Sharp characterization boosts this leisurely paced but engrossing SF series opener.
In this debut SF novel, an Egyptian artifact propels a ninth-century alchemist to a strange, futuristic planet.
In 832, Al-Khidr guides an exploration team through a pyramid in Giza, Egypt. The Iraqi alchemist leads the visitors to valuables that they collect for an Islamic ruler. But Al-Khidr is more interested in such discoveries as oddly malleable glass and metals that have apparently never rusted. While trying to identify a metal orb and a glass shard, he joins the artifacts together, resulting in a glowing, surprisingly mobile sphere that knocks him unconscious. He awakens in another place, one with unknown, sophisticated technology, that he soon learns isn’t even on Earth. The glowing sphere transported him to a kingdom on planet Lyra. As far as the Lyrians are concerned, Al-Khidr’s home world is cursed. A space mission there millennia ago brought back the deadly disease Mutmut, which kills nearly every male Lyrian it infects. There’s still no cure, but Al-Khidr promises benevolent Queen Hathor that he’ll find one if he returns to Earth. Unfortunately, a growing uprising against the queen, along with the Lyrians’ fear of the “alien-human” from that wretched planet, threatens everyone. Odin’s deliberately paced tale delivers tense set pieces; even before Mutmut-phobic Lyrians prove dangerous, Al-Khidr faces off against thieving bandits in Giza. Moreover, the narrative spotlight illuminates the entire cast and includes a lengthy backstory about the largely secret Earth mission, which involved betrayal and murder. The author’s straightforward prose weaves real-life history into the narrative with panache. The story features delightful references to the origins of Egypt’s pyramids as well as Lyrians sharing names with historical figures. As this is Book 1 of a trilogy, Odin leaves some things unresolved, like Al-Khidr’s potential adversary back on Earth and Lyra’s troublesome pirates and bounty hunters, whom readers never see. Still, the frenzied ending makes tracking down Book 2 a virtual necessity.
Sharp characterization boosts this leisurely paced but engrossing SF series opener.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-954313-06-4
Page Count: 409
Publisher: Odin Fantasy World
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A somewhat fragmentary nocturnal shadows Jim Nightshade and his friend Will Halloway, born just before and just after midnight on the 31st of October, as they walk the thin line between real and imaginary worlds. A carnival (evil) comes to town with its calliope, merry-go-round and mirror maze, and in its distortion, the funeral march is played backwards, their teacher's nephew seems to assume the identity of the carnival's Mr. Cooger. The Illustrated Man (an earlier Bradbury title) doubles as Mr. Dark. comes for the boys and Jim almost does; and there are other spectres in this freakshow of the mind, The Witch, The Dwarf, etc., before faith casts out all these fears which the carnival has exploited... The allusions (the October country, the autumn people, etc.) as well as the concerns of previous books will be familiar to Bradbury's readers as once again this conjurer limns a haunted landscape in an allegory of good and evil. Definitely for all admirers.
Pub Date: June 15, 1962
ISBN: 0380977273
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1962
This dark tale of martial arts and ancient Codes in a fallen world will captivate readers who crave action.
A gritty tale set in a world where fighting well is the highest honor.
“We fight so the rest shall not have to.” For Murray, an aging former fighter with a strong sense of honor, these words are his way of life: The strongest and best Grievars fight in single combat to settle national disputes. No longer able to fight himself, he’s forced to scout the dangerous Deep for kids with potential—even though most of his "discoveries" never stand a real chance. But when he watches an apparently blind boy dominate a much larger Grievar in a fight, he sees his chance to restore honor to his profession through a new fighter who lives by the ancient Codes. That boy, Cego, has memories of another life—training with a master alongside his brothers, studying fighting and meditation techniques on a black-sand beach. What he doesn’t know is how he ended up in the sordid Underground, blinded by light he wasn’t used to, easy prey for slavers looking for fresh fighting meat. For Cego, Murray’s offer to take him to the Surface and give him a chance to train at the prestigious Lyceum is at first a chance to find his brothers and his old master. But as Murray teaches him the ancient Codes, Cego realizes how similar they are to the teachings of his old master and gets swept up in the drive to do well at the Lyceum Trials. Cego and Murray are both compelling characters. The novel takes a while to clearly establish a goal for each of them, but the world and characters are strong enough to carry the reader through to the point where Cego’s quest to prove himself at the Lyceum takes over as the engine of the plot. Clearly drawn martial arts bouts add action and drama to the narrative.
This dark tale of martial arts and ancient Codes in a fallen world will captivate readers who crave action.Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780316493000
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
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