.

Mixed in with these two accounts is a flashback into Hoa’s past, where the events that lead to the war with Father Earth are finally revealed.

Pros:

I loved the addition of Hoa’s storyline.  It was terrible seeing the beginning of orogenes and the atrocities the ancient society did in order to maintain peace and balance.  The choices Hoa and his kind made are understandable, and parallel the conflict within Essun and Nassun.  Essun wishes to save the earth by grabbing the moon.  Nassun, based on Shaffa’s pessimistic—or maybe weary—view of the world, wishes for it, and Father Earth, to die.

I was also pleasantly pleased by the actual ending, the last chapter.  SPOILER: I thought the perfect match for Essun was Innon and Alabaster; the three of them together made a wonderful family.  However, seeing her paired with Hoa was heartwarming.  Essun’s life was so horrible and filled with so much tragedy, it was uplifting to see she wound up with a happy ending.

Cons:

Once we got the reunion between mother and daughter, the character motivations were understandable, but rather annoying.  The reader has the benefit of seeing the character’s thoughts, so I was frustrated when the two were unable to communicate their desires to the other.  Like I said, understandable considering all that had happened between them, but at the same time, I wanted to shake them both and make them talk it out!  Alas, too much had transpired, too much harm had been done—to both of them.  

Conclusion:
This was a fantastic final.  Satisfying and rather hopeful for a brighter future.  I’d been doubting whether this would have a happy ending or not.  And it surprisingly does.  Or maybe—to coin a phrase from the romance genre—a Happy For Now.

I loved everything about this series, the characters, the world, the magic.  It was emotional the whole way through, tugging on my heartstrings over and over and over.  I was very sad when it ended.  I could read so much more in this world.  Perhaps Jemisin will revisit the world a thousand years in the future—like Brandon Sanderson’s ideas for Mistborn.

Rating:

4 out of 5

For more from N. K. Jemisin, you can check out her website.

This edition of “Fantasy Review” is for The Obelisk Gate, the second novel in N. K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth series.  This book was also awarded the Hugo for Best Novel in 2017.  It’s easy to see why.

Synopsis:

Reunited with Alabaster, Essun once again becomes the learner. He has plans—and since he is turning into a rock—it’s up to Essun to finish them. They try to make the best of things in their new comm, Castrima, but when the world is breaking down, no place is safe.  Not only do they need to contend with a dwindling food supply due to the ash-filled sky, but wild animals mutate during a Season, and their evolved abilities can be devastating.  When Alabaster finally reveals his mission of catching the moon, Essun wonders if she can accomplish such a fete.

Meanwhile, Jija and Nassun travel for a year to reach the safety—and a promised cure for orogeny—in Found Moon.  There, Nassun is put in the charge of three Guardians—all of whom have panicked and given their bodies over to the voices inside their heads.  The leader of the bunch is Schaffa and he takes a particular liking to Nassun and eventually makes the connection of her being the daughter of Syenite.  While Jija wants Nassun to cure herself of orogeny, her desire to help Schaffa pushes her powers to new and startling depths.

Pros:

These characters are amazing!  So developed, captivating, realistic.  It’s easy to understand Essun’s choices and her point of view of the world.  Her struggles—trying to piece together the life of Syenite, which Alabaster represents, and her life as a mother, which Lerna represents—resonate with raw emotions.  This was another book that made me cry.

The evolution of the magic system is one of the main driving forces in this novel.  With Alabaster’s help, Essun is able to sense something that is not orogeny.  It’s described as silver, and it is dubbed as “magic.”  With magic and orogeny, Essun’s task to grab the moon may be in reach.

Nassun takes more prominence.  Her powers grow incredibly fast once she’s under the care and guidance of the Guardians.  It’s hard to get a good read on Schaffa’s character.  He’s been portrayed as nothing but evil since book one, and Nassun’s favorable opinion of him makes me think he may be redeemed.  Or perhaps he’s able to con Nassun easier than he could Syenite.

And though Alabaster is not very active in this storyline, he is still my favorite character.  Though I also grew to like Hoa—the stone eater who has claimed Essun.  The end of the first novel revealed him as the narrator, and knowing that it’s his perspective gave a lot more insight to his character.  I’m really interested in the link between orogenes and the stone eaters.  It seems like an Aes Sedai/Warder type relationship, but it does have hints of something more sinister.

Cons:

The pace slowed down a lot from the first book.  In The Fifth Season, it covered three different timelines spread out over 30 years.  So for this novel to have the scope of only one year, it seemed like not many things were happening at once.  Not necessarily a bad thing, a slow pace does not mean a boring book.  But for me, personally, it didn’t feel as sweeping and encompassing as the previous novel.

Conclusion:

I am amazed at the writing of the these novels, the tone and voice, the growth of characters, the details of the world.  This one slowed down a bit, but I’m still loving the journey.  I’m hoping the concluding novel, The Stone Sky, gives me the epic finale I’m waiting for.

Rating:

4 out of 5

For more from N. K. Jemisin, you can check out her website.

This edition of “Fantasy Review” is for The Fifth Season, by N. K. Jemisin. This story was the winner of the 2016 Hugo for Best Novel.  And it was a fantastic read!

Slight spoilers follow.

Synopsis:

The earth is in fluctuation.  Father Earth hates the humans who inhabit him, and he is constantly spewing his molten blood to their surface homes.  Periods where his anger is most fierce are called Seasons, and ash clouds block out the sky for decades, if not centuries.  

Essun doesn’t even notice when the Season starts because she is lost in grief over the death of her son.  He was murdered by Jija, his father, her husband.  Jija discovered the child was an orogene—a person given less-than-human status who is able to control the shifts and energy within the earth—a skill inherited from Essun.  She sets out to track Jija down and make him pay for the murder of her youngest child.

Damaya is a girl who recently discovered she was an orogene.  A Guardian—members who keep the orogenes’ magic in check—is sent to bring her back to the Fulcrum to learn to control her powers.  The Guardian is not there protect her, but to protect the rest of humanity from her.  She struggles to find her place in life and in the Fulcrum.

Syenite is a four-ringer orogene.  She is chosen for a mission, and is forced to take Alabaster—a ten-ringer—along.  The Fulcrum pairs them with instructions to mate.  The child of Alabaster is sure to be powerful, so he is often used in breeding.  The two are an unlikely couple, but along the way they bond over trials and tribulation. But Alabaster’s more than a little mad, and he might drag Syenite into insanity with him.

Pros:

The synopsis is long and detailed because the story and its characters are so detailed.  The richness of this tale cannot be explained with words.  It is emotion, deep and sometimes unsettling.  The world is cruel and the characters seem to suffer more than their fair share of the despair.  But they all persevere.  It is a theme through the novel: no matter how often Father Earth sends ash clouds, the human race has not died off yet.  But, the story seems to suggest maybe they should.

Out of all the characters, I loved Alabaster the most.  I could see a bit of Rand in him—driven slightly mad by the infinite power he can wield.  He cracked under the strain of his life, but kept living in spite of it all.  He and Syenite together were wonderful and engrossing.  Though never a true romantic pairing, there is a sense of love between them—transcending the bond forged from forced lovers.  Their time together was the most enjoyable to read.  Syenite herself was just as capable as Alabaster, but not nearly as wounded from the ways of the Fulcrum.  Much of that may have stemmed from her powers—she’s nowhere near as powerful as him.  

One scene in particular with them made my heart ache with its loveliness.  My emotions were stirred so deeply, I thought of this scene for days.  But I won’t say more, in fear of too many spoilers.

The stories of Essun and Damaya were both interesting.  The pain in Essun after the loss of her son was so vivid.  And Damaya, packed up and shipped off to a place she would lose her status as human, was equally pitying.

I couldn’t get enough of this world and these characters.

Cons:

The format.  I’ve made statements about this in regard to other books.  It think this is my old-fashioned look on genre fiction.  The standard is 3rd person omnipotent, past tense.  Those are the rules.  I think this works because when dealing with such fantastical ideas and worlds, clear and concise language solidifies it in the mind of the reader.  But, this is all personal preference.  It had no bearing on the enjoyment of the story.

The weird—or maybe “not common” is a better description—format in this novel comes at you from two fronts.  First, the writing is done in present tense.  Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but something that readers might not be used to.  And the other front?  All the chapters from Essun’s perspective are written in 2nd person point of view.  The reader is given the persona of Essun, letting them experience the world more clearly through her eyes.  The other characters remain in 3rd person.

Does this format work?  Yes, it does.  It’s sort of explained why this format is used, as well.  I will be honest and admit it threw me off at first.  However, the characters, plot, and setting quickly grabbed me back and steadied me.  After I got used to this way of looking at the story, it was not a hindrance at all.

And that is the only con I can even come close to saying.  This novel was brilliant and near perfect in its execution.

Conclusion:

I was awed by this story.  The worldbuilding was incredible, the characters three dimensional with flaws and faults, their exploits riveting.  It’s very easy to see why it was awarded the Hugo.  The day I completed this novel, I began reading the second in the series.

Rating:

5 out of 5

For more from N. K. Jemisin, you can check out her website.

This month’s “Fantasy Review” is for Brandon Sanderson’s YA novel The Dark Talent, the fifth in the Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians series.

Slight spoilers follow.

Synopsis:

Alcatraz saved Mokia, but in doing so, broke his Talent and those belonging to nearby Smedrys.  Now he must try to stop his father with his wits alone.  With Grandpa Smedry, Kaz, Draulin, Cousin Dif, and Shasta, Alcatraz sets off for the Highbrary, the root of the Librarian’s power in the world.

But Biblioden, the original Librarian, isn’t as dead as history says.  The evil mastermind needs Alcatraz’s bloodline—which means he needs Alcatraz’s blood.

Pros:

When I first learned Brandon Sanderson was going to finish The Wheel of Time series, like most fans, I ran out and found some of his books to read.  I read Elantis first, then the Mistborn series, and after that I read Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians.  When I had the opportunity to have dinner with Brandon as a Storm Leader at the release of The Gathering Storm book tour in Scottsdale, Arizona, I gushed over the Alcatraz book.  So unlike his other novels, but still so amazing!  This is a long way to say I have been waiting for this “final” book for a very long time!

With that in mind, this addition had all the same silly antics of the earlier books—a huge draw for me.  Alcatraz as the narrator is hilarious and such a delight to read.  Plus, the more serious plot line of trying to stop his father from giving every person a Smedry Talent makes it engaging and keeps up a fast pace.

There’s a lot of emotion here.  Alcatraz’s narration deepens as certain truths are discovered about himself, his family, and his ideals of the world.  Despite the comical nature of the whole series, there are some incredibly deep thoughts in these books.  

