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Aetheria's Daemon
Aetheria, where no one ages and a thought can summon any object into existence. Paradise. But for Meli, a crafter of intelligent plants, life in Aetheria means hollow despair. Together with Karis, an ancient woman trapped in a fourteen-year-old’s body, and Ariden, a legendary fighter turned vagabond, Meli sets off on a journey amid warring sky-pirates and giant monsters, seeking an otherworldly entity with the power to give her a child. Because for all their powers of creation, Aetherians cannot conceive the one miracle we take for granted: Life.
- GenresFantasy
482 pages, Paperback
Published March 7, 2017
4 people are currently reading
558 people want to read
About the author
Will Weisser
10 books33 followersBorn into a literary family (both his parents are authors and college professors), Will fell in love with science fiction and fantasy literature during the comics boom of the early 90’s and never looked back. Now residing in the fantastic realm known as the Philly ‘burbs, he uses his geek talents to program computers by day, while by night he huddles over unfinished manuscripts, attempting to engineer characters who touch the human spirit. In his scant free time he enjoys practicing martial arts (which he is pretty good at) and playing guitar (terribly).
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 18, 2020
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
In a world where people are not born, but just appear, and have magical powers, a woman with plant powers has a vision...and then I got lost.
In a world where people are not born, but just appear, and have magical powers, a woman with plant powers has a vision...and then I got lost.
August 27, 2019
Aetheria’s Daemon
By Will Weisser
Genre - Fiction
Sub Genre - Speculative Fiction/Fantasy
Pages - 426
Publication Information - The Metanautics Department, October 26, 2017
Format - Digital
Reviewed by William C. Bitner, Jr. (https://booksinmylibraryblog.wordpres...)
Rating - 📙📙📙
Being convoluted and confusing isn’t always a bad thing, as long as within that confusion and convolution some sense is made. Unfortunately, for me at least, “Aetheria’s Daemon” by Will Weisser lost traction and had no means of transporting me to a desirable destination. I lost track of the plot on a number of occasions, and there are just about a hundred more characters than I cared to keep track of (that’s an exaggeration but you get the drift, there was too much going on with entirely too many characters). I thought it started out fine, but about a third of the way in I started to lose interest. Mr. Weisser certainly has some excellent writing skills, but for me this one missed the mark. I don’t care how many times you spell air “aer” it still doesn’t make any sense to me why you needed to. As I scan some of the other reviews of this book I seem to be among the majority, garnering two to five star ratings. I hope my next adventure with this author will be more exciting and enjoyable.
From the back cover: To most, Aetheria is a paradise. What else to call a place where a thought can summon any object into existence?
But not for Meli. She alone is driven by questions no one else understands, and feels imprisoned by the constructs of her world.
When she meets Ariden, a rogue fighter, she sees a way to leave her home and find the answers she seeks. Along with her friend Karis, a genius engineer, the three undertake a journey through warring sky-pirates, giant monsters, and mysterious religious cults.
To succeed, Meli must find a dark, enigmatic entity connected to the secret that binds her and Aetheria.
Meli must find the Daemon.
About the Author: Will Weisser was born into a literary family (both his parents are authors and college professors), Will fell in love with science fiction and fantasy literature during the comics boom of the early 90’s and never looked back. Now residing in the fantastic realm known as the Philly ‘burbs, he uses his geek talents to program computers by day, while by night he huddles over unfinished manuscripts, attempting to engineer characters who touch the human spirit. In his scant free time he enjoys practicing martial arts (which he is pretty good at) and playing guitar (terribly).
Other Books by Will Weisser: Epic Fantasy 0.9b, The Reintegrators, and Ankaran Immersion.
By Will Weisser
Genre - Fiction
Sub Genre - Speculative Fiction/Fantasy
Pages - 426
Publication Information - The Metanautics Department, October 26, 2017
Format - Digital
Reviewed by William C. Bitner, Jr. (https://booksinmylibraryblog.wordpres...)
Rating - 📙📙📙
Being convoluted and confusing isn’t always a bad thing, as long as within that confusion and convolution some sense is made. Unfortunately, for me at least, “Aetheria’s Daemon” by Will Weisser lost traction and had no means of transporting me to a desirable destination. I lost track of the plot on a number of occasions, and there are just about a hundred more characters than I cared to keep track of (that’s an exaggeration but you get the drift, there was too much going on with entirely too many characters). I thought it started out fine, but about a third of the way in I started to lose interest. Mr. Weisser certainly has some excellent writing skills, but for me this one missed the mark. I don’t care how many times you spell air “aer” it still doesn’t make any sense to me why you needed to. As I scan some of the other reviews of this book I seem to be among the majority, garnering two to five star ratings. I hope my next adventure with this author will be more exciting and enjoyable.
