Lunen: Triblood

by Ahmed Al-Sheikh

When Winnie Winters is whisked away to a strange new world, her life takes on a new adventurous path that she never imagined possible. Once there, Winnie meets a young Triblood by the name of Lunen, and together, they begin on an exciting journey filled with the unexpected. Fighting side by side with Lunen, Winnie will soon learn more about this new world full of dangerous beasts, otherworldly monsters, and even more dangerous, the greater evils of men.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

196 pages, Hardcover

First published January 10, 2013

About the author

Currently a resident of Northern California, Ahmed Al-Sheikh was born in Saudi Arabia in 1982. As a lifelong literature fan, he always found himself particularly drawn to the fantasy genre. Influenced by Neil Gaiman, Robert E. Howard, and countless others, Ahmed has a long-lasting passion for writing and a style all his own. When not working on his writing, Ahmed works as a freelance writer reviewing films, video games, and entertainment news. He is a longtime student of the martial arts who works toward advancing his skills regularly.

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Grandma won an advanced copy of this book, and gave it to me to read. Thank you to the author and the publisher. I am 11 1/2 years old, here is my review: The interest level was good for me. The reading level was also good for me.
I really liked the book, the theme was really interesting to me. In the beginning it was a little bit confusing when she went from running away from college to suddenly being attacked and Lunen was saving her. I liked that the ship Freewind could fly. I also liked that there was the three moons and I thought it was cool that there was different powers for each of the three moons.
I didn't like that sometimes the battles were too long.

[Jake Yaniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Lunen: Triblood' is great if you are looking for a truly original fantasy book. The author, Ahmed Al-Sheikh, has created a fascinating world where people have different abilities based upon their relation to the world's three moons (you will not find the cliche fantasy races like elves, dwarves, orcs etc). The heroine, Winnie, is a human girl from our own world who somehow finds herself in this strange environment, surrounded by a cast of unique and well-developed characters. She very quickly finds herself caught in the middle of a very dangerous conflict against phenomenally powerful enemies.

The book moves pretty quickly. The characters are developed through the story, and not through long introspective monologues. If the characters say that they are going somewhere, they go right there, and Al-Sheikh spares us the boring details about every rock and tree they pass along the way. For a modern reader who does not always have the time to sit back and smell every flower that the characters pass, this was a huge relief. This book does not waste your time with frivolous details. But while the author spares you meaningless details, he does a great job of developing his characters, particularly the relationship between Winnie and Lunen. There is definitely something special between the two of them, but the author does not rush anything - I will have to wait for the sequel to find out more! There are some themes about protecting others and self-sacrifice that add some meaning to all the action.

The place where the book truly shines, I think, is in the combat. The author is able to describe the actions of each warrior in such a way that you can effortlessly picture the battle taking its course without getting confused about who is hitting who and with what limb or weapon.

The world and the characters that Al-Sheikh has created reminded me of some of the old RPG's I used to play back when I was a teenager, and so I definitely felt a bit of nostalgia as I read the book (especially when I read about the airship).

There were a few swear words here and there, and a few sexual references in the book; if it were not for these I would say that it would be a great book even for younger kids. But as it is, I would say that it is best for adults and older teens.

The book was well-formatted and I found it interesting that each chapter was introduced with a graphic of a different moon-phase, which added a sense of anticipation as the moon gradually waxed toward full.

[Mad about · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winnie is your average American girl who's underachieving at College and is terrified to confront her father who's high expectations leave her with a constant sense of doubt.

Thinking she needed a break from it all Winnie leaves to visit her sister but gets slightly detoured in the form of a faraway planet where there are hundreds of different species with the ability to wield different forms of magic dependent on where they were born.

Having only heard of all this in fantasy books Winnie's got to learn quick but is lucky to have a protector and friend in the Triblood Lunen. He senses her need for help and brings her aboard the flying ship Freewind where your passage is earned.

Seeing Lunen confront his fears gives Winnie the resolve to see hers for what they are and embrace the new world she's in. This isn't a book. Here you fight or die, work or go hungry and with friends needing her help she pitches in and embraces this strange land with Lunen.

Really enjoyed this book as it seemed very different from anything i've read recently and found myself wishing it were longer.

Winnie isn't vulnerable and helpless but strong and resilient who rather than freak out when she landed on a planet with no reason as to why she adapted and is pushing herself to be all that she can.

Lunen is a great hero with his only flaw being that he can't face the truth of what's between he and Winnie but I have hope that he'll get a wake up call in the next installment.

The villain, The Masked Emperor is evil, creepy, insane and mysterious. So a perfect bad guy really who you know won't rest until he gets what he wants.

Very minor editing errors and I felt like I would have liked the story to have been elaborated more to make the passages of time smaller but none of these things detracted from the story.

Suitable for YA and up as it's got something for everyone

[Pennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy fantasy mixed with action packed cultural adventures, then this is the book for you. A very entertaining read with strong character formation and a page turning plot. Of course, as with all good novels, there has to be a hero 'Lunen',a villain 'The masked Emperor', and the All American girl 'Winnie'.
The battle scene between good and evil are well thought out and detailed. Stepping into a different world with surreal elements with an awesome backdrop will leave you wanting more. It really sets your imagination to a higher plain of existence. An epic fantasy with a creative author, this was definitely an enjoyable read for teens and adults alike.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book has all the classic aspects of an action adventure novel. main character gets thrown into a world with people with magic, meets someone really special and joins a band of rogues and outlaws to explore the world. evil kingdom with an even more messed up evil king. assassins, mercenaries, gladiatorial combat and family issues. this book has a little bit of everything rolled up together in a fast past story, anyone who reads it will be burn through it quickly and do so because they want to know how it all ends.