Cons:

The ending was not very satisfying.  I hate to say that—and I do believe that the feeling of being unresolved is exactly what Alcatraz wanted—but I did hope we’d get more answers out of this volume.  Brandon has revealed that there is still another in the series (if you don’t mind spoilers, you can see more details in his post here), but I’m not a big fan of cliffhanger endings.  Still, the prospect of seeing more to come gives me hope and I will wait patiently for the next release.

Conclusion:

This whole series is worth a read.  It’s an amazing hybrid of fantasy, sci-fi, and humor.  As it’s geared toward children, some of the humor can be lowbrow, but much of it is clever, and likely to go over the intended audience’s heads.  Despite the lackluster and abrupt ending of this book, I will sing the praises of this series to anyone who will listen. It is one of my favorites of Brandon's works—behind The Wheel of Time and Legion.  

Rating:

4 out of 5

You can purchase this book, and the others in the series, at Dragonmount's DRM-free eBook store!

I was excited to get to speak to J. Scott Coatsworth about his newly released sci-fi novel, The Stark Divide. The book was enjoyable, and I was eager to delve further into what its author had to say.  You can read my review of The Stark Divide here.

Slight spoilers will follow.

Q: The cast of the series is quite diverse, in terms of age, gender, nationality, and sexual orientation. I like that it suggests a uniform front in the future, people willing to work together regardless of their background or lifestyle. Was that a theme you wanted to emphasis?

Hmmm, that’s a great question. I’m a fan of golden age sci fi, when things were a little simpler. And while I sometimes like things dark and complicated, sometimes I’m in the mood for Star Trek. I was a Superman fan as a kid - I loved that he was true and strong and good, and for that reason I absolutely HATED Batman vs. Superman. We’r going through such a dark period now that I want to believe, have to believe that at some point, some of us will find a way again to pull together for the common good. So yeah, I guess that does come out in the book.

Q: The story also spans the course of 30 years.  How difficult was it to storyboard or brainstorm the steps for the evolution of Forever?  Can you tell us how far into the future the series will reach?

The Stark Divide is actually the second book in the series. The first one was written more than twenty years ago, and was never published. In the current timeline, it would take place a few hundred years after this part of the story. I sent it off around 1995 to ten big publishers - it took a year, but the last rejection came in, and I pretty much gave up writing for almost twenty years.

When I came back to writing in 2014, I decided to go back in time and figure out how the world came to be. It started with a novella that eventually became Seedling, the first part of the novel. I’m writing another sci fi series - Skythane - that’s told in a more traditional one story format, so doing The Stark Divide in a three-story epic format has actually been a lot of fun. Each story can stand alone, but they share characters, and allow me to telegraph the story over a long period of time. It’s exciting to see how things shift each time, as a decade or two passes.

The current trilogy will cover a hundred years, give or take. But I hope to eventually take it all the way across the stars, to mankind’s new home - maybe 300-400 years in all.

Q: Did you find it difficult with these jumps in the timeline? Or was it easy to let the reader conclude the natural steps between without it being shown in the text?

I think in most cases it should be easy for readers to fill in the gaps. It’s like getting to fast forward and see if the couple you liked really makes it, or if the world comes through the latest challenges and goes on to grow into something new. It’s one of my favorite things about the story.

Q: I love the undertone of religious epiphany throughout the piece. First in Hammond’s realization that AI may have souls, and then in the coincidental episodes that lead to Ana’s metamorphosis. Is this important to the plotline of the story arc, or just a detail of the characters?

It’s something I didn’t really plan at first. Initially I was going to have the Church be a villain in the first part of the story, but then it took a turn. One of my best friends is a very religious Catholic, but she’s also one of the most progressive people I know. I’m more on the atheist side, but when I asked her for some help on the confirmation process for the story, it made me think. It’s so easy for me as a gay man to make a villain out of organized religion.

Not too much later, my husband decided he wanted to go back to church for the first time in more than twenty-five years - a reaction to the growing strife and negativity we are all living through today. I went with him out of solidarity, and we found a progressive church nearby. These two events made me reconsider religion, and realize that it had a place in any future that would spring forward from our present.

So I decided to weave religion into the story, and it’s been a fascinating thing to work with.

On a side note, the series title, “Liminal Sky,” came out of a sermon Pastor Matt gave in which he used the word liminal to talk about the people on the edges of society. It was the first time I’d ever heard it, and so I looked it up:

Liminal

1. relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process.

2. occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold.

It seemed perfect for the time when everything changes.

Q: On that same note, Lex seems to be able to anticipate what may happen. Within your world, is Lex a deity?  Or is it more the processing of a supercomputer to analyze logical outcomes?

Hmmm, I’d never thought of it that way. Lex is not a deity, though there’s that famous quote from Arthur C. Clarke: 

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

And I do play more with the themes of religion and heaven in book two, “The Rising Tide,” which I just finished.

Q: Andy’s inherited “dipping” seems to be something similar to magic.  With this genetic code being passed onto the next generation, will more and more of humanity be able to bend the world around them?

Um, yes… and… kinda? There will be a lot more of it in book two, along with reaching and pushing. :P But by the end, things will shift again. That’s all I can say.

Q: The ending is bittersweet.  Was it depressing to write, thinking of how easily the world could be decimated?  Or is there more a focus on the hope that life will always find a way?

A little of both? I gotta say, part of me is ready to blow things up and start with a clean slate. We’ve gone so far down some dark roads that I’m not sure there’s a way back. On the other hand, the Obama years showed me what was possible when good people strive for big things, and I still hold out hope that things will change. Or yeah, that life (and mankind) will find a way.

You can purchase The Stark Divide in paperback or ebook here.  To learn more about J. Scott Coatsworth, check out his website!

I’m excited that this month’s Fantasy Review is J. Scott Coatsworth’s The Stark Divide, the first in the Liminal Sky series. I was able to get an early copy of this stunning sci-fi tale!

Synopsis:

In the year 2135 AD, the human race is struggling. To combat the devastation on Earth, a new world is being created.  An AI will be merged with a seedling, a ship that will grow from an asteroid and eventually become an inhabitable world. Due to an unforeseen accident, the seedling’s planting doesn’t go according to plan. The three crewmembers do what they must to ensure the new world starts to form.

In 2145 AD, the new world, known as Forever, is growing.  The first workers are terraforming the land, planting compatible seeds, building sustainable homes. But, Lex, the AI who runs Forever, hasn’t forgiven those who caused the accident so many years ago.  When given the chance to meet her maker, Lex shows that though she has been manufactured, she is still capable of very human emotions.  Hopefully, forgiveness is one of them.

By the year 2165 AD, Earth has reached its boiling point. War, famine, changes in weather.  Refugees try everything to flee the dying world and make their way to Forever.  But the new world is not so safe as everyone seems to think. Humanity still walks its surface, which means their base nature of greed, envy, and corruption will never be left behind.

Pros:

This story is very epic in scope, spanning over a thirty year period. You get to see the birth of the seedling, its adolescence, and finally its capabilities of being a host and home for humanity.  One enjoyable aspect is viewing the technology as it grows, understanding the process taken to ensure the survival of the human race. It’s a well thought out and logical system.  The idea of the self-aware AI is given a different spin in this story.  They are seen as if they are a new species, ones with souls and worth.  I loved the evolution of Lex as she grew and began to gasp her place within the universe, and her purpose for being brought to life.

The details of Forever were intricate.  It was easy to picture the terrain and landscape of the asteroid, and so interesting to imagine the aspects that made it unique, like the plants glowing with an ethereal light, powered by the lifeforce of Lex.  The concept was exciting.

Cons:

While each of the three segments of the story were engaging on their own, I wished they could have been more drawn out. The first chuck about the birth of the seedling was my favorite, with a sense of intrigue and suspense.  Spending more time with the buildup and the release would have been great.  And I wish the rest of the story could have held up that same tension.

Conclusion:

This story is a great introduction to the series, establishing the measures needed to allow life to survive after Earth.  Now that the basics of the world and the people’s plight have been laid out, I hope the next in the series will set a breakneck pace of the evolution of the citizens as they learn to live away from their native homeworld.  I’m more interested on the species as a whole, than any focus on one particular human.

Rating:

4/5

The Stark Divide will be released on October 10th, and is available to purchase from the publisher in paperback or as an eBook,or from Amazon.

This edition of “Fantasy Review” may be a bit unorthodox. I wanted to cover Renewal, the new anthology released by Queer Sci-Fi and Mischief Corner Books.  The two team up once a year to host a flash fiction contest (300 words or less).  Of all the submissions, only 110 were selected for publication. And of those chosen, three placement awards were given out, a judge’s choice for each of the five judges, and twenty-five honorable mentions.

Since discussing all 110 entries would be nearly impossible, I narrowed my focus to the winners and judge’s choice recipients.

A brief synopsis:

First Place Winner
“Mating Season” by Steve Fuson
A tale of resignation and then realization. A young female repulsed by the opposite sex is given a son, and through this bond sees how precious a treasure a child is.

Second Place Winner
“In a Bind” by SR Jones
Out in space, solutions get creative. A human pilot creates an unorthodox playpen for a bunch of alien eggs.

Third Place Winner
“Urban Renewal” by Siri Paulson
Changing things, for better or worse. Sikander's home is scheduled for a renewal. Unbeknown to him, it's also a renewal of his life.

Judge’s Choice Recipients:
“Bluebonnets” by Emily Horner
A futuristic Johnny Appleseed. In a post-apocalyptic world, a woman seeks the blue wildflowers her girlfriend always spoke of. Though love may be lost, the seeds planted along the way still bloom.

“ARC” by ER Zhang
The line at the DMV is always long. In the distant future, an alien shapeshifter needs to renew its visa. Unfortunately, to do so it needs a new ARC card. After hours of waiting and dozens of papers, revealing its true form may be its salvation.

“The Wrong Daughter” by Robyn Walker
The black sheep of the family. In a world where the "bad" children are left in the borderlands, Mary's daughter Annabelle is just shy of that point. But when Annabelle comes carrying tales about her sister, Alice, Mary wonders who the bad one really is.

“Love Rituals” by Elsa M León
A lovesick witch seeks a demon. After unsuccessfully trying to summon a demon with a spell, a witch's crocodile familiar pokes fun at its mistress's unlikely crush.

“The Dust” by A.M. Soto
The Earth is dry. Meg’s childhood memory of snow and rain are awoken when she spots a cloud in the sky.

My take:

Of these eight stories, I enjoyed “The Wrong Daughter” the most.  Featured in the anthology’s science fiction section, I’d compare it to a horror tale as well.  It’s got just a bit of that hair-tingling terror that made me wish the story was longer. The character development of Annabelle is expertly done in the allotted length.

For suburb settings, “Love Rituals” was amazing. The witch and her crocodile familiar live in the bayou, and the crocodile’s words elicit that soft, southern dialect to echo in your head. The familiar itself is quite a hook; I’d be fascinated to read more fantasy stories set in such locations.

“Bluebonnets,” while post-apocalyptic, was still a beautiful romance. It spoke of hope even though the world was falling apart around her, and lasting emotions despite the fact the love had diminished. 

And “ARC” was familiar in its anecdote (the common runaround seen at the DMV), but still so great to see from an alien’s perspective. A nice comical break and another story I wanted to read more of.

The anthology is an amazing collection of works, ranging from sci-fi and fantasy to paranormal and horror. There’s something in here for everyone, and since it takes only a minute to read each story, you’ll keep going and going. On a side note, my own addition, “Springtime Fae,” was awarded an honorable mention!

The Renewal anthology is available now in print and eBook formats.

This month’s “Fantasy Review” is Deadmen Walking, by Sherrilyn Kenyon. A swashbuckler tale, with a hefty dose of romance and comedy, this book was a lot different than I expected.  Slight spoilers below.

Synopsis:

Cameron Jack’s brother was killed when his ship sank off the shore of Cape Canaveral, Florida. However, she received a letter—and a trinket—from him dated weeks after he was supposedly dead.  Taking the advice of a witch, Cameron seeks out Devyl Bane, feared captain of a crew of Deadmen—souls damned and freed from hell to fight evil in the human realm.  Cameron’s brother is being held by an evil Vanir, who also happens to be Devyl Bane’s ex-wife—their marriage ended when she cut out his heart centuries ago.

Cameron and Captain Bane, along with a hodge-podge crew of murderers and scoundrels, seek to find a way to free Cameron’s brother from the hands of his captors.  The Jack family, being descendants of Michael—the Archangel—allows their blood is able to open the gates of hell and release all the demons lurking within.

Pros:

This story is stuffed full with every sort of mythology. Mermen. Seraph and fallen angels. A servant of the Greek gods. Vanir and Aesir.  Jinn-like men who keep their souls in whisky bottles.  Ghede Nibo, the leader of dead spirits.  Dragons and sea monsters.  And more.  The world Kenyon inhabits is vibrant with its characters and its settings. A history buff would better understand all the underlying relationships and oppositions of these sometimes-warring, sometimes-allied peoples, but even without such knowledge, it’s still easy enough to follow.

The plot is thick, and though a bit predictable at times, the pace is quick and engaging.  The characters—and the story boasts many of them—are complex, unique, and interesting.  Each of the Deadmen come with tragic backstories which explains their motives for wanting redemption.

The romance was the most surprising aspect of the tale. Without going into too much detail, I expected Cameron to be the object of the captain’s affection—with her innocence and part-Seraph heritage to provide the nice contrast to Bane’s brooding, damned soul.  But, the two are not fated to be together, and the romance that blooms instead is a lot more fulfilling.

Cons:

As a personal preference, I don’t particularly care to read third-person omniscient.  It’s very difficult to do correctly.  Some authors have succeeded (see Frank Herbert’s Dune for an excellent example) but most I try to read in this format fail utterly.  Kenyon pulls it off pretty well, but it’s still not my favorite style.

Not necessarily a con, but something that was contrary to my expectations, was the lack of grittiness.  Thinking this a tale of pirates, demons breaking free from hell, and a ship full of sinners, I thought it would be a bit rougher.  The voice Kenyon used was almost poetic, which was a contrast to the theme of death and damnation.

Conclusion:

This story was fascinating, full of fleshed out characters, detailed settings, engaging mythology, and a beautiful romance.  Though not my typical read, I still enjoyed this.  The plot didn’t offer much in the way of new material, but the characters were endearing enough I would have loved to read about them sitting around to eat dinner.  Their banter was charming and so natural, and their friendships were touching and sweet.  This book was a lot of fun and definitely worth a read.

Rating:

4 out of 5

If you’re interested in a copy of this eBook, check out Dragonmount’s DRM-free eBook store!

This edition of “Fantasy Review” is dedicated to Dan Wells’ I Am Not a Serial Killer--the first book in the John Cleaver series.  Technically not a fantasy, but it does fall nicely under the paranormal/horror heading, and I'm okay with that. For those of you who listen to the podcast Writing Excuses (which also features Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Howard Tayler) you know that Dan Wells has a great sense of humor.  That's what makes this book such a switch.  While there is a lot of humor mixed into the story, on a whole, it’s very dark, and kind of disturbing.  Warning: slight spoilers might follow.

I Am Not a Serial Killer

Dan Wells

Synopsis:

John Wayne Cleaver is not your normal high school student.  He suffers from antisocial personality disorder, and has the three main traits shared by 95% of all serial killers: he wets his bed, he is a pyromaniac, and he is cruel to animals.  But knowing he has the makings of a serial killer inside him steers John down a strange path.  He puts rules in place to ensure he doesn’t kill anyone.  He doesn't want to be a serial killer.  

When a real serial killer settles in his small town, John has to break a few of his rules in order to ensure the safety of his fellow humans.  Once John starts breaking the rules, it’s hard for him to stop.  He lets out the monster within him, and now there’s no putting it back inside.

Pros:

This book was amazing.  It’s pacing kept me hooked continuously; there was never a moment when things slowed down.  The characters were also developed very well.  Though John suffers from antisocial personality disorder--and that makes him look at life, reality, humanity in a different way--he was still believable and real.  The relationship, or lack of one, that he has with his mother is common.  They acted like a typical family.  And the humor, spaced through the dark and bleak scenes, added depth to this story.  Dan Wells’ use of dark humor was incredible in the short story “I.E.Demon,” and that same grim hilarity is here as well.

Cons:

As stated, John has a few issues.  This made him very hard to related to as he made decisions throughout the book.  There were times when I couldn’t believe he was doing what he was doing, or that his thinking didn't coincide with my own.  It distanced me from him, which is risky to do with your main character.  However, these also added to the believable aspects of the world and the story.  Even though I couldn’t get inside John’s head and understand his reasoning, I was fine accepting that someone would behave this way.

This story was also very gruesome.  There’s murder and gore, plus John’s mother is a mortician, so there’s extra dead bodies around.  Though the details aren’t terribly graphic, it’s definitely not for the squeamish.  

Conclusion:

This is an excellent start to the series, does a fantastic job of introducing a flawed main character, and gets things set up the next book.  The plot was enthralling, and the idiosyncrasies that made up John’s personality drew me in.  I can’t wait to read the second book, “Mr. Monster.”

Rating:

4/5

If you’re interested in picking up a copy of I Am Not a Serial Killer, you can get it here at the Dragonmount eBook store.

For this edition of “Fantasy Review,” the book covered will be Calamity, the third and final installment of The Reckoners series by Brandon Sanderson.

There will be slight spoilers below.  Read at your own risk!

Calamity

By Brandon Sanderson

Synopsis

After the events in Babilar, David and crew are out on a new mission: remove the darkness from Prof—AKA Limelight—and free him from the evil of his powers.  To do this, the group needs new allies and new plans.  After getting what they need from an unlikely source, they set off for Atlanta (Ildithia, the city of salt). 

However, there are a few things left to worry about.  First, David still hasn’t come to terms with the fact that he might be an Epic himself.  And there’s still the little problem of finding out Prof’s weakness before they can face him in combat.  Not to mention that the David still have plans of killing Calamity, the Epic of Epics. 

Pros

I will not deny that I’m a huge fan of Brandon Sanderson.  His writing is phenomenal, thought provoking and humorous, dark and optimistic, and this novel is no exception.  He’s a master with action, moving the plot forward constantly.  At the same time, the depths of character development and motivation is clearly explored and satisfying. 

David’s character is wonderful.  He’s funny, dedicated, hardworking, and a true leader.  As the new leader of the Reckoners, he grows.  He suddenly sees how difficult it is to be the one in charge, waiting for the right moment to strike instead of rushing in prematurely.  His underlying powers—used more by accident—are interesting in the way they don’t shape him.  All the Epics we’ve seen have been driven by their abilities and it’s nice to see the flipside of that in David.

I also loved the dynamic of the relationship between David and Megan.  It’s a partnership, each one risking their lives repeatedly as they continue their mission, and letting the other risk their life.  It’s so common in fiction to see a partner become overly protective, and while David and Megan do fear for each other’s lives, they understand that it’s necessary.  There’s no coddling or making the other sit out; they respect each other enough to know that is not an option. 

Cons

While the pace of the book was well done—the action keeping the story constantly moving—there was a feel of being rushed with the ending.  David sets up his plan early on to 1) Rescue Prof 2) Destroy Calamity 3) Save the world.  So when the book’s three-quarters done and step one hadn’t been completed yet, there’s a bit of a sense of rushing.  And while the ending was very well done, greatly satisfying, and absolutely logical, it was difficult to not feel impatient for the conclusion. 

Conclusion

This book was fantastic, a truly wonderful read.  David’s observations were often comical and I laughed a lot throughout the story.  It’s a great combination to have war and death mixed with light-hearted humor.  Of course, that’s always something Sanderson has excelled at, in my opinion. 

Though the trilogy is complete, I feel there is a lot of room for exploration in this world (and parallel worlds).  I really hope that, if Sanderson has time, some of these avenues will be revisited in the future.

Rating

5/5

Welcome to a new edition of Fantasy Review! This time the book being reviewed is The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski. The Last Wish is one of the two short story collections preceding the main Witcher Saga. This review may contain spoilers. 

The Last Wish
by Andrzej Sapkowski 

Synopsis
The book contains seven main short stories. The stories are independent yet connected. 

The story The Voice of Reason connects all other stories. Other stories are flashbacks that occur during the course of the main story. 

The Voice of Reason takes place in the temple of the goddess Melitele. Geralt, a witcher, is recovering in the temple after suffering some serious wounds trying to reverse a spell on a striga. Here he meets some characters that play an important role in some other stories. The local lords are not happy that he is staying there and try to make things difficult for him. 

The Witcher is the story of the striga that caused the wounds from which Geralt is recovering from in The Voice of Reason. 

A Grain of Truth tells the story of a monster like figure that Geralt meets during his journeys. The monster lives in a mansion in the middle of a forest. He has a rose garden and if anyone steals a rose, they have to give their daughter to him for a year.

The Lesser Evil is the story where a wizard asks Geralt to kill a girl because she might be a monster. The queen had tried to kill her on various occasions with the help of the wizard. She had ordered a huntsman to take her to forest and kill her. She escaped and lived with some dwarves for some time. When she meets Geralt, she asks him to help her kill that wizard. 

In A Matter of Price, Geralt is asked to help a queen but told to figure out the details of the mission by himself. It introduces the Child Surprise, someone who has an important role in later books. 

The Edge of the World is the story where Geralt and his friend, Dandelion, travel to the edge of the world. A "deovel" is destroying the fields and some villagers want Geralt to get rid of the "deovel" but the wise woman forbids him to kill it. 

The Last Wish, the story after which the collection is named, introduces the sorceress Yennefer, someone who has been mentioned various times in the book. Geralt and Dandelion had found a genie and Dandelion tried to make the genie grant him three wishes. He does not get to utter the third wish because he is injured in the confrontation with the genie. Yennefer agrees to cure him so that she could use the genie for her own purposes. 

Pros
Some of the stories are alternate versions of some popular fairy tales. It is easier to sink into the story once you find something familiar. 

Geralt has a simple yet complicated character. He claims to be a mutant designed to kill monsters but his idea of monsters is different from everyone else's at times. Just when he starts emerging as a righteous character, an incident happens that makes him look evil and saves the story from becoming too dull. 

Some of the stories are beautiful. A Grain of Truth has some lines that make you think twice. The ending of the story is bittersweet and managed to make way into my memory. 

Cons
The book was originally written in Polish and the English version is a translated version. There are bound to be some things that it misses because of this interpretation. 

Sometimes the characters are infuriating and the motive for their actions are contrary to what I had perceived the character to be. 

Conclusion
All in all, it was an enjoyable read. It takes time to get used to the format of the story but after that it's fun to read. 

Rating
I would give it a rating of 4.5/5

I was so excited for another opportunity to speak to Dr. Michael Livingston.  He was one of the guests at JordanCon this past April, and I was able to hear him on multiple panels.  However, now that I've read his brilliant debut novel The Shards of Heaven, released November 24th, I was happy to discuss it in more detail with him.

Q: First off, you have an impressive background in history.  How much did this prior knowledge help in thinking up the idea for The Shards of Heaven?

A: Very kind of you to say. You've probably heard me speak at JordanCon about how J.R.R. Tolkien created a myth behind the myths of our past, and how Robert Jordan in particular took Tolkien's project and opened it up to a wider range of world culture: the Wheel of Time is a myth made of myths past, present, and future. I've long been fascinated by these efforts, and their wondrous accomplishments have left me wondering what more there was to do. In one sense, The Shards of Heaven (especially when viewed as a series) is my answer. At its core, the story that begins in The Shards of Heaven is about creating a myth behind myths -- just like Tolkien and Jordan -- but it's a myth bounded by the very real limitations of historical places and times. I wanted to meld fantasy and history -- crazy as that sounds -- and erase the lines between them. So knowing a bit about history was a huge part of the project.

Q: When writing this fictional tale, was it easy to turn off the professor inside you?  Or did you find you wanted to tell the story in a lecture format?

A: In many respects I don't see a fundamental difference between these modes. It doesn't matter whether I'm writing Shards or I'm lecturing on Tolkien's philological background or I'm writing a footnote-heavy argument about what happened at the Battle of Crécy … in the end, I am telling a story. The methods may be different, but at the heart it's the same thing.

Q: Would you suggest others who are interested in writing historically based novels to do the same sort of background research before starting?

A: I'll always be in favor of getting the history right! In addition to the pedagogical aspects of doing so, history is a goldmine of truths that are more amazing than anything we can imagine. Whenever I'm stuck in the plot of the Shards, for instance, I just do some research on the period or place and almost inevitably I find something extraordinary to push the narrative forward. There's an extraordinary example of this that I could give you from Book 2, but what it is you'll have to read and find out! :)

Q: As I read the novel, I was constantly tempted to look online about characters, places, and events. I refrained -- because I didn't want to be spoiled.  Do you recommend readers have an understanding of that time and the events that historically transpired?

A: If I did my work well, it doesn't matter. Hopefully, even if you know the result of the Battle of Actium, for instance, what I've done with it will still be surprising and interesting. In fact, the more you know about the subject, the more you'll see the many little "Easter eggs" that I've woven into the book. For those who don't know the history, on the other hand, I hope they are so moved by my tale that they decide to find out a little more about the "truth" behind the story.

So, really, my recommendation is just that folks buy the book. Not that I'm, you know, biased or anything AT ALL.

Q: Your characters, though based on historical figures, were deeply believable.  How did you get the ideas of such foreign cultures imbedded into them?

A: Please excuse me while I happy dance in the most professorial way possible.

…

Okay. It's cool now. Thank you for saying that. Capturing these characters was important to me, because so many of them were truly remarkable human beings. And frankly that's really the best answer I can give to your question. These were amazing people, and just giving them space to be who they were drove most of my characterization.

Q: Since much of history is lost or debatable, how did you decide how much to keep and how much to push into the realm of fantasy?

A: I tend to just trust my instinct: would I think this would be too far? If it is, I dial back. My colleagues in history know that I am more than willing to push the envelope, but that I always do so with my feet firmly grounded in defendable reality. That's essentially what I do in Shards.

Q: Along those same lines, do you plan to evolve your series as it continues, perhaps making it into an alternate history?  Or do you want to keep it into something that could have happened in our past?

A: It is very much my intention to continue to toe that line between fantasy and history throughout the series. That said, you can certainly expect future volumes to move in some unexpected and rather remarkable directions. In Book 2, for instance, we learn that these characters have only just begun to understand the fantastical powers of the Shards. The artifacts are capable of so much more than they know.

Q: Juba may have been my favorite character.  I liked that he was driven by revenge, but still seemed to be a good guy.  He seems almost naive in his desire to avenge his father.  Is there a chance he'll be able to find redemption?  Or is it more likely he'll be consumed and corrupted by power?

A: Team Juba! We should start a hashtag war with the Team Caesarion crowd. Or the Team Selene folks. And the gods help anyone on Team Octavian!

Anyway, as for your question, I'd say that's exactly what I want of Juba: in Book 1 he's a good guy doing bad things for good reasons with bad results. As for his future, I'll say that I won't mess with the major facts of history, but that there's a lot of room between the lines in the textbooks. And power, while always tempting, is always corrupting.

Q: Cleopatra is a person who has been immortalized in film, television, books.  How did you put your own stamp on her, turning her into a character of your own?  It seems like that would be intimidating.

A: Cleopatra must have been a remarkable woman. She seduced two of the most powerful men of her age. She's powerful, brilliant, and oh so very dangerous … I would have loved to meet her!

And indeed that's pretty much the answer to your question: by the time I was writing the book I felt that she was someone who I could set on stage and know exactly how she would act.

Q: After this series is finished, do you have other plans to work in the historical fantasy genre?

A: That will be up to the readers! Tor Books bought a trilogy, and that actually represents the backstory to a much bigger epic: if sales are good, I imagine that will be the next thing up. Otherwise, I'll turn to the "traditional" epic fantasy that was nearing completion when The Shards of Heaven sold: that's a multi-volume secondary-world epic that my beta readers have said is the best thing I've ever done.

Q: Thank you so much for your time, Dr. Livingston!  I really enjoyed this novel and I'm anxiously awaiting its sequel.  

A: Thank you so much for having me, and for asking such delightful questions! And I cannot forego the opportunity to pass along my thanks to the entirety of the Wheel of Time community for welcoming me so so warmly.

The Wheel turns, my friends.

(Richard Fife, Michael Livingston, Saladin Ahmed at JordanCon 2015)

The Shards of Heaven can be purchased in Dragonmount's eBook store.  For more information on Dr. Livingston, please check out his website (www.michaellivingston.com) or follow him on Twitter (@medievalguy).

If you're interested in winning a free copy of The Shards of Heaven, Tor has donated one to give away to a Dragonmount reader!  Comment below and one winner will be randomly selected on December 8th, 2015.  Only residents of the US and Canada are eligible for the free copy.

Today's Fantasy Review is on the upcoming book The Shards of Heaven, by Michael Livingston.  I was fortunate enough to hear Dr. Livingston speak on several panels at JordanCon this past April, and his description of the series had piqued my interest.  He is an obviously intelligent man, with exceeding knowledge about ancient cultures.  With such a master at the helm, I had high expectations for this book, and I was not disappointed.

The Shards of Heaven

By Michael Livingston

Synopsis

After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Rome is sent into civil war: those who side with Caesar's wife, Cleopatra, and Mark Antony, Caesar's best general, versus those who side with Octavian, Caesar's adopted son.  To save the life of Caesarion, her child with Caesar, Cleopatra flees with Antony and sets up her base of power in Alexandria.  Octavian, on the other hand, fortifies Rome and plans to have it whole again soon.  Juba, another adopted son of Caesar, begins to search for the Shards of Heaven—fragmented pieces of the power of God.  Juba finds one of the artifacts, and delivers it to Octavian.  With so much power finally in his grasp, Octavian begins his war on Egypt and Caesarion.  

Pros

This tale is heavily grounded in history.  But, Livingston never lets that overwhelm the reader.  Each person, event, place, or temple is detailed so well that having no prior knowledge of this timeframe does not hinder the story at all.  It makes the history lessons easily understood and exciting.  The details are so rich and vivid.  Each character's point of view is fleshed out in such a way that even the antagonists are sympathetic and endearing.  Juba, for instance, had all the right motivations to set him on the path he took—every step was logical and believable.  He might have been my favorite out of all the characters because he acted out of necessity and self-preservation—even when doing "evil" deeds.  I hope there's redemption for him as the series continues.

Themes of honor and tradition really bring the story to life.  The Roman culture is heavily ingrained in the soldiers who sided with Antony, and who now protect his and Cleopatra's children—Selene, Helios, and Philadelphus.  And at the same time, the children—including Caesarion—are brought up with Egyptian values and beliefs.  They are likened to gods on earth, taught to keep their faces impassive and emotionless.  The clash of cultures and religions is a driving force behind many of the characters' actions, and their faith in gods or God become integral to the plotlines.  

Con

Despite the interest of the assassination attempt in the prologue, the story had a somewhat slow start.  The first few chapters focus on the more political conflicts between Octavian and Mark Antony, and the impending war.  However, once Juba begins to use the Trident of Neptune, the action never lets up.  

Conclusion

This story was immensely gripping and enjoyable.  The immersion into the ancient cultures fascinated me, despite my less-than-favorable view on history lessons.  The details about the world were so exact.  I'm anxiously awaiting the next in the series to see how these characters will adapt to the consequences and resolutions of the war.

Rating

4/5

The Shards of Heaven will be released November 24th.  You can preorder it from Dragonmount's eBook store.  For more information on Dr. Livingston, please check out his website.   

Today's Fantasy Review is something I'm very excited about.  It will cover the debut novel of Dragonmount's creator and webmaster, Jason Denzel!  His novel, Mystic, will be released November 3rd, and I was privileged enough to get an advanced copy.

