Wednesday, July 22, 2020
The Thunder Heist Cover Reveal Q&A with Jed Herne (interviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)
Official Author Website
Read the first two chapters of The Thunder Heist
Today we are joined by young Aussie author Jed Herne, who has chosen Fantasy Book Critic to exclusively reveal the cover for his new epic fantasy caper titled The Thunder Heist. We chat about the process he went through in finalising the cover as well as how he came up with the plot setting for this terrific new series. Read ahead to find out more about The Thunder Heist and checkout the cover below....
Q] Welcome to Fantasy Book Critic, Jed. To start with, could you tell us what inspired you to be a writer in the first place, and why you choose to go the self-published route? Anything else you’d like to share about yourself and your past?
JH: Thanks for having me, Mihir!
Funnily enough, I didn’t always want to be a writer. My huge goal in life was to be an architect. I even went to architecture school for four years before dropping out to be an author. There are definite parallels between architecture and fantasy writing, though, so it was well worth it (and it’s given me my awesome part-time day job of designing playgrounds).
But in terms of writing – I’d always been interested in storytelling, but the moment where I first really wanted to be an author happened when I was fifteen. We’d just returned to school from the holidays, and my friend, Aiden, had written a fairly detailed short story. I thought that was cool, and I didn’t want him to one-up me, so that afternoon I went home and started writing The Aeon Academy. Three hundred and sixty days later, I somehow had a novel – a middle-grade urban fantasy story about a young boy who goes to a school for superheroes. It was derivative and sloppy, but I didn’t care. I’d discovered something that occupied my daydreams and actual dreams and most moments in between, something that felt exciting and important to explore. The characters felt real, the world building was liberating (I loved drawing maps of the school and the city) and learning how to plot a whole novel was so much fun.
I spent five years re-writing The Aeon Academy. For at least two-drafts, I wrote it all again from scratch. Heavens, it needed it. In the first draft, I only introduced the villain in the third last chapter! Eventually, it reached a point where I didn’t think it would get any better – but I knew it wasn’t good enough. I was totally fine with that, because I’d heard authors say you normally have to write a few trunk novels before you start producing anything good (which is one of the best pieces of advice I think a young writer can hear). Plus, all the mistakes and lessons learnt in The Aeon Academy set me up to write much better stories in the future. Heck, when I started my next novel, Across the Broken Stars, I wrote the first draft in 60 days, which is a far cry from the 360 days it took for The Aeon Academy.
From there, I spent a few more years writing before deciding to self-publish. Why choose the indie route? Well, I’d done all this research on traditional vs self-publishing, and instead of sitting there to keep thinking about it, I wrote a short novella, called Fires of the Dead, which would give me a low-stakes way to experiment with self-pubbing. Within five months of having the idea, the book was out in the world. It hit 70% of the financial target I set for it by the end of 2019, and so I decided that not only was the indie route viable, but that the indie pathway appealed to my creative polymath tendencies. Closing out on the topic of what inspires me to write, in terms of a verb, (and this is going to sound a little pretentious, so forgive me), comes back to something I learned in architecture school. My professor shared this quote from Ignasi Sola-Morales, who said that good architecture connects people to a deeper reality. I think stories do the same. At its best, a narrative isn’t about escapism – it’s about connecting us more deeply with what it means to be human. For me, there’s such a sense of deep meaning and purpose to exploring this in my writing.
Now, that’s not to say I’m writing anything particularly literary or ‘important.’ If anything, self-styled Big Important Books often have the least sense of truth to them. I write action-packed fantasy books with wildly different worlds, and you can read them and have an entertaining time, never think about them again, and I’ve made my peace with that. But I also think that for people looking for something else – dare I say, something a little deeper – that’s what I strive to explore as well. Being able to explore the complexities of the human condition is an endless source of motivation to me.
(And on a side note, I think that’s what makes your Martins, Abercrombies, and Sandersons so successful – they get that it’s not about Lots Of Action or Deep Spiritual Meditations, but instead it’s about doing both, in a way that 1 + 1 doesn’t equal 2, but instead equals 11). And besides all that pretentious literary stuff … writing is just so darn enjoyable. When a story clicks into place, when you understand a character, when an idea springs into your head – it’s so giddying. With a keyboard and a screen, you can craft worlds that would take billions for a movie director to create – all from the comfort of your home!
Q] Many congratulations on the stunning cover for The Thunder Heist. Can you tell us who the artist/illustrator for it is and if you had any input towards it?
JH: Thank you! My artist is the incredible Ramón Ignacio Bunge, who I emailed after discovering him on DeviantArt. Typography for the cover was by yours truly.
I had a lot of input on the design, which included writing the initial brief, providing Ramón with example covers that I liked, and drawing a scrappy version of what I wanted the composition to look like.
Oh, I just realized I still have the brief somewhere … here it is!
Read the first two chapters of The Thunder Heist
Today we are joined by young Aussie author Jed Herne, who has chosen Fantasy Book Critic to exclusively reveal the cover for his new epic fantasy caper titled The Thunder Heist. We chat about the process he went through in finalising the cover as well as how he came up with the plot setting for this terrific new series. Read ahead to find out more about The Thunder Heist and checkout the cover below....
Q] Welcome to Fantasy Book Critic, Jed. To start with, could you tell us what inspired you to be a writer in the first place, and why you choose to go the self-published route? Anything else you’d like to share about yourself and your past?
JH: Thanks for having me, Mihir!
Funnily enough, I didn’t always want to be a writer. My huge goal in life was to be an architect. I even went to architecture school for four years before dropping out to be an author. There are definite parallels between architecture and fantasy writing, though, so it was well worth it (and it’s given me my awesome part-time day job of designing playgrounds).
But in terms of writing – I’d always been interested in storytelling, but the moment where I first really wanted to be an author happened when I was fifteen. We’d just returned to school from the holidays, and my friend, Aiden, had written a fairly detailed short story. I thought that was cool, and I didn’t want him to one-up me, so that afternoon I went home and started writing The Aeon Academy. Three hundred and sixty days later, I somehow had a novel – a middle-grade urban fantasy story about a young boy who goes to a school for superheroes. It was derivative and sloppy, but I didn’t care. I’d discovered something that occupied my daydreams and actual dreams and most moments in between, something that felt exciting and important to explore. The characters felt real, the world building was liberating (I loved drawing maps of the school and the city) and learning how to plot a whole novel was so much fun.
I spent five years re-writing The Aeon Academy. For at least two-drafts, I wrote it all again from scratch. Heavens, it needed it. In the first draft, I only introduced the villain in the third last chapter! Eventually, it reached a point where I didn’t think it would get any better – but I knew it wasn’t good enough. I was totally fine with that, because I’d heard authors say you normally have to write a few trunk novels before you start producing anything good (which is one of the best pieces of advice I think a young writer can hear). Plus, all the mistakes and lessons learnt in The Aeon Academy set me up to write much better stories in the future. Heck, when I started my next novel, Across the Broken Stars, I wrote the first draft in 60 days, which is a far cry from the 360 days it took for The Aeon Academy.
From there, I spent a few more years writing before deciding to self-publish. Why choose the indie route? Well, I’d done all this research on traditional vs self-publishing, and instead of sitting there to keep thinking about it, I wrote a short novella, called Fires of the Dead, which would give me a low-stakes way to experiment with self-pubbing. Within five months of having the idea, the book was out in the world. It hit 70% of the financial target I set for it by the end of 2019, and so I decided that not only was the indie route viable, but that the indie pathway appealed to my creative polymath tendencies. Closing out on the topic of what inspires me to write, in terms of a verb, (and this is going to sound a little pretentious, so forgive me), comes back to something I learned in architecture school. My professor shared this quote from Ignasi Sola-Morales, who said that good architecture connects people to a deeper reality. I think stories do the same. At its best, a narrative isn’t about escapism – it’s about connecting us more deeply with what it means to be human. For me, there’s such a sense of deep meaning and purpose to exploring this in my writing.
Now, that’s not to say I’m writing anything particularly literary or ‘important.’ If anything, self-styled Big Important Books often have the least sense of truth to them. I write action-packed fantasy books with wildly different worlds, and you can read them and have an entertaining time, never think about them again, and I’ve made my peace with that. But I also think that for people looking for something else – dare I say, something a little deeper – that’s what I strive to explore as well. Being able to explore the complexities of the human condition is an endless source of motivation to me.
(And on a side note, I think that’s what makes your Martins, Abercrombies, and Sandersons so successful – they get that it’s not about Lots Of Action or Deep Spiritual Meditations, but instead it’s about doing both, in a way that 1 + 1 doesn’t equal 2, but instead equals 11). And besides all that pretentious literary stuff … writing is just so darn enjoyable. When a story clicks into place, when you understand a character, when an idea springs into your head – it’s so giddying. With a keyboard and a screen, you can craft worlds that would take billions for a movie director to create – all from the comfort of your home!
Q] Many congratulations on the stunning cover for The Thunder Heist. Can you tell us who the artist/illustrator for it is and if you had any input towards it?
JH: Thank you! My artist is the incredible Ramón Ignacio Bunge, who I emailed after discovering him on DeviantArt. Typography for the cover was by yours truly.
I had a lot of input on the design, which included writing the initial brief, providing Ramón with example covers that I liked, and drawing a scrappy version of what I wanted the composition to look like.
Oh, I just realized I still have the brief somewhere … here it is!
Q] What were your main pointers for cover designer as you both went through the process of finalizing it? What were the main things that you wished to focus on in it?
JH: It was mainly about adding more detail and getting said details closer to how I imagined them. For the most part, 90% of the work was done in his initial sketches, and from there we mostly focused on finessing things to make the final composition more cinematic and accurate. Rather than talking about the process, why don’t I follow that well-worn writing-advice trope, and show you instead?
JH: It was mainly about adding more detail and getting said details closer to how I imagined them. For the most part, 90% of the work was done in his initial sketches, and from there we mostly focused on finessing things to make the final composition more cinematic and accurate. Rather than talking about the process, why don’t I follow that well-worn writing-advice trope, and show you instead?
^ Ramón’s first cover sketches.
^ The final sketch version, taking my favourite elements from the three initial sketches.
^ Weighing up the different colour choices.
^ After noticing there was something weird with the perspective, Ramón re-aligned the image.
^ And with some last details, the art was done.
Q] Can you tell us about The Thunder Heist? What is it about? Is it a standalone or the first book in a series?
JH: The Thunder Heist comes from me taking dozens of things I love and mashing them up into what I hope is a fast-paced and unpredictable story; the kind of thing a keen fantasy reader might smash through in one or two days. There’s pirates; sea monsters; elaborate cons; swashbuckling characters; high-octane, mad-max-style action; conspiracy; mutants; a floating city right out of an architect’s dreams (or nightmares); and of course, a heist.
Now, that’s just a random list of things that inspired it. But to actually tell you what it’s about …
It’s a heist story set in a floating city-ship, made from thousands of boats all chained together. This city-ship is powered by a device that pulls electricity from lightning, kept inside an unbreachable tower. And our protagonist, Kef Cutmark – pirate, monster slayer, and generally swashbuckling individual – is here to steal it. Not for money, or fame, but for revenge.
If you like the cons of Gentlemen Bastards, the morally complex characters of The First Law, and the worldbuilding of anything Sanderson writes, you might enjoy it :)
It’s the first book in the Twisted Seas series, and it’s also a standalone. While it sets up a wider story world and introduces you to key characters within that world, it can be read with complete satisfaction all by itself, with no big cliffhanger endings. My structural model is Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope. It works great as a standalone, while also setting up a (hopefully!) interesting story universe with endless places to explore.
Q] Can you tell us about The Thunder Heist? What is it about? Is it a standalone or the first book in a series?
JH: The Thunder Heist comes from me taking dozens of things I love and mashing them up into what I hope is a fast-paced and unpredictable story; the kind of thing a keen fantasy reader might smash through in one or two days. There’s pirates; sea monsters; elaborate cons; swashbuckling characters; high-octane, mad-max-style action; conspiracy; mutants; a floating city right out of an architect’s dreams (or nightmares); and of course, a heist.
Now, that’s just a random list of things that inspired it. But to actually tell you what it’s about …
It’s a heist story set in a floating city-ship, made from thousands of boats all chained together. This city-ship is powered by a device that pulls electricity from lightning, kept inside an unbreachable tower. And our protagonist, Kef Cutmark – pirate, monster slayer, and generally swashbuckling individual – is here to steal it. Not for money, or fame, but for revenge.
If you like the cons of Gentlemen Bastards, the morally complex characters of The First Law, and the worldbuilding of anything Sanderson writes, you might enjoy it :)
It’s the first book in the Twisted Seas series, and it’s also a standalone. While it sets up a wider story world and introduces you to key characters within that world, it can be read with complete satisfaction all by itself, with no big cliffhanger endings. My structural model is Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope. It works great as a standalone, while also setting up a (hopefully!) interesting story universe with endless places to explore.
(Art by Ramón Ignacio Bunge, typography by Jed Herne)
Q] How many books are planned for The Twisted Seas series?
JH: I don’t know how many books will be in the series as a whole, but at the moment I’ve got rough outlines for 5 or 6, along with a few options for how I want to end the thing (which could happen after a few books, or after a lot).
In terms of the reader experience, it’s going to be like the Jack Reacher, Skullduggery Pleasant, or Dresden Files books. There will be overarching character throughlines and development between the books (and we’ll be following the same characters throughout the series), but you could also drop into, say, book 4 in the series and read it as a perfectly good standalone, without requiring major knowledge of the other books (although it will certainly help, and I think once you’ve met the core characters, you’ll want to see more of their adventures).
