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A Well Seasoned but Slightly Underbaked Runer

Revisado: 01-28-23

For the third time we follow the titular Runers as they travel the map. This time, however, our protagonists have a drive and purpose behind them. Having a driving force lights a fire under our heroes and gives the whole experience a much more personal and intense feel. This is a much-welcome change from the previous books in the series that I didn't even realize was missing until I started this one.

In this outing we follow Tzarik and returning anti-hero Tarkan as they travel together to the freezing land of Caerwren, both for their own somewhat interconnected reasons. Along for the ride is Zeva, Tarkan's ward recently rescued from the grasp of the villainous scholar Sharar. Once they arrive in Caerwren they must contend with a deranged warlord and her ploy for domination of the icy land. Tzarik requires the help of Tarkan to pull Sybal's soul back from the other side, but Tarkan has his own plans and desires to gain the powers of the Necro'Khan.

Book 3 is much more character driven than the first two installments. The characters make choices, have reasons, and push the plot forward. This installment is easily the best written of the three as well as the longest. It avoids feeling rushed and allows for the characters and world to roll out at a pleasing pace that leaves little behind. The added points of view from Tarkan and Zeva give a fresh interpretation of the world that we have not seen and allow the reader a nice understanding of the evil black magics of the world.

The land of Caerwren is based on western barbarian cultures such as the Goths, Celts, and Picts. This setting is slightly more familiar to fantasy than previous settings, but Caerwren has the unique property of having literal gods walking around it. The people are very superstitious and go to extreme measures to please their gods. As is the usual with these books, the world, setting, and lore are the most interesting part, but unlike the previous two adventures we actually get to spend time with the culture and learn about gods, the strange and dangerous God Deep, and get an in-depth look at the magics within the setting. It is a fantastic time that really lets you sink your teeth into the setting.

Our protagonists are driven and have goals. Tzarik retains his growth from the previous book and is much more fun to follow as a result. He needs to save Sybal and will stop at nothing to do so. Zeva is a naïve young girl with a positive outlook, and Tarkan has his own twisted motivations that make him interesting. The cast of side characters is slim but well rounded, adding much more to the story this time around. I do wish the side characters had more page-space, but there was a lot going on so things needed to keep moving. The protagonists also seem to have a bad case of plotarmor in some instances, but that does not detract from them as characters.

The villain is Sjorna-Reks, a shapeshifting warlord bent on reviving her long-dead lover and conquering all of Caerwren. She is almost cartoonishly evil and feels like a good Bond villain. She is delightfully nasty and chews up the set dressing in every scene she's in. If she had a mustache she would twirl it. Most of the plot revolves around our protagonists having to help further her goals in order to accomplish their own. There is a power dynamic between her and the protagonists that feels good and exciting at first but ultimately falls short in the second half. More on that later.

Throughout the book there is a theme of decay. It borrows, albeit likely unintentionally, from Dark Souls of all things. The theme of death, decay, and eventual rot is present in most of the book's major elements. Caerwren is place of decayed morals, rotten gods, and and obsession with death. Sjorna's love for her husband is rotten to the core, and her dead husband's good nature has decayed away to weakness and subservience because of her rotten love. Tarkan and Zeva literally decay away as they use their powers. Even the magical realm of the God Deep sees people dying over and over again until they go decay and go "hollow", losing the will to keep going. Things are rotten in this book and it adds to the dark and oppressive atmosphere extremely well.

Overall, this adventure is a good one, best in the series. It feels much closer to a "standard fantasy" this time, mostly due to the setting. However it still has the dark flare and strange magics that make it feel unique. This one is the best of the series so far and shouldn't be missed. The highs are very high, but the lows are pretty low and could have been ironed out. Those lows do not break the book, but they did break my suspension of disbelief. There also are a few plot points that I thought would play a larger role in the story or be more impactful to the characters, but then they were resolved rather quickly and unceremoniously. There was also a startling lack of the series primary antagonist Sharar, yet somehow this installment feels more like a proper addition to the overall series plot than the previous book.
None of the cons, however, detract greatly from the experience. There is never a dull moment and the reader is never left behind, unlike in the previous installments. The characters are well written and have excellent motivations. There are more monster hunts, more action, more lore and worldbuilding, and more bunny girls. If you like a grittier take on fantasy and are looking for a dark druidic touch, then this adventure will not leave you out in the cold. All in all, a very good time.