Mystic

By Jason Denzel

Synopsis:

Pomella is a sixteen-year-old girl who lives in the small town of Oakspring.  She's the only one in the village who can see silver animals that live in the Mystwood forest beside their home.  During the Springrise festival, a creature of legend appears and summons Pomella to be a candidate for the apprenticeship of Yarina, the High Mystic of the island.  To do so would put her at odds with Lady Elona, the daughter of the island's ruling Baron.  To decline would be turning her back on everything she'd desired.  As a commoner, both paths are equally dangerous.

Pros:

This story felt incredibly detailed.  The world building presented was wonderfully done, complete with a distinct dialect spoken (and thought) by the main characters.  They throw in words from within their world without a thought to clarify; the reader learns through context.  This brings the world to life, and made Pomella and Sim (the other point-of-view character) so much more relatable.  Normal people don't think about the meanings of words we use every day.  Even the characters from other parts of the world have different ways of speaking.  This adds texture and richness to their world.

The Myst is also an interesting idea.  It seems to be an intelligent entity, deciding how it manifests its powers and whom to bestow it on.  Each practitioner summons the Myst through different ways, using their unique talent and passion to urge the Myst into doing as they ask.  I like this as a magic system because it's somewhat unreliable.  It does as it wants, as it sees fit, without regard to a person's power or potential.  As the series continues, I think the Myst has some sort of scheme.

The ending of this book really surprised me.  Sometimes we can anticipate the conclusion of novels—especially within the fantasy genre; the good guys win and the bad guys lose.  However, with Mystic, the happy ending came about in a way I didn't suspect.  It opened up a whole new set of exciting possibilities as the series continues.

Cons:

There were very little cons in this story.  I enjoyed it from start to finish.  The one thing that threw me off was the very beginning of the book.  We are introduced to Pomella as she's yelling with her father about her attitude.  To me, she read as a young child, no more than six, so it was a bit startling to find out she was sixteen later in the chapter.  But, since her age is revealed quite quickly, it didn't feel disjointed for long.

Conclusion:

This tale was all-around enjoyable.  There was almost constant forward momentum with the plot, with little dealing with flashbacks or explanations.  Context guided the reader's understanding of the world and culture within.  It was nearly flawless in this aspect.  There was also a ton of action.  As soon as Pomella was summoned, her path contained obstacle after obstacle; she, and those around her, struggled through the whole thing.  This made the pace fast.  I read through it in two sittings because it flowed so well in that regard.

Though it contained some of the usual fantasy tropes, there were also qualities all its own.  A good blend of familiar and new.

Rating:

5/5

You can preorder Jason's book from the Dragonmount eBook store.  Be sure to also check the list of tour dates and locations to see if Jason will be in your area!

Welcome to another edition of Dragonmount's "Fantasy Review."  This time, I had the pleasure of reading the thrilling conclusion to Greg van Eekhout's Daniel Blackland series: Dragon Coast.  This book will be released next week, on September 15th, 2015, and can be preordered in our eBook store.

Spoilers will follow!

Dragon Coast

By Greg van Eekhout

Synopsis:

It's been a year since Sam was dissolved into the Firedrake, and Sam's consciousness is starting to rouse itself inside the dragon—he's trying to take control of the beast's primal urges.  He's having a hard time, as the dragon is bigger, stronger, more magic than Sam.  But as he pokes around the dragon's insides, he becomes aware that there are others inside with him.  Are they allies or enemies?

Daniel's been tracking the Firedrake for the past year with Moth and Em as companions.  He has plans to leak Sam's essence from the dragon and return it to another golem.  But when Daniel finally tranquilizes the beast, agents from Northern California steal Daniel's adopted son away.  Now Daniel needs to go into enemy territory, and what better way to gain access than to pose as his own golem, Paul?

As Paul, Daniel is given access to a life of luxury.  But what he really needs to free Sam is a bone the Northern Heirarch keeps.  It looks like he and his crew are up to their old ways, looking for the best way to heist the crown jewels right under the Heirarch's nose.

Pros:

This novel continues the excitement and thrills of the first two books in the series.  Daniel's desperate now to get Sam back, and he turns almost reckless in his desire to free his son from the dragon.  His plan to pose as Paul seems logical, but Daniel's knowledge of his golem's habits, and of life in the north, are non-existent and likely to cause problems.  Daniel falls into the charade even deeper when he finds out Paul has a daughter—magically-skilled, four-year-old Ethelinda.  Now he has to worry about his own son, and Paul's daughter.

This shows that Daniel—despite the hard appearances he keeps—cares very much for the younger generation.  He has so many horrible memories of what being orphaned was like, and he struggles to make lives better for the children around him.  Especially since he was the one who killed Paul, he feels a debt to Ethelinda, and let's her know that she can find him if she ever needs revenge.

Gabriel Argent, water mage, plays a big role in this book.  Gabriel is one of my favorite characters within the series, because he's able to have power, and remain a good man.  However, this time he's put to the test.  He, Max, and Cassandra, aid Daniel by sneaking into Northern California and helping him find the Firedrake.  Gabriel has other plans, though.  For the good of his city, the Firedrake needs to be tamed—and he has the means to put it under his control.  But having that much power changes a man, and Max is not about to see his master and best friend corrupted. 

This really turned into an interesting examination of human nature: will power ultimately turn a man to evil?  Gabriel has been the good guy from the beginning of the series, while Daniel has been traipsing through gray area the whole time.  Yet, this gives us a complete 180.  Gabriel's mad grab for more power turns his allegiance, even to his closest friends.  It was so shocking, but incredibly engaging, to see.

Cons:

The pace was a bit slow at times.  Because we switched between Daniel posing as Paul, Gabriel sneaking into San Francisco, and Sam within the dragon, there were times when we had to catch up with the other storylines, even though more exciting things were happening elsewhere.  It was fascinating to see Sam's point of view from inside the Firedrake, but we had very few chapters about him.

Conclusion:

This story was bitter-sweet.  A great conclusion to the series, but leaving a bit of sadness at some of the unresolved plotlines.  And not unresolved to the reader, unresolved to Daniel.  He's such a broken man—needing a goal to work towards to give his life meaning.  And after this heist is done, he has nothing else to give him purpose.  The overwhelming sadness is absolutely beautiful. 

The fact that these characters pull so much at my emotions is amazing.  I really hope that Mr. van Eekhout revisits Los Angeles sometime soon, and gives us another glimpse into the life of Daniel Blackland.

Rating:

5/5

 If you'd like to see more by Mr. van Eekhout, you can check out the reviews of California Bones and Pacific Fire.  You can also read an interview with Mr. van Eekhout, here.

I was privileged enough to meet Greg van Eekhout at the Phoenix Comicon at the end of May.  I listened to him speak on several panels, and was really intrigued by the description of his Daniel Blackland series, as well as his views on writing.  After reading the first two novels in the series (California Bones and Pacific Fire), I am anxiously awaiting the third and final, Dragon Coast, due out September 15th, 2015.

There may be spoilers from California Bones and Pacific Fire below.  Read at your own risk.

Q: In California Bones, Daniel mentions that a sea slug is able to steal genes from algae.  Is that where you got the idea of osteomancy as a magic system?

A: The sea slug that steals genes by ingesting algae was one of those neat things I came across in my research, but the idea of osteomancy, of gaining magic by eating the remains of magical creatures, came from the really general, basic idea that we gain stuff by eating stuff, be it protein, fat, or fire-breathing magic.

Q: Your story is set in an alternate universe, so there are some similarities to our world, and there are some major differences.  How did you decide what to keep and what to change?  For example, why did you decide to keep Disney, and the other LA elite in the story?

A: I wanted LA to be recognizable, but also recognizably different. The big, major, conspicuous change I made was getting rid of cars and streets and freeways and replacing them with boats and canals and elevated flumeways. Some stuff came from LA history, things that used to be there but are gone now, like the Pacific Ocean Park amusement pier. And then there was stuff I kept as-is, mostly little things, like Tito’s Tacos and Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. And there was also stuff I kept but altered, like the different-yet-familiar version of Disneyland that’s the characters allude to. As for what I kept and why I kept it, like Disney, I was governed by the question, “Hey, would this be fun? Can I make it make sense? Then it’s in!”

Q: At the end of California Bones, Sam is ready and willing to sacrifice his own life so Daniel can defeat the Heirarch.  Yet, Daniel refuses to eat the boy.  But once the Heirarch is dead, Daniel does eat him.  So, if Sam had killed himself for the greater good, why wouldn't Daniel view that the same way as he viewed eating the Heirarch?  From Daniel's perspective, is there a difference in the ethics of it?

A: I think for Daniel there’s a huge gulf between eating the Hierarch and eating Sam. The Hiearch is a willing participant in a messed-up, exploitative system that literally treats people as consumables. Sam is an innocent. He’s a victim. There’s no way Daniel would ever willingly hurt someone like Sam, much less eat him.

Q: For character motivation, you mentioned that you like to focus on the difference between what a character wants to do versus what a character has to do.  When dealing with strong-willed characters like Daniel and Sam, is there a difference between what they have to do and what they want to do?

A: Absolutely. Daniel wants to remove himself from Los Angeles and the powerful people who run it, but what he needs to do is penetrate the Hierarch’s stronghold, the actual, physical center of that power. And what Sam wants is to be a normal kid, going to high school, having friends, dating, all the mundane stuff he’s never experienced because he lives his life on the run. What he needs to do, though, is confront the things he’s running from. I think Sam better understands and accepts the difference between his wants and his needs than Daniel does. I think Sam is more of a realist, maybe.

Q: There's a lot of diversity in your characters.  In Pacific Fire, Daniel teams back up with Moth, and we find out he has a boyfriend.  Does this diversity add to the realistic nature of the characters? 

A: Sure. The world is populated by all sorts of people, so it’s weird and unrealistic when fictional worlds don’t reflect that.

Q: Daniel, while having good and honorable traits, does seem to take advantage of people when he needs to.  How do you keep him from tipping the balance between good and bad, and losing the reader's sympathy?

A: I can only hope I don’t lose the reader’s sympathy! Daniel definitely does have a selfish streak. He does what he feels he has to do, and he’s willing to use people, even those he loves, to achieve his goals. In that way, he’s caught up in the same system of exploitation as the bad guys. But what I think redeems Daniel is his awareness of his flaws and his desire to protect and improve the lot of those he loves. But he’s certainly far from a perfect person.

Q: Osteomancy is only one form of the way magic manifests in your series.  How is Gabriel's water mandala different from osteomancy?

A: Gabriel’s hydromancy is more akin to engineering. If you learn how water behaves and learn the ways of manipulating those behaviors with plumbing and patterns of water flow, you can do mighty things. The most powerful kinds of osteomancy, what Daniel’s father calls “deep osteomancy,” requires one to change their own physiology over time. You have to change your body so you can ingest magic and use it to its full extent. It’s a more intimate and personal kind of magic.

