Wracked

The Saga of Ukumog #1

by Louis Puster III, Morgan A. McLaughlin McFarland (Editor)

Wrack awakes in a shallow, mossy grave with no memory of how he got there or who he is. Shards of his former life return in brief flashes of color, as Wrack traverses a bleak world, where seemingly immortal creatures with godlike power—the Doomed—wage war on each other and the living alike. A power awakens within him, and with it, a dark hunger. 





Wrack and his unexpected companions—the beautiful warrior Brin and clever Avar—each seek something different: answers, vengeance, stories. Their disparate goals are more entwined than they ever imagined, and the three soon find their fates may be inextricably bound through prophecy.

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Louis Puster III has been making stuff up to entertain others since he was able to talk. His siblings were constantly entertained or tormented by the web of fanciful fiction that he was unable to stop coming out of his soul.

One day in 2006 a story hit young Louis like a bolt of invisible lightning. That story turned into a novel which became the first book in The Saga of Ukumog.

Wracked is that first novel. At its heart, The Saga of Ukumog is a dark tale about an undead man with a forgotten past, a woman seeking revenge, and a sword with a taste for the souls of dark things.

Currently, Louis resides in the Greater Atlanta Area where he rails against the nature of humanity one keystroke at a time.

Reviews

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wracked is not a book for someone looking for a lighthearted fantasy. From the first page you are in a world of darkness, where the dead, or undead, walk and human kind has either bowed under their oppression, or struggles to stay alive in a cursed world. Wrack wakes with no memory of who he is, save for flashes of a violent past and is left to figure out what he wants to make of his new "beginning". Standing at a crossroads he can choose whether to return to his old self, a man that seems to have been surrounded by violence, or to change his fate, at least in part, and try to reclaim the world that he may have had a part in destroying.

This book is darker than my usual read, but I still greatly enjoyed it. The reason it doesn't get a 5 (at least not yet) is two fold, first, I don't give out 5 stars unless I have read the book repeatedly, and second... it is quite bloody. I know that the gore is an important component to setting the scene for the world, but... I've never been a huge blood person.

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I read (and reviewed) the original version of this book and may I say I enjoyed it the first time, but even more so the second time. It has been nearly two years since I read the first edition of wracked and while I enjoyed the first edition book I did feel the story was somewhat confusing in parts. I did not feel that so much with this edition (there is some confusion, but I felt like it was appropriate for a story where the protagonist is also confused). Whether that is because the new version has been cleaned up in the editing and lengthening, or because I already had the story in my head, it was much clearer and more enjoyable this edition. I have already started reading the next book Desecrated: The Saga of Ukumog (Volume 2) and am LOVING it!

[Stephen Pellicer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a friend so there may be some bias. This is a fantasy novel that really likes to step out a bit and reinvent some tropes while still maintaining the allure of classic fantasy. Terribly mysterious and has a good balance of resolving items and leaving many open ends. The heroes are nice and muddled especially the protagonist. This stems not only from his confusion on his origin, but also in his actions. The supporting cast are very archetypical with the most interesting role reserved for the protagonist. I sometimes have some problems with first person narratives and this book was no exception. I think this is more personal preference as it was used to great effect for conveying the confusion or the protagonists. That being said, while I aesthetically enjoyed the confusion of the flashing to past or prophetic scenes, intellectually I had some trouble following at times. This would perhaps be alleviated by a more mindful reading. I look forward to the next book. Things I hope for are perhaps a more rich supporting cast as well as a more accessible use of some of the dramatic elements such as flashes and the first person voice. I also look forward to a bit more world building and continued development of the mythology. One additional minor criticism is the use of invented words for their language (mainly curses). At times it seemed a little tacked on (find and replace of modern cursing) rather than an invention of language.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall the characters were interesting and the storyline kept me reading until the end of the book. It seemed like the book was a series of chapters cut out of a larger book. The first page started out as if it was in the middle of the story, and it didn't really have an ending, there just seemed to be nothing else written down.

The author contacted me, and indicated that this book was the first episode in a series. I look forward to reading future books!

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excursions into the world of fantasy novels are chancy, at best. There are many tropes to that would be simple to follow, easy outs to take in both a story and literary sense, and the urge to either create a world that sits just barely on the surface, or one that is so broodingly dark and deep as to be almost incomprehensible.

Puster tackles this with a relish that makes it clear he both knows and loves his subject matter. The manner in which the world building occurs is very similar to that of novels of the Black Company. This is something typical of many first person works. It can be off-putting for those not used to it, but gripping for those that are. From the beginning, you know what you are getting yourself into. A dark world of blood, disorientation, and unreliable narration. It's a certain style that either pops and grips the reader, or it misses. Puster's tale is one that relies on this style heavily, using the staccato dialogue and narration to underscore these points.