This might be a slightly hard balance to achieve, and we’re still in early days with the writing, so who knows how it’ll play out. What I can confidently say, though, is that book one is a self-contained story. While it will hopefully have readers excited to keep exploring the world of the Twisted Seas, if you read The Thunder Heist (Twisted Seas #1), it is a self-contained narrative with a distinct beginning, middle, and end.
Q] The concept of humanity being forced onto the seas while terra firma is overrun by monsters is a very cool concept. Can you tell us about the inception of this idea and what other things inspired you?
JH: Thank you! For a few years I’ve been thinking about the idea of a monster-infested land, with little bastions of safety carved out in human settlements on the coast. You know, that kind of frontier allegory, where both reward and risk lie inland. I’d even sketched out a fairly detailed outline for a story in this setting (which I will get around to writing one day), but for the most part it was one of the many story worlds and ideas floating around in the back of my head.
When it came to thinking about the Twisted Seas, I wanted to explore an ocean-based world. How would living constantly on water – with no ability to visit land – affect cities? Politics? Warfare?
There was one issue with this, however. Why would people be restricted to the water? Initially, I thought the Twisted Seas would be inside a giant, dormant volcano, with the cliff walls surrounding the Seas being several kilometers high – too high to climb out of. But there were still some logical issues with that setup.
Then I remembered my monster-infested-land idea. If I filled a world with land-bound monsters that ripped anyone apart the moment they stepped foot on the shore … well, that would certainly incentivize people to stay as far away from the coast as possible. And from that, I had my justification for forcing humanity to live on the ocean.
Q] Let’s talk about the world that you are creating for this saga. The story is set upon a floating city. Can you talk to us about the world that The Thunder Heist is set in? What are curiosities (geographical, mystical, etc.) of this world?
JH: The Thunder Heist is set in the Twisted Seas; a huge expanse of monster-infested water, with most people living in floating city-ships made from thousands of boats all chained together. Legend says that humanity is descended from the Star Sailors, a technologically-advanced people who crossed the skies and the stars in their floating ships – until something brought them crashing down to Entoris (the world of the Twisted Seas).
Using the wreckage of the Star Sailor’s ships, the first settlers constructed boats after discovering that the monster-infested land was too dangerous for habitation. From there, hundreds of years have passed, with humanity eking out a living on the Twisted Seas. Almost all knowledge from the Star Sailors has been lost, and there is much contention over any information about them.
Three primary factors have allowed humanity to survive a hostile life on the Twisted Seas: alchemy, mutants, and the Debris Belt.
Of alchemy, enough rudimentary knowledge of chemicals and transmutation has enabled humanity to access and produce enough resources from survival, based only on what they can take from the seas. There is debate over whether alchemists are scientists, magicians, or a combination of both.
Of mutants (genetically modified people) there are several types. Through alchemical and cultural processes, mutants exist as a slave-like underclass to serve common humans. The main two mutant types are Gillers, whose ability to breathe underwater allows them to be used for ocean-floor mining, which provides the iron to make new boats. The second main mutant species are Wingers, whose ability to fly makes them well-suited for conveying messages between the various city-ships. There are other mutants as well, although they are rarer.
And lastly, the Debris Belt. When the Star Sailors encountered the cataclysm that sent them crashing down to Entoris, the rubble from their ships formed a floating debris ring that orbits around Entoris. Scrap metal and precious relics fall from this ring into the Twisted Seas, where they are swiftly hunted by scavenger crews. From there, these resources are processed and used for boats, weapons, and other goods.
JH: I don’t know how many books will be in the series as a whole, but at the moment I’ve got rough outlines for 5 or 6, along with a few options for how I want to end the thing (which could happen after a few books, or after a lot).
In terms of the reader experience, it’s going to be like the Jack Reacher, Skullduggery Pleasant, or Dresden Files books. There will be overarching character throughlines and development between the books (and we’ll be following the same characters throughout the series), but you could also drop into, say, book 4 in the series and read it as a perfectly good standalone, without requiring major knowledge of the other books (although it will certainly help, and I think once you’ve met the core characters, you’ll want to see more of their adventures).
This might be a slightly hard balance to achieve, and we’re still in early days with the writing, so who knows how it’ll play out. What I can confidently say, though, is that book one is a self-contained story. While it will hopefully have readers excited to keep exploring the world of the Twisted Seas, if you read The Thunder Heist (Twisted Seas #1), it is a self-contained narrative with a distinct beginning, middle, and end.
Q] The concept of humanity being forced onto the seas while terra firma is overrun by monsters is a very cool concept. Can you tell us about the inception of this idea and what other things inspired you?
JH: Thank you! For a few years I’ve been thinking about the idea of a monster-infested land, with little bastions of safety carved out in human settlements on the coast. You know, that kind of frontier allegory, where both reward and risk lie inland. I’d even sketched out a fairly detailed outline for a story in this setting (which I will get around to writing one day), but for the most part it was one of the many story worlds and ideas floating around in the back of my head.
When it came to thinking about the Twisted Seas, I wanted to explore an ocean-based world. How would living constantly on water – with no ability to visit land – affect cities? Politics? Warfare?
There was one issue with this, however. Why would people be restricted to the water? Initially, I thought the Twisted Seas would be inside a giant, dormant volcano, with the cliff walls surrounding the Seas being several kilometers high – too high to climb out of. But there were still some logical issues with that setup.
Then I remembered my monster-infested-land idea. If I filled a world with land-bound monsters that ripped anyone apart the moment they stepped foot on the shore … well, that would certainly incentivize people to stay as far away from the coast as possible. And from that, I had my justification for forcing humanity to live on the ocean.
Q] Let’s talk about the world that you are creating for this saga. The story is set upon a floating city. Can you talk to us about the world that The Thunder Heist is set in? What are curiosities (geographical, mystical, etc.) of this world?
JH: The Thunder Heist is set in the Twisted Seas; a huge expanse of monster-infested water, with most people living in floating city-ships made from thousands of boats all chained together. Legend says that humanity is descended from the Star Sailors, a technologically-advanced people who crossed the skies and the stars in their floating ships – until something brought them crashing down to Entoris (the world of the Twisted Seas).
Using the wreckage of the Star Sailor’s ships, the first settlers constructed boats after discovering that the monster-infested land was too dangerous for habitation. From there, hundreds of years have passed, with humanity eking out a living on the Twisted Seas. Almost all knowledge from the Star Sailors has been lost, and there is much contention over any information about them.
Three primary factors have allowed humanity to survive a hostile life on the Twisted Seas: alchemy, mutants, and the Debris Belt.
Of alchemy, enough rudimentary knowledge of chemicals and transmutation has enabled humanity to access and produce enough resources from survival, based only on what they can take from the seas. There is debate over whether alchemists are scientists, magicians, or a combination of both.
Of mutants (genetically modified people) there are several types. Through alchemical and cultural processes, mutants exist as a slave-like underclass to serve common humans. The main two mutant types are Gillers, whose ability to breathe underwater allows them to be used for ocean-floor mining, which provides the iron to make new boats. The second main mutant species are Wingers, whose ability to fly makes them well-suited for conveying messages between the various city-ships. There are other mutants as well, although they are rarer.
And lastly, the Debris Belt. When the Star Sailors encountered the cataclysm that sent them crashing down to Entoris, the rubble from their ships formed a floating debris ring that orbits around Entoris. Scrap metal and precious relics fall from this ring into the Twisted Seas, where they are swiftly hunted by scavenger crews. From there, these resources are processed and used for boats, weapons, and other goods.
Q] This book is the third one you’ve published along with a few short stories/novellas. What can you tell us about your previously published work?
JH: My two other books are Fires Of The Dead (novella), and Across The Broken Stars (novel). They’re both fantasy books.
Fires Of The Dead follows Wisp – a magician who can control fire. Now, there’s lots of fire-based magic out there, but I’d like to think my magic system is a little bit different. I call it pyromancy, and it involves drawing energy from fires to make your own flames. Pyromancers create a bond with a fire by dripping their blood into a flame (i.e. into a campfire), and once they’ve bonded with this fire, they can draw energy from it to warm themselves, shoot flames, and do other kinds of cool sorcery stuff.
In Fires Of The Dead, Wisp leads a misfit thieving crew into a desolate, ashen forest to steal a dead sorcerer’s skull. But his crew aren’t the only ones on the hunt, and the forest isn’t as barren as it seems ...
Across The Broken Stars is about a cowardly war deserter who seeks redemption by helping a young fugitive search for a mythical safe haven. It’s set in a world where people live on discs floating in space, with a rich mythology and lore that our protagonists have to use as clues for their quest for the safe haven. Reedsy Discovery said that “if you are looking for an epic fantasy that has a unique setting, this is it,” which was so flattering that I shall post it here without shame :)
As you can probably tell from those book descriptions, and from The Thunder Heist, I love to push the boundaries with world building and try my hardest to create unique settings – no medieval European fantasy stuff here!
Q] So for someone who hasn't read any of your novels, how would you describe the type of stories that you write, what would be your pitch for this story?
JH: I write fantasy stories set in unique secondary worlds, featuring morally complex characters. If you like inventive magic systems and settings you haven’t explored before, mixed with a lot of unflinching grittiness, you’ll probably enjoy my stuff.
For The Thunder Heist, it is (no surprises here), a heist. Think Ocean’s 11 but in an oceanpunk fantasy world. Here’s the blurb:
A relentless thief. An impossible heist.
Meet Kef Cutmark. Pirate, monster-slayer, scourge of the Twisted Seas.
After a lifetime of running from her past, she’s returned to Zorith – a tangled jungle of a thousand boats, all lashed together to make a floating city-ship. Zorith is powered by a device that draws energy from lightning. Mysterious, unique, and locked in an unbreachable tower, it’s the envy of Zorith’s rivals.
And Kef? She’s here to steal it.
If she can take the device and cripple Zorith, maybe she’ll find justice for all the hurt the city has caused her. But with an unreliable thieving crew, hunters closing in, and her past bearing down upon her, failure looks more likely. And if she fails, she’ll never find peace again.
Q] Many thanks for your time Jed, I’m looking forward to reading The Thunder Heist. Do you have any parting thoughts or comments you’d like to share with our readers?
JH: Thanks so much for having me, Mihir! It was a lot of fun.
If you’d like to read the first two chapters of The Thunder Heist for free, and be notified when it releases in September/October 2020, you can sign up to my author email newsletter here. If you don’t want to join my email list, you can follow me on the socials instead:
Twitter: @JedHerne Instagram: @JedHerne Youtube: Jed Herne - Writer
Thanks again for the interview, and thanks to you – the reader – if you’ve made it this far!
JH: My two other books are Fires Of The Dead (novella), and Across The Broken Stars (novel). They’re both fantasy books.
Fires Of The Dead follows Wisp – a magician who can control fire. Now, there’s lots of fire-based magic out there, but I’d like to think my magic system is a little bit different. I call it pyromancy, and it involves drawing energy from fires to make your own flames. Pyromancers create a bond with a fire by dripping their blood into a flame (i.e. into a campfire), and once they’ve bonded with this fire, they can draw energy from it to warm themselves, shoot flames, and do other kinds of cool sorcery stuff.
In Fires Of The Dead, Wisp leads a misfit thieving crew into a desolate, ashen forest to steal a dead sorcerer’s skull. But his crew aren’t the only ones on the hunt, and the forest isn’t as barren as it seems ...
Across The Broken Stars is about a cowardly war deserter who seeks redemption by helping a young fugitive search for a mythical safe haven. It’s set in a world where people live on discs floating in space, with a rich mythology and lore that our protagonists have to use as clues for their quest for the safe haven. Reedsy Discovery said that “if you are looking for an epic fantasy that has a unique setting, this is it,” which was so flattering that I shall post it here without shame :)
As you can probably tell from those book descriptions, and from The Thunder Heist, I love to push the boundaries with world building and try my hardest to create unique settings – no medieval European fantasy stuff here!
Q] So for someone who hasn't read any of your novels, how would you describe the type of stories that you write, what would be your pitch for this story?
JH: I write fantasy stories set in unique secondary worlds, featuring morally complex characters. If you like inventive magic systems and settings you haven’t explored before, mixed with a lot of unflinching grittiness, you’ll probably enjoy my stuff.
For The Thunder Heist, it is (no surprises here), a heist. Think Ocean’s 11 but in an oceanpunk fantasy world. Here’s the blurb:
A relentless thief. An impossible heist.
Meet Kef Cutmark. Pirate, monster-slayer, scourge of the Twisted Seas.
After a lifetime of running from her past, she’s returned to Zorith – a tangled jungle of a thousand boats, all lashed together to make a floating city-ship. Zorith is powered by a device that draws energy from lightning. Mysterious, unique, and locked in an unbreachable tower, it’s the envy of Zorith’s rivals.
And Kef? She’s here to steal it.
If she can take the device and cripple Zorith, maybe she’ll find justice for all the hurt the city has caused her. But with an unreliable thieving crew, hunters closing in, and her past bearing down upon her, failure looks more likely. And if she fails, she’ll never find peace again.
Q] Many thanks for your time Jed, I’m looking forward to reading The Thunder Heist. Do you have any parting thoughts or comments you’d like to share with our readers?
JH: Thanks so much for having me, Mihir! It was a lot of fun.
If you’d like to read the first two chapters of The Thunder Heist for free, and be notified when it releases in September/October 2020, you can sign up to my author email newsletter here. If you don’t want to join my email list, you can follow me on the socials instead:
Twitter: @JedHerne Instagram: @JedHerne Youtube: Jed Herne - Writer
Thanks again for the interview, and thanks to you – the reader – if you’ve made it this far!
