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Enoch #1
Dragonfly: A Tale of the Counter-Earth at the Cosmic Antipodes
In the counter-earth of paleozoic darkness and daemonic sway, the people of Arras have dwindled, retreating from Urgit and Cormrum-by-the-Sea to clutches of domes in the desert. But still they walk the songlines of the seraphim, preserving their primeval lore.
When Keftu, the rightful-born young phylarch, returns from a journey to find his people poisoned, he sets out to discover the secret of immortality. He is drawn to Enoch, the rust-stained city of stone, mankind's omega. There his plans change as he falls under the power of an urban warlord and falls in love with a mysterious harlot.
Rising from slavery as a slayer in the pits, Keftu ascends on wings of resin and bone to trouble the world-city's oversoul. Will he succeed in scaling the sea-girt, stratospheric Tower of Bel and gaining the Hanging Gardens of Narva? Or will the city devour him before he can find his place in it?
A New Planetary Romance
Dragonfly is the first in a series of sword-and-planet tales set in Antellus, the alter-earth circling an alien star at the dim ultima Thule of the universe, a world of prehistoric beasts and ocean-girding cities, ancient ruins and space elevators, primordial daemons and antediluvian races.
Inspired by the first master fantasists - Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lord Dunsany, E. R. Eddison, H. Rider Haggard, William Hope Hodgson - and pulp writers like Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, Dragonfly combines a contemplative outlook with a drive to action, a sense of mystery with a dash of violence.
A Mythic Adventure with a Touch of Noir
Deinothax was white-hot and smoking in my hands. Jairus gave the signal, and his men charged.
It seemed at that moment that I had ages to wait until the tide of steel reached me. The light of the sinking sun shot slantwise down the street, and each cloud wisp, window, and mote stood out as something tragically and eternally beautiful.
The length of two buildings lay between me and the Misfit now. A new light flashed in Jairus' eyes. He slowed and stopped in the middle of an intersection. His men drew to a standstill behind him, bunched up and tense, watching him with confused eyes.
A slow and growing thunder was in the air. I looked at the sky, but the sky was clear. Then the quiet was cloven by the voice of a savage horn, awful and lonely, such as might have led the Wild Hunt through the moss-forests at the dawn of time. The street seemed to pulse and vibrate under my feet. I heard a sound that was something between a squeal and a roar, and wondered why it was so familiar.
A cry of panic went up among the men. They started to divide down the middle, on either side of the intersection. But it was too late.
Published by Hythloday House.
When Keftu, the rightful-born young phylarch, returns from a journey to find his people poisoned, he sets out to discover the secret of immortality. He is drawn to Enoch, the rust-stained city of stone, mankind's omega. There his plans change as he falls under the power of an urban warlord and falls in love with a mysterious harlot.
Rising from slavery as a slayer in the pits, Keftu ascends on wings of resin and bone to trouble the world-city's oversoul. Will he succeed in scaling the sea-girt, stratospheric Tower of Bel and gaining the Hanging Gardens of Narva? Or will the city devour him before he can find his place in it?
A New Planetary Romance
Dragonfly is the first in a series of sword-and-planet tales set in Antellus, the alter-earth circling an alien star at the dim ultima Thule of the universe, a world of prehistoric beasts and ocean-girding cities, ancient ruins and space elevators, primordial daemons and antediluvian races.
Inspired by the first master fantasists - Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lord Dunsany, E. R. Eddison, H. Rider Haggard, William Hope Hodgson - and pulp writers like Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, Dragonfly combines a contemplative outlook with a drive to action, a sense of mystery with a dash of violence.
A Mythic Adventure with a Touch of Noir
Deinothax was white-hot and smoking in my hands. Jairus gave the signal, and his men charged.
It seemed at that moment that I had ages to wait until the tide of steel reached me. The light of the sinking sun shot slantwise down the street, and each cloud wisp, window, and mote stood out as something tragically and eternally beautiful.
The length of two buildings lay between me and the Misfit now. A new light flashed in Jairus' eyes. He slowed and stopped in the middle of an intersection. His men drew to a standstill behind him, bunched up and tense, watching him with confused eyes.
A slow and growing thunder was in the air. I looked at the sky, but the sky was clear. Then the quiet was cloven by the voice of a savage horn, awful and lonely, such as might have led the Wild Hunt through the moss-forests at the dawn of time. The street seemed to pulse and vibrate under my feet. I heard a sound that was something between a squeal and a roar, and wondered why it was so familiar.
