Divergent Chill: Battle of Nesma

by Brian Fontenot

Divergent Chill “Divergent mothers birth their ruby-haired, emerald-eyed daughters nameless and leave them as soon as they are able to walk.” —General Ashwake Battle of Nesma Alden, a nobleman of the Silver Sun Empire, enters a sacred forest to hunt a child-killer and inadvertently traps and wounds a member of a savage race of god-borne females that stalk the forest—a Divergent. Imperial law forbids the removal of such dangerous and holy creatures from the forest, but Alden takes her to save her life. He names her Chilali. Despite his noble intentions, Alden faces execution for his crime unless Chilali can prove her civility and worth to the Empire by laying siege to an enemy outpost. Feared by some to be a monster. Revered by others as a messiah. Chilali will have her allegiance to Alden tested as she searches for the mother who abandoned her and fights to win a battle from which she is not supposed to return alive. Author's Note This is the 2nd edition version of Divergent Chill and now includes the subtitle, "Battle of Nesma." For more information, visit www.DivergentZen.com.

382 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 2, 2010

About the author

Brian Fontenot is a Louisiana native and graduate of Louisiana State University. He was the recipient of the Mary Manheim Award for Non-Fiction and worked as a reporter in south Louisiana for the Tri-Parish Times, the Gumbo Entertainment Guide, the Courier, and the Daily Comet. He was also a freelance writer and columnist for Tiger Weekly. He has been a technical writer and editor in a variety of fields including emergency and disaster management and planning, IT, oil and gas, and health insurance.

Reviews

[L & J Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Goodreads for providing an electronic copy of this book. I’m sorry I can’t recommend it; the patronizing attitude of the protagonists and their acceptance of violence against women and beings that are considered “lesser” was extremely off-putting, so I stopped after reading about a third of the way through.

[Jacqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantasy novel that I would recommend for mature young adults and up.

The poisonous plants are the least of Alden's problems as he enters the sacred forest to capture the Rageborne Shank, who has committed murder most foul. What worries Alden is the possibility of encountering a Divergent. Always female and rumoured to be god-born, they look like small children yet have exceptional speed and strength and will think nothing of tearing a human apart and eating them. Alden enters the forest with a tracker, a priest, an assassin and a knight, and to his horror finds a Divergent ensnared in the trap meant for Shank. Faced with the decision of freeing her or leaving her there to die, Alden enters into a conversation with her and instinct tells him that she is not as feral as most Divergents are reported to be. She might even be one of the chosen ones called by the god Sitar to work in the Empire. Listening to an inner sense Alden frees her and takes her back to the Empire. Unfortunately since nothing is meant to be removed from the sacred forest by man, he is imprisoned and placed on death row. In order to save him, the Divergent is forced to take command of an army in order to conquer and annexe a nearby mining town. This leads to an epic battle and a test of loyalty and bonds.

This is simply an amazing book. The characters are well fleshed out and their personalities and emotions believable. As a reader you experience all their ups and downs with them and physically feel the ache of betrayal. Being the first book in the series it has a complex storyline of its own and is not merely a set up for the next book. From the first meeting of the Divergent to the climactic battle and ultimate betrayal, the book kept me enthralled.

A few editing mistakes don't detract from the story, and the violence, while quite graphic, is not gratuitous and is explained for its place in the story. A highly recommended book and I'll definitely be reaching for the next one in the series.

[AMAO · Rating 5 out of 5]

✍️✍🏼✍🏽

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divergent Chill reminds me a bit of Steven Brust's Khaavren Romances, only without the archaic language. Divergent Chill is only available as an e-book and is self published. Look for it on Amazon. It does have a few typos and the occasional odd word choice that a good fiction editor would clean up. If you can look past that, and you should, it's a fun read.

I'm impressed by the level of complexity of so many characters. Creating the back story must have been a lot of fun, and every time I thought I'd rounded the corner to the home stretch, some new detail would emerge that made me rethink the how I viewed a particular character.

Divergent Chill also avoided another pitfall of fantasy writing--creating heroes that are too powerful or too lucky to be believed. The book is filled with 3-dimensional characters whose flaws advance the story line in ways that are more satisfying than the deus ex machina plots that are the bread and butter of the genre. I also appreciate the effort that went into ratcheting up the obstacles so that each seems formidable at the time but when you think back, you don't wonder why the first obstacle was ever a problem given the what the character is suddenly capable in the end. Obviously the author is as weary of such lazy writing as I am.

Now, I'm curious to see if he can write a sequel as entertaining as his first installment. If so, the fantasy genre may have a new franchise.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest: I only picked this book up because I went to high school with the author and was curious to see how his writing was. That being said, the book was an interesting read with some well-crafted characters and engrossing scenarios. The world created easily piques the reader's interested, while at same time leaving room for further development and many questions thus far unanswered. While the first edition includes a number of typographical errors, they are not so present as to detract from the narrative. I'm told that around the release of the second volume in the series, a second edition of this book will be available; this leads me to hope that such errors will herein be emended. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in fantasy literature and am personally excited about the next volume. The price is very reasonable, so the risk is also low. Give it a try, if you like fantasy and independent authors. You probably won't be disappointed.

[duexau]

Neither good nor bad !