*---------------*---------------*---------------*
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: A relentless thief. An impossible heist.
Meet Kef Cutmark. Pirate, monster-slayer, scourge of the Twisted Seas.
After a lifetime of running from her past, she’s returned to Zorith – a tangled jungle of a thousand boats, all lashed together to make a floating city-ship. Zorith is powered by a device that draws energy from lightning. Mysterious, unique, and locked in an unbreachable tower, it’s the envy of Zorith’s rivals.
And Kef? She’s here to steal it.
If she can take the device and cripple Zorith, maybe she’ll find justice for all the hurt the city has caused her. But with an unreliable thieving crew, hunters closing in, and her past bearing down upon her, failure looks more likely. And if she fails, she’ll never find peace again.
Meet Kef Cutmark. Pirate, monster-slayer, scourge of the Twisted Seas.
After a lifetime of running from her past, she’s returned to Zorith – a tangled jungle of a thousand boats, all lashed together to make a floating city-ship. Zorith is powered by a device that draws energy from lightning. Mysterious, unique, and locked in an unbreachable tower, it’s the envy of Zorith’s rivals.
And Kef? She’s here to steal it.
If she can take the device and cripple Zorith, maybe she’ll find justice for all the hurt the city has caused her. But with an unreliable thieving crew, hunters closing in, and her past bearing down upon her, failure looks more likely. And if she fails, she’ll never find peace again.
12:00 AM | 
Posted by
The Reader |
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
SPFBO Semifinalist Interview with Alexander Darwin (Interviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)
Official Author Website
Order The Combat Codes over HERE
Q] Welcome to Fantasy Book Critic. To begin with, could you tell us a little about yourself, your background & your interests?
AD: Thanks for reaching out to me! To start, I’m a lifelong fantasy/sci-fi fan. Most of my childhood memories involve playing D&D in my parent’s basement or finding some forgotten corner to read about dark elves until my eyes blurred. I practiced martial arts throughout my childhood as well, but I did not start in earnest until university, where I began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
This is when I realized magic truly existed: a person half my size could mystifyingly control my body as if I were a small child. The art captivated me. I’ve been practicing and teaching Jiu Jitsu for nearly two decades now. It is a central part of my lifestyle, a practice that balances me, an art that I can teach my kids, and a place where fantasy and reality merge for me. The journey of learning martial arts is like the process of gaining experience points in an RPG!
Q] What inspired you to be a writer in the first place, what experience you went through in finishing your book, and why you chose to go the self-publishing route?
AD: I think I always knew I would be a writer, as I’ve been fascinated with the storytelling process since my childhood. But I wasn’t really a writer until I unearthed the worth ethic taught to me by martial arts. I found that writing is best viewed as a skill that needs constant improvement. It needs to be drilled, trained, and improved on like martial techniques. Prior to that realization, good writers simply existed to me in some void; like they’d always been good at their craft. The work and practice they needed to put into their creations never crossed my mind.
Now, that mountain of work is always top of mind when I read my favorites. As far as self-publishing… I didn’t have the patience to go through the entire agenting and publication process. I really just wanted to get my work out to readers as fast as possible! I know it sounds a bit rash looking back, but I had a strong urge to just move forward at the time.
Q] Many writers have a muse, who directs their writing, and others do not seem to be affected the same way. Which group do you fall into? What is your main motivation and source of inspiration?
AD: I don’t think I have a muse. And I think the concept of a muse doesn’t work great for me… it exerts a sort of artificial pressure to please that negatively affects my writing. I see the output of my creative process as the sum of my lived (and read) experience, combined with the training I’ve put in so far as a writer. Though I’m a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I only see myself as a novice as a writer, with many skills yet to be developed.
Order The Combat Codes over HERE
Q] Welcome to Fantasy Book Critic. To begin with, could you tell us a little about yourself, your background & your interests?
AD: Thanks for reaching out to me! To start, I’m a lifelong fantasy/sci-fi fan. Most of my childhood memories involve playing D&D in my parent’s basement or finding some forgotten corner to read about dark elves until my eyes blurred. I practiced martial arts throughout my childhood as well, but I did not start in earnest until university, where I began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
This is when I realized magic truly existed: a person half my size could mystifyingly control my body as if I were a small child. The art captivated me. I’ve been practicing and teaching Jiu Jitsu for nearly two decades now. It is a central part of my lifestyle, a practice that balances me, an art that I can teach my kids, and a place where fantasy and reality merge for me. The journey of learning martial arts is like the process of gaining experience points in an RPG!
Q] What inspired you to be a writer in the first place, what experience you went through in finishing your book, and why you chose to go the self-publishing route?
AD: I think I always knew I would be a writer, as I’ve been fascinated with the storytelling process since my childhood. But I wasn’t really a writer until I unearthed the worth ethic taught to me by martial arts. I found that writing is best viewed as a skill that needs constant improvement. It needs to be drilled, trained, and improved on like martial techniques. Prior to that realization, good writers simply existed to me in some void; like they’d always been good at their craft. The work and practice they needed to put into their creations never crossed my mind.
Now, that mountain of work is always top of mind when I read my favorites. As far as self-publishing… I didn’t have the patience to go through the entire agenting and publication process. I really just wanted to get my work out to readers as fast as possible! I know it sounds a bit rash looking back, but I had a strong urge to just move forward at the time.
Q] Many writers have a muse, who directs their writing, and others do not seem to be affected the same way. Which group do you fall into? What is your main motivation and source of inspiration?
AD: I don’t think I have a muse. And I think the concept of a muse doesn’t work great for me… it exerts a sort of artificial pressure to please that negatively affects my writing. I see the output of my creative process as the sum of my lived (and read) experience, combined with the training I’ve put in so far as a writer. Though I’m a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I only see myself as a novice as a writer, with many skills yet to be developed.
Q] Please elaborate how the genesis of The Combat Codes occurred. How long have you been working on it? Has it evolved from its original idea?
AD: The idea for The Combat Codes has been floating around my mind for quite a while. Basically, it answers the question: what would a world look like where war did not exist and instead disputes were resolved with one-on-one, martial combat? I wrote the first book in 2015, but didn’t finish the sequel until 2019 (primarily because during the hiatus I needed to focus on becoming a new father).
Q] The Combat Codes is the first volume in the Combat Codes saga. Could you give us a progress report on the third book, offer any blurb details about it and outline your plans for the series as a whole?
AD: I’ve outlined the entire series which could end up being either three or four books, depending on how book three comes out. I’m currently drafting book three, but I’m also working on a standalone book which has been very useful to help me practice some new skills as a writer.
Q] Why did you decide to enter SPFBO?
AD: As a reader I’ve very much enjoyed the finalists and winners of SPFBO over the past few years. I think the contest has really pushed the bounds of recognition for self-published SFF authors, and displayed the great diversity and quality of work out there. For some strange reason, I never thought of entering The Combat Codes into SPFBO until I actually published book two of Combat Codes.
Q] It is a tad difficult to classify your book. If I had to come up with an elevator pitch for it, I would try “Ender’s Game meets Fight Club” knowing that it doesn’t capture the essence precisely. What’s your elevator pitch? Is there a specific sub-genre you would classify it as?
AD: I’ve attempted to come up with some sub-genres for Combat Codes, although looking back most of them fall short and come off a bit market-y. For example, “Fight-Punk.” There’s also been some comparison to Ender’s Game (which I feel both elated and underserving of), so I’ve tried to run with that a bit. Another pitch I’ve heard and used is: “Harry goes to Hogwarts, but learns Mixed Martial Arts instead of wizardy”
AD: The idea for The Combat Codes has been floating around my mind for quite a while. Basically, it answers the question: what would a world look like where war did not exist and instead disputes were resolved with one-on-one, martial combat? I wrote the first book in 2015, but didn’t finish the sequel until 2019 (primarily because during the hiatus I needed to focus on becoming a new father).
Q] The Combat Codes is the first volume in the Combat Codes saga. Could you give us a progress report on the third book, offer any blurb details about it and outline your plans for the series as a whole?
AD: I’ve outlined the entire series which could end up being either three or four books, depending on how book three comes out. I’m currently drafting book three, but I’m also working on a standalone book which has been very useful to help me practice some new skills as a writer.
Q] Why did you decide to enter SPFBO?
AD: As a reader I’ve very much enjoyed the finalists and winners of SPFBO over the past few years. I think the contest has really pushed the bounds of recognition for self-published SFF authors, and displayed the great diversity and quality of work out there. For some strange reason, I never thought of entering The Combat Codes into SPFBO until I actually published book two of Combat Codes.
Q] It is a tad difficult to classify your book. If I had to come up with an elevator pitch for it, I would try “Ender’s Game meets Fight Club” knowing that it doesn’t capture the essence precisely. What’s your elevator pitch? Is there a specific sub-genre you would classify it as?
AD: I’ve attempted to come up with some sub-genres for Combat Codes, although looking back most of them fall short and come off a bit market-y. For example, “Fight-Punk.” There’s also been some comparison to Ender’s Game (which I feel both elated and underserving of), so I’ve tried to run with that a bit. Another pitch I’ve heard and used is: “Harry goes to Hogwarts, but learns Mixed Martial Arts instead of wizardy”
Q] Let’s talk about your book’s genre. Technically it’s SF as there’s almost no magic. Your world settings also seem more like secondary fantasy (with elements of Japanese terms such as Daimyo). Can you tell us more about the world, the history of the Daimyo wars, its nations and the peculiarities about it?
AD: I’m a big fan of the Final Fantasy and other jRPG series (another obsessive childhood past time). I really enjoyed how Final Fantasy mixed technology with magic in a fun and seamless way, so I think the world of the Combat Codes is very influenced by that game series. The Combat Codes has no spells, but I do treat the martial progression in the story like a magic system; I try to introduce the nomenclature for techniques early on and then sprinkle them throughout the story.
I also have a fondness for Kurosawa films and anything Samurai, as you can see from the feudal-based system. The premise is: the world had a sort of arm’s race which eventually resulted in near total annihilation The nations made a pact to end the arm’s race (and war all together) by instead training champions to represent each nation in the “Circles.” These champions, called the Grievar, fight so that the rest do not have to, and abide by a strict set of scriptures called the Combat Codes.
Q] One of the things I noticed in your debut was the martial arts sequences were pretty amazing and realistic. They are also an integral part of the plot and nearly all the characters focus on honing theirs. Could you tell us about the research which you undertook before attempting to write these scenes? What were the things which you focused upon and any fascinating things that you found amidst your research?
AD: This was the fun part for me! I’ve trained an assortment of martial arts over the years, primarily BJJ (submission grappling) and Muay Thai (kickboxing), and, outside of this pandemic I used to teach combat sports regularly. The tough part of the process was trying to balance the technical realism of fighting with readability for those who are unfamiliar with mixed martial arts. I did not want to bog readers down with techniques and gratuitous fighting scenes. I tried to use the fights as ways to create stakes as well as progress the characters / narrative.
Q] The world within the Combat Codes saga seems to have different races such as the Grievars, the Daimyos & the Bit-Minders. Can you tell us more who they are & what are the key differences between them?
AD: I’ve had a long interest in anthropology, in particular the evolution of modern humans. It’s simply amazing to me that there once existed a world where Homo Sapiens lived alongside close relatives like Neanderthals, Denisovans and Floresiensis (hobbits!). It seems the reality of our humanoid past is getting closer to Tolkien-esque fantasy worlds.
I always am interested in how fantasy authors account for the evolution of the various races. At what point did dwarves and elves and humans “split,” for example?
So in my stories I always try to create a strong evolutionary backbone to the various races. Grievar and Daimyo and Bit-Minder may seem quite different in modern day, but perhaps in the past they split from a common ancestor.
Q] Will we find out more about Cego’s siblings? Barring the climatic ending and what we learn about Cego’s origins, will the sequels reveal more about Silas and Sam?
AD: I’m a big fan of the Final Fantasy and other jRPG series (another obsessive childhood past time). I really enjoyed how Final Fantasy mixed technology with magic in a fun and seamless way, so I think the world of the Combat Codes is very influenced by that game series. The Combat Codes has no spells, but I do treat the martial progression in the story like a magic system; I try to introduce the nomenclature for techniques early on and then sprinkle them throughout the story.
I also have a fondness for Kurosawa films and anything Samurai, as you can see from the feudal-based system. The premise is: the world had a sort of arm’s race which eventually resulted in near total annihilation The nations made a pact to end the arm’s race (and war all together) by instead training champions to represent each nation in the “Circles.” These champions, called the Grievar, fight so that the rest do not have to, and abide by a strict set of scriptures called the Combat Codes.
Q] One of the things I noticed in your debut was the martial arts sequences were pretty amazing and realistic. They are also an integral part of the plot and nearly all the characters focus on honing theirs. Could you tell us about the research which you undertook before attempting to write these scenes? What were the things which you focused upon and any fascinating things that you found amidst your research?
AD: This was the fun part for me! I’ve trained an assortment of martial arts over the years, primarily BJJ (submission grappling) and Muay Thai (kickboxing), and, outside of this pandemic I used to teach combat sports regularly. The tough part of the process was trying to balance the technical realism of fighting with readability for those who are unfamiliar with mixed martial arts. I did not want to bog readers down with techniques and gratuitous fighting scenes. I tried to use the fights as ways to create stakes as well as progress the characters / narrative.
Q] The world within the Combat Codes saga seems to have different races such as the Grievars, the Daimyos & the Bit-Minders. Can you tell us more who they are & what are the key differences between them?
