Serpentus: A Relics of War Novel

The Relics of War

by A.J. Calvin

Dispatched to Stone Hill to oversee the city's defenses among nebulous rumors of the Shadow Council's threat, Owen Greenwaters must rely on the city's guard and its natural defenses to protect the citizens.

But when an army of mythical hooded ones bolstered by a sea serpent and the Soulless arrive in the wake of a terrible storm, he knows there is little he can do beyond hope the walls hold - and pray to the gods he and Stone Hill's people will survive.

They are outnumbered, outmatched, and without magical support. Owen is the only knight present in the city. They will be overrun.

The Soulless are merciless and rarely take prisoners, but Owen and the survivors of Stone Hill are exceptions...
And some fates are worse than death.

Serpentus is a standalone novel set in The Relics of War universe.

Genres: Fantasy

268 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2024

About the author

A.J. Calvin is a science fiction/fantasy novelist from Loveland, Colorado known best for The Caein Legacy series and The Relics of War series. By day, she works as a microbiologist, but in her free time she writes. She lives with her husband, a turtle, and a salt water aquarium.

When she is not working or writing, she enjoys scuba diving, hiking, and playing video games.

Be sure to follow A.J. on BookBub for new release alerts and more! https://www.bookbub.com/authors/a-j-c...

For more information on the author and news about her writing, please visit her website at www.ajcalvin.net.

Reviews

[C.B. Lansdell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Serpentus is a singularly unique knight’s tale. It could have followed familiar story paths: a small band of underdogs facing up against a highly organised enemy force, or captives plotting a prison break. It ends up being neither of those things – yet more than either of them.

Our knight, Owen Greenwaters, is something of a loner. He’s dutiful and brave, but he likes to maintain some distance between himself and the people he serves. Those he cares about seldom remain in his life for long. He is not of noble birth and, after fighting to earn the title of “knight” in his youth, he finds he still doesn’t belong among his peers as an adult.

At the start of Serpentus, Owen is stationed at Stone Hill and facing his impending doom. A massive army with powers he can’t comprehend, is bearing down on the small town. Owen is left to defend the place with few skilled fighters and no magic users to assist him.

Mild spoilers from the first half of the book will follow. I’ll leave out the bigger surprises, which will be known only to readers who have experience with Calvin’s Relics of War series.

Owen survives the early conflict at Stone Hill. Injured and at the mercy of the Murkor, a subterranean people who are forced to meet the demands of their own oppressors, he is a captive for much of this story. His sense of helplessness, rage, and his determination to survive are felt in equal measure. Owen certainly attempts to plot an escape, but the difficulty of this task is depicted in a realistic way. His captors do not make obvious blunders for his convenience. The Murkor are competent and driven in their own way, and it is in their interests to control their captives. I appreciated that Owen wasn’t given easy fixes, but as a reader, I had to exercise patience right along with him.

There are small freedoms and moments of humour in this part of the book. I particularly liked Owen’s dynamic with the alchemist, A’jana, who he is tasked with assisting while he heals. She teases him and teaches him the Murkor language, while taking care not to tell him how to navigate the tunnels. Cultural exchanges are among my favourite things to witness in fantasy.

Another highlight is Tessamir, a mischievous barkeeper-turned-fellow-prisoner who really tests Owen’s resolve to not allow anyone close. His experiences in captivity begin to change him in ways he couldn’t have anticipated. And the changes only intensify as the book progresses.

In spite of the glimmers of hope, this is still war story. A story about unchecked power and the victims of conquest. Owen and Tess endure a particularly difficult period. At times, it brings them (and the reader) close to breaking point. But if you make it through to the other side, I promise you'll be happy you stuck it out through all the trauma.

Owen has few friends besides Tess, but it is a beautiful thing to see him come into his own when a varied group of people (many untrained in combat) start turning to him for guidance. There was a really poignant scene between him and a minor character named Carrelin, towards the end of the book. Something about it struck a chord with me. It showcases Owen’s growth as a leader, and as someone who can handle emotional messiness. It’s also a sign of him overcoming the resentment he used to harbour for the nobility.

Content warnings: physical violence, beheadings, cursing, body horror, overriding a person’s free will, suicidal ideation.

If you find it daunting to start a whole series, Serpentus is a compelling introduction to the Relics of War world (as long as you don’t mind it giving away the ending of that war).
All in all, I found this to be a story that is in equal parts devastating and heartwarming. It’ll take you where other fantasy books won’t go.

[Nancy Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish to thank the author for gifting me an autographed(!) paperback copy at worldcon in exchange for an honest review.

