A DROWNED KINGDOM

A prince leads the remnants of his destroyed realm across the seas to start anew in this debut fantasy.

The island Kingdom of Atalantyx is the greatest in all the world. Wealthy, prestigious, and powerful, Atalantyx gobbles up smaller kingdoms, always endeavoring to expand its empire and spread monotheism among the heathens. Prince Erthal makes an unfortunate marriage with a pagan princess and then ascends to the throne, causing immense unrest. His 19-year-old younger brother, Prince Othrun, the novel’s narrator, leads a rebellion that fails, and the renegade and his followers are exiled. Guided by an angel’s message promising that he’s the chosen one, Othrun urges the exiles’ 18 ships to quickly sail west to the continent of Acremia—and they are just in time to avoid destruction by a tidal wave that utterly engulfs Atalantyx, leaving the rebels the only survivors. On landing in Southern Acremia, Othrun immediately discovers a world of trouble, compelling him to defend himself, gamble on whom to trust, forge alliances, and find refuge in a new homeland. Though the angel’s counsel heartens him, other forces—such as a beautiful pagan enchantress—unsettle him, and there will be many challenges to overcome. In his novel, Stuart presents a complex, fully realized world that intelligently draws on the Atlantis legend. Othrun is ambitious and skilled but bound by limited ideas, providing believable conflict. Extensive, imaginative worldbuilding and stirring battle scenes bear resemblance to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, but Stuart’s lone first-person narrator doesn’t offer that saga’s rich variety of viewpoints and settings. Though well-written, the book is frequently long-winded to no purpose (including an extensive, unnecessary description of Atalantyx’s capital city, chief buildings and districts, environs, and climate) and delivers a frustrating ending.

An inventive and often deeply involving fantasy that sometimes supplies extraneous details.