AD: I’ve had a long interest in anthropology, in particular the evolution of modern humans. It’s simply amazing to me that there once existed a world where Homo Sapiens lived alongside close relatives like Neanderthals, Denisovans and Floresiensis (hobbits!). It seems the reality of our humanoid past is getting closer to Tolkien-esque fantasy worlds.
I always am interested in how fantasy authors account for the evolution of the various races. At what point did dwarves and elves and humans “split,” for example?
So in my stories I always try to create a strong evolutionary backbone to the various races. Grievar and Daimyo and Bit-Minder may seem quite different in modern day, but perhaps in the past they split from a common ancestor.
Q] Will we find out more about Cego’s siblings? Barring the climatic ending and what we learn about Cego’s origins, will the sequels reveal more about Silas and Sam?
AD: Yes! I don’t want to give anything away, but even in Book Two: Grievar’s Blood, much more is revealed about Cego’s past and family. His origin is a central theme that carries throughout the saga.
Q] Cover art is always an important factor in book sales. Your cover is cool and on point. Can you tell our readers about the idea behind its inception & how you worked with your designer for the finished product?
AD: I wanted something simple and symbolic. The Combat Codes cover depicts an arm bar (the BJJ technique). And the cover of book two depicts a rear naked choke. I plan on each cover showing a different technique used in the Circles (and in mixed martial arts).
Q] Please tell us about the books and authors who have captured your imagination and inspired you to become a wordsmith in your own right. Similarly, are there any current authors you would like to give a shout out to?
AD: There are so many! Early on I was an avid reader of D&D based worlds; I devoured R.A. Salvatore, Weiss and Hickman, and all the other authors of Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. I’m a currently a big fan of Brandon Sanderson, Emily St. John Mandel, Tamsyn Muir, Sebastien de Castell, and Mark Lawrence.
Q] Thank you for taking the time to answer all the questions. In closing, do you have any parting thoughts or comments you would like to share with our readers?
AD: I really appreciate being included in this year’s SPFBO, and value the time each reviewer is investing in new and upcoming authors. And thank you to the readers of Combat Codes so far, I’ve always had the view that even a single reader that enjoys my books means I’ve had success as a writer.
NOTE: All artwork courtesy of the author. Dystopian double leg artwork courtesy of Ryan Best.
Official Author Website
Order the book HERE
OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFO: Davis Ashura is a Physician by profession but an author by choice. He was inspired by his love for epic fantasy and his south Asian cultural heritage to begin writing. He has published eight books and one collection so far. He lives in North Carolina with his lovely family and loves to drive muscle cars.
OFFICIAL BLURB: A young man with no past must progress into a warrior out of legend.
Cinder Shade’s life begins on a fateful afternoon at the bottom of a well where he awakens, bruised, battered, and bereft of all memory. His only understanding is a driving imperative—to protect those who can’t defend themselves and become a warrior worthy of the name.
He discovers within himself a peculiar gift, one in which the codes of combat are made evident and the language of steel is made clear. When he earns a place at a prestigious elven warrior academy, Cinder fights to enhance his knowledge and perhaps even humble the proud elves who believe no human is their equal.
His hard-earned skills are put to the test when strange rumblings emanate from deep in the Dagger Mountains. Monsters out of myth emerge. And so does something far worse . . .
An ancient god. The world believes this deity long dead, but he is very much alive. And he remembers his enemies all too well. Even if they don’t remember themselves.
FORMAT/INFO: A Testament Of Steel is 654 pages long divided over thirty-nine chapters and an acknowledgements section & an Author’s note. Narration is in third person via Cinder Shade, Princess Anya and a couple other characters. This is the first volume of the Instruments Of Omens series.
July 20, 2020 will mark the North American paperback and e-book publication of A Testament Of Steel and it is self-published by the author. Cover art and design is by Andreas Zafiratos.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Davis Ashura is an author whom I got to meet at Dragon Con a couple of years ago and since then I’ve read both the first volumes of his previous two finished series. With this book, he has initiated his master series a La Sanderson with his Stormlight Archive. Also this would be his ode to Tolkien, & Jordan for installing the love of epic fantasy in him. I was mighty excited for this book and as promised, it was a big Jordanesque tome.
The book begins with a small village called Swallow wherein due to an attack of a snowtiger, leads to the death of a family. However there’s one survivor, a young clubfooted boy named Cinder Shade. Barely escaping the attack due to a fall down a well. He survives the fall but loses all of his memories. Turned out by his villagers, he travels with a priest named Deepak to the town of Swift Sword wherein he hopes to stay in an orphanage. Thus begins the epic journey of the amnesiac boy named Cinder Shade as he discovers there’s more to him than just his disability. He will find out how to become a warrior and try to gain admittance to the most elite warrior academy of Yaksha Sithe. Thus begins this first fascinating volume.
The story as written by Davis Ashura is a very simplistic one but it’s very, very absorbing. The story begins with a very narrow focus and slowly but surely reveals that there’s more to Cinder and the world known as Seminal. We are introduced to the other races such as Elves and Dwarves who view themselves as the “Blessed race” from humans and Dwarves. While the dwarves are forces to keep their motivations secret and act tough while wanting peace. I liked this racial exploration which was conveniently woven into the story rather than told to us.
The story is very much an immersive one as it features aspects of the amnesiac narrator as well as the marital academy tropes and I loved how the author explored them. Going onto the main aspect of the book which I loved was the world building and the hints of the magical apocalypse that have occurred in the past. The author has also laced pointers about his previous books as apparently characters and the magic are related in a big way. You don’t need to have read any of his previous works to be able spot them. He’s made this new world and series a very accessible point infact, after reading this one, you would be very much inclined to check them out.
The characterization beginning with Cinder Shade is very solid and while this is mostly a singular POV. The secondary character cast is very strongly presented and while we don’t get many other POVs. Cinder’s narrative focus is plenty good. However this singular POV also hinders it a little bit as we only get to see things from his perspective. Also with Cinder progressing the way he does, we don’t really get to see much of his internal feelings as he’s very much buttoned down. The author is going for a certain angle with the amnesiac approach but he makes sure to present his vulnerabilities.
I think the author showcases some aspects of avatarhood and reincarnation but not outrightly so. I loved how the author utilizes his Indian cultural roots and mythology and creates an epic fusion of Tolkienesque fantasy alongside Indian mythology & culture. I liked this aspect as an Indian as I rarely find such a unique aspect in epic fantasy genre. There’s the usage of certain Indian terms such as Prana, Nadi, Chakra which are easy to understand from a Desi perspective but will not be a hurdle for western audiences.
The action sequences are another strong focus of the story and due to the marital academy storyline, we get some spectacular individual sequences and towards the last quarter we get many more epic battle sequences. I enjoyed how the author built up to them and promises to have the action get more and more audacious in the sequels. The author also laces some wonderful nods to several popular culture stories and movies. I caught a few such as Harry potter, Captain America Civil War etc. But those with a keen eye can find plenty more.
For the drawbacks about this book, they aren’t outright but there’s a few niggles. Firstly the pace of the book is a bit on the sedate side. From the beginnings of the book, we are taken through the story and shown a lot about the world and its inhabitants. This comes at the behest of the story’s pace, while it does pick up in the climatic chapters. The book’s massive page count and its pace can make the read to be a bit arduous. Lastly Cinder as a character while fascinating is very much a cipher due to the story’s demands (amnesia & very little reveal about his origins). This can be a bit frustrating to some readers especially since when we complete the volume. We get only bits and pieces about what and who he might be. Not a big dealbreaker but can be irksome for a few readers. Lastly the narrow scope of the POV characters and with them majorly being from Cinder himself. We do get a stilted view of things due to Cinder being a bit stiff on the emotional front (understandably so from the story’s perspective).
CONCLUSION: Bringing together fascinating elements from Tolkienesque fantasy and Indian mythology, Davis Ashura has written a fascinating, new type of epic fantasy which is heroic, action-packed and very accessible for those looking for their next new epic fantasy fix. A Testament Of Steel focuses a lot on steel (both literal and metaphorical), and provides a sharp story that will have readers markedly awaiting the next installment to see what emerges from the brilliant mind of Davis Ashura.
Order the book HERE
OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFO: Davis Ashura is a Physician by profession but an author by choice. He was inspired by his love for epic fantasy and his south Asian cultural heritage to begin writing. He has published eight books and one collection so far. He lives in North Carolina with his lovely family and loves to drive muscle cars.
OFFICIAL BLURB: A young man with no past must progress into a warrior out of legend.
Cinder Shade’s life begins on a fateful afternoon at the bottom of a well where he awakens, bruised, battered, and bereft of all memory. His only understanding is a driving imperative—to protect those who can’t defend themselves and become a warrior worthy of the name.
He discovers within himself a peculiar gift, one in which the codes of combat are made evident and the language of steel is made clear. When he earns a place at a prestigious elven warrior academy, Cinder fights to enhance his knowledge and perhaps even humble the proud elves who believe no human is their equal.
His hard-earned skills are put to the test when strange rumblings emanate from deep in the Dagger Mountains. Monsters out of myth emerge. And so does something far worse . . .
An ancient god. The world believes this deity long dead, but he is very much alive. And he remembers his enemies all too well. Even if they don’t remember themselves.
FORMAT/INFO: A Testament Of Steel is 654 pages long divided over thirty-nine chapters and an acknowledgements section & an Author’s note. Narration is in third person via Cinder Shade, Princess Anya and a couple other characters. This is the first volume of the Instruments Of Omens series.
July 20, 2020 will mark the North American paperback and e-book publication of A Testament Of Steel and it is self-published by the author. Cover art and design is by Andreas Zafiratos.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Davis Ashura is an author whom I got to meet at Dragon Con a couple of years ago and since then I’ve read both the first volumes of his previous two finished series. With this book, he has initiated his master series a La Sanderson with his Stormlight Archive. Also this would be his ode to Tolkien, & Jordan for installing the love of epic fantasy in him. I was mighty excited for this book and as promised, it was a big Jordanesque tome.
The book begins with a small village called Swallow wherein due to an attack of a snowtiger, leads to the death of a family. However there’s one survivor, a young clubfooted boy named Cinder Shade. Barely escaping the attack due to a fall down a well. He survives the fall but loses all of his memories. Turned out by his villagers, he travels with a priest named Deepak to the town of Swift Sword wherein he hopes to stay in an orphanage. Thus begins the epic journey of the amnesiac boy named Cinder Shade as he discovers there’s more to him than just his disability. He will find out how to become a warrior and try to gain admittance to the most elite warrior academy of Yaksha Sithe. Thus begins this first fascinating volume.
The story as written by Davis Ashura is a very simplistic one but it’s very, very absorbing. The story begins with a very narrow focus and slowly but surely reveals that there’s more to Cinder and the world known as Seminal. We are introduced to the other races such as Elves and Dwarves who view themselves as the “Blessed race” from humans and Dwarves. While the dwarves are forces to keep their motivations secret and act tough while wanting peace. I liked this racial exploration which was conveniently woven into the story rather than told to us.
The story is very much an immersive one as it features aspects of the amnesiac narrator as well as the marital academy tropes and I loved how the author explored them. Going onto the main aspect of the book which I loved was the world building and the hints of the magical apocalypse that have occurred in the past. The author has also laced pointers about his previous books as apparently characters and the magic are related in a big way. You don’t need to have read any of his previous works to be able spot them. He’s made this new world and series a very accessible point infact, after reading this one, you would be very much inclined to check them out.
The characterization beginning with Cinder Shade is very solid and while this is mostly a singular POV. The secondary character cast is very strongly presented and while we don’t get many other POVs. Cinder’s narrative focus is plenty good. However this singular POV also hinders it a little bit as we only get to see things from his perspective. Also with Cinder progressing the way he does, we don’t really get to see much of his internal feelings as he’s very much buttoned down. The author is going for a certain angle with the amnesiac approach but he makes sure to present his vulnerabilities.
I think the author showcases some aspects of avatarhood and reincarnation but not outrightly so. I loved how the author utilizes his Indian cultural roots and mythology and creates an epic fusion of Tolkienesque fantasy alongside Indian mythology & culture. I liked this aspect as an Indian as I rarely find such a unique aspect in epic fantasy genre. There’s the usage of certain Indian terms such as Prana, Nadi, Chakra which are easy to understand from a Desi perspective but will not be a hurdle for western audiences.
The action sequences are another strong focus of the story and due to the marital academy storyline, we get some spectacular individual sequences and towards the last quarter we get many more epic battle sequences. I enjoyed how the author built up to them and promises to have the action get more and more audacious in the sequels. The author also laces some wonderful nods to several popular culture stories and movies. I caught a few such as Harry potter, Captain America Civil War etc. But those with a keen eye can find plenty more.
For the drawbacks about this book, they aren’t outright but there’s a few niggles. Firstly the pace of the book is a bit on the sedate side. From the beginnings of the book, we are taken through the story and shown a lot about the world and its inhabitants. This comes at the behest of the story’s pace, while it does pick up in the climatic chapters. The book’s massive page count and its pace can make the read to be a bit arduous. Lastly Cinder as a character while fascinating is very much a cipher due to the story’s demands (amnesia & very little reveal about his origins). This can be a bit frustrating to some readers especially since when we complete the volume. We get only bits and pieces about what and who he might be. Not a big dealbreaker but can be irksome for a few readers. Lastly the narrow scope of the POV characters and with them majorly being from Cinder himself. We do get a stilted view of things due to Cinder being a bit stiff on the emotional front (understandably so from the story’s perspective).
