The Bookwyrm's Review of Fantastica: Taerek's Void by M.R. Mathis

Author: M.R. Mathias

Length: 523 pages/ 6 hours, 30 Minutes (Audio)

Release Date: July 9, 2017/ July 2, 2019 (Audio)

Publisher: Mathias Publishing

Narrator: Will Hahn

Genre: Fantasy/ Coming of Age

As one of the pioneers of the indie fantasy book phenomenon, M.R. Mathias has an incredible body of award winning fantasy. I discovered his writings when I came across his Vanx Malik series, which is a treat for fantasy fans. When I was given the chance to review Fantastica: Taerek's Void, I just had to say yes. After finishing, I'm glad I did, since it's a definite page turner.

PLOT SUMMARY

Braxton is a from a small farming village, looking forward to being able to leave and see the greater world. Not needed to run the family farm, he is going to travel and see the world. When Braxton and his friend Davvy are attacked by a monster on day on the water, they make a discovery that has world shaking consequences. Being attacked by a monster, they manage to defeat it, but find themselves trapped in an underground cave. They discover a bunch of skeletons of adventurers, and Braxton finds a strange book, maps and an amulet he keeps to himself, as well as a purse of ancient gold coins, which he splits with Davvy. After escaping the cave, Braxton and Davvy see the wise man of the village, who tells Braxton he need to travel to the capital, where he can see scholars who can help him decipher the maps and possibly the book. 

Leaving his old life behind, Braxton goes on towards the capital, having a few adventures along the way. Reaching the capital, he ends up seeing the scholars, one of which, a woman named Master Bee, helps him decipher where the maps need him to go, which turns out to be the island of the elves. As he heads that way, he is accosted by some highwaymen, and is saved at the last moment by a female mercenary named Nixy and Braxton's horse, who is just a badass. Joining up with Nixy, Braxton continues on the path towards the elves. However, finds himself being hunted by a bunch of mercenaries, who are after the bounty on Braxton, placed by a necromancer looking to get his hands on the amulet. 

Escaping the bounty hunters, Braxton and Nixy end up on a ship headed to the elven island, and meet a bunch of  dwarves on board. when they get to the island, they discover that the Dwarves are princes of the dwarves, sent to meet with the elves about disturbances on their land. what follows is a counsel between the humans, elves, dwarves and a great wizard, in which they determine an ancient evil is rising again to threaten the world, and the maps, book and amulet are all tied to it, as is an artifact left in the elves keeping that has since been lost.

Braxton is starting to find that the amulet is gifting him with magical abilities, and he has to work at Taerek's Void, the mental state that allows him to use these new found abilities. Joining with his new allies, Braxton embarks on a quest to find the lost artifact, and undertake a voyage that the fate of the world may hinge on. Can Braxton possibly defeat the forces arrayed against him? Only time will tell.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

Worldbuilding is a definite strength in this book. M.R. Mathias is known for writing rich, detailed descriptions of both settings and characters, and this is definitely shown here. You get a real feel of being right in the scene. from descriptions of things as small as the sound and look of a flowing river, to something as large as a dying dragon crashing through some trees, you can definitely feel yourself drawn right in to the scenes.

The characters are definitely fun. Braxton is the everyman who has world shaking events thrust upon him, and steps up to the plate to answer. He swings between confident and naively innocent to the ways of the world. He is an engaging character who you find yourself rooting for. Nixy is a strong character, doing what she feels is right, even at the cost of her own personal gain. While she can be a strong fighter, she is also compassionate for those who fall on hard times. The secondary characters are a mixed bag, but fit well in the story. The villains are in the background, with very little open acting against the characters, with the exceptions of assassins. Its a slow tension builder, and works well with the story. 

NARRATION

The narration is ably handled by Will Hahn. This was the first time I've heard his work, but it definitely wont be the last. A writer in his own right, Will understands the pacing of the story's narration, making sure to move the narrative portions along without monotone or other pacing issues. He has a good range of voices, both male and female, human and other. He uses a variety of tones and accents to differentiate the various characters, all to good effect. He really helps bring the story to life.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The first book in a series can always be a challenge. Will the characters resonate? Does the plot make sense? in the case of Taerek's Void, I can safely say the answer is yes to both. The story is gripping, and will appeal to a wide range of fantasy fans. I can definitely recommend it with no reservations.