SPOILER SECTION AHEAD
As with the previous book, most of my complaints, cons, and praise cannot be stated without going into heavy spoilers. Be warned.

As stated above, this book is heavily character driven. Everyone has reasons for what they are doing and then the things they do push the plot forward. Its great. That is until the character motivation falls off halfway through. There is one massive issue in the book that nearly derailed the whole thing. The issue can be summed up as the change in power dynamics that occurs roughly halfway through the book.

At first, Sjorna is holding all the cards. She has Zeva and Sybal as captives and makes Tarkan make a magic oath to revive her lover. She essentially forces Tzarik and Tarkan to work for her. Their goals may be different but they both require the same solution. Tzarik wants to get Sybal's soul back, which requires Tarkan to be Necro'Khan. Tarkan wants to be Necro'Khan so he can keep himself and Zeva safe. Sjorna wants her lover back, which requires a Necro'Khan. It's all great and made me very excited. The two T's (Tzarik and Tarkan) are essentially her prisoners and must acquiesce in order to accomplish their own goals. Sjorna keeps pushing her own agenda, making T and T's situation worse and worse. It quickly becomes clear that even if they fulfill their end of the deal, Sjorna will not just let them go. What a pickle!

However! All this changes halfway through the book when Tarkan uses Zeva to become Necro'Khan and pulls Sybal back to her body. Our protagonists have accomplished their goals, but the villain still needs them. That's an issue. At this point, Tarkan and Zeva are very powerful, Tzarik has killed a god, and Sybal has become a better hunter. They are a powerful team and could easily ditch Sjorna and leave Caerwren, but they don't. They keep complying with Sjorna even though the tables have turned dramatically in their favor. There is a massive disconnect between the character's actions and their motivations at this point. They are prisoners, more or less, and want to leave. For some reason they do not use their new positions to leverage a better bargain or even just kill Sjorna and leave. The characters WANT to leave but just won't, no matter how many chances they get to better their situation.

There is a point in the book were the protagonists are alone in the woods with Sjorna and instead of capturing her, killing her, or just running they instead do what she orders them to do (curse a side character). Why not curse her instead? Or have Tzarik, who has killed a literal god by this point, just knock her head off?
There is another point where Tarkan is literally holding the soul of Sjorna's lover in his hands, and he could literally do anything with it, he just does what Sjrona says instead of leveraging the situation. He was literally holding all the cards at that point but does nothing with it.
Yet another point happens when Tarkan has raised an army of dead at the behest of Sjorna and just keeps complying instead of turning to Sjorna and saying, "Ok, I have your army now. I will turn it against you unless you let me and Zeva go. If you kill me, you lose your army. If you kill Zeva, I will set the army on you. Either way you are in no position to bargain." Zeva does the same thing with a risen dragon later on and both times they just accept Sjorna's demands for some reason.
The characters are given many chances to change the bad situation they are in but constantly just keep following Sjrona's orders like they don't want to escape the situation... It tainted my appreciation of the excellently written characters and was very aggravating, making the characters seem oblivious to their circumstances at points. It got to the point that whenever Sjorna showed up I would yell at the characters, "Why are you still dealing with her!? Knock her head off and get going!"
All that aside, it does get somewhat resolved when the heroes (not Tarkan) finally do make their escape and get away fairly easily. Why not do it earlier? Couldn't tell ya. Maybe there was a reason but it was not conveyed well.