CONCLUSION: Bringing together fascinating elements from Tolkienesque fantasy and Indian mythology, Davis Ashura has written a fascinating, new type of epic fantasy which is heroic, action-packed and very accessible for those looking for their next new epic fantasy fix. A Testament Of Steel focuses a lot on steel (both literal and metaphorical), and provides a sharp story that will have readers markedly awaiting the next installment to see what emerges from the brilliant mind of Davis Ashura.
Official Author Website
Order the book HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Thousand Names
Read Fantasy Book Critic's interview with Django Wexler
OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFO: Django Wexler graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with degrees in creative writing and computer science, and worked for the university in artificial intelligence research. Eventually he migrated to Seattle, where he now lives with his wife, cats and a teetering mountain of books. When not writing, he wrangles computers, paints tiny soldiers, and plays games of all sorts. He tweets about books, cats and history at @DjangoWexler
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Long ago, a magical war destroyed an empire, and a new one was built in its ashes. But still the old grudges simmer, and two siblings will fight on opposite sides to save their world in the start of Django Wexler's new epic fantasy trilogy.
Gyre hasn't seen his beloved sister since their parents sold her to the mysterious Twilight Order. Now, twelve years after her disappearance, Gyre's sole focus is revenge, and he's willing to risk anything and anyone to claim enough power to destroy the Order.
Chasing rumors of a fabled city protecting a powerful artifact, Gyre comes face-to-face with his lost sister. But she isn't who she once was. Trained to be a warrior, Maya wields magic for the Twilight Order's cause. Standing on opposite sides of a looming civil war, the two siblings will learn that not even the ties of blood will keep them from splitting the world in two.
FORMAT/INFO: Ashes Of The Sun will released on July 21st, 2020. It is 592 pages split over twenty-six chapters, along with a prologue and epilogue. It is told in third person, alternating between Maya and Gyre. It will be available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats via Orbit books.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Twelve years ago, five-year-old Maya was taken from her family to be raised by the Twilight Order, protectors of the realm whose members are gifted with the ability to channel and manipulate deiat. It is the Order that clears out plaguespawn and hunts down practitioners of dark arts. To present-day Maya, there is no nobler calling. But what Maya doesn't remember about her childhood is that the day she was taken was the day her family was effectively destroyed. Left with the ruins, her older brother Gyre has vowed to destroy the Order that so casually wields technology and power that it denies to regular humans on the grounds that it is "too dangerous" for them. When rumors of an incredibly powerful relic begin to surface, both Maya and Gyre begin to investigate, unknowingly putting them on a collision course as they race to obtain the item before anyone else.
Ashes Of The Sun exists in the grey space between science-fiction and fantasy, creating a world that felt fresh yet familiar at the same time. The book frequently brings to mind the quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The people of this world live in the literal ruins of the peoples who came before them: the Chosen and the ghouls. A terrible war centuries ago destroyed both civilizations, taking their knowledge of technology with them. The remaining humans have survived over the centuries by picking through the ruins and scavenging what they can, only able to make some of it work. As a result, "arcana" can be used to describe everything from alchemical creations to blaster guns to the ability to channel elemental powers.
The resulting world-building is the kind that is easy to sink into. There are towering ruins of crashed skyfortresses, communities that live in tunnels and swap recovered bits of arcana, land features that are the destructive result of massive weapons once used by previous civilizations. It's rough, and grimy and with the constant threat of plaguespawn attack (and the descriptions of plaguespawn are the stuff of literal nightmares). I enjoyed how the world had old and new mixed all into one, but most importantly, the world felt lived in, with attention given to how different pockets of humanity adapted to the ruins around them.
As for the characters that inhabit this world, they are solidly done, particularly lead characters Maya and Gyre. The chapters alternate between their POVs, as Maya contends with a conspiracy within the Order, and Gyre reckons with how much collateral damage he's willing to accept in his quest to bring the Order down. I really appreciated that each POV showed two completely different sides of this world, almost literally night and day in difference. I also want to shout out Kit, a young woman who enters Gyre's life to offer him a deal on behalf of a third party. Kit loves to exist on the knife's edge of life and watching her make snap decisions and roll with the consequences was a treat. Meanwhile in Maya's POV, Beq is a cinnamon roll that I will defend with my life.
There is also great use of magic and battle sequences in Ashes Of The Sun. As the Order relies on a bladeless hilt that channels energy to form the actual blade, I know it is easy to compare these warriors to another famous franchise. But even here, the author has given the magic a twist. Every warrior of the Twilight Order manifest their powers differently. Maya conjures fire, her mentor uses air and wind, still another manifests his attacks through sonic thunderwaves. And that power isn't just limited to the blade, but to actual attack magic as well, making for some spectacular fights, particularly in one duel sequence between two characters.
CONCLUSION: Ashes Of The Sun evokes the expansive feel of some of my favorite sci-fi shows, the kind of world-building that gives you a sense that this place has History (and from what is teased in the lore, it most certainly does). The struggle for the future of the Dawn Republic is just beginning, and I'll be eagerly waiting to see how it unfolds.
Ashes Of The Sun exists in the grey space between science-fiction and fantasy, creating a world that felt fresh yet familiar at the same time. The book frequently brings to mind the quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The people of this world live in the literal ruins of the peoples who came before them: the Chosen and the ghouls. A terrible war centuries ago destroyed both civilizations, taking their knowledge of technology with them. The remaining humans have survived over the centuries by picking through the ruins and scavenging what they can, only able to make some of it work. As a result, "arcana" can be used to describe everything from alchemical creations to blaster guns to the ability to channel elemental powers.
The resulting world-building is the kind that is easy to sink into. There are towering ruins of crashed skyfortresses, communities that live in tunnels and swap recovered bits of arcana, land features that are the destructive result of massive weapons once used by previous civilizations. It's rough, and grimy and with the constant threat of plaguespawn attack (and the descriptions of plaguespawn are the stuff of literal nightmares). I enjoyed how the world had old and new mixed all into one, but most importantly, the world felt lived in, with attention given to how different pockets of humanity adapted to the ruins around them.
As for the characters that inhabit this world, they are solidly done, particularly lead characters Maya and Gyre. The chapters alternate between their POVs, as Maya contends with a conspiracy within the Order, and Gyre reckons with how much collateral damage he's willing to accept in his quest to bring the Order down. I really appreciated that each POV showed two completely different sides of this world, almost literally night and day in difference. I also want to shout out Kit, a young woman who enters Gyre's life to offer him a deal on behalf of a third party. Kit loves to exist on the knife's edge of life and watching her make snap decisions and roll with the consequences was a treat. Meanwhile in Maya's POV, Beq is a cinnamon roll that I will defend with my life.
There is also great use of magic and battle sequences in Ashes Of The Sun. As the Order relies on a bladeless hilt that channels energy to form the actual blade, I know it is easy to compare these warriors to another famous franchise. But even here, the author has given the magic a twist. Every warrior of the Twilight Order manifest their powers differently. Maya conjures fire, her mentor uses air and wind, still another manifests his attacks through sonic thunderwaves. And that power isn't just limited to the blade, but to actual attack magic as well, making for some spectacular fights, particularly in one duel sequence between two characters.
CONCLUSION: Ashes Of The Sun evokes the expansive feel of some of my favorite sci-fi shows, the kind of world-building that gives you a sense that this place has History (and from what is teased in the lore, it most certainly does). The struggle for the future of the Dawn Republic is just beginning, and I'll be eagerly waiting to see how it unfolds.
Order Endsville over HERE (USA) & HERE (UK)
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Clay Sanger is a
professional technogeek by day and a writer of fiction and whatever else
strikes his fancy the rest of the time. A life-long lover of all things wild,
Clay spent much of his early adulthood wandering the four corners of the
country in search of the weird and wonderful, the dark and the light. As chance
would have it, he found them. The rest is a tale yet to be told. After
meandering far and wide he returned to his native Ozarks where he lives with
his dazzling wife, their sons, and a menagerie of mythical creatures both real
and imagined.
OFFICIAL
BOOK BLURB: Welcome to Los Angeles—where the secret worlds of the criminal and
supernatural collide. Crime and black magic pay. In the City of Angels, no one
does it better than Gabriel St. John and the House of the Crow…
Led by their enigmatic street captain Gabriel, the Crows are a secret coven of high-rolling occult gangsters operating out of Los Angeles. A gangland king by the name of Dante Washington enlists their aid to recover 34 million dollars in cash—stolen from him by what appears to be a hostile sorcerer.
The Crows battle through a vicious cycle of betrayal, violence, and black magic while on the hunt for Mr. Washington’s missing money. In the end, allies prove to be enemies, and there are much greater things at stake than covering up a multi-million dollar gangland heist.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS (Mihir): Endsville is a debut that feels like it’s specifically written to counter most (if not all) of what the urban fantasy genre has to offer. I was intrigued by the blurb and bought a copy. The story focuses the St. John family consisting of Victor, Fiona, Gabriel & Delilah and the house of the Crow.
Situated in Los Angeles, we are introduced to the all four of the family members and their individual strengths and foibles. At the same time, we get a sense of the wider world and the criminal world within. The main plot begins with when the Crows are offered a wholesome bounty to sort out a crime from an overlord by the name of Dante Washington. The readers are given an in-depth insight in to each of the four family members with Gabriel and Delilah sharing the lion's share of the spotlight. Victor and Fiona while being equally important don't get as many POV chapters as their children. Gabriel is a high ranked member among the house of the Crows as his tattooed insignia indicates (see the cover). Delilah on the other hand doesn't have any visible insignia but she shares a lot of the gang's secrets and motivations behind their actions. She is also a magical heavy hitter and does take on the more arcane aspects of their family’s needs. Gabriel is a person who keeps his emotions bottled up thoroughly and Delilah is on a similar path (though not to the same degree). She also has a sordid past which gets touched upon in this opening volume. Both the siblings are shown to self medicate in various ways (legal and illegal). Victor St. John has a presence about himself and his children as well as his gang members acknowledge it while giving him the respect he deserves. Fiona is more of a proper matriach but doesn’t have as much of an in-depth role in this opening volume. There's a few other other characters who the readers can RAFO. These characters are very much like the Lannisters (with their dysfunction) in this absorbing crime drama.
Endsville is dark, hell it’s about a family who presides over a biker clan and certainly draws some glorious comparisons with Sons Of Anarchy. This story is very epic in scope and major props to Clay Sanger for his glorious descriptions of gang heraldry and culture. The best part of the story for me was the characterization, beginning with the St. John family, each member is a distinct persona with one hell of a backstory. We get some solid ideas about each of them and then some. There's also other characters who are introduced such as the Watch as well other arcana users who I hope the author explores more of. The author has just barely scratched the surface with this stoty and it very much felt like this was the grand opening to an epic crime noir story but laced with magic and horror. The world and gang heraldry which is introduced is very, very well depicted. I really liked this aspect and it reminded me a lot of George R. R. Martin's ASOIAF with the gang slogans (similar to the house mottos) as well as gang logo (a la house sigils) & tattoos which take on extensive meaning as they increase in their size and colour . The author has taken pains to really allow the readers for an immersive experience and I can't thank the author enough for it.
The plot has numerous threads and with each POV change, we get another facet of life and a newer sub-plot to follow. I like this multifaceted approach as that's rarely been done in the urban fantasy genre. There's also the noir approach to the plot and while this isn't a procedural, the story is heaped in a crime-infested LA that will feel at home for most noir/mystery readers. I loved how the author showcased Los Angeles and how magic has shaped the world within and around it. Lastly the pacing as well as the author's writing style are pretty distinct. The pace builds up quickly from the first couple of chapters and never lets up. Clay's prose is hard-hitting, he aptly showcases these terrifying, flawed characters but yet makes them seem human and understandable. The writing has a lot of imagery to it and I loved how we could taste the grittiness as well as get a strong sense of how complicated the world is. This was a perfect debut in my estimate as I had next to no complaints about it. However it’s not for everyone, those who have a hard time with gritty stories, grey-to-dark characters and lots of violence should avoid this book entirely. For those readers for whom these factors sound inviting, this book is gonna blow your mind and then some…
CONCLUSION: Exciting characterization, epic plot scope and a unique story made this debut land a special place in my heart. I can’t wait to see what Clay Sanger does in the sequel. Hell after reading this story, anything else that he writes becomes a must read for me.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS
(LUKASZ):
"We’re bad people... We lie. We cheat. We steal. We kill. So long as we take out the trash and keep the peace with the other liars, cheaters, thieves, and killers, nobody really cares."
Endsville is the
first in a new series, Outlaw Arcana, from Clay Sanger, author of a few short stories published in various anthologies. I’ve read none of his
stories and I don’t remember how and why I pre-ordered his debut novel. I woke
up one day, opened my Kindle and there it was.
The story occurs in Los Angeles and introduces readers to the House of the Crow. Led by their enigmatic street captain Gabriel, the Crows are a secret coven of high-rolling occult gangsters. A gangland king enlists their aid to recover 34 million dollars in cash—stolen from him by what appears to be a hostile sorcerer.
On the hunt for missing money, The Crows battle through a vicious cycle of betrayal, violence, and black magic. Allies prove to be enemies and relatively simple mission turns into something much more sinister.
The St. John family's members have no redeeming qualities. Fierce and brutal, they’ve built their occult crime dynasty on ruthless laws and sense of loyalty. Anyone who joins Crows becomes part of a highly dysfunctional and toxic family. They care for each other and share strong bonds but have no mercy for disobedience, traitors, enemies, and the outside world. The story is split in three main POVs:
Gabriel St. John: Crow‘s street captain. Brutal, efficient, traumatised. Drinks a lot, sleeps around, rides Harley. Sounds flat? Probably. Nothing further from the truth though. Gabriel is one of the most intriguing anti-heroes I know.
