Fantasy/Urban Fantasy

First off, how about that cover??? It’s gorgeous. If I hadn’t known anything about this book, I still would have purchased it just based on the cover alone.

THE STORY

This story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world which was about by dark magic — evil necromancers to be precise — as well as the all-powerful Kin.

These necromancers turn humans into nasty flesh-eating monsters called Kravens (a type of lower Howl), which the Necromancers control and who have pretty much decimated the planet. Cities are now empty and our once bustling society has all but disappeared.

Only a group called Hunters can help to fight back in the war, given they themselves have magic – Hunters are attuned to one or two of the elemental magic spheres (there are five total). Our hero Tenn, for example, is attuned to Water and Earth.

So the book starts out right away with an intense fight scene in which Tenn and his other hunter friends are attacked by an army of Howls. During the battle, Tenn’s water element completely takes over him (which is unheard of) and he ends up performing magic at a level of power that any normal hunter should not have.

Because of this, he has attracted the attention of a one of the Kin (a more evolved fire-based Howl) — a super-hot and seductive Incubus named Tomas who does not appear to have Tenn’s best interest in mind and whose charms are proving to be difficult for Tenn to resist. Tenn has also attracted the attention of Jarrett, a hunter from another contingent and with whom Tenn has a past. Jarrett and Tenn both went to magic school together and during that time, Tenn had developed quite a crush on Jarrett.

So with Tomas and Jarrett both are interested in Tenn for different reasons, he finds himself kind of like a pawn in a much larger game – a game that he doesn’t quite as of yet understand.

But it doesn’t take him long to learn that he is supposedly “the chosen one” meaning only he has the power necessary to take on the Necromancers and the Kin, and regain control of their world before it’s completely destroyed.

Now Tenn wants no part of this chosen one foolishness and just wants to live a normal life (which were often see in these chosen one scenarios). But both Tomas, as well as Jarrett’s group of Hunters, are intent on Tenn fulfilling his destiny as the chosen one. It’s also worth mentioning that Jarett also has a crush on Tenn so there is a romantic element thrown into the works as well.

WHAT I LIKED

The book takes place in a terrifying world only recently turned post-apocalyptic so the cultural references, setting, and language are easily relatable to readers who don’t normally read in the fantasy genre. Thus, this new world that the author creates in extremely relatable and meticulously well done. As a fantasy reader, I really loved that our main protagonist and chosen one happens to be gay, something we don’t see a lot of in the genre.

I really enjoyed the magic system in this story. Here we have a mixture of elemental magic, rune magic, necromancy along with some very frightening zombie-like creatures so we definitely get a taste of more darker types of magics in this book. The magic system as it was explained really intrigued me though I would have liked to have learned more about it (hopefully, more will be explained in the next book). Speaking of the zombie-like creatures, I found the description of Howls quite fascinating, especially once we learn how they’re created.

I like my books with a lot of action, and Runebinder didn’t disappoint. This intense story pulls the reader right in with an immediate action scene and from that point forward, there was never a dull moment as the author moved us from one harrowing situation to another.

Though he was flawed, I really ended up liking Tenn’s character. I found him brave, selfless and relatable, quite a compelling character all in all. The other characters in the book were no less compelling and I felt that they were all wonderfully developed and intriguing.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

The only thing that kind of bothered me was the relationship between Jarrett and Tenn. It felt way too rushed and it was extremely insta-lovey. Though they did know each other in magic school, they’d never dated or even let the other one know they were interested. Now within a couple of days times, they’re overtaken by an all-consuming love and ready to die for each other. I just had a difficult time buying into that and would have liked to have seen more build-up on the relationship front.

FINAL VERDICT

Gripping, compelling and somewhat haunting, I really ended up loving this book, especially given that it’s a Queer YA fantasy set in the contemporary world, which is unusual for the fantasy genre. The story has incredible world-building and wonderful character development — and truth be told, I’m kind of a sucker for the Chosen One trope.

The author crafts some gorgeous tension-filled scenes here that suck you right in. Kahler has a gift for bringing his characters to life and I found them stunning and evocative.

In Runebinder, we have a deadly monsters, witches, elemental magic, evil necromancers, rune magic, a race of all-powerful beings, a sizzling-hot Incubus, and two sexy hunters who are in lust with each other — oh, and then there are the powerful hunter twins who are haunted by the ghosts of their past. What’s not to love?

Anyway, this is the first book in the series (which did not end on a cliffhanger, by the way) and I definitely will be continuing on with the series when the next book comes out as I really want to see where the author takes this storyline. I ended up giving this book 4.5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

You can check out Runebinder here at Amazon or at The Book Depository

I love me a good Celtic story and given that this one takes place in my home state of Wisconsin, how could I resist?

The Story

This book follows 17-year-old Conor Archer, a musician in a Celtic band downtown Chicago whose mother is in the final stages of cancer. On the evening of his mother’s death, a strange biker named Rory — with rather sharp teeth as it turns out — yanks him outside the pub, bites him on the hand and tells him that he’s going to go through some major changes. On his way home, he encounters a beautiful woman by a fountain who bandages his wounded hand but then right before his eyes, transforms into an old hag, who tells him that he only has a short time to live unless he acts quickly.