Lastly I would like to discuss Tarkan. Tarkan is a very well written character, maybe one of the best I have come across in a long time. His motivation is excellent and understandable, the outcome of his arc lines up well with the motivation (even though it is the unexpected outcome), and he starts as a true anti-hero and ends as a villain. Lets dive in.
To start, Tarkan is a weak, selfish, and cowardly man. His fear of being controlled ultimately allows him to be controlled by Sjorna. His cowardliness continues to allow Sjorna to use Zeva against him. His selfishness makes him sacrifice Zeva's innocence to gain great power. He loses everything due to his flaws, including unintentionally killing Zeva.
He is a repulsive, despicable, reprehensible person. He has a shot at redemption but every time he chooses to further bury himself in the selfishness and evils of his black magic. The author gives him some moments at attempted sympathy, but even at the start of the book they fell flat. Tarkan is realistically beyond sympathy (what with all the death, destruction, and horror he caused in the first book), but I had hoped he would have had a profound moment of realization and redemption but that never came. I had hoped he would have realized that the things he was doing were only driving him further into the captivity he tried to escape. Alas, that was not the case. At one point, once his transformation from flawed anti-hero to villain is complete, he murders a guy that just saved him.
Tarkan's greatest issue is that in trying so hard to protect Zeva, he actually is crushing her like the small bird she is. The tighter he grips to the things he thinks will give him power, the further from that power he slips and the deeper he slides into the traps that he fears. That theme of decay plays a large part in his and Zeva's character arcs. His constant struggle for control eventually erodes the twisted love they have for each other and causes the rot of everything he holds dear.
He is similar in that way to Darth Vader, and if he makes a return in future installments I hope he gets the chance to shine as the true villain he is and suffers a suitably horrible death to make up for all the suffering his pursuit of power caused to everyone around him. He is a poetic Greek tragedy and its bittersweet.
END OF SPOILERS

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An Eastern Seasoned Runer

Revisado: 01-27-23

We find ourselves once again following the adventures of Tzarik and Sybal, this time taking a trip to the East Asia inspired mountain continent Xia. Our protagonists are out of their element in Xia. The culture, language, customs, and monsters are all unfamiliar to them, leaving them in a bit of a pickle when it comes to doing their primary job. Thankfully they run across some helpful (and some unhelpful) locals that get them a place to stay and show them the basics of Xian society. They find themselves embroiled in a plot to overthrow the kingdom led by a mysterious group of ninja-like monster hunters. Things do not go as planned. For anyone.

The book is pretty good and is breath of fresh air. There are a few problems with the pacing and characters, but the setting and worldbuilding help hold it up until things even out, which they eventually do. Its a good read for anyone looking for a different, somewhat darker, look on typical fantasy that still feels familiar enough to not be too alien. It is a shorter read and could have been a little longer, but the shorter length makes it less of an investment should you not like it.

This series is still heavily inspired by the Witcher, but this time borrows from many Asian cultures. Many themes, such as duty, responsibility, collectivism, and honor are present throughout. Our protagonists bicker back and forth about staying out of the whole situation and having a duty to help the innocent, which helps develop their characters. The antagonist sadly is not very complex and while he gets plenty of page-space, he is rarely interesting, especially when stacked against his own henchmen and the series villain Sharar. Sharar has a much larger roll to play this time around, but not much is divulged about his true scheme.

Like with the first adventure in our Witcher-like series, the plot and characters are less interesting than the world they inhabit. Xia is an interesting place, a mountain growing out of the ocean that has literal tiers of society steep in tradition and mysticism. The mysterious magics and lore are only vaguely explained and hinted at, leaving me wishing for more. The whole setting is intriguing and I want the author to take more time to develop the world.

Our main characters, Tzarik and Sybal, are in a strange spot. They have no real purpose driving them beyond fleeing Sharar, who catches up with them anyway. Tzarik is so far out of his element that he can't put up a good fight and constantly complains about everything and loses every fight he partakes in. Sybal is brash as always and gets herself stuck in the middle of the brewing civil war on Xia. Tzarik eventually gets a much-needed monkey kick to the backside that forces him into a badass state of focus, and Sybal gets herself into a very bad spot. Sybal has only a little growth, while Tzarik gets a nice boost towards the end.

The primary villains are an elite group of warriors, similar to shinobi that seek to enforce their way of life and beliefs upon the whole continent. The main antagonist is not particularly interesting, but his two henchmen more than make up for it and are probably the most fun of the new charters. One in particular is written to be very hate-able and its great. There are a few new side characters as well, however most of them are not that interesting to read about (apart from a certain monk). All of the side characters and villains are well written and play their roles well.