Delilah St. John: a gifted occult practitioner struggling with a few addictions.
Victor St. John: Lord Crow, head of the family. Always calm, composed and calculating. You don‘t play with him because when you do bad things happen. Victor emanates power and stands out as a fascinating character.
I found them fascinating. Each character feels distinct, each of them brings to the story their own individual aspect. Victor remains mysterious and composed when all hell breaks loose and that makes him fascinating. He bears a resemblance to Mr. Church from the Joe Ledger novels or John Marcone from the Dresden Files. Gabriel and Delilah are deeply flawed and traumatised individuals. Sanger’s writing speaks to me on a visceral level. He understands how to write inner darkness better than most and this skill makes Delilah and Gabriel’s chapters a dark treat.
Clay's writing is smooth and articulate. He doesn‘t shy away from slang, bad language, or sharp sentences but it all works. His pacing is excellent. Endsville is a page-turner with no lags.
Despite significant length the book feels directed and purposeful. There were just few places where I could have said something in the book might not be essential to the story at large.
I never expected to fall in love with bad guys with no redeeming qualities, but I did. Sanger’s world is terrifying and brutal, but also complex and fascinating. It convincingly portrays flawed individuals who struggle with substance abuse, occult addiction, toxic and abusive family relationships and living a life of crime.
An excellent book, but approach it with caution. It contains lots and lots of violence (including mentions of rape), sex and bad language.
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Long Way Down
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The White Gold Score
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Redemption Song
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Living End
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of A Plain-Dealing Villain
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Killing Floor Blues
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Castle Doctrine
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Double Or Nothing
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Neon Boneyard
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Locust Job
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Locust Job
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Sworn To The Night
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Detonation Boulevard
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Winter's Reach
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Instruments Of Control
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Harmony Black
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Red Knight Falling
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Glass Predator
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Cold Spectrum
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Right To The Kill
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Black Tie Required
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Ghosts Of Gotham
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Loot
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Insider
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Cold Spectrum
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Right To The Kill
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Black Tie Required
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Ghosts Of Gotham
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Loot
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Insider
Read Fantasy Book Critic's Harmony Black Series Interview with Craig Schaefer
Read Double Or Nothing Cover Reveal Mini-Interview with Craig Schaefer
Read Part I of Fantasy Book Critic's In-depth Interview with Craig Schaefer
Read Part II of Fantasy Book Critic's In-depth Interview with Craig Schaefer
Read the Wisdom's Grave Trilogy Completion Interview with Craig Schaefer
Read the 2019 And Beyond Interview with Craig Schaefer
Read the Right To The Kill Cover Reveal Q&A with Craig Schaefer
Read the Black Tie Required Cover Reveal Q&A with Craig Schaefer
Read My Sworn To The Night Cover Reveal Q&A with Craig Schaefer
Read Part I of Fantasy Book Critic's In-depth Interview with Craig Schaefer
Read Part II of Fantasy Book Critic's In-depth Interview with Craig Schaefer
Read the Wisdom's Grave Trilogy Completion Interview with Craig Schaefer
Read the 2019 And Beyond Interview with Craig Schaefer
Read the Right To The Kill Cover Reveal Q&A with Craig Schaefer
Read the Black Tie Required Cover Reveal Q&A with Craig Schaefer
Read My Sworn To The Night Cover Reveal Q&A with Craig Schaefer
Q] Hi Craig, welcome back to Fantasy Book Critic. How are things with you considering all the things that we are facing?
CS: Now that’s a loaded question. Readers who follow me on social media know that I’ve always been open about my mental health issues (as part of my belief in the importance of making such discussions frank and non-stigmatized) – recently, I went on a bit of a decline, and got medical help. I’m now in my second week of medication and can report that I’m back at work and writing again, so…good enough, I”ll say?
The world’s a mess but I’m doing my best to hold up my little part of it, and give people some much-needed entertainment while we work to fix things.
Q] Let’s talk about the Charlie McCabe series. You wanted to follow Elmore Leonard, Lawrence Block and several other masters with this series. With these two books out, how do you think you are faring in this new literary wheelhouse?
CS: Well, I certainly can’t compare myself to the greats. Maybe in another twenty years, if I really plug away at it. Working across genres has been a fantastic exercise, and I think it’s something all writers should try; it’s definitely forced me to break out of my comfort zones, and look at structuring stories in a different way, adding new equipment to my writerly toolbox.
Q] Focusing on Charlie, she’s the quintessential thriller protagonist however there’s grey shades to her and she’s certainly no goody two shoes. How did you craft her character, what were your literary/cinematic inspirations?
CS: Charlie’s genesis was in a fascinating interview I read some time ago, with an Army explosive ordnance disposal officer (her MOS in the series); at the time, I was taken by how detail-oriented the work was, and how an explosive ordnance expert needs both a keen eye for observation and a wide array of skills to get the job done. As with so many things, I jotted down some notes and filed it for later use; most writers, I think, have bulging files of “this might be handy someday” reference material.
When I started planning a crime/thriller series, I quickly rejected the usual tropes. I didn’t want to write about cops, or private investigators. Bodyguard work had an immediate appeal, in that I could put my protagonists in a wide variety of dangerous situations and expose them to all kinds of (often sketchy) people and social circles: a great foundation for a series!
I spent a few months studying security work, and it quickly struck me that an ideal bodyguard has an eye for detail. In The Loot, Charlie’s boss explains that the average length of an assassination attempt, from start to finish, is five seconds; a security professional has to assess, plan, and act within that narrow window of time. This was where inspiration struck, and I realized that an EOD veteran would have the perfect set of skills to transition to private security. From there it was a matter of getting to know her; figuring out where Charlie came from, how she was raised, and the influences that shaped her along the way.
Q] In both The Loot and The Insider, she’s faced with tasks and scenarios that are well out of the ordinary and yet she refuses to be bogged down. What would you say is the reason for her tenacious attitude?
CS: Due to her father’s addictions, Charlie had to learn to be self-reliant very early in life. She had to take care of herself, because nobody else would. Military service instilled discipline, and made her double down on her “the buck stops here” attitude: now she was responsible for the soldiers under her authority, not just herself, in an environment where a single mistake could have (literal) explosive consequences.
That sense of responsibility is at the core of her character: right or wrong, she approaches most situations with a sense of “if I don’t do something, no one will,” and then acts accordingly.
CS: Now that’s a loaded question. Readers who follow me on social media know that I’ve always been open about my mental health issues (as part of my belief in the importance of making such discussions frank and non-stigmatized) – recently, I went on a bit of a decline, and got medical help. I’m now in my second week of medication and can report that I’m back at work and writing again, so…good enough, I”ll say?
The world’s a mess but I’m doing my best to hold up my little part of it, and give people some much-needed entertainment while we work to fix things.
Q] Let’s talk about the Charlie McCabe series. You wanted to follow Elmore Leonard, Lawrence Block and several other masters with this series. With these two books out, how do you think you are faring in this new literary wheelhouse?
CS: Well, I certainly can’t compare myself to the greats. Maybe in another twenty years, if I really plug away at it. Working across genres has been a fantastic exercise, and I think it’s something all writers should try; it’s definitely forced me to break out of my comfort zones, and look at structuring stories in a different way, adding new equipment to my writerly toolbox.
Q] Focusing on Charlie, she’s the quintessential thriller protagonist however there’s grey shades to her and she’s certainly no goody two shoes. How did you craft her character, what were your literary/cinematic inspirations?
CS: Charlie’s genesis was in a fascinating interview I read some time ago, with an Army explosive ordnance disposal officer (her MOS in the series); at the time, I was taken by how detail-oriented the work was, and how an explosive ordnance expert needs both a keen eye for observation and a wide array of skills to get the job done. As with so many things, I jotted down some notes and filed it for later use; most writers, I think, have bulging files of “this might be handy someday” reference material.
When I started planning a crime/thriller series, I quickly rejected the usual tropes. I didn’t want to write about cops, or private investigators. Bodyguard work had an immediate appeal, in that I could put my protagonists in a wide variety of dangerous situations and expose them to all kinds of (often sketchy) people and social circles: a great foundation for a series!
I spent a few months studying security work, and it quickly struck me that an ideal bodyguard has an eye for detail. In The Loot, Charlie’s boss explains that the average length of an assassination attempt, from start to finish, is five seconds; a security professional has to assess, plan, and act within that narrow window of time. This was where inspiration struck, and I realized that an EOD veteran would have the perfect set of skills to transition to private security. From there it was a matter of getting to know her; figuring out where Charlie came from, how she was raised, and the influences that shaped her along the way.
Q] In both The Loot and The Insider, she’s faced with tasks and scenarios that are well out of the ordinary and yet she refuses to be bogged down. What would you say is the reason for her tenacious attitude?
CS: Due to her father’s addictions, Charlie had to learn to be self-reliant very early in life. She had to take care of herself, because nobody else would. Military service instilled discipline, and made her double down on her “the buck stops here” attitude: now she was responsible for the soldiers under her authority, not just herself, in an environment where a single mistake could have (literal) explosive consequences.
That sense of responsibility is at the core of her character: right or wrong, she approaches most situations with a sense of “if I don’t do something, no one will,” and then acts accordingly.
Q] Both Beckett and Dom are wonderful characters who have very, very interesting backgrounds. In The Insider we get a tiny peek at one of them. Will the readers get more of a deeper dive into them in the future sequels?
CS: Absolutely. Whenever I create a character, I always write more in the way of background and story hooks than appear on the page; Beckett and Dom both have extensive biographies, and lots of fun details that can come into play in future books.
Q] On your website, you have mentioned this about the Charlie McCabe series: “As such, technically it doesn’t fit into either of the above continuities. Technically!”
Have we touched upon that technicality with the brush from mama duck in this book?
CS: It’s entirely possible. (Also, in The Locust Job, when Daniel talks to the old barfly in Boston, note the names that get dropped…)
Q] Will we be getting more Charlie books in the future? What’s the status quo with 47North for Charlie’s future?
CS: I’m currently in wait-and-see mode, but keeping my fingers crossed! I hope to have some solid news to reveal soon.
Q] If you do get to write the third volume, can you offer us a small teaser about what the plot might entail?
CS: In the proposed third book, Charlie and company rub shoulders with celebrity, as a movie is being filmed on location in Boston and they’re hired to protect the lead actress after a string of death threats. Things quickly get complicated as Charlie is thrust into a situation involving an obsessed stalker, a jilted ex, scandal-hunting paparazzi, and a religious cult. Trouble ensues.
Q] Will we ever get a look into Charlie’s military past in the future books?
CS: I have a possible plot involving her time in Afghanistan in mind, and some unexpected fallout, but it’s tentative. (Basically I’ve got a list of seven or eight “maybe” plot ideas and this is one of them.)
CS: Absolutely. Whenever I create a character, I always write more in the way of background and story hooks than appear on the page; Beckett and Dom both have extensive biographies, and lots of fun details that can come into play in future books.
Q] On your website, you have mentioned this about the Charlie McCabe series: “As such, technically it doesn’t fit into either of the above continuities. Technically!”
Have we touched upon that technicality with the brush from mama duck in this book?
CS: It’s entirely possible. (Also, in The Locust Job, when Daniel talks to the old barfly in Boston, note the names that get dropped…)
Q] Will we be getting more Charlie books in the future? What’s the status quo with 47North for Charlie’s future?
CS: I’m currently in wait-and-see mode, but keeping my fingers crossed! I hope to have some solid news to reveal soon.
Q] If you do get to write the third volume, can you offer us a small teaser about what the plot might entail?
CS: In the proposed third book, Charlie and company rub shoulders with celebrity, as a movie is being filmed on location in Boston and they’re hired to protect the lead actress after a string of death threats. Things quickly get complicated as Charlie is thrust into a situation involving an obsessed stalker, a jilted ex, scandal-hunting paparazzi, and a religious cult. Trouble ensues.
Q] Will we ever get a look into Charlie’s military past in the future books?
CS: I have a possible plot involving her time in Afghanistan in mind, and some unexpected fallout, but it’s tentative. (Basically I’ve got a list of seven or eight “maybe” plot ideas and this is one of them.)
Q] One of the things I’m curious about is Charlie’s buttoned down emotional state which makes her very, very effective. Was there something in her military past that molded her into such?
CS: Working with explosive ordnance requires absolute coolness under pressure; as she observes in The Loot, a bomb is a battle of wits between you and the bomb-maker. She had to learn, very quickly, to compartmentalize and attack every challenge with a frosty and clinical mindset. Charlie doesn’t hesitate to unwind and decompress after work (usually with a locally-crafted brew), but when she’s on the job, she’s on the job.
Q] I was very much heartened to see you get on Patreon. Can you tell our readers about how you arrived at that decision and how they can get some cool stuff while being able to support their favourite author?
CS: I’d been considering a Patreon for a while, given how many authors have successfully made it a part of their platforms. It became a question of how I could provide value to my supporters, and use the medium to do something I couldn’t with my regular book releases. What could I say/do with it, that’d be both useful to readers as well as artistically interesting?
I decided to focus on serial fiction, because that’s a medium I haven’t worked in before. The launch piece, The Hungry Dreaming, is a work of epic contemporary fantasy set in the world of Ghosts Of Gotham. (It was outlined to stand completely alone, so it could serve as an introduction to my work, but people who have read Gotham will spot a couple of cameo appearances along the way…)
New chapters go up twice a week, at https://www.patreon.com/craigschaefer -- I’m also planning on a monthly Q&A, occasional previews, and whatever else I can come up with that folks might enjoy.
