A MEMORY OF LIGHT

Barkley’s debut fantasy novel sees a fiercely independent young thief forced into partnership with a novice sorcerer.

Twenty-two-year-old Ari is a loner and a thief, living wild with her animal companion, a bobcat named Jag. Ari lost her parents at age 7 and her mentor when she was 16. Since then, it has been just her and Jag, and that’s the way she likes it. But Ari has debts, and to fulfill her obligations and keep her thieving reputation intact, she undertakes to steal a dragith stone from the far-off Capital city. The job requires her to travel across country that’s blighted by civil war and to partner with 24-year-old Ely, a seemingly happy-go-lucky young magic user. Ari is accomplished with a sword and a knife, but the journey is quite dangerous. It’s been a number of years since the Malavi people overthrew the monarchy, with the Zaerans as their opposition. Many have died throughout the land since then, and magical beings have been driven into hiding. Ari’s quest is not one of romance or valor but one of bleak necessity and survival. Can she retrieve the dragith stone and resume her old life—or will her family history rear its head? Barkley writes in the third person, almost exclusively from Ari’s point of view but occasionally from Ely’s. The prose is accomplished and the storytelling confident, spurning genre clichés and developing at its own measured pace. Ari is a well-drawn protagonist, and her backstory emerges gradually. Her fortitude and competence will gain readers’ respect, and her lack of sociability makes for a pleasing contrast to Ely—a more open character but one with hidden depths. Jag’s presence adds the perfect measure of warmth. The world in which they journey has dark undertones, as if familiar fantasy elements have rotted away and left a dead-hearted dystopia in their place. Barkley keeps the dialogue realistic and exposition to a minimum, letting the journey define its own stakes. The result is a measured but engaging first installment in a series that offers much promise.

An understated and atmospheric tale from a strong new voice in the genre.