Mortals & Deities - Book Two of the Genesis of Oblivion Saga

Genesis of Oblivion #2

by Maxwell Alexander Drake, Jo Wilkins, Lars Grant-West

Thrust into an Essence Node by what he thought were his benevolent teachers, Alant Cor has transcended the bonds of reality to become the first Mah’Sukai to walk the Plane of Talic’Nauth in thousands of years. Now, he must not only learn to deal with his new powers before they overwhelm and destroy him, he must also escape the wrath of those who hunt him.

Alant’s brother, Arderi Cor, has joined the ranks of the mysterious Tat’Sujen Order. He is elated with the newfound powers this secret order has awakened within him. Apprehension grips him, however, by the task they set before him – kill a newly discovered Mah’Sukai before this person gains mastery of their powers.

These two brothers find themselves on the opposite side of a forgotten war whose beginning is lost in time. One brother is bent on survival, while the other follows Tat’Sujen orders, thinking he must, to save all he holds dear. Both are set on a collision course with fate.

Unbeknownst to the brothers, a strange, gray-skinned girl named Elith also travels this fateful course. Raised from birth for one purpose – to capture a Mah’Sukai should one return to the Plane of Talic’Nauth. Elith’s master, known only as the Revered Father, desires this new Mah’Sukai to further his own gains. Yet, turmoil boils within her. Is this her true purpose? Is she really the only member of her race in this world of Humans? If so, why does she doubt everything she has been taught by the priests?

Klain, the beast, seeks his place as a free being in the world of Humans. It is a life he has never known. Yet, is he truly free? Or, is he just another pawn in a larger, more sinister game?

As the magical race of the Elmorr’Antiens reaches out to manipulate the other inhabitants of Talic’Nauth, an even greater power pulls their strings from the shadows. A force, forgotten and unknown to the inhabitants of the Plane, exerts its power to control all the players. How will this power shape the events that unfold as these hapless adventurers spiral toward an inevitable meeting?

Genres: Fantasy

366 pages, ebook

First published October 30, 2010

About the author

Maxwell Alexander Drake is an award-winning Science Fiction/Fantasy author, Graphic Novelist, and Playwright. He was also the Lead Fiction Writer and game story consultant for Sony’s massive online game EverQuest Next as well as writing for the Shadowrun game. He is best known for his fantasy series, The Genesis of Oblivion Saga. Drake teaches creative writing at writers’ conferences and fan conventions all around the world and is the author of the Drake’s Brutal Writing Advice series.

He is currently developing an animated TVMA show called Fiend Folly. Find out more about this show at www.FiendFolly.com.

For more, please visit www.MaxwellAlexanderDrake.com, or his writing training website www.DrakeU.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @MaxwellADrake, Facebook /MaxwellAlexanderDrake, or Instagram /MaxwellAlexanderDrake.

Reviews

[Ranting Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.rantingdragon.com/mortals-...


This review contains spoilers for the previous book in this series.

Mortals and Deities is the second book in the Genesis of Oblivion Saga by Maxwell Alexander Drake, and is the sequel to Farmers and Mercenaries, which was reviewed here. The sequel starts off right where Farmers and Mercenaries left us.

A multitude of viewpoints
Alant Cor finds himself near his old home with no clue of how he got there. His eyes glow red, and he doesn’t know what being thrust into the Essence Node by the Elmorians did to him. He only knows that he is the Mah’Sukai—a being of unimaginable power—and has no idea of where to find the answers to his many questions. When Alant encounters a woman who claims that he can find those answers in an ancient lost city, and after many failed attempts at gathering information from people he thought might have the answers, he clings to the only bit of hope he has left and follows her instructions.

Arderi Cor, Alant’s brother, is sent to the ancient citadel of Bin’Satsu to learn how to become a Tat’Sujen—a group of humans with enhanced abilities to manipulate the world around them. He is given the order to kill the new Mah’Sukai at any costs before the evil being has the chance to wreak havoc on the world. Assuming that the Mah’Sukai must be someone truly evil, Arderi accepts the order without question.