Q] Thank you again for your time, we hope you continue to stay safe and healthy. Looking forward to A Time Of Witches, what can you tell us about that particular forthcoming treat?
CS: I can say that it begins a couple of weeks after Ghosts of Gotham ends, leaving New York behind for a plunge into the haunted Midwest. There are death spirits and Amazon caravans on the open highways, and occult secrets concealed in rest-stop bathroom graffiti. And underneath it all, an exploration into the idea of heroism, from its roots in Greek myth to the modern day.
CS: Working with explosive ordnance requires absolute coolness under pressure; as she observes in The Loot, a bomb is a battle of wits between you and the bomb-maker. She had to learn, very quickly, to compartmentalize and attack every challenge with a frosty and clinical mindset. Charlie doesn’t hesitate to unwind and decompress after work (usually with a locally-crafted brew), but when she’s on the job, she’s on the job.
Q] I was very much heartened to see you get on Patreon. Can you tell our readers about how you arrived at that decision and how they can get some cool stuff while being able to support their favourite author?
CS: I’d been considering a Patreon for a while, given how many authors have successfully made it a part of their platforms. It became a question of how I could provide value to my supporters, and use the medium to do something I couldn’t with my regular book releases. What could I say/do with it, that’d be both useful to readers as well as artistically interesting?
I decided to focus on serial fiction, because that’s a medium I haven’t worked in before. The launch piece, The Hungry Dreaming, is a work of epic contemporary fantasy set in the world of Ghosts Of Gotham. (It was outlined to stand completely alone, so it could serve as an introduction to my work, but people who have read Gotham will spot a couple of cameo appearances along the way…)
New chapters go up twice a week, at https://www.patreon.com/craigschaefer -- I’m also planning on a monthly Q&A, occasional previews, and whatever else I can come up with that folks might enjoy.
Q] Thank you again for your time, we hope you continue to stay safe and healthy. Looking forward to A Time Of Witches, what can you tell us about that particular forthcoming treat?
CS: I can say that it begins a couple of weeks after Ghosts of Gotham ends, leaving New York behind for a plunge into the haunted Midwest. There are death spirits and Amazon caravans on the open highways, and occult secrets concealed in rest-stop bathroom graffiti. And underneath it all, an exploration into the idea of heroism, from its roots in Greek myth to the modern day.
Official Author Website
Order the book HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The City Of Brass
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Kingdom Of Copper
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: "Do you know how many times I’ve had to do this? Forget healing, my specialty should be having my life destroyed and then being forced to rebuild from nothing."
---------------------------------------
"Yet everything was just a touch off. There were empty spaces where conjured buildings should have stood, ugly pockmarks on the skyline. The brass walls were tarnished, the edifices—on closer inspection—riddled with missing bricks and blackened mortar. Defying any weather pattern Nahri knew, somehow the eastern half of the island was draped in snow while the sun scorched the western half so fiercely small fires smoldered in the scrubby hills. A hazy black cloud revealed itself to be a swarm of flies, and the ruined Citadel still lay bare to the sky like a scar, its tower half-drowned in the lake. Just like the mountains, Daevabad was sick…"
I finished reading The Kingdom of Copper, the second volume in The Daevabad Trilogy, in December, 2018. Yet, when I picked up the final book in S.A. Chakraborty’s fantastical work, The Empire of Gold, in late April, 2020, it was if I had finished reading #2 the week before. She is such a good writer that you are instantly drawn into the adventures of her characters, and not only their external journeys and challenges, but their struggles, to figure out what the right thing is to do, devise a means of doing it. The most decent way forward is not always all that obvious. This helps you root for them, not that you will need much help, to find their way through the moral mazes that appear, overcome considerable obstacles, and try their damndest to make right what has been made wrong.
If this is your introduction to the Daevabad trilogy, stop right now, catch the next available flying carpet, go back to The City Of Brass and treat yourself to the first two wonderful books in this series, or I will sic a shedu and a piri on you. If you had read the earlier volumes you would know what those are.
So, we’re all caught up on books 1 and 2, right? Daevabad suffered some deep calamity at the end of book 2. Now Ali and Nahri pop up on the outskirts of Cairo, after having jumped into the lake surrounding the city of Daevabad to flee imminent mortal peril, and expecting to be facing a challenging, but do-able lake swim. Wait, what? How did they get there? What is going on? Be of good cheer, worthy reader. All secrets will be revealed.
Manizeh, Nahri’s Mommy Dearest, is doing her best to win friends and influence people, for her opposition. The body count in Daevabad is considerable, helped along by Manizeh’s incapacity for politics, and a mega death-dealing field commander in Dara, who would like nothing more than to follow his own conscience, but is his will truly and fully his own?
In addition to having to endure the awfulness of Manizeh’s rule, Daevabad, the capital city of djinn-dom, has lost its magic, and is falling apart, literally. Something needs to be done. But Manizeh’s only tools seem to be killing and demolition. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. So, what’s left? There are plots aplenty roiling within and without the city limits. But will another war destroy the city in order to save it? Well, there are those two kids meandering about in Cairo.
Order the book HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The City Of Brass
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Kingdom Of Copper
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: "Do you know how many times I’ve had to do this? Forget healing, my specialty should be having my life destroyed and then being forced to rebuild from nothing."
---------------------------------------
"Yet everything was just a touch off. There were empty spaces where conjured buildings should have stood, ugly pockmarks on the skyline. The brass walls were tarnished, the edifices—on closer inspection—riddled with missing bricks and blackened mortar. Defying any weather pattern Nahri knew, somehow the eastern half of the island was draped in snow while the sun scorched the western half so fiercely small fires smoldered in the scrubby hills. A hazy black cloud revealed itself to be a swarm of flies, and the ruined Citadel still lay bare to the sky like a scar, its tower half-drowned in the lake. Just like the mountains, Daevabad was sick…"
I finished reading The Kingdom of Copper, the second volume in The Daevabad Trilogy, in December, 2018. Yet, when I picked up the final book in S.A. Chakraborty’s fantastical work, The Empire of Gold, in late April, 2020, it was if I had finished reading #2 the week before. She is such a good writer that you are instantly drawn into the adventures of her characters, and not only their external journeys and challenges, but their struggles, to figure out what the right thing is to do, devise a means of doing it. The most decent way forward is not always all that obvious. This helps you root for them, not that you will need much help, to find their way through the moral mazes that appear, overcome considerable obstacles, and try their damndest to make right what has been made wrong.
If this is your introduction to the Daevabad trilogy, stop right now, catch the next available flying carpet, go back to The City Of Brass and treat yourself to the first two wonderful books in this series, or I will sic a shedu and a piri on you. If you had read the earlier volumes you would know what those are.
So, we’re all caught up on books 1 and 2, right? Daevabad suffered some deep calamity at the end of book 2. Now Ali and Nahri pop up on the outskirts of Cairo, after having jumped into the lake surrounding the city of Daevabad to flee imminent mortal peril, and expecting to be facing a challenging, but do-able lake swim. Wait, what? How did they get there? What is going on? Be of good cheer, worthy reader. All secrets will be revealed.
Manizeh, Nahri’s Mommy Dearest, is doing her best to win friends and influence people, for her opposition. The body count in Daevabad is considerable, helped along by Manizeh’s incapacity for politics, and a mega death-dealing field commander in Dara, who would like nothing more than to follow his own conscience, but is his will truly and fully his own?
In addition to having to endure the awfulness of Manizeh’s rule, Daevabad, the capital city of djinn-dom, has lost its magic, and is falling apart, literally. Something needs to be done. But Manizeh’s only tools seem to be killing and demolition. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. So, what’s left? There are plots aplenty roiling within and without the city limits. But will another war destroy the city in order to save it? Well, there are those two kids meandering about in Cairo.
Nahri and Ali are recuperating from their battles and recent escape, reconnecting with some old friends and family, including some very unexpected family, and trying to figure out what to do with their lives. Nahri returns to her medical roots and wonders if that might be enough of a life for her.
It is seriously tempting. And they manage to get some quality time together on a felucca, wafting their way upriver. You know there are boy-girl embers there, and plenty of high energy escapades and battles to keep emotional levels high. They try to match how many times each saves the other’s life, but it can be so tough keeping track. They also spend considerable time searching for, and learning about, their familial roots. So, a fair bit of journey of self-discovery in here too. Chakraborty is much taken with the ancient Islamic travel journals that are an important piece of Islamic culture. People were not considered truly educated until they had done significant traveling, seen a bit of the world. So her heroes must range far and wide to learn enough to earn their knowledge and insight. There will be surprises. Another piece of this is Chakraborty’s fondnesss for libraries, which meshes well with the urge to learn. (She wrote a lot of the trilogy in a library, and has spent much research time in libraries near and far.) Libraries in the series are magical places, and gain considerable attention in this book as well.
Ali is determined to return to Daevabad and liberate it. Through her medical and community work, Nahri had developed a following there, and feels responsible to her followers for trying to repair the damage her mother has done. But making such an attempt, particularly knowing that it would entail having to face one of the greatest single warriors in history, and lacking magic, could be a suicidal mission. Nahri and Ali would both have to make huge personal sacrifices in order to rid Daevabad of its new evil overlord. There is a lot on family, regional, hell, even interspecies politics here. Plots to be plotted, plans to be made, attacks to defend against and foment, and, critically, strange alliances to be forged.
It is seriously tempting. And they manage to get some quality time together on a felucca, wafting their way upriver. You know there are boy-girl embers there, and plenty of high energy escapades and battles to keep emotional levels high. They try to match how many times each saves the other’s life, but it can be so tough keeping track. They also spend considerable time searching for, and learning about, their familial roots. So, a fair bit of journey of self-discovery in here too. Chakraborty is much taken with the ancient Islamic travel journals that are an important piece of Islamic culture. People were not considered truly educated until they had done significant traveling, seen a bit of the world. So her heroes must range far and wide to learn enough to earn their knowledge and insight. There will be surprises. Another piece of this is Chakraborty’s fondnesss for libraries, which meshes well with the urge to learn. (She wrote a lot of the trilogy in a library, and has spent much research time in libraries near and far.) Libraries in the series are magical places, and gain considerable attention in this book as well.
Ali is determined to return to Daevabad and liberate it. Through her medical and community work, Nahri had developed a following there, and feels responsible to her followers for trying to repair the damage her mother has done. But making such an attempt, particularly knowing that it would entail having to face one of the greatest single warriors in history, and lacking magic, could be a suicidal mission. Nahri and Ali would both have to make huge personal sacrifices in order to rid Daevabad of its new evil overlord. There is a lot on family, regional, hell, even interspecies politics here. Plots to be plotted, plans to be made, attacks to defend against and foment, and, critically, strange alliances to be forged.
There is also an uptick in the creature level. We get a much better look at piris, and some crocodilian Nile dwellers, and ancient gods, and there is even a battle that involves kaiju-level beasties. What joy!
The chapters alternate, with Nahri, Ali and Dara all getting good shares of the page-count pie. I liked that there was more equitable balance between the main characters than there was in volume 2.
Volume 3 felt a bit more YA than the first two volumes, but not problematically so. The underlying payload, however, remains very grown up. Themes persist from the prior books. Chakraborty is holding up a mirror to the political hazards of our actual world. She portrays a particularly oppressive state, with a system designed to crush resistance, and places within it people who are willing to fight for justice. She also wants to show that struggle against oppression is a long, hard slog, with many losses to accompany the occasional victories. And one must always contend with demon of despair.
Ali offers a look at how a devout person (reflecting Chakraborty’s Islamic faith) might contend with systemic injustice. Monarchy gets no aureate glow here. Massacres committed on behalf of autocratic leaders bear an unfortunate resemblance to reality. How the trauma of conquest persists on occupied people for generations after the main event has plenty of resonance with the world today. It is still a challenge to find a way past the hostilities and travesties of the past, in order to form a more perfect Daevabad. And what about something totally nuts, like dreaming of a bit of power distribution instead of always replacing one boss with another? I know, call me crazy.
She also takes issue with what is a frequent trope in YA medieval fantasy, monarchies that rule for centuries undisturbed.
"Oh, this kingdom was eight hundred years. There’s no kingdoms that lasted for eight hundred years. There’s this one stable ruling family? I think we should pull that apart a bit." - from the Fantasy Inn interview
And the notion that a rightful heir is ordained by a higher power and will rule wisely if only he or she can assume their rightful place. Medieval? For sure. Sane? Not at all.
The chapters alternate, with Nahri, Ali and Dara all getting good shares of the page-count pie. I liked that there was more equitable balance between the main characters than there was in volume 2.
Volume 3 felt a bit more YA than the first two volumes, but not problematically so. The underlying payload, however, remains very grown up. Themes persist from the prior books. Chakraborty is holding up a mirror to the political hazards of our actual world. She portrays a particularly oppressive state, with a system designed to crush resistance, and places within it people who are willing to fight for justice. She also wants to show that struggle against oppression is a long, hard slog, with many losses to accompany the occasional victories. And one must always contend with demon of despair.
Ali offers a look at how a devout person (reflecting Chakraborty’s Islamic faith) might contend with systemic injustice. Monarchy gets no aureate glow here. Massacres committed on behalf of autocratic leaders bear an unfortunate resemblance to reality. How the trauma of conquest persists on occupied people for generations after the main event has plenty of resonance with the world today. It is still a challenge to find a way past the hostilities and travesties of the past, in order to form a more perfect Daevabad. And what about something totally nuts, like dreaming of a bit of power distribution instead of always replacing one boss with another? I know, call me crazy.
