An ancient weapon has completely destroyed the city of Windwir. From many miles away, Rudolfo, Lord of the Nine Forest Houses, sees the horrifying column of smoke rising. He knows that war is coming to the Named Lands.
Nearer to the Devastation, a young apprentice is the only survivor of the city – he sat waiting for his father outside the walls, and was transformed as he watched everyone he knew die in an instant.
Soon all the Kingdoms of the Named Lands will be at each others' throats, as alliances are challenged and hidden plots are uncovered.
This remarkable first novel from an award-winning short fiction writer will take readers away to a new world – an Earth so far in the distant future that our time is not even a memory; a world where magick is commonplace and great areas of the planet are impassable wastes. But human nature hasn’t changed through the ages: War and faith and love still move princes and nations.
Goodreads Summary
"Lamentation," is a great scifi/fantasy story that moves at a decent pace and never has a dull moment with its battle hefty, epic journey style. The writing is easy to follow compared to many other scifi novels as it is not jargon-heavy and there is no "learning curve" to understanding the realm of the story. I found this quite refreshing and was able to slip into enjoying the story a lot more as opposed to having to re-read certain sections of the book as I have with other novels in this genre.
One place where I was finding myself desiring more was in the depth of the character descriptions. The story is very interesting and fun, but I found that the characters were more molds and did not quite jump out as organically as in some other stories that I have read. This did not distract from the story as a whole, but left me wanting to get to know more about the characters and their back stories.
I really liked the mix of fantasy and technology that Scholes intertwines throughout "Lamentation." Although the novel is set in the future, there is a reversion back to medieval style living with remnants of the past advanced tech that existed. Also, the reference and description to terraforming the moon really caught my attention and kept me in awe of what the future may hold. Overall, this is a good read and should be looked at by the scifi lovers of the world.
3.5 Stars
*Reviewed by Chris*
This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
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Sci Fi fantasy huh? That sounds kinda crazy. But really cool.