I entered this book with zero idea what it was about outside of the forewarning there are some worldbuilding aspects seen in the grimdark genre. Which is a genre I don't enjoy reading unless there are a long winding series of caveats such as no sexual violence scenes against women and a protagonist that while perhaps imperfect, strives to become a better person and is generally likeable.

And this book despite the gripping scenes occuring as the story progresses passes my stringent grim standards with flying colors. If readers are a bit hesitant, some aspects of this book are a bit around the same grim level as Chasing Graves by Ben Galley. A key difference here is the protagonist in this book is an honored knight with an exemplary, albeit solitary military career.

Owen's latest assignment was supposed to be stressful due to the lack of decent wizard backup. An annoying task without being too overboard. He was tasked with assisting defending a small city far away from Balostia's capital. Unfortunately, the captain in charge is an inept drunkard and the scant redeemable soldiers are inexperienced.

When the neighboring city falls to a siege by mysterious cloaked people with blue skin called the Mukor, Owen's feeble attempts to safeguard Stone Hill ultimately fail. Sometimes, he questions whether dying would be preferrable to the ordeal that awaits him as a prisoner of war...

I wish to avoid spoiling the story in the hopes readers discover things for themselves. However, I will say Owen tries his earnest to remain positive amid a difficult situation as a political prisoner living among strange people that are surprisingly humanlike and amicable. I suspected early on this book would carry a romance ladden direction, albeit I missed the mark on who would end up carrying the weight of Owen's restrained affections. Sorry, I won't spoil who, although I would not have minded if a love triangle had otherwise formed. Readers that like stories where love is forged under traumatizing situations will enjoy this book very much.

As a matter of fact, even when it was early into the story, I constantly felt this book was awfully similar to The Woven Ring by M.D. Presley. Both books are vastly different and don't quite belong to the same genres (the other book is gaslamp with zero romance), but several key elements that forever scar the protagonist overlap eachother immensely. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I cannot spill the beans, only invite readers to have a glance at that book and consider giving it a shot under the caveat that book's MC is far less endearing than Owen. I kinda feel he would have ended up like Marta had it not been for... well, that's a spoiler I already promised not to share.

My review is this book's official 10th one. After seeing the immense quality of the prose with barely even minimal complaints regarding text clarity or pacing, I dare say it is absolutely criminal this book is not getting the attention it deserves. Yes, it is a dark fantasy, and Owen suffers greatly. However, I promise there is indeed a little ray of hope every step of the way and it looks like a few likeable supporting characters in this book appear again in other works by the same author.

Give this book a chance, you'll have a fun time!

[C.J. Daley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author sent me a very nicely signed paperback, and I’m lucky to have received it! This is a novel set within the author’s A Relics of War world, but it is a standalone story.

The novel opens up to Owen, a knight of the five kingdoms, on the eve of battle. He is alone, with just the city guard to rally the defenses. The way this started made it compulsively readable, as I just had to know what was going to happen. The fact that the author then practically subverts the expectation with there being little to no opening action, was what I thought was a strange choice at first, but ended up being a hit. It leaves the reader on the edge of their seat for the remainder of the novel…a “when is the action finally happening” that was never far from the front of my mind.

The Murkor, the race that was attacking, then turned saviors, add a dynamic to the novel I wasn’t expecting. The author makes you like them several times, through Owen and Aj’ana’s relationship for one example, to just keep reeling us back in with reminders of the humans’ captivity. I thought it was a unique display of Stockholm syndrome and how back and forth the process can be. The Murkor are not so free themselves, yet they are often complicit, while at other times they stick their necks out for the humans. It’s just the right blend to make you wonder the entire time.

After a very unexpected left turn, that gives the novel its name of Serpentus, we finally have our fully built climax. The mental, physical, and emotional ties are all set perfectly, with Owen at the forefront of bearing them all. It adds a layer of humanity onto what may be considered a loss of it. And the action that follows certainly pays off as well. Gods, several races, and the righteousness of fighting for freedom, explode into a terrifying and personalized description of battle.

I recommend everyone check this one out. Whether you are already a fan of the Relics of War trilogy, or a newbie like me, this one is well written and well done.

https://fanfiaddict.com/review-serpen...

[Korra II Allison Baskerville · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe that Serpentus is a goddamn brilliant example of fantasy world-building. I genuinely love everything about this book. At first, my only real issue was how I thought it wouldn’t be that friendly for readers new to the series. I’ve read 3 books and a short story worth of this world’s lore, so I know how much is missing from the greater plot of the series. There were a handful of scenes and bits of dialogue, along with the writing style that stood out to me and made me realize I was wrong.

One example cums at the end of the Relics of War series. One of the “Scorpion Men” stated that they didn’t want what had been done to their people to be forgotten. This is regarding their rules regarding breeding with other races, and not wanting to go extinct and be treated as a fable of the past. And here lies Serpentus, a first-person, journal-esque novel that reads like a post-war diary/recollection to pass down to future generations.

As I read this under my lamp’s yellow light, the first-person PoV and the diary-esque format evoked feelings of reading a war diary under candlelight in a dusty library. It made me wonder who I was. Am I one of Owen’s descendants? A mage studying the history of a terrible war? Or am I a commoner, reading the most preposterous sounding tales in a long-forgotten book, pulled off from a dusty back shelf in a great library? The first-person narrative only helped to immerse me into the world and the story.

In one scene, Owen comments on the Scorpion Men, noting how he wasn’t sure how they came to possess the lower half of a scorpion, despite supposedly having human ancestors. In other scenes, he refers to the Soulless, servants of the nameless god. He ponders on the fickle nature of the god Karmada, how Blademon is the patron god of the Serpent men. In another scene, he and the Guard Captain he was working with (if memory serves) commented on how only a magic wielder would dare to wear a dress on a battlefield, and so on.

I love this subtle world-building in indie fantasy, as opposed to the exposition dump that was Christopher Paolini’s Murtagh which opts to alternate between reference scenes from the “main series| and exposition dumping, as if readers have never read the main series before. In Serpentus, the lore-building is done naturally, either in conversations or in Owen’s thoughts as he ponders his current situation.

I began reviewing in June 2021, and since then, I’ve primarily reviewed works by indie authors. It has given me a great respect and appreciation for indie authors and what they do. I love it when authors write additional side stories in their world and flesh out their lore, history, and cultures. Serpentus, and the other Relics of War short story, The Ballad of Alchemy and Steel are 2 shining examples of what I love to see. I truly hate it when authors create these fantastic worlds, and then the fucking world orbits around the least interesting person in them, such as Murtagh or the rest of the Inheritance Cycle.

Owen isn’t “The main character of The Story“, he’s the main character of this story, and I absolutely fucking love that. He’s only a small part of a greater story in a world far larger than him, but he feels no less important for it. All of these Relics of War tie-in stories are deeply humanizing to the different people and factions in this world. Each character in these worlds feels like a real person. They have personalities, hopes, and dreams that extend beyond whatever scene they’re in.

Some of my favorite books were written by under-appreciated indie authors who don’t get enough credit or sales for the amazing worlds they create. I’ve considered leaving book reviewing numerous times over the last few years. I have a seemingly never-ending backlog of books to read/listen to and review. And every fucking time I consider it, such as last year, Every time I think about giving up on book reviewing, I discover some incredible indie-fantasy series that makes me think “If I left this hobby, I never would have discovered this wonderful thing I love….” and the series that kept me going last year, was in fact, the Relics of War series.

The majority of the books I’ve read over the last few years have been books I got for free. And I always hope, when I find a series I enjoy this much, that my passion for them will cause other readers to ask “What about this series resonates with her so much?”, and give them a try and sell a few copies. I hope you’ll consider Serpentus, or even the Ballad, or The Moon’s Eye.

Years ago, I heard somebody say “When you love something, you want to tell the world about it.” That’s how I feel about these series; Partially, because I think they’re incredible, and more people should read them, and partially because I hope that somebody shouting from the rooftops about a series they love will catch my ears and I’ll discover yet another amazing series I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Note: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a physical review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.

[Bill Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Serpentus is a tense prisoner of war tale (and tail) that doesn't shy away from the brutality of war, the concept of doing bad things for the good of your people, or the stubbornness of hope.

Ser Owen Greenwaters is the sole knight sent to help defend a small community from an invading army that has a water serpent monster and hooded soldiers in its ranks. Little does Owen and the defenders know, that Soulless mages of the Nameless God are there to kick butt and take prisoners. Owen survives the attack but is found underground with these hooded soldiers (Murkor) and his days go from bad to worse. Eventually some gnarly magic does some things and Owen is forced to fight for the Nameless God.

There's a couple things here that makes this story stand out for me, and really kinda surprised me in a great way. I typically don't like 1st person point-of-view (POV) because most authors don't make the prose dynamic enough for me (meaning sentences read very formulaic with a lot of 'I do' actions - this happens, then I do this, then I do that, then I do this, etc.) and everything become quite monotonous. And secondly, most characters in 1st just aren't interesting enough to be in their direct POV. For me, I need the character to have a really distinct voice for 1st POV to work.

