Austringer's Wrath by E.L. Lyons
Blurb:
Sequel to Starlight Jewel
The Austringer has fallen! A new Austringer is risen!
Minalav is in pieces, needs are high but trust is low. After Axly's plan placed her on the throne, she is faced with the displeasure of High and Low Birds, the Nameless, and the humans of the city.
In a bid to bring much needed supplies, Axly offers the one thing all nations covet: sprygan weapons. In the lands of Remorra, General Grimwalt is selected to represent his kingdom. Sent by his cousin, King Henry, who has more in mind than just the sprygan weapons, Grim must negotiate with a woman he doesn't remember.
Review:
With Gifts of the Auldtree E.L. Lyons has created a world that has an embarrassment of literary riches.
Setting, plot, characters, and lore intertwine, like hair cordage (IYKYK), providing a full and delightfully complex tapestry keeping the reader engaged and eager.
The setting encompasses the lands surrounding the Gray Sea. The following are of particular import to the tale.
Van Couth, an island in the Gray Sea, is the seat of the Church of the Stars and home of the feared and meddlesome Battle Priests and their venom fanged war dogs. A certain and calculating High Priest wields her influence from Van Couth.
Tarth the home of a few prominent characters is a generally cold land populated by a severe and practical people. There is Grim who’s path is straight and true and features in the romantic SUB-plot who is closely attended by Cleatus, the most faithful of companions. King Henry, Grim’s cousin, “…a vile creature with base wants and only one life to attain them.” You will love him, really! Then there is the wonderfully chaotic Princess Amelia, RAFO.
Tarth served as the local where Lyons executes a dastardly plot twist at the end of book one, Starlight Jewel. By the end of Austringer’s Wrath I may have forgiven her, maybe.
Minalav was the epicenter of Starlight Jewel. The city of excess, den of prostitutes, thieves and eager victims. It has seen better times and is the center of a fierce power struggle while the Austringer, Axly, is away. Failure and destruction loom on the horizon for this once great city.
Remorra is a land of desert that stretches on and on. Home to Kazir, the Starkindled Sandmother, “keeper of all that crawls, clicks, and creeps over the sands of Remorra.” Guarded by her vigilant and ferocious basilisks, Remorra is a land that demands faith in oneself and of deep bonds. Without either, survival is less than guaranteed.
The plot is fantastic. Starlight Jewel explored much of the inner workings of the Starlight Company and its influence on Minalav and its neighbors. In Austringer’s Wrath the world view expands with vivid detail into things only hinted at in book one. Power players enter the chat with vengeance. The Church Of The Stars, Kazir the Sandmother, King Henry and Princess Amelia all have different takes on how things should turn out. This can only spell trouble for our central protagonists Axly & Grim.
Axly is The Austringer, leader of the Starlight Company. She is also the once and maybe future paramour of the afore-mentioned Grim. He just can’t remember their relationship and their wedding day.
After the events of Starlight Jewel the Company’s survival is less than assured. Axly travels to Remorra with hopes of securing financial resources to save the Company and the city of Minalav. Betrayal on multiple fronts only leads to trouble that may be the end of her. But most important to Axly is the safety of her half-brother, a Watcher with many names. Can she save Jack/Hyde/Greg and the Company without losing herself?
Intrigue, power, lost memories and the struggle to survive fuel a gripping well-paced narrative.
Lyon’s work with the cast of characters deserves the highest marks. Incredibly, Lyons prose breathes life into every character. Wants, desires, fears, passions, failings are all communicated so elegantly that finding investment in them is simple and a pleasure to read. There are so many potential pit falls an author could fall into with a cast as wide and varying as found in the Gifts of the Auldtree universe. Somehow E.L. navigates this with a Gift akin to a Spyrgan’s Softstep.
The lore! Oh my does Austringer’s Wrath deliver on this front. Where Starlight Jewel was a primer to introduce the reader to the players and their unique abilities with hints and supposition as to origins, Austringer’s Wrath opens the flood gates. Much is revealed.
It becomes delightfully evident that the depth and detail put into the creation of this world is done so with care, love and a certain degree of obsession. It is astounding. The origins from the stars, the genesis of the various creatures, their abilities and biology are solid. E.L. goes beyond building a foundation, she has built a veritable cathedral of lore.
If you made it this far thank you for reading. Readers of fantasy will enjoy this genuinely unique world in a genre that is replete with retellings.
E.L. Lyons prose is a joy to read. A little research on the author will yield to the reasons why. She is a self-confessed grammar nerd and a student of arcane matters such as the past vs. the present, alliteration, lists, em dashes, affect vs. effect, the proper use of “the”, lay vs. lie… and on. The point, E.L. has a passion for the art of writing. That passion is on display with each and every page.
