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Fallow
Blood spilled. A Promise broken.
And an Emperor who must die.
The Empire spans a thousand planets and has lasted ten thousand years.
With every Harvest, the Emperor takes his share of crops and livestock … and your eldest child, to join the Emperor’s Service.
However, the lives of the Harvested are far from secure. Assessed, sorted and counted on the Harvest ship, the unwanted are adjusted by the Counters without mercy.
Trysk had escaped the Harvest ship, only to be re-captured by the Emperor's Counters on Zamir.
With death on all sides, things are looking pretty bleak for Trysk ... except for the prophecy from a Seer on the Harvest ship.
Well, it was more of a
The Emperor must die.
And somehow, impossibly, she and Tristan were supposed to make it happen.
And an Emperor who must die.
The Empire spans a thousand planets and has lasted ten thousand years.
With every Harvest, the Emperor takes his share of crops and livestock … and your eldest child, to join the Emperor’s Service.
However, the lives of the Harvested are far from secure. Assessed, sorted and counted on the Harvest ship, the unwanted are adjusted by the Counters without mercy.
Trysk had escaped the Harvest ship, only to be re-captured by the Emperor's Counters on Zamir.
With death on all sides, things are looking pretty bleak for Trysk ... except for the prophecy from a Seer on the Harvest ship.
Well, it was more of a
The Emperor must die.
And somehow, impossibly, she and Tristan were supposed to make it happen.
367 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2025
1 person want to read
About the author
J.J. Mathews
15 books11 followersJames Jacob (J J) Mathews grew up with his nose stuck in books. A voracious reader in his youth, he devoured all of the science fiction and fantasy books he could find at the local library. J.R.R. Tolkien, Isaac Asimov, Ben Bova, Frank Herbert, Larry Niven, Voltaire, H. G. Wells and Greg Bear were some of his early influences, with many other authors added to his bookshelf as time went on. Broadening out to read more genres as an adult, he has always held a special place for fantasy and sci-fi.
Originally from Canada, he currently lives in Hamilton, New Zealand with his wife and three boys, and writes in his spare time.
Originally from Canada, he currently lives in Hamilton, New Zealand with his wife and three boys, and writes in his spare time.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 20, 2025
Trysk is a seventeen years old young woman just shy of turning eighteen. She has a twin, Bren who, after being wrongly transported on an Harvest transport and through multiple adventures, ended up, with his wife Mabel, Governor of an entire planet of the empire.
The adventure continues where several new factors are brought into the equation. A) Trysk has been captured and sent to the arenas where she must fight to the death. She wins her bout but is left for dead and her body transported to Herman, the local healer who will succeed in bringing her back to life.
The Klep are intelligent beings who's blood has special composites that permits the recipient from Discovering new aptitudes that he or she possesses. That earns him an automatic place at her side.
The author has opened doors that explain the difficult reading of the first book.
Atthis stage, it appears to me that if I reveal any more information, I would give away part of the plot.
The part that annoyed the most for me, is the parts, and there are many, where Tristan speaks in riddles, clues are written in riddles and hints are given by bits with the character stating that he or she cannot complete the clue. It goes on and on and on and, in my judgement, it is too much.
I love J.J.'s work but, for the reasons above, again, I had to skip pages and, although better, in my view, than the first one, the most I can award this book is 4 Stars.
The adventure continues where several new factors are brought into the equation. A) Trysk has been captured and sent to the arenas where she must fight to the death. She wins her bout but is left for dead and her body transported to Herman, the local healer who will succeed in bringing her back to life.
The Klep are intelligent beings who's blood has special composites that permits the recipient from Discovering new aptitudes that he or she possesses. That earns him an automatic place at her side.
The author has opened doors that explain the difficult reading of the first book.
Atthis stage, it appears to me that if I reveal any more information, I would give away part of the plot.
The part that annoyed the most for me, is the parts, and there are many, where Tristan speaks in riddles, clues are written in riddles and hints are given by bits with the character stating that he or she cannot complete the clue. It goes on and on and on and, in my judgement, it is too much.
I love J.J.'s work but, for the reasons above, again, I had to skip pages and, although better, in my view, than the first one, the most I can award this book is 4 Stars.
February 15, 2025
"He’s the embodiment of evil" and that is the summary of the Emperor who causes the most evil things to happen.
It'a an interesting story with Gifts to people that become particularly relevant when the Awaken. Awoken may possess. They are Mental, Time and Space, Life Force, and Elements. These elements weave through the story, they certainly drive the action in the story. All of them are held together by threads. "Unseen around them, the Prime Weaver snipped off a cluster of threads."
And Trysk is exceptional. As the doctor noted: “You’ve got an interesting family.” It is extremely interesting how the author weaves together the Gifts, the threads and the people. And the end you expect, is not really the end!
It'a an interesting story with Gifts to people that become particularly relevant when the Awaken. Awoken may possess. They are Mental, Time and Space, Life Force, and Elements. These elements weave through the story, they certainly drive the action in the story. All of them are held together by threads. "Unseen around them, the Prime Weaver snipped off a cluster of threads."
And Trysk is exceptional. As the doctor noted: “You’ve got an interesting family.” It is extremely interesting how the author weaves together the Gifts, the threads and the people. And the end you expect, is not really the end!
March 4, 2025
Fallow is the second book in the series and it is by far the best story I’ve had the good fortune to read! Be prepared to run the gamut of emotions, follow mind boggling ideas and events, and fall in love with characters like Trysk, Tristan and Herman, that shine brighter than our sun. Even the ghosts! But not so much the emperor! He’s dead set evil. Do yourself a favour and get this today!!!
February 11, 2025
This is an excellent second book! It's exciting, daring, mysterious, and just fun to read. I love the characters and their gifts. The gift tree was especially helpful and added a lot of insight. Down with the emperor!
March 9, 2025
I did enjoy this story, a very good continuation of the previous book. The trigger warning do need to be read before the book as it does touch on some sensitive & quite nasty subjects. Overall it is a really well written story, good plot & ideas that are well done. A great read!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews