Everlost

by Timothy Harmon

With his weapons drawn and ready, Terstin reached the center of camp to witness the horrors of what he could have never imagined to actually happen. "How could it have come to this so quickly?" he wondered. Running as fast as they can, two brothers look behind themselves while desperately panting for air, fearful of the unknown beasts lurking behind. Had they lost them already or were they still being hunted? Meanwhile in a quiet corner of a nearly deserted abbey, a monk explores the vast reaches of his mind, attempting to achieve the ultimate state of tranquility, bent on the theory that he can control the physical world with a disciplined mind. Caught between the expectations that their fathers hold for them and the bleak and uncertain futures that are before them, these three young men will struggle with the internal battle between good versus evil, which each of us face in our own bodies and minds. In the vast world of Everlost: Lights in the Dark, deception, uncertainty, and perseverance lead a host of highly unusual and interesting figures who will fight both their mental and physical demons in an attempt to discover who they truly are and what their purpose in this world really might be.

276 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2013

Reviews

[Snood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll fully admit I bought this book expecting it to be awful. It was $0.99 at a used book/game store and I thought the cover art looked really corny and unprofessional.

Normally, an independently published book has a great story idea but falls apart due to poor writing and world-building, but this actually has the opposite issue. Harmon is a high school history teacher, not Tolkien, so his world is a bit sparse in detail but serves the purpose of the story perfectly fine. His writing falls into "beige prose" a lot of the time, but there are very few grammatical errors or glaring writing issues. The problem with the novel is that it's all setup for a grand adventure that never comes. It feels like a really long opening cutscene or the backstory for a D&D party. There is still action, but it was clearly written as the first book in a series that as far as I can tell never continued.

This brings us to the biggest flaw with the book: the publisher. Tate Publishing was a "Christian" vanity publisher that collapsed four years ago due to being forced to pay out $5 million in lawsuits by Xerox, Lighting Source LLC, and a number of disgruntled customers. The founders were arrested for embezzlement, racketeering, and extortion as well. It's hard not to understand why an author chose not to continue his hobby when THAT was his first experience in the publishing world.