A cry of panic went up among the men. They started to divide down the middle, on either side of the intersection. But it was too late.
Published by Hythloday House.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2015
4 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
Raphael Ordoñez
10 books12 followersRaphael Ordoñez is a mildly autistic artist, author, and circuit-riding professor residing in the Texas hinterlands, eighty miles from the nearest bookstore. His fiction has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies and been named in the Locus Online yearly recommended reading list. He is the author of two novels, Dragonfly (buy it at Amazon) and The King of Nightspore's Crown (buy it at Amazon), both published by Hythloday House. He lives in a rickety old house with his wife and three children, and is the main source of livelihood for a number of feral chickens. He blogs sporadically about fantasy, style, symmetry, art, and life at Cosmic Antipodes.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 15, 2016
No mere ode to the glories of planetary romance, this magnificent first novel from Ordonez belongs on every fantasy reader's shelf. It is simply a joy, full of wonder and strange beauty. My full review is here:
https://www.blackgate.com/2015/05/12/...
https://www.blackgate.com/2015/05/12/...
August 20, 2016
Sublime work, it is almost as if one is reading some rediscovered, unpublished fantasy from 20s or 30s. Redolent of Eddison, of Dunsany, of Lindsay, this is a tale of unbridled imagination completely free of modern outlook and modern sensibilities, be they stylistic or political.
April 15, 2023
I enjoyed reading this, but I think it needed some more work before publishing. The writing style is propulsive and reminiscent of Burroughs’ Mars books and Eddison’s The Worm Ouroboros. It definitely feels like an Edwardian pulp fantasy and has a lot those books’ charms. The fast pace and page-turning doesn’t always make it easy to understand the context of what’s happening to our hero. It’s written in first person and conjures the mystery of a young person exploring and conquering the world. The mysteries are hinted at a lot, but I don’t think they’re revealed in a completely satisfying way. The world building is good with great ideas and details, but somehow it doesn’t quite cohere. The author is also an artist and illustrated the cover. His painting is amazing and very evocative of the beloved Ballantine series of Adult Fantasy reprints curated by Lin Carter.
July 5, 2020
An incredible read that had me flipping virtual pages long into the night as the ending neared. The breakneck pace spurred me through the first reading, but already I know I’ll be rereading to see everything I missed the first time, and this is a story that demands you pay attention.
Clearly inspired by Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, Jack Vance’s work and others of the dying earth genre, the intricate worldbuilding and puzzle of trying to unearth the world’s weighty history based on what limited accounts the characters share is another bonus to the experience.
Keftu, a prince of a desert people who believe themselves the only human beings left, goes on a journey to slay a saurian beast and prove his manhood, only to return and find his people poisoned. He ascends the observation tower forbidden to all but the rulers of his people and sees a floating city of immortals. He becomes determined to find the secret of immortality and crafts a pair of artificial wings to make his way there, but first he must traverse the very grounded city of Enoch, mankind’s omega, a corrupt and decadent metropolis ruled over by the “Cheiropt,” a headless, semi-divine beaurocracy that controls every aspect of life, and preyed on by the Misfit, an urban warlord and gangster, and there are darker forces behind him.
The flames of revolution are rising, and Keftu will play a part whether he will it or not, but what will emerge on the other side?
For more details, check out the Black Gate review: https://www.blackgate.com/2015/05/12/...
Clearly inspired by Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, Jack Vance’s work and others of the dying earth genre, the intricate worldbuilding and puzzle of trying to unearth the world’s weighty history based on what limited accounts the characters share is another bonus to the experience.
Keftu, a prince of a desert people who believe themselves the only human beings left, goes on a journey to slay a saurian beast and prove his manhood, only to return and find his people poisoned. He ascends the observation tower forbidden to all but the rulers of his people and sees a floating city of immortals. He becomes determined to find the secret of immortality and crafts a pair of artificial wings to make his way there, but first he must traverse the very grounded city of Enoch, mankind’s omega, a corrupt and decadent metropolis ruled over by the “Cheiropt,” a headless, semi-divine beaurocracy that controls every aspect of life, and preyed on by the Misfit, an urban warlord and gangster, and there are darker forces behind him.
The flames of revolution are rising, and Keftu will play a part whether he will it or not, but what will emerge on the other side?
For more details, check out the Black Gate review: https://www.blackgate.com/2015/05/12/...
January 24, 2022
There's a lot here to like, but at times I felt myself getting lost in the narrative. It's a fascinating world and I'll probably give the next book a chance.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews