The Bookwyrm's Review of Heroes of Courage: The Evenstar Saga by Charles Cleveland

 

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Rating: 9/10 Stars

Synopsis

Kylan Evenstar has known nothing other than the rough life of a lowly mercenary, having been raised by his Uncle Rusl, the Commander of the Evenstar Mercenaries. The mercenary company is filled with eccentric, mischievous, but well-trained mages and warriors, including: Kylan himself, a cursed half elf, three bastard brothers, shapeshifters, a deadly assassin, duelists, and many more. They bring bandits to justice while seeking to keep the peace for the common folk in the Kingdom of Baldoa—a kingdom whose knights and ruling class only deem the lands of their noble lords’ worthy of protecting.

However, the Evenstar Mercenaries will soon be faced with far greater trials than escort missions and fending off bandits. An unfavorable war threatens the kingdom, and Kylan learns that his destiny is tied to a Goddess. The strain of a looming war forces the Baldoan Lords to call upon the mercenaries to carry out an important mission, but a mysterious man, who seeks to restore an imprisoned Goddess, threatens to be their downfall.

In this dark fantasy, in a land teeming with selfish lords, sadistic priests, cruel bandits, and the horrors of war, the Evenstar Mercenaries will have to learn how to fight like hell and become courageous in their own ways in order to fight for justice in an unjust land.

Review

This one is a little out of the ordinary for me, because I discovered this book one day browsing through my Instagram feed and seeing an ad for it. I thought the premise seemed solid, and decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did, because what I discovered was an epic coming of age story set in an outside the box fantasy world with a group of characters that were just so engaging to read. It just has so many elements, with so many tone switches and twists and turns, it really keeps a reader on their toes.

The world building takes some interesting turns throughout the story. It's a world of magic and steel, with nobles, peasants and mercenaries, where goddesses have walked the planet and worked through mortal avatars. Its a world with humans, elves and animagans (animal shape shifters) living their own lives in uneasy peace. It's also a place where the social contract between the nobility and the peasants has broken down. Commoners are still taxed heavily, but the King and nobles no longer provide protection. Mercenaries have to be hired by towns to protect those towns from bandits and pirates, and the nobles keep their own troops to protect their own estates. There is a very small army, and its job is just to protect the King and possibly try and fend off invaders. That and keep any peasant uprisings down. It's fairly dystopian, and you can tell this is a land in decline, with their goddesses either dead, imprisoned or forgotten, and threats both internal and external as petty grievances are played out between kingdoms, to the detriment of everyone, as forces rally to destroy everything.

The characters are a real strength in this story.  Being a coming of age story, it requires a good protagonist, and Kylan Evenstar is is just that. Starting off as a somewhat naïve mercenary trainee, he is unaware he is part of a grander narrative. He cares about his family and friends, and wishes to make his uncle, Rusl, the leader of the mercenary company, proud. What he doesn't know is his family legacy has been kept from him, and that decision to keep that secret will have so many consequences for Kylan and the world in general, since the power he will have access to requires years of training, and wow, a crash course in power use was way more brutal, both physically and mentally, than I could have ever expected. It helps shape Kylan's personality for the second half of the book, and it leads to some tragic results, but also some hope as well.

The supporting characters are an interesting bunch. They are a nice mix of mentors, rivals and friends for Kylan. That being said, they have their own arcs of character growth. Rusl is Kylan's uncle, his mentor and his boss, and he has raised Kylan and his sister Lily since their parents died. He is protective, but also realizes he needs to teach Kylan to protect himself.  His love for Kylan is part of the reason why he keeps the family legacy from Kylan's knowledge, seeing it as a curse. Rusl is such a respected warrior that it's hard to fault him. He is aided by Val, his second in command, an exceptionally talented warrior woman who is his sounding board and strong partner. 

The rest of the mercs are an interesting bunch, and add a lot of spice to the story. It's interesting seeing their adventures, and they all get some character growth moments. This also includes a surprise, since one of the group's trainees is a teen named Adam, who has his own secret being kept from him: he is the illegitimate son of the king, and elevated to heir in a desperate bid to keep the kings blood line alive if he himself is killed in the upcoming war. He is a nice kid, a teen just trying to fit into the group, and he finds himself elevated into a snakepit of politics and cruelty, and his upbringing means he has to make plans of his own to effect changes for the better, even it's from the ashes of the kingdom.

The villains are actual villains, not misunderstood antiheroes. Malachus is the main villain, the older brother of Rusl and uncle of Kylan, and he is a tragic villain. The death of his wife and child has driven him to the dark side, seeking any way to bring them back, even if it involves making a Faustian bargain to do so. He will do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals, no matter how dark the deed. He isn't delusional that he's a hero in his own story, just determined to get back what he lost, not thinking if they would appreciate his swing to the dark side to accomplish it. Andulin is the other main villain, the usurper king of Loren, who overthrew the nobles in a peasant revolt, and is now looking to expand that revolt out of Loren. Seeming at first to just want equality for all, he has grander and darker ambitions, and a lust for power lurks under the surface. He is also willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals, and damn the consequences or honor. Together, they make a formidable pair, and that before they make an agreement with Dante, the assassins guild leader who it so much worse than that, with an infernal origin and desire for destruction, death and chaos. With these three working together, death and destruction are guaranteed, with no guaranteed outcome for the heroes. 

With all these elements, I think this book has a lot of appeal to fans of fantasy. A coming of age story with a hero's journey with some excellent twists and turns, it should appeal to a wide range of fans. It has some darker elements to offset the lighter moments of levity, striking just the right balance. I give it a solid two thumbs up, and recommend it whole heartedly.