Q:  In California Bones we see that Daniel and Gabriel are slight variations on the same theme.  And in Pacific Fire we see that Daniel and Sam have that same relation.  Will it be possible for the three of them to form some sort of alliance?

A: The three of them don’t really team up in Dragon Coast, but if enough people buy the books, who knows?

Q: I think it's pretty safe to say that Sam would have grown up different if Daniel had left him in Los Angeles.  But, would it have changed his nature, what's at his very core?  Would he have seen the reconstructed mammoth as food not kin?

A: It’s hard to say, because in addition to his magical heritage, he’d also be influenced by his environment and the people around him. If he’d been raised by evil turds, he may well have turned out an evil turd.

Q: Is Sam at all affected by the love potion in Daniel?

A: Daniel has managed to rid himself of the loyalty spell between California Bones and Pacific Fire.  It's one of the untold parts of hte story that I hope will come out someday, maybe as a short story.

Q: Did Daniel eat any part of his own body when he switched with Paul?

A: Ew! No! Gross!

Mr. van Eekhout is the author of several other fantasy and YA novels and short stories.  You can find out more at Mr. van Eekhout's website.  You can also purchase all three in the Daniel Blackland series in the Dragonmount eBook store.

This edition of "Fantasy Review" looks at Greg van Eekhout's Pacific Fire, the second in the Daneil Blackland trilogy.  You can find a review of the first in the series here.

Pacific Fire

By Greg van Eekhout

Synopsis:

Ten years have passed since Daniel defeated the Heirarch and liberated the Heirarch's golem—who now goes by the name Sam Blackland.  But, the powers in Los Angeles have a plan to cause more chaos, reviving an ancient Pacific firedrake, and Daniel and his osteomantic abilities are needed to destroy it.  When an attack leaves him weak and on the verge of death, Sam decides it's up to him to step in and save the day.

Pros:

This is another tale full of action, adventure, danger, and compelling characters.  From start to finish, this book never let up.  Though Sam takes center stage as—arguably—the main character, Daniel is still relevant and important to the plot.  After his near-death experience, he sets off for Los Angeles to save Sam, and calls on his old friend, Moth, for help.  There's also some significant secrets about Daniel's past that come to light, mainly, what happened to his mother in the Northern California Kingdom.

Daniel's character is such a badass.  He's ten years older than in the previous book, and that mean ten years more experienced, and ten years more jaded.  He's hard and tough, but at the same time has a soft spot for the child he raised, feeling a paternal connection to Sam.  These two sides of him—a rage against the world and a deep love for Sam—give him strong motivation in this book.  But at the same time, he's still as snarky and arrogant as he was when he was younger.  He's an amazing character.

Sam is equally as interesting.  His life with Daniel is unfulfilling—never staying in any place longer than a few days, learning osteomancy as well as self-defense, not able to from relationships with anyone—yet he is alive.  But when Daniel is attacked with a rare poison, he needs the help of the Emmas.  There, he teams up with one Emma—called Em—and she agrees to help him take on Daniel's mission.  For once in his life, Sam gets to be the hero, not relying on Daniel's protection, and of course, everything goes wrong.

Getting to see Sam return to Los Angeles, his birthright, and finally get to use his osteomancy, really grew his character.  Living under Daniel's influence did cause Sam to be jaded as well, but he's still young enough to have a sense of wonder at the world around him.

There were so many scenes within this book that were so touching.  These characters worm their way into your heart, and their pains and struggles and hopes and dreams are so tangible to the reader.

Cons:

A few elements of the story relied too much on coincidence and chance meetings.  Sam and Em crash a plane, but are still able to get to Los Angeles within the scheduled timeframe.  They don't have a way to get to Catalina Island, but a passing celebrity happens to invite them to an illegal party on a ship where there's a submarine they can steal. 

Coincidences occur in fiction, but it did feel like it happened a few too many times to be believable.

Conclusion:

This book was incredible, just as intriguing as the first in the series.  It was teemed with emotion and adrenaline, sure to keep the reader's attention.  The relationships between the characters are what make this story worth reading.  Both Daniel and Sam are sympathetic, relatable protagonists.  And despite both of their tragic beginnings, they still fight to make the world a better place.

Rating:

5 out of 5

This book can be purchased in the Dragonmount eBook store, here.  And the first book in the series, California Bones, is also available.  The third and final story, Dragon Coast, comes out on September 15th, and can be preordered here.

This edition of "Fantasy Review" covers California Bones by Greg van Eekhout.  It is the first in the series, followed by Pacific Fire, and Dragon Coast due out September 15, 2015.  Slight spoilers will follow.

California Bones

By Greg van Eekhout

Synopsis:

In an alternate universe Los Angeles, Daniel Blackland is the son of a powerful magic user, Sebastian.  However, to cut down a rival, the Kingdom's ruler, the Hierarch, kills Sebastian and cannibalizes him right before his son's eyes, absorbing the magic embedded inside Sebastian's bones.  Daniel escapes, and years later, is brought in to steal his father's most precious artifact, a sword made out of Daniel's own magical essence.  Daniel puts together a crew of his friends, and someone on the inside of the Hierarch's organization.  But Daniel has a hard time trusting someone he doesn't know.  Could this insider ruin the heist of the century and send Daniel into the clutches of the Hierarch?

Pros:

This story is about so much more than a heist.  While Daniel—growing up on the streets, orphaned—needs to steal for a living, that is only one thread of the plot.  More important is Daniel himself, his innate magic, what he gathers for the robbery, and his relations to the people around him.  Daniel is a very deep, well-round character with clear motivations, strengths, and weaknesses.  He's never been obsessed with vengeance for his father's murderer, showing that he's smart enough to realize the rules of the world.  If he sought vengeance, he'd be dead by now.  Instead, living is how he gets back at the Hierarch.

The other point of view character is Gabriel Argent, the Heirarch's great-nephew, and a bureaucratic worker in the government.  His family connections are more a hindrance than a help—Gabriel's own mother was eaten by the Heirarch during the Third Correction, the same event that lead to Sebastian Blackland's death.  Gabriel is clever, keeping quiet and unnoticeable within the government, until certain circumstances lead him to the knowledge that Daniel is alive.  He goes to higher-ups with his discovery and suddenly becomes a target himself. 

Gabriel is fascinating.  The story could have easily been told with him as the hero.  His view of the world—his morals of working within the system—differ greatly from Daniel, but the two have very similar motivations: only wanting to live and work in peace.

Mr. van Eekhout's writing style is quick and a tad gritty.  It needs to be when it details a society that is ruled by a cannibal.  But it's expertly done, adding to the overall atmosphere of the Los Angeles setting.  The magic system, osteomancy, was refreshing; a new way for power to be used, stolen, and processed.  This book barely scratched the surface of what osteomancy can do, and I hope it's explored more as the series progresses.

Cons:

Daniel's crew—Moth, a healer, Cassandra, a good shot and lock pick, and Jo, a shapeshifter—are very important to the plot line of stealing the sword.  Yet, they could have been more developed as characters.  Part of what makes them this way is Daniel's own magic; he makes them loyal to him.  So, it could be seen that they only act the way he wants them to.  Still, I would have liked to know more about them and their backstories—especially more about Moth's abilities, and how Jo got hers.

Conclusion:

This story kept me eagerly reading; it was difficult to put down.  I'm really excited to start the sequel and find out how much more the magic system will be explored. 

Rating:

5/5

California Bones can be purchased from the Dragonmount eBook store, and so can the sequel, Pacific Fire.  

[Editor's Note: Dragonmount is very pleased to have Peter Orullian, author of The Vault of Heaven series, talk a bit about Resonance within the world he's created.  Mr. Orullian's second book in the series, Trial of Intentions, is available today.  Buy it from the Dragonmount eBook store, here.  You can also learn more at Mr. Orullian's website.]

One of the things I developed in the world-building phase of my epic fantasy series is something I call: Resonance. It’s a governing dynamic. Think of mechanical laws from our own world—things like magnetism and gravity. But my intention with it was more than just another physical law. It had to be a source of power. And more.

In our world, we already have the notion of resonance as a principle of acoustics. Often, you’ll find this in relation to what makes a tuning fork hum or even a building shake; it’s when a vibration finds the resonant signature of a thing, and causes it to “stir.”

But what if Resonance could be more? What if Resonance didn’t need a medium of transference? And what if we elevated it beyond just a principle of physics? Well then, you might do as I did and establish an underpinning for not just one but many different magic systems. This is some of what you’ll find in my second book, Trial of Intentions. And by the way, I wrote Trial as an entry point to my world. So, if you haven’t read any of my other work, you’re good to jump in with Trial, if you’d like.

Now, because I’m a musician, I suppose it was natural that I use the principles of Resonance—as I’ve defined them for my series—to build a music magic system. But once I’d established these principles, I began to see how different cultures could tap into Resonance to do magic in ways that made sense for them. Which means that the magic systems are all distinct from each other—some based on movement, some on song, some on thought, some on language, and others—but all have this through-line that readers can see and understand. This appealed to the geek in me.

But as fun as that was, I wanted Resonance to do more. I wanted it to have the power (if understood and used correctly) to affect things at a distance—a great distance—without having to traverse the space between. This led me to research quantum entanglement.

As you might imagine, quantum entanglement is a big idea. Much too big to explore and discuss in a short article like this. Suffice it to say that it gave me a pattern for Resonance—one part of Resonance, anyway—to have an effect on something simultaneously in a distance place. No need for power or energy to “travel.” I love this idea. Perfect for my needs.

And one of the things I did in Trial of Intentions is create a society entirely dedicated to science. In fact, I established colleges of mathematics, astronomy, physics, cosmology, and philosophy. Kind of made sense, since my series is entitled: The Vault of Heaven. This society of scientists is dedicated to research. To establishing principles that help explain how the world works. And their inquiries, as you might also imagine, have far reaching impacts in my series.

So, Resonance has a rational component. And it’s the principle that fuels many magic systems in my world.

But it also becomes a way to understand the human connections between some of my characters. One example: When two people become close—friends, lovers—they share something more than evening meals or marital vows. They establish a connection that brings them into Resonance with one another. Deeper understanding, empathy, and awareness. Even if they’re separated by half a world. I like this gentler, more personal side of Resonance quite a lot. It’s a counterpoint that I think gives the idea of Resonance greater breadth and depth.

Of course, Resonance is also fuel for some wicked power. And right at the beginning of Trial of Intentions, one of my characters who possesses music magic . . . well, it’s not pretty.

Things escalate fast. And while some characters are trying to understand Resonance in order to find more peaceful solutions to war, others are learning (and be changed by) the use or Resonance as a power to do battle. A power to take to war . . .