The characters really drive the tale, however. Avar and Brin are excellent foils to that of Wrack. You can almost feel the squalid nature of world as you read the heavily characterized dialogue of those that Wrack encounters. It's a dark and gritty world that leaves you a little confused and wanting more. Isn't that all an author of a book like this could ask for?

[Jenna Whittaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beginning of Wracked drew me in immediately, and I was fascinated by this story until the end! The writing is fantastic; compelling characters with their own unique voices, descriptions that made me feel like I was really there, and a plot that kept me questioning until the end.
The action scenes are interspersed with calmer scenes, which is very good pacing. The descriptions are just wonderful, and the way that the author shows the environment and the character’s thoughts and feelings so vividly in a first-person POV, without being completely introspective and boring, is very well done!
The story was excellently written and paced, and I especially felt for the main character. Louis Puster does a risky move and not only writes this story in first person, but the main character is unnamed and unaware of who they are for a great deal of the beginning of this story. This could irritate or confuse, if not done right, but the scenes were so action-packed that the mystery only added to my enjoyment of this novel.
I highly recommend Wracked, and I’m definitely going to be checking out the other books in this series!

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very well written book. It's dark, and I instantly felt drawn into the world, but without the multi-page descriptions of every scene or item. The author does a brilliant job of conveying a scene efficiently and vividly.

The story feels epic, and while I've ready read the second book, I'm (less than) patiently awaiting the third book in the series. It's that good. I highly recommend taking some time to at least read through the first book. I feel pretty confident in recommending it as I'm sure you'll grab the second one as soon as you put the first one down.

I could say a lot more nice things about he story, but not without spoilers.

[Ialexandrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wracked moved very smoothly while I read it, and was descriptive in painting a picture. It also showed the feelings and personalities of the characters in a personal way.

[Johnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got Wracked, Desecrated, Shadow of the Pyramid, and Flayed at Anachrocon 2016 from the author's table. I enjoyed Wracked, but the flash backs were a little hard to understand. Since it is the first book in the series it should make more sense as I read each subsequent book.

[Brandon Baggett · Rating 1 out of 5]

There have been many great dark fantasy novels that have come to light in the past few years. This is not one of them. The key thing that all of the notable have is the ability to summon emotion- love, fear, hate, anger- and this one fell considerably short of any of those. This book lacks the very essence that makes bound pages into a work of art.
After analyzing this book for far more time than I should have, I have narrowed it down to three key reasons that this book is not worth the time or energy of any reader. The first, and biggest, is that the author lacks the ability to illustrate a decent dialogue. He writes in the form of a script with little hint of the expression or emotion of the character. At times, because of the number of those conversing, it is difficult to see who is saying what due to the lack of proper annotation.
Reason two is how the author lacks the description for the passage of time. It was hard to follow one minute to the next because the author assumed that the reader knew hours passed from one sentence to the other. He fails to note the passage of time in many instances leaving those that scan the text to try and figure it out on their own.
The third is more of a personal pet peeve than anything else. One of the things that I loved about Battle Star Galactica and Firefly was their way to tactfully replace cuss words to create a culture different from our own while still expressing the full emotions that comes with using such words. Puster's words of choice are far from the mark. They are used with such frequency that it provides more of an annoyance than anything else. Not to mention the words chosen I could only see being used by a brutish tribe and not the civilized world the he is trying to create.
I have already received the complaint that Puster did not have the resources of a fully staffed editing team thus making my complaints are "invalid." I would like to mention that not once did I highlight the many grammatical errors or proper sentence structure as a reason for this novel being poor. All of the things that have been mentioned are due to the inability of the author and the amount of time he did not put into writing this. There is a reason this book is self published, and the books screams volumes to explain that.

[Elizabeth Ehlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to sort things out when you wake up with a mouth full of dirt, and quickly ascertain it’s from your own grave. Fortunately someone fills him in on his name, but why is Wrack here, exactly, and more importantly, who is he? How did he come by the strange powers he has, and will he ever be sure if he is a good guy or a bad guy?

Wracked is the first in the Saga of Ukumog and leaves you with far more questions than answers - which is excellent for setting up a sequel, obviously. It is a dark fantasy with characters who both are on a quest and finding their own talents, set in a somewhat ambiguous political climate where dark lords are constantly fighting each other. I really appreciated that the main character is not your typical “knight in shining armor” hero type, but clearly has his own history and back issues that point to some pretty dark deeds he seems to be escaping. While I found the beginning writing to be a bit clunky, particularly with incorporation of flashbacks that didn’t provide a whole lot of inspiration, it really picked up towards the middle and end to where I was reading and didn’t want to put it down. Hopefully that pace and trend continues in the sequel.