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy on Amazon

The Bookwyrm's Review of The First Fear by M. S. Olney

Author: M. S. Olney

Length: 388 Pages/ 8 hours, 52 minutes (Audio)

Release Date: June 22, 2018/ January 23, 2019 (Audio)

Publisher: M. S. Olney

Narrator: Alister Austin

Series: The Empowered Ones, Book One

Genre: Dark Fantasy

Rating: 9.5/10 Stars

This is one of those books I got an early peak at, but was so overbooked I just didn't get a chance to finish it. When the audio book released, I knew I had to give it a listen. Its a good thing I did, because this was a story worth hearing. Taking a lot of the tropes of the last 20 years, the author takes bits of them, mixes them up in a blender, and makes them his own unique thing.

PLOT SUMMARY

In a totalitarian empire, ruled for the last 300 years by the all powerful ruler, known as the Supreme, any dissent is dealt with in a draconian manner. The empire is basically a slave empire, with the vast majority of the population being slaves to the various nobles, who treat the slaves mercilessly to be able to afford the Empress's tribute. Life is cheap, and this is the society Elian was born into. Elian is the son of a serf carpenter, meaning he is free, within limitations. As a small kid, even at 15, he is picked on by the bigger kids of his village. He is often protected from the beatings by his best friend, Lizella. 

After a prank as revenge against the bigger boys goes horribly wrong, Elian and Lizella end up on the run from the Supreme's enforcers when Elian develops powers in the stress dealing with the prank's aftermath, which draws the Supreme's forces after them. Now on the run, Elian and Lizella escape, only to foolishly be captured by slavers. Lizella faces life in a pleasure house, while Elian can look forward to a quick death in the gladiator pits, neither a fate they'd wish on anyone.

While on the road to the slave market, the slave train is attacked by rebels, and Lizella is freed. Escaping with the rebels, she goes with them back to their camp, only to end up on the run again after they are attacked. Elian is still captured, though, and ends up sold to a gladiator troop. He ends up training to be sword fodder, but his emerging powers, based around emotions creating different effects, means he doesn't die as expected. It turns out Elian is a rarity known as an Emergent, which means he can use more than one emotion to create magic effects. as opposed to a gifted, who can only use one emotion.  

This all leads to a great confrontation down the road, as the rebels manage to take the city and the Supreme brings her forces to bear. She sends her head enforcer, the dreaded Hollow known as the First Fear, after Elian, as the Supreme's army attacks the rebel fortifications. This climactic battle leads to revelations about who and what Elian is, as well is who is behind the rebellion and the potential to defeat the Supreme.

CHARACTERS AND WORLDBUILDING

While there is very strong worldbuilding in this book, characters are it's real strength. The main characters are well written, with strengths and flaws, giving them fully formed personalities. Elian and Lizella get the most attention, being the main characters, but even the secondary characters are given fully formed personalities, with their own triumphs, flaws and motivations. The villains fit within the world they are created in, with motivations and actions that fit the narrative.  

The world building is quite intense and detailed. A slave empire, it is a harrowing life for the inhabitants. The magic system , and its rarity, is quite creative. The magic being created through the use of emotion to create specific effects, with varying levels of power depending on the emotional severity, can result in some wildly creative scenes. The struggle against the oppressive system, and the mystery behind it, is also intriguing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This is one of those stories that hook you from the outset. Using tropes in a creative way isn't always easy, but the author manages it nicely. Fans of Brandon Sanderson should especially enjoy this story, as will fans of dark, gritty fantasy. It will be interesting to see where the story goes from this point.



Amazon Link

The Bookwyrm's Review of The Jigsaw Blade by Stevie Collier

Author: Stevie Collier

Pages: 381

Publisher: Stevie Collier

Release Date: May 2, 2019

Series: The Bizarre Blades, Book 1

Genre: Fantasy

Having finished Stevie Collier's fantastically creative fantasy book, The Four Territories, I immediately agreed to read and review this one when offered the opportunity. While they both deal with young, coming of age protagonists, set in fantasy worlds, that's pretty much where comparisons end. Set it its own unique world setting, The Jigsaw Blade takes us on a journey that you just don't see too much in fantasy today, where its either unremittingly grim or all bright and sunny. Stevie made the decision to mix many elements into this one, creating a varied tapestry of a fantasy story.