When he returns home that night, his mother, right before she dies, tells him that he has to return to Tinker’s Grove, Wisconsin, an old Irish immigrant town along the banks of the Wisconsin River where he is to stay with his Aunt Emily. It was a hometown that he had never heard about nor had his mother ever mentioned it.

He takes a bus to Tinker’s Grove, and by the time he arrives, he’s almost delirious because of the infection and the heartbreak of his mother’s passing. He tells the people standing around him that his name is Conor Archer and someone decides to take him by a Native America burial mound in order to be healed. The evening holds in store some very bizarre events and Conor’s new friends watch in awe as he is mysteriously healed.

It’s at this point the Conor realizes that Tinker’s Grove is a very mysterious place, with the odd web-fingered and web-toed children of the town called “Dark Ones” who seem to have animal-like powers, talk of a dangerous and ancient river demon named Piasa (the Devourer of Souls), and a strange being who, as myth holds it, came from the ancient Celtic lands centuries ago and who supposedly inhabits the Indian burial mound.

The days get even stranger from there as Conor begins to physically change — to transform — into something that’s not altogether human, and people seem to see Conor as a sort of savior who can save them from the imminent battle between good and evil, as an ancient evil is about to rise and destroy everything in its path.

As we learn as the story moves forward, it’s up to Conor Archer to bring the balance back, but he can only do so by embracing his true nature.

WHAT I LIKED

I love the folklore and mythology aspect of the story, in which the author incorporated figures from myth such as The Morrigan along with entirely new mythology creating a unique and fresh story. I love how this story weaved in aspects of Irish culture, Native American myths and even some of the old Celtic gods and goddesses.

The author also did a fantastic job of painting a vivid and lifelike picture of the mythical town of Tinker’s Grove, along with all of its strange inhabitants and the mystery surrounding it. This is a town where everyone has secrets, and Conor has to work hard to discover them. Yes, there is evil about to be unleashed, and I loved the way that the author slowly built it up in the realistic characters and the vivid description of place.

I also enjoyed how the story slowly unraveled to reveal more about the colorful characters and their motivations – those characters both human and not — and how every secondary character was essential to the story’s denouement. But not only were they essential, they were incredibly interesting as well.

It was fun how Conor discovers that his ancestry and life are not at all what he had always thought and in fact, he is part of a much larger destiny in which the future of Tinker’s Grove — the future of the world, in fact — depends on his decisions.

Speaking of Conor, he was completely relatable in all of his confusion, doubts, fumbling, struggles and insecurities so in this way, it was easy to empathize with all that he was going as he began changing into the being he was always meant to be and as a reader, I felt that I was living vicariously through him. I loved seeing Conor’s immense character growth as the novel progressed, as he moved to a frightened teen to the story’s hero who had to face an ultimate evil head-on.

It was especially fun that the author didn’t tell us right off the bat what it was that Conor was turning into, which really added to the story’s intrigue and kept me turning the pages. In fact, it wasn’t until the last part of the book that we learn what Conor was transforming into and why.

The villains — and yes, there are several — were delightfully wicked and one particular evil creature was something right out of our childhood nightmares. So often, the villains in novel ended up being clichéd and caricatures — not in this book. The villains were complicated, complex and had reasons for everything they did. Likewise, the heroes were equally complicated and multi-layered.

I found the many different types of meticulously thought-out creatures in this story to be mesmerizing. I loved their descriptions and especially liked learning about their abilities, their pasts, and their motivations.

I thought that the world building in this book was phenomenal and I felt the author did a fantastic job of blending — and then reshaping — elements of mythology, ancient culture, modern culture, science and realistic magic to create something genuinely original and believable.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

There really wasn’t too much that I didn’t like about the novel.

This novel is incredibly long, just shy of six hundred pages, which probably could have used some additional editing. Though I did appreciate the attention to detail, there were parts of the novel that could have been cut and that dragged in places. But that being said, because of the length of the novel, the author was really able to flesh out all the characters and engage in some remarkably complex world-building.

There were also a lot of characters and a time or two when the narrative was jumping back and forth, I did get a tad confused. I also did find the dialog to be overly formal and stilted in several places.

FINAL VERDICT

This was a captivating, classic story of good and evil that I absolutely loved. This epic story had it all: heroes, demons, gods, goddesses, druids, fantasy, mystery and plenty of action which kept my interest right until the final page turn. It was a beautiful, emotional and haunting story — at times dark but ultimately hopeful — that is at once powerful and inspirational.

It is also a creative, beautifully written story with rich, detailed prose and evocative descriptions bordering on the poetic that sucked me right into the story. This was an exciting, breathtaking story with numerous plot twists, turns and revelations and a perfect blend of Celtic legend, Native American lore, and modern-day Wisconsin.

This is a journey that I’m so glad I took, and I ended up giving this book five stars.

You can check out Roan: The Tales of Conor Archer here at Amazon or at The Book Depository