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Char & Ash
The Mystic Realms keep a tenuous peace after centuries of war. Forged into the Realms’ only Judge, demi-god Caleb Mauthisen is both peace maker and executioner of the Mystic Truce. Warrior-priest of preventing collateral damage amongst the Humans’ neutral space of Midgard. When Caleb is called to the charred remains of a scorched Sacred Grove outside Dover, rumours reignite tensions as Ares warns of war’s whisper. High Queen Selyka is hiding something in the roots and petals of her Fae Courts, and it smells of rot and ash.
Someone is burning the Groves planted from the bodies of fallen soldiers, eliminating their chance to rise again as sentient plants: Fae. Blasphemy and act of war in a single matchstick. Is the only Fae-cursed Mystic War Veteran left next in the line of fire? Tuija Draganova, immortal outcast bogatyr fights off the curse consuming her, and stands by Caleb’s side. Lives intertwined by love and shared combat.
Caught between the Mystic Truce, Ares’ demands for answers and concern for his cursed lover’s safety, Caleb descends into a roiling adventure to find the perpetrators and staunch the flow before the Mystic Realms lose faith in him and in peace. Little does he know the perpetrator Stana stole something far more precious than belief in gods and heroes.
Char & Ash is an emotional and captivating mythpunk / godpunk supernatural fantasy and the first novel in the mythic Judge of Mystics Saga.
Someone is burning the Groves planted from the bodies of fallen soldiers, eliminating their chance to rise again as sentient plants: Fae. Blasphemy and act of war in a single matchstick. Is the only Fae-cursed Mystic War Veteran left next in the line of fire? Tuija Draganova, immortal outcast bogatyr fights off the curse consuming her, and stands by Caleb’s side. Lives intertwined by love and shared combat.
Caught between the Mystic Truce, Ares’ demands for answers and concern for his cursed lover’s safety, Caleb descends into a roiling adventure to find the perpetrators and staunch the flow before the Mystic Realms lose faith in him and in peace. Little does he know the perpetrator Stana stole something far more precious than belief in gods and heroes.
Char & Ash is an emotional and captivating mythpunk / godpunk supernatural fantasy and the first novel in the mythic Judge of Mystics Saga.
224 pages, Paperback
Published July 31, 2023
12 people want to read
About the author
Sapha Burnell
11 books38 followers“Sapha is like a young Wolfgang Pauli, in every laboratory he went, there was a little explosion.”
— David Roomy
Cyberpunk + Mythpunk converge in my emotive works dubbed ‘a breathtakingly beautiful discovery’ (Kevin Hogan on Usurper Kings) and ‘an insane diabolical rollercoaster’ (RL Arenz III on NEON Lieben) and had one reviewer say they "didn't know a work of science fiction could be so beautiful". A true -punk, I teethed on images of the Berlin Wall falling down, challenge norms like bricks under sledgehammers and intertwine queerness and faith to envision a world on the brink of dystopia we can usurp and heal.
Steeped in divergent cultures, I spent years in humanitarian work, before dedicating my life to writing, editing and publishing. A member of The Writers Union of Canada, I lead weekly writing and critique streams on Twitch and across social media as usurperkings.
My two main writing series are the cyberpunk Lieben Cycle, with #1 book NEON Lieben and the god/mythpunk series Judge of Mystics Saga, starting off with Char & Ash and Son of Abel.
— David Roomy
Cyberpunk + Mythpunk converge in my emotive works dubbed ‘a breathtakingly beautiful discovery’ (Kevin Hogan on Usurper Kings) and ‘an insane diabolical rollercoaster’ (RL Arenz III on NEON Lieben) and had one reviewer say they "didn't know a work of science fiction could be so beautiful". A true -punk, I teethed on images of the Berlin Wall falling down, challenge norms like bricks under sledgehammers and intertwine queerness and faith to envision a world on the brink of dystopia we can usurp and heal.
Steeped in divergent cultures, I spent years in humanitarian work, before dedicating my life to writing, editing and publishing. A member of The Writers Union of Canada, I lead weekly writing and critique streams on Twitch and across social media as usurperkings.
My two main writing series are the cyberpunk Lieben Cycle, with #1 book NEON Lieben and the god/mythpunk series Judge of Mystics Saga, starting off with Char & Ash and Son of Abel.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 29, 2023
Wanna laugh at Zeus? This is the book for you.
With the appearance of Zeus in a diaper and Icarus squirming at the sight of the ocean, the mood of this book is balanced perfectly between the beautiful worldbuilding of the Judge of Mystics saga and the grim story of Judge Caleb Mauthisen within it.
Poetic descriptions, intriguing characters and a world bursting at the seams with questions, Char and Ash is a captivating first step into the Judge of Mystics world and I cannot wait for future instalments… and for poor Caleb to finally get some peace. (PLEASE GIVE THIS MAN SOME PEACE.)
The story focuses on the maintenance of a “Mystic Truce” which seeks to keep the human world of Midgard a neutral place after many centuries of mystic meddling in human affairs. With various mythologies from across the world represented, the fusion of modern and mythology is one I can’t wait to read more about. (Again see Zeus walking around in a diaper and tell me that isn’t the sort of modern invention he needs.)
But in all seriousness, the adaptation of the Hellian troops is something I’m so looking forward to reading more about in the next instalment. Never mind, the truce meetings between some of the largest characters in mythology. (Like Horus, Hera, Makosh and more all having business meetings together??? Hello??? These dynamics are wild!) And the ‘lil fae dude running a pub for all the coolest people around whilst a gjenganger mans the bar with all their incorporeal arms.
Ending in tragedy (I am not emotionally recovered), it’s clear that Char and Ash is setting up for one hell of a round two against those who disrupt the peace of the truce. With soft moments balancing out the angst, the attention to detail in character journeys is very satisfying and I cannot wait to see what happens by the end of this series.
With the appearance of Zeus in a diaper and Icarus squirming at the sight of the ocean, the mood of this book is balanced perfectly between the beautiful worldbuilding of the Judge of Mystics saga and the grim story of Judge Caleb Mauthisen within it.
Poetic descriptions, intriguing characters and a world bursting at the seams with questions, Char and Ash is a captivating first step into the Judge of Mystics world and I cannot wait for future instalments… and for poor Caleb to finally get some peace. (PLEASE GIVE THIS MAN SOME PEACE.)
The story focuses on the maintenance of a “Mystic Truce” which seeks to keep the human world of Midgard a neutral place after many centuries of mystic meddling in human affairs. With various mythologies from across the world represented, the fusion of modern and mythology is one I can’t wait to read more about. (Again see Zeus walking around in a diaper and tell me that isn’t the sort of modern invention he needs.)
But in all seriousness, the adaptation of the Hellian troops is something I’m so looking forward to reading more about in the next instalment. Never mind, the truce meetings between some of the largest characters in mythology. (Like Horus, Hera, Makosh and more all having business meetings together??? Hello??? These dynamics are wild!) And the ‘lil fae dude running a pub for all the coolest people around whilst a gjenganger mans the bar with all their incorporeal arms.
Ending in tragedy (I am not emotionally recovered), it’s clear that Char and Ash is setting up for one hell of a round two against those who disrupt the peace of the truce. With soft moments balancing out the angst, the attention to detail in character journeys is very satisfying and I cannot wait to see what happens by the end of this series.
Displaying 1 of 1 review