The plot follows a brewing civil war between the ruling class and the shinobi warrior class. There is not a lot to say about the overall plot. It is not particularly intriguing and actually has little bearing on our main characters. Tzarik and Sybal could leave at any time, or disentangle themselves from it but Sybal keeps pulling them back into the fray, which helps keep things going until it can become personal for our protagonists. The plot feels mostly like a sidestory in the overall plot of the series and mostly serves as a vehicle to set things up for the rest of books to come. Many elements are set up here that seem like they will be payed off later on. It's not bad by any means, but it does feel like a bit of detour rather than a full on sequel.

The adventure is still fun and entertaining. Tzarik's character development takes its sweet time in getting there but once it does, things get really good and there is much catharsis to be had. The pacing and writing style still has room for improvement. The book needed a few thousand more words to better flesh out some ideas, motives, and moments. Some events and scenes still happened at whiplash speed with things not quite making sense and characters bouncing around all over the map. It somewhat left me confused at times, but not nearly as much as the first book. Overall it is still a fun and exciting time set in an interesting world following a slow-burn character and his brash sidekick. The lore and world is still the most interesting feature and I hope it will be explored in more depth as the series continues.

And on a side note, the performance is great. His young girl voice is kinda goofy, though, but given the narrator has a deep voice I can't really hold it against him.

SPOILERS AHEAD
I cannot get into the cons of the book without going into spoilers, so there is the warning.

Tzarik is annoying for the majority of the book. He gets into a surprising amount of combat and manages to lose horribly every time. He complains about everything all the time and constantly tells Sybal not to get involved in the ways of Xia. It grew on my nerves to the point of not wanting to spend page-time with him.

Sadly, Sybal does get involved, which ultimately leads to her capture, torture, and sacrificial "death" at the hands of Sharar and the snake henchmen. This, combined with the death of a prince and princess, finally push Tzarik past his stubborn streak and allows him to brutally butcher the cast of villains, finally winning several fights in spectacular fashion. Sharar gets away with Sybal's comatose body for his own mysterious purposes.

There is also a romance brewing between Sybal and Tzarik which I did not buy. Sybal is still somewhat an idealist and is not as pessimistic as Tzarik. She lets her heart lead her, even if it leads to her attempting to break her oath to the Runes. She is brash, impulsive, and wears her heart on her sleeve. They had little chemistry, mostly that of master and pupil. Tzarik's constant nagging of Sybal did not help either.

Tzarik's growth is good overall and eventually has a great payoff, but took way too long for such a short book and got old fast. That being said, it was still good growth and the last section of the book would have been less cathartic if Tzarik hadn't been such a wet blanket the whole time. He is left in a good position for the next book.
END OF SPOILERS

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A Uniquely Seasoned Runer

Revisado: 03-02-21

This fast paced, low stakes, Witcher-inspired is a good example as to why you don't need a 1000 page tome to tell a nice story and do world-building. The low stakes make for a more personal story of a classic master/apprentice style adventure without having to resort to world-ending bombastics. The two main characters are arguably the least interesting of the cast, but the other characters(more bardy boy if you please), unique setting, and interesting world help cover that. They are not bad characters, just not as intriguing as everything else going on.
Most fantasy novels take place in a "standard fantasy setting" usually involving European-like landscapes and ideas, so I found the arabic inspired desert to be a nice change of pace. The author does a good job at describing the sandy setting, clothing, and character appearance, but not enough is done to flesh out the environments and architecture.
Speaking of pace, the book zips along at a rate that would make the average autobahn driver nervous. While not a problem for the story itself (many novels go too slow for the amount of content they provide), the pace often left me confused as to where characters were or how much time had passed between chapters or paragraphs of travel. There are several prominent cities the characters travel between, but I have no idea how long it takes to get between them or how far apart they are, so characters will be in one city one moment and another city (presumably miles and miles away) the next with little to no time devoted to the travel or a mention of time passing. While not a problem, it did leave me scratching my head for about half the book.
Going in I expected it to be much more Witcher-like, and it was at first, but then it evolved and got it's own feet following characters and a world that I am excited to learn more about in the next adventure. While not a grand adventure of epic proportions, the setting and world are interesting and unique enough to house many more bite-size outings.
And the narrator is great too. He does a fantastic job at breathing life into the downtrodden cast of characters.

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