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A Seared Sky
Joinings
When the Skyfire arrives early, Dagla Kaz sets out for the ancient homeland to harvest a new Godwood and exchange Virgin Gifts. He must lead his pilgrims hundreds of leagues over pirate-infested seas, across hostile lands, and return triumphant before the seared sky dies back to normality.
In his father’s absence, the renegade Aklon risks torture and death to bring justice to the people. Mindtalk with a wise woman on the distant mainland has opened his eyes to the evil underlying the society he inhabits. And, whilst seeking truth, he finds a soulmate in the most unexpected place.
Seeing his daughter Tumalind wrongly chosen as a Virgin Gift, religious fanatic Aglydron follows the mission to right the wrong. Okkyntalah, her betrothed, helps kidnap the rightful victim to take her over unknown seas and lands, facing violent death at the end of their journey.
In his father’s absence, the renegade Aklon risks torture and death to bring justice to the people. Mindtalk with a wise woman on the distant mainland has opened his eyes to the evil underlying the society he inhabits. And, whilst seeking truth, he finds a soulmate in the most unexpected place.
Seeing his daughter Tumalind wrongly chosen as a Virgin Gift, religious fanatic Aglydron follows the mission to right the wrong. Okkyntalah, her betrothed, helps kidnap the rightful victim to take her over unknown seas and lands, facing violent death at the end of their journey.
- GenresFantasy
824 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 2014
1 person is currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Stuart Aken
22 books288 followersReading from infancy. Writing stories since I could hold a pencil. Always fascinated by the power of words to entertain, illuminate, transform, educate, and influence. Stories are fundamental to our psyche: we love them. It's an honour to be privileged to tell my own versions of tales that have abounded for millennia.
Fantasy fascinates me: that ability to enter an imagined world and witness events not always shackled by Earthen rules.
Science Fiction allows speculation on our future: what will happen if we carry on in certain directions, and what will occur if we allow developments that might actually threaten our very existence?
Romance is fundamental to human relationships and love, with its opposite, hate, form the roots of most stories.
As I say to all my readers; Enjoy the read!
Fantasy fascinates me: that ability to enter an imagined world and witness events not always shackled by Earthen rules.
Science Fiction allows speculation on our future: what will happen if we carry on in certain directions, and what will occur if we allow developments that might actually threaten our very existence?
Romance is fundamental to human relationships and love, with its opposite, hate, form the roots of most stories.
As I say to all my readers; Enjoy the read!
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 20, 2014
Joinings by Stuart Aken is the opening book in the projected A Seared Sky trilogy. This science fiction, romance, action and fantasy-adventure novel of epic proportions spanning over 800 pages will delight lovers of the genres as this is one in which they can afford to really bury their heads in. It is also a testimony of the creativity of this British author who through this book loudly proclaimed that he has much to write and share. The beautiful prose, delectable style of writing and the sharpness of the story is enough to keep one absorbed to the last page.
But what really is inside this tome of a novel? To put it simply, it is the story of Tumalind and her betrothed, Okkyntalah, and the precarious situation in which Tumalind lands when she is deceitfully chosen as a Virgin Gift instead of another with important connections. In a world ravaged by superstitious beliefs, fanaticism and hierarchal corruption of the highest order, nothing ever really stands the test of the ordinary, and nothing is what it seems. Dagla Kaz is no ordinary leader either. As the high priest, he is feared and adored, and he is determined to exchange the virgin gifts before the scorched skies returned to normal.
Stuart Aken crafted an extraordinary story populated by extraordinary characters. Aklon, a renegade and the son of Dagla Kaz, is one fascinating character who readers will root for as he walks the path of redemption. Aglydron, the father of Tumalind, is on the most important mission of his life. Aken beautifully spins a tale that is both complex and riveting, as stunning as the world the characters inhabited.
Will you be stiff bored by this mammoth novel? If you are seeking my advice, here’s my answer: Anyone on the lookout for a mesmerizing read will really enjoy this tome. Though set in a fantasy world, Aken created relatable characters with relatable teething troubles which most readers will be able to identify with.
It is a story driven by false prophecy, recklessness and the desire to right a wrong. Joinings: A Seared Sky by Stuart Aken is one of the most enjoyable fantasy novels that I have read in a long, long time. It is incredibly intriguing, gratifying, gripping and spellbinding.
