Synopsis:
The walls that kept the darkness out are beginning to fall.
One hundred and fifty years ago, the Sundering drowned Avoni in darkness, twisting every living thing into a nightmare. The only survivors live under the Aurora Shrouds, mystical barriers shielding isolated towns from the horrors outside. When a Vanguard Courier, uncovers evidence that the Shrouds are dying, he is forced into a perilous journey through the Sundered Lands, where he uncovers long-buried secrets, binding Avoni’s fate to a treaty with a forgotten race.
Review:
*I read this book as a judge for Fanfiaddict for SPFBO XI. These are my personal thoughts and do not represent the thoughts of the whole team!*
Shadows of the Sundered Lands by Corbin Rook is a strong debut epic fantasy with stellar worldbuilding, a cast of likable characters, and all the action you could ask for. I really enjoyed my time with it, and think Rook is on to something with this series–I’m hoping it’s a series and we’ll get more books in this world!
We follow Cam, a courier who travels through the Sundered Lands, a wasteland that will kill you in days–or turn you into a scaletaint, mindless husks covered in scales who kill indiscriminately. All of the settlements are protected by Aurora Shrouds, which keep the effects of the Sundered Lands from setting in. However, the Shrouds are beginning to fail.
Cam and Illyria, a healer with a hidden agenda, travel across the Sundered Lands to seek help for some of the failing cities, but soon, Cam finds himself tethered to an Elmia, a people once widespread who have all but disappeared. Luik, the Elmia, resides within Cam, and they have some amazing exchanges. Also, with Luik tethered to him, Cam has new powers he didn’t have before.
The rest of the main cast are Chek and Felix, two siblings who assist Cam along the way and join the quest. There’s no great disability rep here: Chek has a muscle disorder that affects the right side of her body, and Felix is autistic, something Rook does a great job portraying. They’re both excellent characters, though sometimes I wanted a little more of them. There were times where they were lost from the story for good chunks.
Most of the world building was done really well, but one scene when Cam and Luik first meet felt like an infodump via dialogue, and some of the dialogue did feel stilted–Rook is at his best when the characters are just talking to each other and he has some great humorous moments mixed in, but in some of the moments where things were supposed to be dramatic, I felt the dialogue slightly missed the mark.
The pace at the end is breakneck and you can’t stop reading, but I felt like we were missing some of the character’s emotions. Several characters encounter shocking twists, reveals, and even deaths, and I felt like there wasn’t enough time spent on the emotional responses to those moments.
Even with the pacing issues in the last third of the book, it’s clear that Rook is a writer to watch. He excels with world building, does a great job writing friendships, and created several very likable characters that were a lot of fun to follow. I know he’s gonna do some big things in the Indie fantasy scene. I’ll be watching his career closely, and I hope to see more stories in this world!
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