Synopsis
The power to control the elements, at the cost of your humanity.
Long ago, the gods blessed mankind with the power to call the elements, but at a terrible price. Without the protection of a ward rune, the power wilds its users, twisting them into monsters resembling the element they control.
Wilding and runes have never been of great concern to 16-year-old Elias. His talented half-brother Marc was given a rune by Gaya’s Holy Grove not long after being blessed with lifecalling, so Elias has never worried much about the wilding that happens to unmarked callers.
But when Elias is blessed with windcalling, like his foreign father, it feels a lot more like a curse, since there are no runes for windcallers in his homeland of Eshira. Knowing that unmarked who aren’t lifecallers tend to disappear, Marc risks everything to help Elias escape, betraying both his country and his goddess.
As Elias searches for a rune to halt the wilding and Marc is thrown into a brutal war, both brothers will learn shocking truths about themselves and the world around them.
Review
K.R. House has crafted a strong debut fantasy with an elemental magic system that will feel immediately familiar to Avatar fans while still carving out its own identity. The magic occupies a satisfying middle ground between soft and hard systems, consistent in application but without rigid rules, and what makes it truly fun is that nearly every time it appears on the page, it’s being used in a new way. Each application stays within the realm of what’s been established but manages to surprise you. That kind of creative consistency is hard to pull off, and House does it well.
The story follows two brothers, Marc and Elias, pulled onto very different paths by circumstances neither of them chose. I suspect most readers will gravitate toward Marc the way I did. He’s a good man trying to do his best in a terribly unfair world, and that simplicity of character makes him easy to root for. Elias is well-designed but not always likable, driven by fears and anxieties that can be frustrating in the moment but feel deeply realistic. He’s the kind of character you may not love immediately but will likely find relatable, precisely because his reactions to the chaos around him are so human.
The worldbuilding is where the Sanderson inspiration shows most clearly, though it’s inspiration and not imitation. House has a unique style of her own. There seem to be a few core rules accepted as pillars, and everything else flows from them in a logical, satisfying way. What I found most interesting is how the book subverts your basic expectations. When you think of an elemental magic system with nations divided by those elements, the standard assumption is that fire users are the aggressors. Here, it’s the plant callers, a life-worshipping society that justifies its actions as holy. Watching how that devotion to life intersects with the very real problems of population growth and sustainability is genuinely thought-provoking.
The plot carries that same Stormlight energy, turning your assumptions on their head as it progresses and revealing layers to the world that recontextualize what came before. The pacing is a little uneven in the early going, but that’s the kind of thing that smooths out with experience, and it never derailed my enjoyment. The tone leans toward the YA or cleaner side of fantasy. There is brutal violence, but the overall feel stays on the lighter end, which suits the story well.
Fair warning that the ending lands on the cliffhanger side. Some questions are answered, some are pushed to the next installment. It’s skillfully done, but be prepared. And I’ve heard that book two is even better, which is saying something, because this is already a pretty good book.
The Call of Wind is a strong, imaginative debut with a magic system that keeps surprising you, worldbuilding that rewards your attention, and two brothers whose diverging paths give the story both heart and scope. If you love elemental magic, thoughtful world design, and stories that wear their inspirations proudly while standing on their own, this one deserves a spot on your list.
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