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Shaygan
an ancient door to a forgotten world.
Treacherous plots threaten to bring the world's dynasty of peace to its knees by wiping out the High Consulate's two sons and only heirs. Allek searches for the redemption of his father's name in a time when a rogue virus sweeps across Sicon. The mage, Layol, seeks revenge on a disease that took his sister's life.
At the same instant, Allek's brother, Symon, puts the finishing touches on a device that may seal their world's fate forever. He and his dark master, Gondar, prepare to activate a gate to a world that hasn't seen their kind since the war. Needless to say, the welcome wagon won't be waiting.
Allek and company follow them through where they make a horrifying discovery. The ancient powers of creation and destruction ready their pawns for the next move. Two worlds must resolve the bitter blood between them if either is to withstand extinction.
Treacherous plots threaten to bring the world's dynasty of peace to its knees by wiping out the High Consulate's two sons and only heirs. Allek searches for the redemption of his father's name in a time when a rogue virus sweeps across Sicon. The mage, Layol, seeks revenge on a disease that took his sister's life.
At the same instant, Allek's brother, Symon, puts the finishing touches on a device that may seal their world's fate forever. He and his dark master, Gondar, prepare to activate a gate to a world that hasn't seen their kind since the war. Needless to say, the welcome wagon won't be waiting.
Allek and company follow them through where they make a horrifying discovery. The ancient powers of creation and destruction ready their pawns for the next move. Two worlds must resolve the bitter blood between them if either is to withstand extinction.
380 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2012
About the author
Joshua Dyer
28 books8 followersJoshua Dyer writes speculative fiction, westerns, and horror in both novel form and short stories. His works have earned national and international recognition in competitions and have appeared in award-winning anthologies and journals.
As J. E. Dyer, he writes historical fiction, romance, and literary fiction works. His novels have won national awards and made the short list for Chanticleer’s Van Goethe Award for best historical fiction novel. His shorter works have appeared in various journals and magazines.
Dyer also works as a slush reader for Empire & Great Jones Press and as an associate acquisitions editor for After Dinner Conversations. He has read and judged for the League of Utah Writers, and the Romance Writers of America. He’s mentored numerous fellow writers via SFWA and privately.
As J. E. Dyer, he writes historical fiction, romance, and literary fiction works. His novels have won national awards and made the short list for Chanticleer’s Van Goethe Award for best historical fiction novel. His shorter works have appeared in various journals and magazines.
Dyer also works as a slush reader for Empire & Great Jones Press and as an associate acquisitions editor for After Dinner Conversations. He has read and judged for the League of Utah Writers, and the Romance Writers of America. He’s mentored numerous fellow writers via SFWA and privately.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 3, 2013
Shaygan by Joshua Dyer is the story of Allek, a headstrong young warrior, and the quest he shares with an older mage, Layol, to find a cure for a terrible virus that has affected both their lives. This soon becomes a quest to save the entire world—or worlds.
In Shaygan, Dyer presents what appears to be the fruit of extensive world-building. Not one, but two worlds fill his pages, worlds that may truly be called fantastical. Here magic and science, such as they are defined in this book, are equally present and valid. This poses the question for the reader, then, of what genre Shaygan belongs to. It is not science-fiction; it is not conventional magic-and-medieval fantasy; it is both and neither.
What Shaygan truly is, in the opinion of this reviewer, is a fantastical thriller. If the reader goes in expecting a conventional epic fantasy, he or she is likely to be disappointed—despite its length, Shaygan does not have the same scope or depth as The Lord of the Rings or A Song of Ice and Fire, and it does not present itself as trying to break new ground in character-building or the portrayal of relationships. What it does aim to do, however, and does fairly well, is to tell an adventure story in a world that we cannot at all call familiar, and on these grounds it succeeds.
Perhaps the chief criticism that I would level at Shaygan is that it was simultaneously both a touch too long and far too short. As a “fantastical thriller,” it dragged in a few places that could have been removed or shortened without affecting the story. As the story, however, that took care to let you know who its major characters were, it did not spend as much time as it might on the arc of the major characters: several stages of Allek’s journey from beginning to end of the book pass quickly, sidelined in favour of the action. The complaint here might be that Dyer has attempted, from the start of Shaygan to its end, to both tell a moving story and to keep the pace of his thriller moving.
Provided that the reader enters into the book expecting a fantastical thriller, he or she will not be disappointed. Shaygan does not make it hard for the reader to press on from page to page or chapter to chapter, and Dyer’s world does not fail to be an otherworldly fantasy.
THREE STARS
In Shaygan, Dyer presents what appears to be the fruit of extensive world-building. Not one, but two worlds fill his pages, worlds that may truly be called fantastical. Here magic and science, such as they are defined in this book, are equally present and valid. This poses the question for the reader, then, of what genre Shaygan belongs to. It is not science-fiction; it is not conventional magic-and-medieval fantasy; it is both and neither.
What Shaygan truly is, in the opinion of this reviewer, is a fantastical thriller. If the reader goes in expecting a conventional epic fantasy, he or she is likely to be disappointed—despite its length, Shaygan does not have the same scope or depth as The Lord of the Rings or A Song of Ice and Fire, and it does not present itself as trying to break new ground in character-building or the portrayal of relationships. What it does aim to do, however, and does fairly well, is to tell an adventure story in a world that we cannot at all call familiar, and on these grounds it succeeds.
Perhaps the chief criticism that I would level at Shaygan is that it was simultaneously both a touch too long and far too short. As a “fantastical thriller,” it dragged in a few places that could have been removed or shortened without affecting the story. As the story, however, that took care to let you know who its major characters were, it did not spend as much time as it might on the arc of the major characters: several stages of Allek’s journey from beginning to end of the book pass quickly, sidelined in favour of the action. The complaint here might be that Dyer has attempted, from the start of Shaygan to its end, to both tell a moving story and to keep the pace of his thriller moving.
Provided that the reader enters into the book expecting a fantastical thriller, he or she will not be disappointed. Shaygan does not make it hard for the reader to press on from page to page or chapter to chapter, and Dyer’s world does not fail to be an otherworldly fantasy.
THREE STARS
Displaying 1 of 1 review