Welcome to another edition of Fantasy Review! The book being reviewed this time is Prince of Thorns. Prince of Thorns is the first book in The Broken Empire trilogy. It is followed by King of Thorns and Emperor of Thorns. This review may contain a few spoilers.

The Prince of Thorns

by Mark Lawrence

Synopsis

The story of Prince of Thorns follows the life of Prince Jorg who at the starting of the book vows to be a king by the time he is 15 years old. At the time he is 13 years old but shortly after he grows to be 14. Jorg is living with his Brothers, who are some mercenaries, and destroying some villages. He had decided to take revenge on Count Renar but for years he found destroying some peasants' houses served him better, even if this didn't make sense.

Another story that goes on simultaneously is Jorg's story four years ago. This story tells about how his mother and brother were killed, how his father did nothing, how he left the castle and the memory of thorns.

All events shape up how Jorg wishes to be king by time he is fifteen and how he sets about to make it so. From being the heir to be closed to displaced in favor of his yet to be born half-brother to winning his father's approval back, is a main plot of the story. Filled with a stubbornness and a determination to not be led on strings, Jorg sets out to become the next king and he does not care how many lives he has to take to do this.

Pros 

The setting is quite realistic and the characters are so too, even if they may make you cringe at times. Jorg's story that took place four years ago provides an interesting read to understand how Jorg became who he is.

The characters who work behind the scenes and pull strings to control rulers and effectively rule are shown to be important characters. They lend some unpredictability to the story.

The ties of friendship lend a warming quality to this otherwise harsh story. There are few honorable characters who provide a silver lining.

Cons

The first problem I had was the lack of magic. Magic exists but is hardly shown in the story. I find it hard to come terms with fantasy without much magic.

Jorg. He is a pro and con in himself. He provides an interesting dimension to story but he is a character you can love and hate at the same time. His actions will make you cringe.

Worldbuilding is too much borrowed from real world. if you look at map for long, you get a slight feeling that it looks somewhat like map of Europe. There are others things like EM, nuclear radiations (poison as referred to by Jorg), dena (for DNA) which make it too near reality (I like when it is close to reality but this is too much at times). 

Rating

I will give this a rating of 5/5 because this book is good enough to be read once at least.

This is a special edition of Dragonmount's Fantasy Reivew: a look at Peter Orullian's Trial of Intentions, which will be released May 26.  

Synopsis:

After their victory at Tillinghast, Tahn and his companions set out on the next stage of their adventure—and that means parting company.

Tahn seeks to end the war before it begins, by completing his studies in Aubade Grove, and finding a way to strengthen the Veil.  If the Veil is strengthened, the Quiet cannot break through.  There, he reconnects with people from his past, and reconnects with a lost part of himself.

Mira sets out on a quest to rid herself of the stain Tahn's sin has marked on her.  She seeks out a distant race of handsingers who may hold the key to her salvation, and the way for her to produce an heir to the Far king.

Wendra must continue her studies as a Lieholan, learning not only her skills but some of the past memories she's forgotten.  Her powerful abilities may help her unravel the reason why the Song of Suffering is changing.

Vendanj and the rest of the group must go to Convocation to bring the kingdoms together in case the Quiet are able to break through the Veil at last.  They are opposed by Roth—the leader of the League of Civility—though unexpected allies may be able to help.

Pros:

This installment is action-packed from the very beginning.  The pace of the novel is well done, with a few moments for the reader to catch their breath, but a pull that lasts through the very end of the story. 

New players are introduced.  Though mentioned and explained in The Unremembered, The League's importance becomes central to the storyline.  Their motives become clearer and fleshed out; we can understand their line of thought more—yet they are still at odds with the Sheason, and may even be working against humanity. 

The start of the story hammers home the fact that Tahn is an anti-hero.  He's flawed, and is not going to be the perfect savior those around him need him to be.  That's exactly what makes this tale so interesting. It's not about the black and white of the world, but about the gray areas that all people inhabit.

Tahn grows a lot in this book.  He's come a long way from his home in the Hollows, and the insecure boy he was.  With his memories returned, conflicting him and helping him at the same time, he struggles with grasping the state of his life right now—needing to find out why he can render the Will with pieces of himself, why the Quiet keep referring to him as the Quillescent,  and the simple fact that he's unable to be with the woman he loves.  Yet, despite all this, he does everything in his power to help his allies in their fight.

His time at the Grove really expands his character.  Before, he was a boy from a small town who set out on an adventure.  But here, he's a scholar, arguing the nature of the world and its magic.  It's such a completely different side of him, and it's interesting to watch him embrace it.

Cons:

While the dialogue does have some humor in it, sometimes it feels like the characters try too hard to say witty things.  This is also a flaw in some of Brandon Sanderson's works.  While I appreciate humor and laughing at characters' antics, it can seem a bit forced in this book.

Conclusion:

Though the major plotlines all end on a bit of a cliffhanger—Tahn finishing one part of his Succession, Sutter and Mira off to save King Relothian, and Vendanj running from the Leaguesmen—it doesn't feel like it's unfinished.  Each character is so far along in their own mission, working separately to find a common solution. 

This was a great read, keeping in line with the epicness of the genre, and the complications expected from realistic characters.  This series grows more in depth in each book, and I'm hoping for that trend to continue with the next installment.  Orullian's world is absorbing and I can't wait to return to it again.

Rating:

4/5

For more from Mr. Orullian, you can see an interview discussing his first novel in the Vault of Heaven series here.  You can also purchase The Unremembered from the Dragonmount eBook store.  Trial of Intentions will be released May 26, and can be preordered from Dragonmount.  Make sure to check out Mr. Orullian's website for all the latest information on this series.

This month's Fantasy Review is Peter Orullian's The Unremembered—the Author's Definitive Edition.  There will be slight spoilers below.

Synopsis:

Tahn is a young man who lives the Hallows, an area full of farmers.  He and his sister and friends are taken by Vendanj, a warrior of the Order of Sheason, and Mira, a member of the Far, to Tillinghast to try and stop the weakening of the Veil—a barrier that keeps the Quiet away from the world of men. 

Along the journey, each of the group's members discover their secret talents, and better understand why they were chosen for this quest.  Most of all, it's Tahn who's needed, because of his special gift to understand the Will—he cannot shoot his bow unless the Will allows him too.  However, that inability to choose who must live and who must die only adds to the burden he already bears.  Tahn's unremembered past may be the biggest burden of them all.

Pros:

The characters are what make this story come alive.  Each one is well-rounded, with equal flaws and strengths.  I think the easiest way to talk about the story it to highlight each character.

Tahn—the protagonist—strikes me as such an interesting character, mostly for his flaws.  In the very beginning of the story, I love that he was unable to shoot the Bar'dyn, a monster that threatened his sister and her newborn child.  I think it sets a tone for his character through the novel, that there is some doubt in the reader's mind about his abilities.  Did he really refrain from shooting because of the Will?  Or is there something deeper inside him, a bit of fear and cowardice?  And as the journey progresses, he seems to make more mistakes, and one of those mistakes can mean the difference between him being the hero and being killed.

Wendra—Tahn's sister—is introduced to the reader in a time of fear and weakness, as a Bar'dyn is trying to steal her stillborn child.  Because of this, it seems she grows the most throughout the story.  When the group gets separated, and she takes a motherly role to Penit, she matures and finds her inner strength.  She goes through more danger than the others, and makes it through with her own cleverness and determination.  Along the journey, she discovers she has the power of song inside her, and that Vendanj meant her to train as a Maesteri.  But her love for Penit made her continue the quest instead of studying.

Penit is a young boy who was abandoned by his family of traveling performers.  He's taken in by Vendanj's group for unknown reasons.  Quick witted and clever, the boy's skill as a performer acts as a sort of comic relief for the characters.  He's sweet, and cared for by Wendra—but it seems like he has nothing but misery in store for his future.

Mira is a lovely woman of the Far, an elf-like race that is doomed to short life spans.  She sets out on this journey accompanying Vendanj and his rag-tag group, but is summoned home when her sister dies.  She and Tahn have chemistry between them, but the Far race is doomed to a short lifespan, and she knows there can be no future with Tahn.  This shadows her judgment, and she makes hard decisions—decisions with Tahn in mind rather than her people.  The Far race is particularly interesting as they guard the old Language, and that may be the key to everything.

Vendanj is a Sheason, a member of a warrior guild that is dedicated to protecting humanity.  They are able to access the Will—the magical force within the world.  Vendanj's mission is to find a person who can Render the Will and defeat the evil growing at Tillinghast.  As the journey with Tahn and his friends goes on, we see that this is not Vendanj's first attempt at this quest.  He is also haunted by a tragic past.  He serves at a guide and mentor to Tahn—who struggles with bending to the decisions of the Will.  Though quiet and aloof with the others, he is a dedicated man who will stop at nothing to see his mission successful.

Cons:

The learning curve for this story is very high.  There's a ton of in-world terminology that is discussed but not explained.  This can make it difficult to stay focused, or to remember what exactly all the words mean.   There is a handy glossary in the back of the book with detailed entries on most of the in-world terms, but it's still tricky to go back and forth between the novel and the glossary so much at the beginning of the story.

The narrative also starts with the group already on route to Tillinghast, and much of how they got there is revealed later.  While this is a great way to get to the action immediately, the reader is left wondering how the group all came together.  Of course, patience pays off, and everything is recounted—but it can be difficult to hold off on getting answers right away.

Conclusion:

This book was a wonderful read, and the start of what seems to be an exciting series.  The characters are very realistic with the way they handle the pressures thrust upon them, and their actions and motivations go hand-in-hand.  The multiple magic systems also piqued my curiosity, and I understand they will be explored more thoroughly in the next book—Trial of Intentions, which will be released May 26, 2015.  Tahn is definitely a flawed hero, and that makes his decisions in the story heavily weighed—he makes selfish decisions that cost lives.  I'm looking forward to the next book, and to what the future has in store for Tahn and the rest of his group.

My rating:

4/5

This book is available at Dragonmount's eBook store here.  When it is released, you can also purchase Trial of Intentions here.  You can also look at a Dragonmount exclusive interview with Mr. Orullian here.

I was very happy to be given a chance to interview Peter Orullian about the authoritative edition of his novel, The Unremembered.  The book—the first in the Vault of Heaven series—was action-packed, gripping, and a wonderful addition to the fantasy genre.

For more information on this anticipated series, please check out Mr. Orullian's website.

Q: This novel is very epic in scale and scope.  The world contains depth, history, and a sense of realism.  How much worldbuilding was needed for you to flesh out the past, present, and future of this world?

A: I did quite a bit of worldbuilding before I began to write. Of course, part of that was drawing a map. It sounds a little cliché, but there’s a real sense in which creating the geography can begin to help you conceptualize other elements of the world. And the map, itself, changes a lot during this phase.