But, ultimately, this story absolutely had to be told via 1st POV because of its nature.  Luckily, Owen is a fantastic protagonist and Calvin destroys it with her prose.

He is the atypical knight: he's brash, he's stubborn, he's full of anger, he swears all the f*cking time, he's kinda funny. But his arc is so brutal, so damaging, so harsh, the story only works if we witness it through his close lens. And then we are blessed with Calvin's prose. There is no sugar coating here, there's no purpleness. It's grim, it's dramatic, it's stunning really. Calvin makes us feel everything that Owen is going through in all the bad details. It's just excellent writing, friends, and very dynamic, lyrical almost at times too.

The rest of the cast is filled with great characters that serve purpose. Tessamir, the love interest (yeah there is a potential HEA arc in this bleak story, aka part of Owen's hope) is a great foil to Owen. There's another knight Owen's known for years and another soldier Owen meets from the besieged city that help shape the brutal consequences of their situation. There's a ton of Murkor with ' in their names who are also forced into this hellish situation, some are friendly to Owen's plight, others, eh... Then add the Scorpion Men who are literal half men/women, half scorpion. The title people Serpentus (you guessed it, half people/half serpent). There's the evil Soulless mages. Plus gods that actually walk and talk and move the plot along. For such a short novel, this book has a lot of very interesting character species/peoples.

The pace is steady through Owen's journey, never slowed down, even when he's doing some mundane tasks as part of his capture early on or healing (he's beat the heck up quite a bit so Owen has a lot of healing to do). Once the Nameless God magicks him into a soldier for his army, the battles kick up a notch. As mentioned, the prose is pretty damn good. The tension remains firmly at 11 throughout these intense scenes. And despite all the bleakness, there are plenty of spaces left for breathing where Owen and the rest of the cast can form their relationships, however strained they might be.

I will say this, before the Nameless God does his stuff on Owen, I felt like this story was going in one direction, namely the 'prisoners either uprise and overcome their captors' OR 'prison escape' only to pleasantly be shocked as to where it ended up going. I'm very happy this story went the direction it did as it might not have been as strong a read for me.

I blazed through Serpentus in a couple of sittings because I was glued to the pages of Owen's dire predicament. I just had to know more, had to know what untold hell was about to unfold around him, and to see how bad it could get. This was a grim read but one that also had that shred of hope baked in. Highly highly recommend this story for those who like darker tales (and tails). This is also a story loosely connected to one of Calvin's other series (Relics of War) so I'm gonna have to pick that up soon!

[Wil Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm very slow with writing this review (I actually finished this book over a month ago!)

The good thing is it still feels very fresh in the memory. Things I didn't like, I would forget very easily. The title and the book cover don't really give too much away. Serpentus. What can that mean?

It follows a knight called Owen, and he is in a hopeless situation during a siege. At first, I thought I was reading a town defence story, but that fell away after the defences rapidly fall and the humans are captured. Then, it becomes a story about prisoners of war. It develops slowly, but in a good way, because it was necessary to develop character.

Usually, an event occurs in a book where you become fully invested in the story. This event doesn't happen until the middle of the book, but when you get to that point, there's no going back. It seems unfair to talk too much about the plot. I don't really want to tell you very much about it.

There is some action, but it isn't really the point of this tale. It delves into the nature of what it is to be human, and has a good dose of body horror (I like the little details like changes in bodily functions)!

Also, a huge amount of time and care has been placed into building the world, and making it feel like a living, breathing entity within the structure of the story. There are lots of little details and subtle nuances in character interactions.

Without giving anything away, it almost reads like a parable (as in a first-person account of one) because it talks about the creation of a people, displacement, and sanctuary.

I like the narrator, mostly because he proves to be very mortal (he isn't the standard tough-as-nails MC in high fantasy). The question is, can Owen catch a break?

[Keren Kassian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went in here expecting war, because cover (I didn't read blurb) and while the action part of the war is minimal (they were so good, those few battle scenes) we have so many other attractions.

Meet Owen: Captive knight from a dark war, a very human character.
The only thing I can't take seriously about this guy is how he has rolling-eye situations every other chapter (before Serpentus) A big burly self absorbed, hammer wielding and melee champion knight rolling his eyes? Nay ser! I cannot 😂🤣

We've got the Soulless, the Murkor (a very interesting tribe, liked the meaning behind their tattoo) their musical language, their magical and enduring ways and innovative weapons.
Scorpion men (one of the scorpion men had a rolling-eye situation too 😂) hooded ones, water dragons, evil mages that live in an actual tower (this I like very much) and go about transforming prisoners of war into fearsome creatures (keeps getting better; there are evil gods in here)

Enter Tessamir Lontess, whose secret superpower is shameless flirting and making men blush only to turn around and knock the senses back in their brains with a jaw cracking right hook that also acts as a convenient tooth harvester, what's there not to love?