But what really is inside this tome of a novel? To put it simply, it is the story of Tumalind and her betrothed, Okkyntalah, and the precarious situation in which Tumalind lands when she is deceitfully chosen as a Virgin Gift instead of another with important connections. In a world ravaged by superstitious beliefs, fanaticism and hierarchal corruption of the highest order, nothing ever really stands the test of the ordinary, and nothing is what it seems. Dagla Kaz is no ordinary leader either. As the high priest, he is feared and adored, and he is determined to exchange the virgin gifts before the scorched skies returned to normal.
Stuart Aken crafted an extraordinary story populated by extraordinary characters. Aklon, a renegade and the son of Dagla Kaz, is one fascinating character who readers will root for as he walks the path of redemption. Aglydron, the father of Tumalind, is on the most important mission of his life. Aken beautifully spins a tale that is both complex and riveting, as stunning as the world the characters inhabited.
Will you be stiff bored by this mammoth novel? If you are seeking my advice, here’s my answer: Anyone on the lookout for a mesmerizing read will really enjoy this tome. Though set in a fantasy world, Aken created relatable characters with relatable teething troubles which most readers will be able to identify with.
It is a story driven by false prophecy, recklessness and the desire to right a wrong. Joinings: A Seared Sky by Stuart Aken is one of the most enjoyable fantasy novels that I have read in a long, long time. It is incredibly intriguing, gratifying, gripping and spellbinding.
March 31, 2014
Joinings is the first book in Stuart Aken’s Seared Sky trilogy. And that guarantee of more to come will be music to the ears of fantasy fans. It is hard to imagine anyone getting to the end of this and not thirsting for more.
The opening scene is gripping. It hooked me in and then I was compelled to read the rest. Aken weaves a complex tale through a meticulously constructed fantasy world showing us fascinating glimpses of different ways of life, different beliefs.
The dangers of a society in thrall to superstition and corrupt government are well drawn, as are the characters. There are no pantomime baddies here, no clichéd heroines, but well-rounded characters whose destinies we can’t help but follow. Tumalind and Okkyntalah; Dagla Kaz, Jodisa-Li, Aklon and the rest of the cast create a very real world with real problems and challenges. But it doesn’t get lost in big picture stuff. There are solid and compelling human stories at the core of this excellent book.
The only real problem: it’s a big book and it’s hard to put down. But when it comes to book, that’s just the sort of problem I love to be faced with. I’m watching out for the next.
The opening scene is gripping. It hooked me in and then I was compelled to read the rest. Aken weaves a complex tale through a meticulously constructed fantasy world showing us fascinating glimpses of different ways of life, different beliefs.
The dangers of a society in thrall to superstition and corrupt government are well drawn, as are the characters. There are no pantomime baddies here, no clichéd heroines, but well-rounded characters whose destinies we can’t help but follow. Tumalind and Okkyntalah; Dagla Kaz, Jodisa-Li, Aklon and the rest of the cast create a very real world with real problems and challenges. But it doesn’t get lost in big picture stuff. There are solid and compelling human stories at the core of this excellent book.
The only real problem: it’s a big book and it’s hard to put down. But when it comes to book, that’s just the sort of problem I love to be faced with. I’m watching out for the next.
February 11, 2021
It's not your usual epic fantasy. It has the good world building that I needed to get through the book. But apart from that, it also has a good theme that speaks against the religious dogma. Those things made the book different.
June 3, 2020
A highly thought up well-organised book. Aken is blessed with wonderful imagination in which the plot line seamlessly flows. A most talented writer and most brilliant book to start the trilogy.
September 7, 2014
Although this novel fits firmly into the Epic Fantasy subgenre, it would be an underestimation to view this first book as a mere quest story to right wrongs. It is an examination of dogma and believers of a religion, the Followers of Ytraa, split into three groups many generations before the opening of the trilogy. In ‘Joinings’ readers experience only two – those of the land of Muhnilahm ruled by a priesthood, and the land of Litkala ruled by a royal house. Yet for all their extolled differences and mutual mistrust they are reflections of the same, societies built on sex - publicly orchestrated and privately profligate - with emotional love, devotion and self-sacrifice funnelled only towards the fuelling of the dogma.
It is the ‘why?’ that I found fascinating. What had occurred in the far past to bring this about? Certainly the approaching Skyfire, with its lore of burning all unbelievers, is at its root. Had a group of survivors of a natural disaster instigated a method of rapid repopulation – at all costs? Certainly there are no old, or sick, or malformed, or merely ‘ugly’. Eugenics? There is mention on Muhnilahm of ‘The Point’, a desolate area where unfortunates are banished, or escape to rather than face a tortured death in the name of the religion. Yet within the society there are hardly any children to be seen or, for all the constant euphemistically-termed ‘frowking’ no pregnant women, and the Virgin Gifts, female despite the vaunted equality of the sexes, are exalted in the creed as an exchange of blood lines.
It is the quest to exchange Virgin Gifts – and to secure the release of one fraudulently chosen – that sends the main groups of characters through lands of unbelievers and, because of these ongoing experiences, the tenets of their own dogma. Hypocrisy is emphasised early on as the fanatic Aglydron attempts to ‘free’ an exploited young woman by blindly replacing her people’s indoctrination with his own.
Into this mix are dripped the personal stories, each with its own layered secrets: Tumalind, chosen falsely as a Virgin Gift, who holds a striking likeness to the daughter of the High Priest; the high priest’s son and rebel leader, Aklon, an escapee on pain of death for refusing to embrace and promote the secrets of Ytraa when its history was revealed to him; Feldrark, son of the royal house, who professes undying love to gain Jodisa while hiding his true reasons. Some characters walk with veiled intellect, others with that veil gradually being stripped away by the experiences encountered. As the groups move into Book 2, and the mind-talkers manipulate and are manipulated, this layered tale promises much.
It is the ‘why?’ that I found fascinating. What had occurred in the far past to bring this about? Certainly the approaching Skyfire, with its lore of burning all unbelievers, is at its root. Had a group of survivors of a natural disaster instigated a method of rapid repopulation – at all costs? Certainly there are no old, or sick, or malformed, or merely ‘ugly’. Eugenics? There is mention on Muhnilahm of ‘The Point’, a desolate area where unfortunates are banished, or escape to rather than face a tortured death in the name of the religion. Yet within the society there are hardly any children to be seen or, for all the constant euphemistically-termed ‘frowking’ no pregnant women, and the Virgin Gifts, female despite the vaunted equality of the sexes, are exalted in the creed as an exchange of blood lines.
It is the quest to exchange Virgin Gifts – and to secure the release of one fraudulently chosen – that sends the main groups of characters through lands of unbelievers and, because of these ongoing experiences, the tenets of their own dogma. Hypocrisy is emphasised early on as the fanatic Aglydron attempts to ‘free’ an exploited young woman by blindly replacing her people’s indoctrination with his own.
Into this mix are dripped the personal stories, each with its own layered secrets: Tumalind, chosen falsely as a Virgin Gift, who holds a striking likeness to the daughter of the High Priest; the high priest’s son and rebel leader, Aklon, an escapee on pain of death for refusing to embrace and promote the secrets of Ytraa when its history was revealed to him; Feldrark, son of the royal house, who professes undying love to gain Jodisa while hiding his true reasons. Some characters walk with veiled intellect, others with that veil gradually being stripped away by the experiences encountered. As the groups move into Book 2, and the mind-talkers manipulate and are manipulated, this layered tale promises much.
May 24, 2014
This is a tale in the classic quest style, and the theme of the dangers of unquestioning religious belief and the oft-accompanying subjugation of adherents, especially women, is clear. Stuart Aken weaves the three strands of his story skillfully; there are two physical journeys - by Dagla Kaz and his companions to exchange Virgin gifts and obtain the new Godwood, and that of their pursuers to rescue Tumalind, taken in place of the real Chosen, Dagla Kaz’ daughter, Jodisa-Li - and also a spiritual quest by her brother, Aklon-Dji, to overturn the self-serving cruelty of his father’s rule.
The author has created a well-realised world with differing societies, full of many small details that serve to highlight cultural mores, and of course a host of interesting characters. My only gripe would be that there are so many personal names, there definitely needs to be a ‘Cast of Characters’ to refer to…
I look forward to the next instalment!
The author has created a well-realised world with differing societies, full of many small details that serve to highlight cultural mores, and of course a host of interesting characters. My only gripe would be that there are so many personal names, there definitely needs to be a ‘Cast of Characters’ to refer to…
I look forward to the next instalment!
October 8, 2014
An epic with a cast of thousands and a timeless vision. A story for the reader to live in, and never wish to come up for air. Deft, labyrinthine - rambling at times - but always fully engaging. Aken at his best!
November 5, 2017
This is my own book, but I'm prodigiously proud of it. I hope you'll read and review it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews