Grimdark is a genre that requires a deft hand, the story has to be suitably dark, but it shouldn’t alienate the reader with the overbearing grimness. It helps if the writer has a good story to tell and prose that keeps you engaged. Sarah Chorn’s debut novel, Seraphina’s Lament, fits that description and ticks off the saga of the Sunset Lands in rather impressive fashion.
The world is dying.
The Sunset Lands are broken, torn apart by a war of ideology paid for with the lives of the peasants. Drought holds the east as famine ravages the farmlands. In the west, borders slam shut in the face of waves of refugees, dooming all of those trying to flee to slow starvation, or a future in forced labor camps. There is no salvation.
In the city of Lord’s Reach, Seraphina, a slave with unique talents, sets in motion a series of events that will change everything. In a fight for the soul of the nation, everyone is a player. But something ominous is calling people to Lord’s Reach and the very nature of magic itself is changing. Paths will converge, the battle for the Sunset Lands has shifted, and now humanity itself is at stake.
First, you must break before you can become.
Before I proceed, I’ll be upfront and provide something of a disclaimer. Sarah and I appeared on a few podcasts and SF Signal Mind Melds together, we have been corresponding via Twitter for as long as I’ve been on twitter and part of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Genre community, and often trade recommendations with each other. In other words, I’d say Sarah and I are friends.
On to the review…
After a brief preface of a power reawakening, Sarah thrusts the reader into the world of the Sunset Lands. This is decaying world where slavery is commonplace, and the ruling power – Premier Eyad, has powers of the mind that allow him to exert his will on the populace. A populace that is reminiscent of the darkest stories told of Communist Russia. His prized slave is Seraphina. When she “escapes,” a rippling of events is set in motion. You see, Eyad allowed her to escape.
Seraphina is just one of the of characters who provide points of view with perhaps the most important being her brother Neryan. His magical abilities with water balance out Seraphina’s proclivity with fire. As their powers grow, they have great difficulty surviving apart. Like Neryan and Seraphina, many of the characters are halves of something whole, they share a duality with another character. Premier Eyad and his husband Vadden; and so on. Additionally, each of these characters is broken in some respect, just as the world itself is broken.
Prior to the opening the novel and shown via brief flashback, Eyad violently overthrew the ruling class in the promise of making the world a better place. Of course that doesn’t happen; families are stripped of their livelihood, children are forced into labor camps, the world is suffering from a growing famine, and Eyad keeps Seraphina as a slave.
The world comes through the characters quite strongly, there is little hope and it seems the world is dying. There is little hope and considering the setting of the novel is called the Sunset Lands, optimism is a rare commodity. The land is becoming barren, food stores are low, and the world is bleak. If hope for better things isn’t on the horizon, then there are many indications of change. However, the change that Eyad brought about with his revolution turned out to not be the good any hoped it would be. Change can be good or bad.
As hinted earlier, ancient powers are reawakening. Some might call them gods, here they are called Ascended. As a person’s magical power grows, they too may ascend beyond humanity. Seraphina’s power is growing, her understandable and justified anger at her subjugation, fuel this power of heat and flame.
I found it intriguing that each of these characters is broken in some respect, just as the world itself is broken. Despite Seraphina’s power, walking is a challenge for her and she benefits greatly from a cane gifted to her. There are multiple same sex romantic relationships. There is very little fantasy with a handicapped primary character, as well as same sex relationships. What makes these two elements of Sarah’s novel so potent is that it simply is. Granted, Seraphina’s challenge with mobility is not something that can be ignored, but Sarah doesn’t shine a big spotlight on it or the same sex relationships. They simply exist as elements of the characters. That, more than shining a grand spotlight on these things help to normalize them. That’s sort of where things are left at the end of Seraphina’s Lament, a world trudging along about to transform. While there is a sense of closure, there is a more prevailing feeling that Seraphina’s Lament is just the beginning of major events in The Sunset Lands
Like I said on twitter immediately after I finished the book: Sarah should be proud of not just publishing her first novel, but publishing a novel as good and powerful as Seraphina’s Lament. Sarah has a powerful voice, a knack for characters who can hook into you, and she can cleverly turn a phrase. In short, Seraphina’s Lament is a good indicator that Sarah Chorn is a very talented writer. This is a book well worth the time and emotional investment.
Highly recommended
Author’s Website for the book: http://www.bookwormblues.net/2019/02/19/seraphinas-lament-release/
© 2019 Rob H. Bedford