[Michelle]

I won this book through the Goodreads First Reads. It was a good book, sort of like Alice in Wonderland but with a sci-fi twist instead of fantasy. Looking forward to the second book.

[Deli Stryker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Down the rabbit hole.

I’m usually quite fond of these stories: a young girl finds herself in a new world and spends almost her entire time there trying to find a way back home. There’s usually some explanation early on about how she ends up there, whether it’s a dream, someone had summoned her, there was a jolt in the strings keeping the parallel universes apart, etc.

Lunen doesn’t have that explanation. The “Tower” can allow inter-world travel, but this is only briefly mentioned, and the Tower itself is again mentioned during the epilogue, but it doesn’t explain why Winnie, of all people, has the privilege of crossing worlds. It’s convenient for her, though, since she wants to run away from her expectations as a surgeon’s daughter in college.

Winnie starts off rather cowardly and boring, the shy sort of nerdy girl who doesn’t have that much experience with people. Lucky for her, after being whisked away to another world (which doesn’t even have a name), she’s practically forced to interact with the title character, Lunen, who’s born under the three moons of this world, granting him super speed, extra fast regeneration, and control over elements.

I’m relieved to write that Winnie does show some growth throughout the story, and her relationship with Lunen isn’t abrupt and sudden, but gradual. When they grow to like each other, their actions aren’t lusty, and their affections are fairly cute and innocent. However, for a good deal of the story, I was wondering why Winnie was even in the story. Most of the story revolves around Lunen. His name is in the title, after all. Sure, Winnie learns to fight and helps the crew overcome a few trials with knowledge from her own world, but for the most part she was a mere observer.

One thing that really bothered me was that Winnie didn’t make enough of an impression of missing her home. She didn’t even mention it in the end. She mentions it’s bothersome not to speak of the alien things of her own world like automobiles or cinemas, but she doesn’t say that she misses such things. I would get caught up in the adventure if I were her, too, but I would still miss people, routine, and normalcy.

For the most part, a few characters were mildly enjoyable, but I didn’t love or relate with any of them. I thought Lunen wanting to train to be like his father, even surpass him, was interesting, but I wasn’t going, “I know how that is, bro!! I totally get you!”

Things did pick up a little past the half mark, once Winnie starts joking with Lunen more, and becomes closer to Liana. I giggled at a few funny, cute moments, though I think a lot of the humor is rather lewd. Not glaringly, but it would be nice to read a few jokes that didn’t stem from sexual humor.

This book does bring up some interesting concepts, like being born under moons which can grant you certain abilities, materials like gaianite and gelix, and I thought the Blood-Forging was pretty cool, like Winnie did. I thought the descent into Crescent Canyon was particularly well described, but it’s the only instance that blossomed images in my mind. Pretty, sparkly images they were, too. Most of the time, the world blurred into its history.

The beginning suffers from a few first-time book mistakes, such as name-dropping when Winnie first meets Lunen’s crew. I hardly cared who they were at the time, and since they were just standing there, passively being described, they didn’t make an impression on me. There’s also a lot of exposition that takes the reader out of the present action, even though the author links Winnie’s questioning with the exposition. Some of the exposition, like in the very opening with Winnie’s decision to leave home, her past and failures, was particularly dragging and boring.

On that note, I thought the action scenes also dragged on, like a five-minute Dragonball Z battle that spans too many half-hour episodes. Some scenes work well on screen, but are mind-numbing in text. (Actually, those Dragonball Z battles were pretty mind-numbing after a while…)

I believe partly to blame is that the voice was so consistent throughout, it flatlined. The voice didn’t fill me with any more excitement than it did when explaining Lunen’s history and how the Tribloods came to being.

Overall, I believe that the book does have potential, but it needs a little more polish and time to really shine.

[J.D. Cunegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lunen: Triblood is a novel that started as one sort of story and, midway through, shifted to something else entirely. And I will warn readers now: if cliffhangers are not your thing, this book will likely frustrate you, as it becomes clear in the last 10 pages that the story of the moment won't be wrapped up in one volume.

That said, this is an entertaining romp that is at times quick to read and at others a little bit slow. Much of the slowness occurs in the first half of the book, as it seems the story is as out of sorts as Winnie, but once the book hits its stride at roughly the midpoint, the pages fly by. This book struggles to find itself a few times, but once it does, this is one of the more entertaining reads I've found.

There are minor quibbles throughout: the occasional confusion as to whether Winnie or Lunen is the protagonist, occasional word usage (dived instead of dove, and one instance of a character saying something dangerously), but the way the story picks up in the second half of the book, and the depths of both Lunen and Winnie that are revealed in the process, make up for those.

Triblood is an enjoyable read, and I look forward to the second volume.

[Barb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book though Goodreads First Reads giveaways, thank you Goodreads and the author Ahmed Al-Sheikh.
This is not my kind of book, I entered the giveaway as my 13 year old granddaughter likes ya fantasy. Due to another readers comment,"there were a few swear words here and there, and I few sexual references", I decided I'd better read it before giving it to her. I found 3 swear words in the book h___ was used 2x and bull s____ once, there was one sexual reference which was not explicit or lusty, therefore I will be giving the book to my granddaughter.
There were minor fights throughout which dragged on, the fighting is just not my thing nor is the fantasy thing.

[Ebby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of action and finding ones self. This is definitely a must for action seekers!

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read with some intriguing concepts. I enjoyed the fact that each chapter ends with a note from the character who is new to the world of the story.

[Denise]

Interesting science fiction/fantasy. A world dictated by the moons. And as always, a caste system based on something other than individual merit. Would really like to hear more about Winnie and how she deals with her own father.