So I recently got inducted into the fantasy readers club, and the first thing they threw my way was The Way of Edan series. I'll review Book 1 later, but first, let's talk about The Prophet of Edan.
The Prophet of Edan was intense and harrowing; for readers, any book that can evoke such emotion is extremely good. However, I had trouble transiting into this world. Let's get this straight: I'm an African Literature consumer. I tread familiar terrain, but being thrown into Eormenlond and enduring all the world-building Philip Chase put me through was arduous. Still, it was worth it.
The characters had depth and complexity, something I hadn't seen in a while. The character development was wonderful, and there was no overnight transformation, with only steady, stable transitions throughout the book.
There was a clear line between villains and heroes. Furthermore, the everlasting theme of world destruction and a race against time was there (which I rolled my eyes at). However, getting to the end was a real adventure, as was following these remarkable characters into forests, over seas, to islands, meeting wizards, politicking etc. It was epic!
As much as I loved all the other characters, Dayraven was the least impressive, in my opinion. And, truly, in a book where the secondary characters were giving action and reaction, the main character was busy introspecting and crying from defeat to defeat. I was expecting him to explode and give me James Bond kind of wizardry, but it was not to be. Despite my disappointment, the MC's lethargy made the plot unpredictable, so it's still a win.
Then Philip Chase did a thing with all the battle scenes. Pulling off multiple climaxes in one book was impressive, and I doff my hat to his incredibly skilful writing. Between the battle scenes and his masterful weaving of lore, song, and history, this book packed solid content.
A word of caution: don't get attached because this author finds killing off his amazing characters necessary for some reason.
As for world-building, when you get the hang of it, you begin to marvel at how the author kept track of everything all at once without plotholes and ended book 2 with a flourish and a neat little bow on top. One word to describe this is mastery! Also, before I forget, he did multiple POVs running concurrently, and it still kept the book's flow. The Prophet of Edan had the most POVs I've ever seen, yet it was clear, all leading to the other in a neat little line.
Overall, The Prophet of Edan was a hit with me, and I'm laying eggs while waiting for book 3; maybe that's when I'll like the main character. 👀😌