I also put in place the creation mythology of the world, and much of its political and cultural structure. Beyond all that, I spent a lot of time on the magic systems.

But I also left a lot to the writing process. I know some writers architect everything in advance. Just as I know some who make it all up as they write. I fall about halfway between these. I build a good framework—something to work against—but I leave myself lots of canvas to paint as I go.

Q: We see a lot of heroes in the fantasy genre, but I don't think I've read one quite as flawed as Tahn.  Yet, at the same time, he's very sympathetic in his thinking.  The reader understands why he does what he does, even if they are the wrong decisions.  How were you able to keep his character balanced between being realistically flawed, but still likable?

A: Much of the answer is in your question. If readers understand why a character is making the choices he or she makes, your character stands a better chance of remaining sympathetic, even when those decisions are wrong. Or heartbreaking. Unexplained heroism reads like Dudley Do-Right. Senseless villainy is just Snidely Whiplash. On the other hand, understanding a character’s motivation goes a long way to keeping a reader invested in the outcomes of that character’s choices.

And I think this is how most of us are in real life. We make bad decisions, but not because we’re bad people (most of us, anyway). Those decisions are informed by the experiences of our lives. In other words, we wind up being the sum of our choices. That sounds terribly high-minded. But my point is that two people in the same situation can make very different decisions. If we were privy to the formative experiences of those two people, both decisions could make sense.

I think fiction works the same way. And when those formative experiences are dire, tragic things, the sympathy for the character escalates. So, in Tahn’s case, his life has been hard, particularly in his youth. The reader is slowly learning why. This continues in book two. And because most of us have difficulties in our lives, and stumble, I think we’re able to better identify with characters who do the same. 

Q: Since music seems to be important in your life, it makes sense that one of the magic systems in the series would be music based.  Will we get to see more of the music in action as the series continues?  

A: Absolutely. In The Unremembered you get just the first taste. In book two, Trial of Intentions, I turn the volume way up on the music magic. In fact, my character who possesses this ability goes to a place where she can train. She learns a lot about her gift and how to use it. And readers, likewise, get to see inside the music magic system, as she tests her ability in all kinds of battles.

I also start to reveal something I call “governing dynamics.” When I built my world, it made sense to me that all magic systems would have an underlying set of principles, much the way there are mechanical laws like gravity and magnetism.

The central principle upon which I frame all magic in my universe is called: Resonance. So far, I have five magic systems in my universe. And while each culture taps into Resonance (and related dynamics) in different ways, their magic systems are all built off the same principles. In some regards, it’s like quantum entanglement. But that’s a whole long different topic we can tackle another time.

In any case, the music magic system, which is one of the core systems, takes advantage of Resonance in some powerful ways. And in Trial of Intentions, I turn it up to eleven (that’s a Spinal Tap reference—sorry, couldn’t help myself).

Q: Mira's fear of having children is a sharp contrast to Wendra's maternal need to look after children.  Is this due to their difference in race—and Mira's inability to actually raise the child—or is it more a difference in personality?  Is there a statement to be made about the role of women, and mothers, within your world?

A: It’s really one of personality. The nature of Mira’s race—the Far—is that they die too young to every fully raise their own children. Many Far accept this well enough, given the promises they have in exchange for a shortened life. But Mira is hurt by the fact that she never got to know her birth mother. She doesn’t want that for any child she might have.

As for a statement on the role of women and/or mothers in my world, it’s not something I set out to do. I’ve no agenda. As I say, Mira’s feelings are personal. They’re formed out of her childhood experiences. They give context to choices she’s facing now, much the way we talked about making Tahn a realistic but flawed character.

Similarly, Wendra has had some traumatic experiences, as well. These experiences lend context to choices she makes.

But if I think about it, Mira and Wendra are both powerful women. One is a gifted fighter—crazy skilled. The other possesses an amazingly influential magic. These things define them as much as anything else. So, in the same way we were talking about Tahn above, for me, there are real-life corollaries. Women have differing feelings on the topic of motherhood—just as Mira and Wendra do. And those feelings are one aspect of who they are—just as Mira and Wendra each play a pivotal role in the overarching story of my series, bringing to bear their unique abilities to try and answer threats of war. 

Q: Since this is the Author's Definitive Version, how does it differ from the previous version of the novel?

A: In several ways, actually. Without going into all the details as to why we’re doing an Author’s Definitive Edition, let me just say that writers and editors don’t always share the same vision for a book. For my part, I now have a different editor than I had when the original edition of The Unremembered was released.

As to how it’s different, first, it’s much shorter. I cut a lot. It’s uncommon for an Author’s Edition to be shorter. Usually the writer is adding words. And I did, too. But I started by trimming the book considerably. It helped pacing, among other things. Then, I took the opportunity to introduce some elements that would bring books one and two closer together. That wasn’t necessary, but I figured as long as I had the chance . . .

Working through the book, I brushed up dialogue here and there, removed exposition where I needed to, dropped in some Easter eggs, etc.

And then to the whole thing we’ve added epigraphs to each chapter, a glossary, an exclusive short story set in the universe—the POV character of which is a POV character in book two, and he’s inside the Bourne—and there are a few of the first chapters from Trial of Intentions, as well.

It’s not necessary to read the Author’s Edition of The Unremembered to transition into Trial of Intentions. If you’ve read the original, you’ll be just fine. And because of the editorial snafus prolonging the time between books one and two, I wrote Trial of Intentions as an entry point to the series. So, a reader could actually start the series with book two. All that said, if someone wants to start at the beginning, I recommend the Author’s Edition of The Unremembered. I think it’s a stronger book.

These next ones may contain spoilers, if that's all right.

Q: The theme of actions and consequences are visited several times in the novel.  Yet, Tahn's blemishes are removed before Tallinghast—the negative consequences of his choices essentially erased.  How will it affect him as he goes forward in the next book?  Will that lightness still reside in him, making Mira continue to take in any stains he makes?

A: Well, like you noted above, Tahn’s a flawed character. Or, said another way, he makes the best choice he can at any given time based on who he is and what he knows. So . . . he’s not done making heartbreaking decisions.

But he and Mira won’t always be side-by-side. And he wouldn’t let her do for him again what she did near Tillinghast, anyway.  In fact, early in book two, Tahn makes some very deliberate choices that fly in the face of what he “should” do. And he makes no apologies for it. Nor, if I’ve done my job, would anyone expect him to.

Q: Can you tell us if Penit did escape the Bar'dyn?

A: Nope. That’s one you’re going to have to read the next few books to find out.

Q: Were Sutter's visions of Mira a warning, or was it an unavoidable prophecy?

A: Well, Sutter sees the spirits of the dead before they die. But these aren’t prophecies. They’re not forgone conclusions. It’s kind of like the ghost of Christmas Future visiting Scrooge. Shadows of the future may be changed.

Q: Zephora and Mira have a few cryptic exchanges at Tillinghast.  Mira speaks of a covenant with him—or with the Quiet—and Zephora calls her an "oathbreaker," which would mean that the Far were the ones who broke the covenant.  Can you elaborate anymore on that and their relationship?    

A: The gods who created the world left the Language of the Covenant for the people of Aeshau Vaal as a possible defense or weapon, should it ever be needed against the Quiet. The Covenant Tongue is insanely powerful. It’s the language that was used to frame the world.

The Far oath is to safeguard the Language of the Covenant until they reach the Age of Accountability—eighteen-years-old—which means they protect it during their years of stainlessness. The Far possess the godsgifts of exceptional speed and grace. In exchange for these gifts, and the promise that they will see their family in the next lift, the Far are able to defend and protect the Language of the Covenant without concern over the means whereby they do so. This is because they die before they can be held accountable for anything.  Before they’re blemished or stained in any way by their choices.

But Mira takes on the stain of one of Tahn’s choices. So, she’s effectively no longer Far. She’s effectively broken her oath.

There is, though, a deeper connection between the people of the Bourne and the people of the Eastlands. But I’ll leave that to your discovery in the next books.

Q: Vendanj states several times that he brought others to Tillinghast before Tahn.  What became of them?  Is it only Tahn's relationship with the Will that saved him from the Draethmorte?

A: Yeah, this is an important point. Tahn isn’t so much the “chose one” as he is the “next one.” Tillinghast is a difficult place to survive. The Velle we first encounter in the book talks to Vendanj about this, suggesting that those Vendanj had taken to Tillinghast before had perished or failed. Clearly, there was a need for another one to go to Tillinghast, which is where we enter the story with Tahn and the others, on their way to that place. But that’s as much as I’ll say there.

As to your second question, about what helped Tahn survive Tillinghast and the Draethmorte, the Will is certainly part of it. But that’s not the whole of it, either. And again, I’ll pause before giving it all away . . .

I'd like to thank Mr. Orullian for answering my questions.  It was an honor!

The Author's Definitive Edition of The Unremembered was rereleased on April 7.  It can be purchased at Dragonmount's eBook store here.  The second in the series— Trial of Intentions—will be available May 26, 2015, and can also be purchased here.

Kushiel's Chosen is the second book in Phedre's Kushiel's Legacy trilogy. The review of first book can be found here. The review will contain spoilers from both books.

Kushiel's Chosen

by Jacqueline Carey

Synopsis

The book begins almost after the incidents in the first book. Phedre is living in Montreve as a comtessa. A merchant and acquaintance had chanced upon Phedre's cloak which she last worn when she was betrayed by Melisande. Fearing Melisande's return, she decides to return to Terre'd'Ange to the service of Namaah and find out Melisande before she could destroy the kingdom. In Terre'd'Ange, Phedre tries to resolve the mystery of Melisande's escape and this causes her to distrust those who would have been her allies. What follows is a journey fromTerre'd'Ange to La Serenissima to La Dolorosa, being captive and escaping and hoping to stop Melisande in time.

Pros

This books is a lot faster than the first book and less chances of wanting to leave in the middle. This book has more adventure and can keep you up for late nights if you get caught up. The relationships are quite interesting. I especially liked Phedre and Melisande's complicated relationship where Phedre loves and hates Melisande. It gives a complexity to the villain.  The similarities between Phedre's world and the real world are fun to observe. Its easy to get involved comparing different regions of that world to this world.

Cons

I was not happy with the ending. the first book had ended on a note that made me want to read the next book but this one ended on a happier note than I would prefer in second book of a series.  Phedre's and Joscelin's way of thinking became irritating at times.

Conclusion

Most second books in series cannot match up to the first book, but this is better than the first book in some ways. There are parts which don't satisfy me and some parts which I would have not read at all so it is not a perfect book. But if you are in mood for something romantic with lots of adventure, give it a try.

My rating

I would give it a rating of 4/5.

Kushiel's Chosen can be found here, at Dragonmount's eBook Store.