The Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off Finalists: “Legacy of the Brightwash” by Krystle Matar

I’m a judge for the first-ever SPSFC (Self Published Science Fiction Contest), but couldn’t help noticing the parallel SPFBO (Self Published Fantasy Blog-Off) contest happening. I always love finding some new indie authors and books, so I decided to read through the finalists of that contest and review them on my site. As always, let me know your own thoughts in the comments.

Legacy of the Brightwash: Tainted Dominion I by Krystle Matar

Legacy of the Brightwash starts with a body washed up on shore. It’s been brutalized, and it’s a child. I was ready after that opening chapter for a grim fantasy mystery, but was a bit surprised by how Matar delivered it. Tashué is a tinman–a kind of law enforcement officer who for years hasn’t compromised his dedication to law. But as he investigates this mystery, and interacts with those who are on the wrong side of the law throughout the city (including his son), he starts to lose confidence in his dedication to law.

One star of the show is certainly the world Matar makes. I kept wanting to know more and explore more of the city, plumb its depths, and discover more about the way it was being run. Much of this is tapped into by Tashué’s perspective, though I still felt myself wanting more of the city itself at times. How did it get this way? Part of that is the mystery at the core of the book, but part of it is left either to an upcoming book in the series or to readers’ imaginations. The world puts its hooks in and holds on. I found myself thinking about it even when I wasn’t actively reading the book.

Tashué is an intriguing protagonist, and his foil, Stella, has her own motivations that start to get revealed later. As the plot really starts to open up about 40% in, Matar deftly moves it along without losing too much steam. However, I did think it was in this lengthy middle portion that the book started to drag. The pace of plot revelations slowed down, and the story with Stella started to feel more and more like a lost strand. Matar does a good job tying it all back together towards the end, but by then enough other major characters and plot points have been introduced to make it seem like a bit of an afterthought. The will-they-or-won’t-they is strung along just a bit too long, and it got to feeling like it just needed to be resolved. The central mystery went in a direction I most definitely did not expect, but in a good way.

I’d be remiss not to mention a central point of the book, which is how frequently people are willing to use the skills and talent of those they label as “other” or “less than.” This is a truly major theme throughout the book, especially following one character who has the ability to heal but is an outcast because of it. It looms large in other parts of the book, as well. I thought this was a welcome theme and it kept me thinking throughout the book.

Legacy of the Brightwash is a good read for those interested in gaslamp settings and the intersection of mystery and fantasy. It’s a solid entry in the SPFBO.

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SDG.

“Empire of the Vampire” by Jay Kristoff- A superb dark epic fantasy

I found out about Empire of the Vampire some time ago on Twitter, but I forgot for a bit and didn’t think to pick it up until I saw it locally. I grabbed a copy based on the internal flap. I haven’t read a lot of vampire fiction, so the thought of fighting against a Vampire Empire sounded kind of cool. Little did I know that I’d be diving in to one of my favorite books of the year.

The story-within-a-story follows Gabriel de Leon, a vampire hunter known as a Silversaint, who uses the combination of silver tattoos and vampiric powers to take the battle to the undead as he tells his story to a servant of the Vampire Empire itself. The autobiographical story takes place across several different timelines, and Gabriel picks and chooses which parts of the story he’s telling at different times, in part to spar with his vampiric opponent/recorder. Thus, the sparring between Gabriel de Leon and the vampire historian Jean-François comprises the “present day” storyline that is almost entirely composed of vignettes of them talking over how to tell the story, what drinks to have, and a few other intermissions while Gabriel tells the rest of the story.

Through this lens we see Gabriel’s early life, his entry into the Silversaints as a vampire hunter, and his search for the Grail in order to end the eternal night known as daysdeath and possibly bring an end to the ever-expanding reign of the vampires. Each of these stories has its own set of characters, some of whom recur in the others. Readers aren’t presented them in entirely orderly fashion, either. While the individual strands of story are largely told front-to-back, Gabriel skips from one strand to the other throughout his long night of discussions with Jean-François. Each of the strands of story is utterly compelling in its own way, such that I never minded when the thread was changed because I knew that I would be diving into another grim yet fantastic story.

Yes, the world is grim. Gabriel himself seems to have lost his faith, he’s foul-mouthed, and there’s plenty of blood, gore, and sex mixed in. The book is very much not for anyone who doesn’t want lots of cussing, violence, and sex in their books. I’m not personally all about those things in my books, but they don’t bother me. I enjoyed the grimdark story. How can the world not be grim, though, when humanity is a dying species and the dead are closing in on all sides? Gabriel is joined by a cast of characters that largely reflects his own interests–nuns, other warriors, and his sword each has a role to play. The large book manages to give each character plenty of screen (page?) time, so readers interested in deep characterization will be pleased. While I saw several of the plot twists regarding major characters coming, there are enough twists that I was outpaced by several of them. Additionally, the character development that happens through the book feels utterly realistic. When a character makes a major change, it’s earned such that as a reader you know it makes sense.

There are several other things that set this book apart in my mind. One is Kristoff’s alternate theology and vampirology. While the trappings of high church are familiar to many–either due to reading enough fantasy with similar themes or just being familiar with it because of being associated with a churches or theology (as am I)–Kristoff takes a spin on all of it by inventing his own theology. Each part of it is like a twist on Christian theology, with a Redeemer who is slain for others (on a wheel, flayed), its orders of monks and nuns, and its relics. As someone interested in theology, I found the brief asides about what could be considered sinful, what it means to be sinful, and more to be great spins on wider real-world theology discussions. I don’t want to spoil too much, but even smaller things like heretical beliefs are incorporated and changed with Kristoff’s own spin on things. It’s a fascinating look at theology in an alternate world. Another way this book is set apart is the fairly diverse representation of love.

Kristoff also developed an interesting way to diversify vampiric powers, both based upon the age of the vampire and upon which bloodline from which they sprung. This gives the bad guys more diversity than they may otherwise have had, and, because of how the plot works, does the same for the “good guys.” Finally, it’s set apart in its prose. While it’s not the strongest prose I’ve read in a fantasy novel, the way Gabriel talks has its own voice that got into my head and wouldn’t let me stop. I read the book in a marathon, unable to put it down in between necessary tasks for several days until I finished it.

Huge Spoilers this paragraph. One thing I did feel somewhat let down by was how swiftly Gabriel went from defending Dior to being willing to battle his own lifelong friends in order to do so. I think it may become more clear on a re-read, but that’s the one aspect that as a reader I didn’t think we got the necessary buy-in before Kristoff made the twist happen. I’ll be hugely curious to see what happens in the aftermath of the last 100 pages or so of this book. End huge spoilers.

Empire of the Vampire is one of my favorite books of the year. I know I’ll be picking up the next one when it comes out, as I eagerly anticipate diving back into this rich world and knowing more about its superb characters. I highly recommend it to you, dear readers.

All links to Amazon are affiliates.

Links

Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.