Rating: /10

Synopsis:

The world has stopped turning.

Burned by a blazing sun. Thrust into eternal winter.

Life survives only in the Sunset Forest.

For untold millennia, mankind lived subservient to the dryads, forced into worship of the Earth-Mother, Astea. Then one man ventured into the Scorched Desert and returned with the secret of fire. His rebellion brought the dryad empire to ash. In its place, he founded the Kingdom of Heartsong.

Twelve years later, the new king is missing. The earth trembles. Famine ravages the land, and a mysterious illness creeps through the capital.

Plots of treason and revenge abound, but as the mistakes of the past bear fruit, men will reap what they have sown.

Open now the Book of Astea and learn what has been forgotten.

Review:

There is something to be said about an author’s skill when a book’s prologue sets up one type of story before chapter one takes you on a completely different path and the story you do get is an absolute banger. Zammar Ahmer, take a bow. Riven Earth is one hell of a first part of a duology that rips you to shreds because its characters are emotional husks hollowed out by their failures while its world (and lore) is lushness that is disappearing due to said failures.

The dryads that kept Mother Nature, I mean Astea the Earth Goddess, alive and humans enslaved are brutally destroyed when one man discovers fire. Twelve years later, his son, the king, is a broken man trying to save his crumbling kingdom as the magic protecting the only inhabitable land is fading, leaving the destroying sun (Mithras) to wreak havoc. A counselor friend, a counselor traitor, a loving queen, and an old cancer-ridden general round out the cast, as well as a memoir of the fire-finding man.

I want to start this review with saying this might be one of the most well-balanced (as well as uncomfortable to read) portrayals of racism in a fantasy book. In the world Ahmer created, sunblessed (or suncursed depending on the POV) are people who have very black skin, yellow eyes, and wield fire magic, which can be in the form of shields, blades, or extremely hot skin that burns their mothers from the inside out during birth. The casual racism bandied about was at times hard to read, but handled with such care, a lesser author would’ve failed at showing how both blatant and unconscious bias mold a person’s way of thinking when interacting with someone not like us.

This story truly is a character-driven type of novel and, for this reader, was hit or miss in terms of story arc. The current king, Kaido, and the dying general, Otto, were the standouts for me. Kaido is so broken by something that happened, something he himself did, and his grief and depression throughout the story was really engaging. As someone who battled depression before, there is just no way to stop a crippling bout when it comes, all you can really do is identify the signs and do your best to weather the storm. Kaido is a very hard read for people with trigger warnings (depression, suicide) but he was awesome. Otto was my favorite character. He’s dying from this world’s version of TB (in my mind) and is incredibly racist toward the sunblessed. And while his arc is spending a lot of time with him coughing blood and soiling his sheets while swearing, his journey is phenomenal in this book, one where a person’s inherent bias can be changed for the better through trial and understanding. Otto was just great to follow. Raia was fine for me. She had an interesting backstory and to see where she ended up, that was good but I never really connected to her as a character. Maisades had a cool arc with trying to weasel his way into the sunblessed camp, but him as a character didn’t vibe with me completely. And the queen, Jaswyn, she was alright, nothing special either way.

But this world really shines in the physical embodiment of it, the floral and the fauna. Aside from dryads (which hell yeah we need more dryads in books), there are a plethora of interesting beasties in this book. Giant dinosaur like creatures with a forest on their back. A sabertooth cat with shrubs for a mane. Another panther-like species of cats who can talk and show visions. Elk with vines. Just all around neat imaginative creatures.

And while I really liked this book, I will say there are a few nits I have to pick, fully me things but I must share them. I’m not the biggest fan of dual timeline stories. And I’m strictly speaking of books where the past timeline plays a major role in setting the present narrative, not a few flashback scenes that build out lore. Yes, there are a number of books with dual timelines I really love, but most don’t hit a chord with me, and I struggled a bit with some of the timeline jumps here. Not only are we in the present, we have the memoir scenes (actual scenes written in memoir format) of the first king leading up to when bad things started to happen, shaping the lead up to war with the dryads. Then we have 5yrs ago more things happened, then 1yr ago when the Kaido bad thingsTM started. While every timeline jump was done very well, I don’t think they helped push the present narrative as strongly as I’d hoped. Which brings up my next issue, this book felt incomplete, or as if the duology was one book split in twain for ease of publication. I like books in a series to have some individual plot threads resolved, and Riven Earth didn’t necessarily have that. Yes, it has an excellent stopping point that really slammed the dagger to the heart home, aka the bad thing that Kaido was a part of, but it almost felt like this moment was the inciting incident for book two, not a resolved arc. And the final quibble I had was the cat-creature POV. He was very intriguing, had a nice set-up into the worldbuilding and to Kaido’s arc, but he literally disappeared from the story for the last 2/3 of it. I know he’ll play a role in book two, but I wish there was more.

But let me say this, Ahmer is a master storyteller. The characters are so fleshed out, the world is beautifully painted via his prose, and the emotional heft of both are exceptional. A talent, that’s for damned sure.

Riven Earth is one of those books that will stick with you awhile, for a multitude of reasons. It’s unconventional storytelling will work for a wide range of readers on a number of different levels. Come for the outlandish fantasy creatures and stay for the emotional heartbreak.