Elith was raised among priests her entire life to be the perfect assassin—deadly, silent, and devoid of emotion. The only purpose given to her in life has been to find the Mah’Sukai and bring him to the head of the priesthood, known simply as the Revered Father. Elith is not the cold-blooded killer she was trained to be, however, and the feelings of sadness and guilt she experiences makes her question everything she knows. Complicated by her feelings of remorse and plagued by sudden bouts of unexplained memory loss, she sets upon her journey to find and capture the Mah’Sukai.

Klain is living with his employer, Rohann, as a bodyguard for Rohann’s son, Charver. When Rohann becomes fanatical about a sudden journey to a long-lost city filled with unimaginable treasure, Klain begins to worry. Ever dutiful, Klain does as he is bidden, and follows Rohann and Charver on the expedition despite his fears for the sanity of his employer.

In Elmoreth, Sarshia, Princess to the Elmorian people, uncovers a plot concerning the human Initiates of their school. When she finds that her brother is the mastermind of this sinister plot, she has no idea how she will proceed with this new-found knowledge.

Characters that grew on me
In the first novel, I had a problem relating to the characters. They were all interesting, but I never felt emotionally invested. This time around, my feelings have changed. The feeling of shock and disbelief when a character does something unspeakable, those “I seriously can’t believe that just happened!” moments, were there for me in this installment. I cared about the characters, and they are developing well in the Genesis of Oblivion series.

A rushed plot
The first novel, Farmers and Mercenaries, did not feel rushed. In fact, I liked it because it flowed so naturally, instead of having all of the characters do silly things that they normally wouldn’t do just to make the plot more interesting. Unfortunately for the reader, that’s exactly what this book did. There were a few cheap thrills that didn’t really serve any sort of purpose at all—they were just little encounters that one might expect to find in a D&D campaign. “Seven insect-like creatures attack your camp, what do you do?”—and then never spare them a thought again. These devices were inserted to make the plot a bit more interesting, but only served to cheapen it.

Redundant alternating viewpoints
A majority of the characters in this novel meet up together trying to explore this lost city where all their answers lie. As mentioned, this novel is told with alternating viewpoints, which normally works very well when they’re separate, and perhaps briefly while they’re together. After a while, though, it becomes redundant, especially near the end of the book. I had the exact same scene laid out for me by four different characters, using almost the exact same language. After the second character, I was like, “Yep, already heard this. Let’s move on.” And the third: “… yes, I’m aware of your surroundings. I don’t need to hear about it.” And the fourth: “You’re in a cave, alright? There’s this glowing blue chick in an egg. That’s all you need to know.” It gets pretty tiring, especially because the way things are described is too similar, and nothing new or interesting is added with the new viewpoints.

A fantastic conclusion
The way that this novel ends blew me away. It confirmed the suspicions that I had early on in the novel, yet the reveal isn’t blatantly obvious—and there are quite a few things that shocked me. I became emotionally invested in the characters and cared about their actions. A certain pivotal scene for a character made me gasp and quickly re-read to make sure what I saw was true, thinking, “What the hell just happened?” But it happened, and the character acted accordingly in a feat of seamless storytelling. The ending is set up perfectly to flow right into the third installment.

A great installment in the series
Mortals and Deities further explores the world that was revealed to us in Farmers and Mercenaries. We see more of the inner workings of the Elmorians, a fantastic alien-like race of people who are like gods in their ability to manipulate the Essence when compared to mere humans. More cultures are explored, new characters added, and it’s a spectacular read overall.

Why should you read this book?
This is a magnificent addition to the Genesis of Oblivion series, and one that begs for additional sequels. The richly developed world leaves me wanting more, just as the first novel did. I can’t wait to return to Talic’Nauth! I hope that Drake will explain the events that took place in the conclusion of Mortals and Deities and dive right into the new challenges that the characters face in the third novel. Overall, this was an incredible, captivating read.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review contains spoilers for the previous book in this series.

Mortals and Deities is the second book in the Genesis of Oblivion Saga by Maxwell Alexander Drake, and is the sequel to Farmers and Mercenaries, which was reviewed here. The sequel starts off right where Farmers and Mercenaries left us.

A multitude of viewpoints
Alant Cor finds himself near his old home with no clue of how he got there. His eyes glow red, and he doesn’t know what being thrust into the Essence Node by the Elmorians did to him. He only knows that he is the Mah’Sukai—a being of unimaginable power—and has no idea of where to find the answers to his many questions. When Alant encounters a woman who claims that he can find those answers in an ancient lost city, and after many failed attempts at gathering information from people he thought might have the answers, he clings to the only bit of hope he has left and follows her instructions.

Arderi Cor, Alant’s brother, is sent to the ancient citadel of Bin’Satsu to learn how to become a Tat’Sujen—a group of humans with enhanced abilities to manipulate the world around them. He is given the order to kill the new Mah’Sukai at any costs before the evil being has the chance to wreak havoc on the world. Assuming that the Mah’Sukai must be someone truly evil, Arderi accepts the order without question.

Elith was raised among priests her entire life to be the perfect assassin—deadly, silent, and devoid of emotion. The only purpose given to her in life has been to find the Mah’Sukai and bring him to the head of the priesthood, known simply as the Revered Father. Elith is not the cold-blooded killer she was trained to be, however, and the feelings of sadness and guilt she experiences makes her question everything she knows. Complicated by her feelings of remorse and plagued by sudden bouts of unexplained memory loss, she sets upon her journey to find and capture the Mah’Sukai.

Klain is living with his employer, Rohann, as a bodyguard for Rohann’s son, Charver. When Rohann becomes fanatical about a sudden journey to a long-lost city filled with unimaginable treasure, Klain begins to worry. Ever dutiful, Klain does as he is bidden, and follows Rohann and Charver on the expedition despite his fears for the sanity of his employer.

In Elmoreth, Sarshia, Princess to the Elmorian people, uncovers a plot concerning the human Initiates of their school. When she finds that her brother is the mastermind of this sinister plot, she has no idea how she will proceed with this new-found knowledge.

Characters that grew on me
In the first novel, I had a problem relating to the characters. They were all interesting, but I never felt emotionally invested. This time around, my feelings have changed. The feeling of shock and disbelief when a character does something unspeakable, those “I seriously can’t believe that just happened!” moments, were there for me in this installment. I cared about the characters, and they are developing well in the Genesis of Oblivion series.

A rushed plot
The first novel, Farmers and Mercenaries, did not feel rushed. In fact, I liked it because it flowed so naturally, instead of having all of the characters do silly things that they normally wouldn’t do just to make the plot more interesting. Unfortunately for the reader, that’s exactly what this book did. There were a few cheap thrills that didn’t really serve any sort of purpose at all—they were just little encounters that one might expect to find in a D&D campaign. “Seven insect-like creatures attack your camp, what do you do?”—and then never spare them a thought again. These devices were inserted to make the plot a bit more interesting, but only served to cheapen it.

Redundant alternating viewpoints
A majority of the characters in this novel meet up together trying to explore this lost city where all their answers lie. As mentioned, this novel is told with alternating viewpoints, which normally works very well when they’re separate, and perhaps briefly while they’re together. After a while, though, it becomes redundant, especially near the end of the book. I had the exact same scene laid out for me by four different characters, using almost the exact same language. After the second character, I was like, “Yep, already heard this. Let’s move on.” And the third: “… yes, I’m aware of your surroundings. I don’t need to hear about it.” And the fourth: “You’re in a cave, alright? There’s this glowing blue chick in an egg. That’s all you need to know.” It gets pretty tiring, especially because the way things are described is too similar, and nothing new or interesting is added with the new viewpoints.

A fantastic conclusion
The way that this novel ends blew me away. It confirmed the suspicions that I had early on in the novel, yet the reveal isn’t blatantly obvious—and there are quite a few things that shocked me. I became emotionally invested in the characters and cared about their actions. A certain pivotal scene for a character made me gasp and quickly re-read to make sure what I saw was true, thinking, “What the hell just happened?” But it happened, and the character acted accordingly in a feat of seamless storytelling. The ending is set up perfectly to flow right into the third installment.

A great installment in the series
Mortals and Deities further explores the world that was revealed to us in Farmers and Mercenaries. We see more of the inner workings of the Elmorians, a fantastic alien-like race of people who are like gods in their ability to manipulate the Essence when compared to mere humans. More cultures are explored, new characters added, and it’s a spectacular read overall.

Why should you read this book?
This is a magnificent addition to the Genesis of Oblivion series, and one that begs for additional sequels. The richly developed world leaves me wanting more, just as the first novel did. I can’t wait to return to Talic’Nauth! I hope that Drake will explain the events that took place in the conclusion of Mortals and Deities and dive right into the new challenges that the characters face in the third novel. Overall, this was an incredible, captivating read.

[Julie Capell · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this self-published author’s second book of a trilogy, the characters and events of the first book (Farmers & Merchants) move forward in unexpected and interesting ways. The main characters, which in a typical fantasy novel would join together to form a fellowship (all bow to Tolkien), instead remain separated for about the first half of the book. The lion-man, who has a complex backstory involving separation from the rest of his people and slavery, in this book gets his own story arc in which he slowly bonds with a new human benefactor, his son, and the man’s retinue. The other main characters meet early on in the novel, but are wary of one another. Even the two brothers have reasons to distrust each other, creating a nice tension and moving the story forward. I liked that these characters did not become instant best friends—a common failing in many fantasy novels.

Speaking of common fantasies, a few words about the main female character. First of all, I appreciated that the author finally added a major female character in this volume. That she is the epitome of every fanboy’s dreams—she has a super-sexy body AND can fight like a Ninja—would make her scarcely more than window dressing if not for her mysteriously blank memory. How she learns about her own history becomes a major plot point that I found compelling and that kept me interested throughout the book. She is one reason I upped my review from three stars for the previous novel in the series to four stars for this installment.

As in Farmers & Merchants, the world building in this novel is quite good. The locations are varied and well-described, as are the different cultures to which we are gradually introduced. What really struck me as exceptional in this second novel, and what also inspired me to give it four stars, were the descriptions of the way that magic works in this world. Don’t hate me for saying it, but I think the magic in Harry Potter is the weakest part. There is simply no explanation of how the magic in Harry Potter works, beyond the concept that you need a wand and then you memorize some pseudo-Latin words. Newer (and I would say better authors) such as Patrick Rothfuss and Brandon Sanderson, spend a lot of time on the mechanism of the magic in their books. A complex, coherent system of magic adds a lot to the verisimilitude of their novels, making the whole enterprise more complex, interesting, and believable. Drake has done the same in this series, crafting not one but two—and possibly more—different systems of magic. And to his credit, he does not force the reader to endure endless pages of exposition explaining these systems. Instead, he allows the reader to discover them right along with the characters, who are themselves discovering and experimenting with their powers as the story progresses.

I will definitely be reading the third book in this series.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book through a Firstreads giveaway at Goodreads.

I read a lot of fantasy and Mr. Drake definitely has talent. He creates an interesting, deep world with a great magic system. I especially liked the characters of Elith and Arderi and I am looking forward to reading more of their adventures.

A couple of things hold this book back from being a standout in the genre. The book falls prey to several things that particularly annoy me about fantasy literature. I dislike when authors feel the need to add words to the language, in this case "nix", for no good reason and when every other word or name has to have an apostrophe in it. I also thought that several of the key moments in this book, especially the forming of the main group, were a little rushed.

I would recommend this book for fantasy lovers and I look forward to more books from Mr. Drake.

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely amazing read. It picks up right where Farmers and Mercenaries left off. With the characters introduced in the first book, the second jumps right into the action. The characters remain vibrant and contiue to grow. There are a number of action scenes that draw you in, wanting more. A new character is added, and two from the first book now get chapters denoted to them.

[J.T. Hartke · Rating 5 out of 5]

So Drake brought much more in this one. The story broadens, and several big secrets are revealed, while even bigger are introduced. Once the quest group gathered, the action spins you away. The ending is a must read.

[shinfu]

This looks like it will be a great book to read.

[Landy]

I would like to read/review this book.

[Jenae Rencher]

I just won this book off of first reads and am excited to get a hold of it.

[Daniel Hildreth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Maxwell made the characters come to life. Loved it!

[Mitch goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to have this one liked the first one so much. this one was as good as the first. Can't wait for the next.

[Stephanie Cress · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than the first one! I couldn't put it down.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am enjoying this story immensely and am looking forward to the release of book #3; hopefully soon! I loved this book!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure about the way this one ended, but it was still a fun read and kept my attention.

[Bryan Doran · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story continues and gets better and better. Can't wait to read the third.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. A must read.