I understand this is part of a larger series but it can be read as a standalone without feeling like one's missing out on a large chunk of the tale.
Strong 1hr read rec here.

It's well written, the premise is interesting but the prose can be mechanic sometimes. There are a lot of places where the characters cross arms, hollow-laugh, elicit, sigh and shrug alot but the world building is legit and overall a slow-burn but interesting reading experience.

[Greg Schroeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read, plenty of action and intriguing, growing, characters.
The plot is a classic of fantasy where one god leads his minions to try to take over the mortal lands of the followers of the other gods. They, in turn, rally their minions and there is an epic battle.
However, the twist is in what happens to our main character, Owen. He starts on the “good” side, is captured, placed in a kind of neutral servitude, then forced to join the “evil” side, before finally being rescued, but forever changed.
We are carried through this story with Owen and a fascinating array of secondary characters, some sympathetic and some hostile. Foremost is Aj’ana, a Murkor (amazing society – well done!) who takes Owen under her wing while he’s in servitude and, through their interactions, teaches him things about himself and others.
Tessamir is not only Owen’s love interest but a powerful multi-dimensional character on her own. She brings an interesting backstory and is a strong foil against which to play Owen’s growth as well as his weaknesses and strengths.
There are others, including battle leaders and people who are unhinged by the changes and challenges they are forced to undergo. Each character presents Owen opportunities and difficulties which he (and Tess) must work through, presenting a fresh retelling of the good versus evil war trope.
Oh, and there is a lot of action!
Serpentus is a stand-alone novel in the Relics of War universe. Highly recommended!

[Cat Bowser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free ARC of this book and am leaving a review voluntarily.

Okay, now I need to read the author’s Relics of War series. It’s been on my TBR but this book just shot it up several spots.

The thing I love about this writer’s style is how they are able to so accurately depict war. The grim, dark, nasty side of it. The side we all know exists but pretend not to see. This book spares no feelings in that depiction. You’ll likely get your stomach churned at least once and your emotions will be raked across the coals so to speak. But that’s what makes it so effective.

The characters, as always, are a lot of fun and you genuinely care about them which makes the horror of the setting hit all the harder. I WANT these people to survive. I want them to get a happier life. I want them to become more than who they are.

I’ve been vague in my description because I don’t want to accidentally give anything away. I was lucky enough to go into this blind. If you can too, you won’t regret it.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all of AJ Calvin’s fantasy novels and was excited to read Owen’s story in SERPENTUS, a companion novel to the Relics of War series. Owen and his friends are defending the city of Stone Hill when they are taken captive by the Soulless and Murkor. I found Owen’s time with the Murkor alchemist Aj’ana to be interesting as it explored so many gray areas and I felt like I really understood the Murkor and Soulless better. But there are worse fates in store for Owen, Tessa, and the other captives, and the novel does an excellent job of not shying away from the true horrors of war, and writing in a realistic way that both broke my heart for them, while also maintaining hope. This was a really great book and one of my favorites in the series! (I know I say that about all Calvin’s books. They’re all really good!) 5/5 stars.

[Vanessa Miller]

Wow what can I say about this book. Talk about a roller coaster ride. This book has it all, good , bad and the ugly. Owen is a knight who is a loner. He is sent to check out a small village where talk is about being invaded by the Soulless, while he is there they are attacked and defeated. Now Owen is being held prisoner by another race called the Murkor, who convince him and the other humans that it is in their best interest to stay prisoners with them instead of being sent to the dark tower with the Soulless where a much worse fate awaits them. Owen who has always been a soldier is severely injured and now must serve as aid to one of the Murkor until his wounds have healed completely. During his time there many other humans are brought in from other towns and villages that have been destroyed. Things finally seem to be going right til the prisoners are all summoned to the dark tower. Some fight against this move and are quickly made an example of, the others are told that if they do not obey the orders given they will also be executed. Thousands of human prisoners are taken to the tower where an evil sorcerer transforms them into new terrible monsters. Not everyone serves this transformation and those that do are magically bound to the soulless, their every humanity taken away including their free will, their ability to speak without being specifically asked to by a command from a soulless or a Murkor soldier. They have been made into the Serpentus, a new breed of creature. They have been created to fill the army of the soulless to fight against those who oppose the Nameless God. What will their future bring? Will they survive the coming war.? Will Owen go mad with the loss of his freewill? Being forced to do terrible things even those who were never meant for war?