She also takes issue with what is a frequent trope in YA medieval fantasy, monarchies that rule for centuries undisturbed.
"Oh, this kingdom was eight hundred years. There’s no kingdoms that lasted for eight hundred years. There’s this one stable ruling family? I think we should pull that apart a bit." - from the Fantasy Inn interview
And the notion that a rightful heir is ordained by a higher power and will rule wisely if only he or she can assume their rightful place. Medieval? For sure. Sane? Not at all.
There are some wonderful additions to the cast. My favorite was a female pirate. She is tough as nails and offers some LOL moments, which are most welcome. She is not at all intimidated by Ali, despite his having that Suleimain seal thing inside him, mocking his recently expanded affinity for things aqueous:
"Fiza, however--God bless her--had stopped finding anything about his transformation intimidating and treated him with her normal base level of rudeness. “Yes, your wateriness,” she said with a sarcastic bow."
The love element is not reduced to girl meets boy, or triangulated to girl meets hot djinn AND boy. Chakraborty wanted to get away from the bodice-ripping, all-consuming passion that marks many fantasy novels. Considering how long these characters live, happily ever after might carry some extra baggage. Also, love is diverse and messy. Nahri learned from childhood never to trust anyone. Makes it even tougher to skip through the usual minefields of romantic attraction. Ali had his strict religious upbringing and must contend with the awkwardness of the object of his desire being his brother’s wife. Messy. And then there are political considerations, (would you be with someone from the family that murdered large numbers of your people? Again?). Then there are career pieces. Nahri wants to be a doctor, for example. How will that fit into her schedule if she is busy raising an army and helping lead it? How would that work if she gets killed trying to free her home? (But how perfect it is in 2020 to have a lead character in a fantasy series whose primary ambition in life is to be a doctor.)
The older moms get a look too, and not just as wallpaper. Manizez is not simply a monster, but a mother, and must contend with conflicting emotions when her child opposes her. Ali’s mother is more of a family first sort, eager to protect her progeny above all else. They are powerful, and very engaged in the world, complex, fleshed out characters.
There are many names to keep track of, but there is a who’s who in the back of the book. Some names will come back to you from reading the earlier books. The list is not exhaustive, though, so I would keep track of any new names.
S. A. has begun work on another trilogy, not djinns this time, lady pirates in the 13th century. But she is only at the very beginning, so it will be a good long while before her next trilogy appears.
CONCLUSION: I really have no gripes about this book. Loved it from beginning to end, and the only disappointment was that the series ended. I will say it straight. This series is frickin’ amazing! The Daevabad trilogy offers an intelligent take on family, religion, duty, and morality, is informed by an expert’s take on folklore and Middle Eastern history, and takes on fantasy tropes. The final volume presents characters you already love mixed with a bunch of exciting fresh faces, sustains a wicked pace of action throughout, and gives you plenty of reasons to stay up very late reading. This Empire is pure, twenty-four-carat magnificence.
NOTE: This review was originally posted on Will's Goodreads page.
"Fiza, however--God bless her--had stopped finding anything about his transformation intimidating and treated him with her normal base level of rudeness. “Yes, your wateriness,” she said with a sarcastic bow."
The love element is not reduced to girl meets boy, or triangulated to girl meets hot djinn AND boy. Chakraborty wanted to get away from the bodice-ripping, all-consuming passion that marks many fantasy novels. Considering how long these characters live, happily ever after might carry some extra baggage. Also, love is diverse and messy. Nahri learned from childhood never to trust anyone. Makes it even tougher to skip through the usual minefields of romantic attraction. Ali had his strict religious upbringing and must contend with the awkwardness of the object of his desire being his brother’s wife. Messy. And then there are political considerations, (would you be with someone from the family that murdered large numbers of your people? Again?). Then there are career pieces. Nahri wants to be a doctor, for example. How will that fit into her schedule if she is busy raising an army and helping lead it? How would that work if she gets killed trying to free her home? (But how perfect it is in 2020 to have a lead character in a fantasy series whose primary ambition in life is to be a doctor.)
The older moms get a look too, and not just as wallpaper. Manizez is not simply a monster, but a mother, and must contend with conflicting emotions when her child opposes her. Ali’s mother is more of a family first sort, eager to protect her progeny above all else. They are powerful, and very engaged in the world, complex, fleshed out characters.
There are many names to keep track of, but there is a who’s who in the back of the book. Some names will come back to you from reading the earlier books. The list is not exhaustive, though, so I would keep track of any new names.
S. A. has begun work on another trilogy, not djinns this time, lady pirates in the 13th century. But she is only at the very beginning, so it will be a good long while before her next trilogy appears.
CONCLUSION: I really have no gripes about this book. Loved it from beginning to end, and the only disappointment was that the series ended. I will say it straight. This series is frickin’ amazing! The Daevabad trilogy offers an intelligent take on family, religion, duty, and morality, is informed by an expert’s take on folklore and Middle Eastern history, and takes on fantasy tropes. The final volume presents characters you already love mixed with a bunch of exciting fresh faces, sustains a wicked pace of action throughout, and gives you plenty of reasons to stay up very late reading. This Empire is pure, twenty-four-carat magnificence.
NOTE: This review was originally posted on Will's Goodreads page.
Official Author Website
Order The Crow Rider over HERE
Read Caitlin's review of The Storm Crow
OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFO: Kalyn Josephson currently works as a Technical Writer in the tech industry, which leaves room for too many bad puns about technically being a writer. Though she grew up in San Luis Obispo, California, she graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Biology and a degree in English (Creative Writing). Currently, she lives in the Bay Area with four awesome friends (because it’s the Bay Area and she’d like to be able to retire one day) and two black cats (who are more like a tiny dragon and an ever tinier owl). The Storm Crow is her debut novel.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Thia, her allies, and her crow, Res, are planning a rebellion to defeat Queen Razel and Illucia once and for all. Thia must convince the neighboring kingdoms to come to her aid, and Res's show of strength is the only thing that can help her.
But so many obstacles stand in her way. Res excels at his training, until he loses control of his magic, harming Thia in the process. She is also pursued by Prince Ericen, heir to the Illucian throne and the one person she can't trust but can't seem to stay away from.
As the rebel group prepares for war, Res's magic grows more unstable. Thia has to decide if she can rely on herself and their bond enough to lead the rebellion and become the crow rider she was meant to be.
FORMAT/INFO: The Crow Rider was released on July 7th, 2020. It is 352 pages, split over thirty five chapters and an epilogue. It is told in first person from the POV of Thia. It is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: After weeks of living as a political hostage in the Illucian court, Thia has made her break for freedom, escaping with the last surviving magical crow in existence. Together with Caylus and Kiva, Thia must make her way to a nearby kingdom where a summit will be held in a few short weeks to determine how to handle the conquering Illucian armies. With so many kingdoms determined to remain neutral rather than risk Queen Razel's wrath, Thia must prove to them that the storm crow Res is powerful enough to lead a united front to victory. But when Razel reveals a formidable new ally, will even Res be enough to stop her?
The Crow Rider is one of those sequels that opens up its scope from the first book, and is all the better for it. The majority of The Storm Crow was a tale of intrigue and espionage, as Thia tried to survive in an enemy court, living as a hostage for her kingdom's good behavior. Now that she's escaped, it's time to assemble an army. Thia must now step up and be a leader, finding ways to convince the other kingdoms to form an alliance against Queen Razel and the Illucian army. You'll find epic-sized battles as cities come under siege and countries go to war, with magic being wielded on both sides. As the finale to a duology, the stakes are at their highest, and Thia must lead her people to victory or die trying.
The characters continue to be fleshed out in book two. One of the things that was noteworthy about Thia in The Storm Crow was that she wasn't a flawless heroine. Having witnessed a massacre that killed her mother and wiped out the crows that were an integral part of her culture, Thia struggled with depression. Since then, she's found ways to manage it and become a stronger person, but that doesn't mean she's healed completely. And Thia's not the only character who's a little bit broken. Caylus, the baker with a penchant for science, continues to have PTSD as he's confronted with a traumatic past he's trying to escape. These may seem like grim scenarios, but it makes it all the more uplifting when these characters come together and help each other past their dark times, learning to live with and overcome their emotional handicaps.
And of course, the standout element in this book is Thia's relationship with Res, the titular giant storm crow who is the key to any hope the alliance has of defeating Illucia. Those who came for the How to Train Your Dragon vibe won't be disappointed, as Thia learns to ride Res and help him understand his abilities. Although he can't talk, Res seems as intelligent as any human, and frequently makes his presence known on and off the battlefield. He and Thia work together for some truly spectacular battle sequences.
If I have one complaint about The Crow Rider, it's that a critical element of world-building having to do with Thia's family's connection with the crows felt a bit shoe-horned in and underdeveloped. It's a reveal that ups the stakes, but also left unanswered questions. It felt like something that might have been given more time in a trilogy, but with only two books, the decision instead was to simply introduce the complication and deal with the consequences.
(And as a quick aside, while discussing weaknesses, the romance here felt like it was checking a box instead of being a genuinely earned relationship. It didn't harm my enjoyment of the book, but it wasn't something I was overly invested in.)
CONCLUSION: The Crow Rider is a fantastic epic finale, one that takes its time as it builds to the ultimate battles. You'll find equal time given to character development and battles, time spent training and time spent smashing the bad guys into the ground. If you're looking for a magical animal companion book to spend time with, The Storm Crow duology is an excellent place to start.
Order The Crow Rider over HERE
Read Caitlin's review of The Storm Crow
OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFO: Kalyn Josephson currently works as a Technical Writer in the tech industry, which leaves room for too many bad puns about technically being a writer. Though she grew up in San Luis Obispo, California, she graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Biology and a degree in English (Creative Writing). Currently, she lives in the Bay Area with four awesome friends (because it’s the Bay Area and she’d like to be able to retire one day) and two black cats (who are more like a tiny dragon and an ever tinier owl). The Storm Crow is her debut novel.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Thia, her allies, and her crow, Res, are planning a rebellion to defeat Queen Razel and Illucia once and for all. Thia must convince the neighboring kingdoms to come to her aid, and Res's show of strength is the only thing that can help her.
But so many obstacles stand in her way. Res excels at his training, until he loses control of his magic, harming Thia in the process. She is also pursued by Prince Ericen, heir to the Illucian throne and the one person she can't trust but can't seem to stay away from.
As the rebel group prepares for war, Res's magic grows more unstable. Thia has to decide if she can rely on herself and their bond enough to lead the rebellion and become the crow rider she was meant to be.
FORMAT/INFO: The Crow Rider was released on July 7th, 2020. It is 352 pages, split over thirty five chapters and an epilogue. It is told in first person from the POV of Thia. It is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: After weeks of living as a political hostage in the Illucian court, Thia has made her break for freedom, escaping with the last surviving magical crow in existence. Together with Caylus and Kiva, Thia must make her way to a nearby kingdom where a summit will be held in a few short weeks to determine how to handle the conquering Illucian armies. With so many kingdoms determined to remain neutral rather than risk Queen Razel's wrath, Thia must prove to them that the storm crow Res is powerful enough to lead a united front to victory. But when Razel reveals a formidable new ally, will even Res be enough to stop her?
The Crow Rider is one of those sequels that opens up its scope from the first book, and is all the better for it. The majority of The Storm Crow was a tale of intrigue and espionage, as Thia tried to survive in an enemy court, living as a hostage for her kingdom's good behavior. Now that she's escaped, it's time to assemble an army. Thia must now step up and be a leader, finding ways to convince the other kingdoms to form an alliance against Queen Razel and the Illucian army. You'll find epic-sized battles as cities come under siege and countries go to war, with magic being wielded on both sides. As the finale to a duology, the stakes are at their highest, and Thia must lead her people to victory or die trying.
The characters continue to be fleshed out in book two. One of the things that was noteworthy about Thia in The Storm Crow was that she wasn't a flawless heroine. Having witnessed a massacre that killed her mother and wiped out the crows that were an integral part of her culture, Thia struggled with depression. Since then, she's found ways to manage it and become a stronger person, but that doesn't mean she's healed completely. And Thia's not the only character who's a little bit broken. Caylus, the baker with a penchant for science, continues to have PTSD as he's confronted with a traumatic past he's trying to escape. These may seem like grim scenarios, but it makes it all the more uplifting when these characters come together and help each other past their dark times, learning to live with and overcome their emotional handicaps.
And of course, the standout element in this book is Thia's relationship with Res, the titular giant storm crow who is the key to any hope the alliance has of defeating Illucia. Those who came for the How to Train Your Dragon vibe won't be disappointed, as Thia learns to ride Res and help him understand his abilities. Although he can't talk, Res seems as intelligent as any human, and frequently makes his presence known on and off the battlefield. He and Thia work together for some truly spectacular battle sequences.
If I have one complaint about The Crow Rider, it's that a critical element of world-building having to do with Thia's family's connection with the crows felt a bit shoe-horned in and underdeveloped. It's a reveal that ups the stakes, but also left unanswered questions. It felt like something that might have been given more time in a trilogy, but with only two books, the decision instead was to simply introduce the complication and deal with the consequences.
(And as a quick aside, while discussing weaknesses, the romance here felt like it was checking a box instead of being a genuinely earned relationship. It didn't harm my enjoyment of the book, but it wasn't something I was overly invested in.)
CONCLUSION: The Crow Rider is a fantastic epic finale, one that takes its time as it builds to the ultimate battles. You'll find equal time given to character development and battles, time spent training and time spent smashing the bad guys into the ground. If you're looking for a magical animal companion book to spend time with, The Storm Crow duology is an excellent place to start.
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