PLOT SUMMARY

Finn Featherstone, just a regular skinny teen from the city of Shimoshimo, son of a local artist, is a huge fan of the Champions, wielders of the Bizarre Blades, magical blades that are hidden around the world, and highly sought after for the powers they bestow, which are wildly varied depending on the blade. Living in a caste system of which he is the highest rung of peasant, called sprouts, signified by his green hair (as opposed to red haired sparks, or heaven forbid, a brown haired Spud). This means he's treated as slightly higher than street trash by the Highborn, the ruling class, and he is not living in a shanty waiting to be eaten by a dinosaur, which is a real threat.

Walking home after running an errand for his father, Finn passes the Flying Cage of Doom, where criminals are executed by being locked in a cage with Pteradons to be eaten alive. Noting a child fall into the cage, Finn, tries to fetch the kid out, only to fall in the cage himself. As Finn is about to be eaten, he is rescued by Bryce Smolder, next in line for a Bizarre Blade and a real hero.

This rescue comes just in time for Finn to be drafted into the Prince's army, as word has come about a new Blade that is supposedly in the wild. After a series of misadventures on the trail with the army, Finn inadvertently ends up with the Blade, before he passes out from the situation he finds himself in. When Finn awakens, he discovers the world is quite what he thought it was.

Finn finds himself having been rescued from almost certain death by The Society of the Champions of Arbitration, who collect what Blades they can, and try and keep the other Blade wielders from getting out of hand. Not having any previous training, and incensing the other potential champions, The Leader of the Champions assigns Silver to whip Finn into shape. Silvers idea of this is to abandon Finn in the woods to die, giving him the task of somehow climbing a cliff face to retrieve a flag.

Instead of dying, Finn surprisingly adapts, getting stronger and bonding with his blade more. This is a good thing, since after months of strengthening and training himself, he heads back to the village with Silver after he recovers the flag, only to discover that bandits searching for Finn's Blade have captured the villagers. Silver makes a surprising move, coming out of hiding to offer himself up to free some of the prisoners, who will supposedly go and look for Finn.

Instead, the released prisoners, Silver's other apprentice Jade, as well as the village's eccentric healer, Ariel, join with Finn to find another Blade that will help them defeat the bandits. What follows is a hilariously improbable series of adventures, which include fighting more dinosaurs, meeting Jades surprisingly important family, and finding out about Ariel's past. The trio has a chance to get another Blade to fight the bandits with, all for the measly price of killing a huge carnivorous Dinosaur terror!

Well, this of course goes interestingly, and leads to the final confrontation with the bandits, including their leader, who has a Bizarre Blade that nullifies other Blades. Finn also finds that his father is in the custody of his City's Prince, and now must decide how to save his father without giving up his blade to the Prince. Can the rumor of the location of the fabled Golden Blade be found to help them? Only time will tell.

CHARACTERS AND WORLDBUILDING

Like Stevie's other Series, the Four Territories, characters drive the story. While there are wild story elements like the Bizarre Blades and dinosaurs, it is the characters that make this story go. Finn starts off a weak, naive and ineffectual, and has a slow growth to something resembling competence. While I like Finn, he does stay a bit more whiny throughout than I would have preferred. That being said, he still has an interesting character arc. The various secondary characters also get some attention, especially Jade and Ariel, who get fleshed out as their back stories are revealed. The villains are a bit two dimensional, but not enough so that it really detracts. There are bigger villains are on the horizon, which are mentioned in this story, The world building is interesting, mixing a sprawling city state fantasy realm with wild areas with dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are even in the cities to a certain extent, both domesticated and wild. Its an interesting dynamic in a book that has magic swords and a feudal fantasy setting, and something interesting to look forward to in later installments.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I had this book recommended to me by another author, comparing it to Nicholas Eames's Kings of the Wyld in both humor and quality. High praise from them. While in my opinion it is a bit short of that lofty perch, it is, nevertheless, an excellent fantasy story, told with passion and humor, and brings an interesting world and characters into readers minds. I highly recommend it, and will be reviewing the rest of the series down the road.

RATING: 4.5/5