Stormcaller
Tom Lloyd
PYR, Oct 2008, $15.00
ISBN: 9781591026938
White eyed are elitists as they are the chosen ones of the Gods. They are always physically and intelligently superior to the inferior non-white eyes and on top of those advantages can use magic too. Besides obvious envy from the nonentitites, their quick rage has left the “nons” fearing the white eyed.
Isak is a white eye who killed his “non” mother in childbirth; his father loathes his wagonbrat offspring who he is unable to discipline as they travel as peasants in a caravan. When the lad turns sixteen he is selected as an heir to white-eyed Lord Bahl of the powerful realm of Farlan. Like his mentor and all white-eyed, Isak can be brutally nasty and impatient yet also inspiring; all within nanoseconds. The God of Storms presents Isak with the armour and sword of a legendary elven king who was the last monarch of all the land; a prophesy that insists the wearer will be a great ruler. Meanwhile vampires are roaming the land attacking humans and the elves want their armour back. War is imminent, but Isak feels unworthy to lead the human counter attack especially against the vicious elven horde.
Book one of the Twilight Reign is an exciting fantasy thriller with the similar problems that most opening acts of a genre saga struggle with: introducing the cast and their pecular traits. In this case, the uniquenss of the wagonbrat suddenly transported into a world of affluence is deftly handled as the reader sees what Isak observes: bewilderment, confusion and strangeness like a fish out of the sea. Building from that premise, Tom Lloyd provides a deep first tale as THE STORMCALLER introduces fans to a unique refreshing world through a stunned teen who goes from unwanted to wanted in a blink.
Harriet Klausner
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