From the back cover: To most, Aetheria is a paradise. What else to call a place where a thought can summon any object into existence?
But not for Meli. She alone is driven by questions no one else understands, and feels imprisoned by the constructs of her world.
When she meets Ariden, a rogue fighter, she sees a way to leave her home and find the answers she seeks. Along with her friend Karis, a genius engineer, the three undertake a journey through warring sky-pirates, giant monsters, and mysterious religious cults.
To succeed, Meli must find a dark, enigmatic entity connected to the secret that binds her and Aetheria.
Meli must find the Daemon.
About the Author: Will Weisser was born into a literary family (both his parents are authors and college professors), Will fell in love with science fiction and fantasy literature during the comics boom of the early 90’s and never looked back. Now residing in the fantastic realm known as the Philly ‘burbs, he uses his geek talents to program computers by day, while by night he huddles over unfinished manuscripts, attempting to engineer characters who touch the human spirit. In his scant free time he enjoys practicing martial arts (which he is pretty good at) and playing guitar (terribly).
Other Books by Will Weisser: Epic Fantasy 0.9b, The Reintegrators, and Ankaran Immersion.
April 25, 2017
Loved the characters and the world-building, especially the grooming of professional fighters, sort of futuristic Ancient Roman gladiators. Action-packed, but a really good love story too.
June 4, 2018
Here we have a work of speculative fiction that starts out building a new, fantastic, world with what appears to be an interesting a cast of characters that pretty much falls flat. Sure, it would be nice to live in a world where thinking makes it so, but it has a downside. What happens when you stop thinking about that thing you thought into existence?
There is much about this book that is deserving of praise. It is well written and well-constructed. The plot is based on the divergence of two characters and then getting them back together again, for good or for naught. The amount of time spent convoking (the word used over and over again to indicate something is being thought into existence) becomes somewhat boring. Once the point is made, a reference here or there might work better for moving the actual action forward.
Yes, there is action. Sometimes too much action, in the same way there is too much convoking. It's a question of too much of a good thing. To say that this kind of writing is not my favorite would be an understatement. I did read it to the very end - good writing and all - but overall I was really disappointed in what could have been a standout piece of fantasy.
I've read books of more than a thousand pages, some of them more than once, but none were as exhausting as this one.
There is much about this book that is deserving of praise. It is well written and well-constructed. The plot is based on the divergence of two characters and then getting them back together again, for good or for naught. The amount of time spent convoking (the word used over and over again to indicate something is being thought into existence) becomes somewhat boring. Once the point is made, a reference here or there might work better for moving the actual action forward.
Yes, there is action. Sometimes too much action, in the same way there is too much convoking. It's a question of too much of a good thing. To say that this kind of writing is not my favorite would be an understatement. I did read it to the very end - good writing and all - but overall I was really disappointed in what could have been a standout piece of fantasy.
I've read books of more than a thousand pages, some of them more than once, but none were as exhausting as this one.
September 9, 2022
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. This is the first thing I've read by the author.
There is a lot going on in this book, too much in fact. Three (maybe more) main characters with 2 story lines, one of which keeps jumping into the past, and it becomes very easy to lose track of what and who are important to the story. Also, why do fantasy authors insist on using English or Metric measurements but feel the need to change the names of common items?
There is a lot going on in this book, too much in fact. Three (maybe more) main characters with 2 story lines, one of which keeps jumping into the past, and it becomes very easy to lose track of what and who are important to the story. Also, why do fantasy authors insist on using English or Metric measurements but feel the need to change the names of common items?
October 26, 2020
I won this book in the giveaways and I'm certainly glad I did. This book is huge world and the worldbuilding is vast and sprawling. Large sprawling epics are hit and miss but I thought Weisser did a good job at keeping everything together and developing the characters as well as the world. I enjoyed the journey that Meli went on, pirates and monsters are always a good call!
February 25, 2018
Interesting book.
August 18, 2017
My rating: 2.5/5 stars
Aetheria’s Deamon is another one of my SPFBO 2017 reads.
The story happens in Aetheria, where no one ages and a thought can summon any object into existence. People aren’t born. They just appear suddenly and randomly. People spend their time in many ways, some of them become masters of convoking. One of our protagonists – Meli is a crafter of intelligent plants and animals. After she has a dream in which she is golding a baby, she starts to feel the urge to find the truth behind her vision. . Together with Karis, an ancient woman trapped in a fourteen-year-old’s body, and Ariden, a legendary fighter turned vagabond, Meli sets off on a perilous journey amid warring sky-pirates and giant monsters, seeking an otherworldly entity with the power to give her a child.
The story sounds pretty cool and the descriptions of convoking thinks from the aether are pretty cool. Some of the are very imaginative (solid walls that can turn into jelly are pretty fun). The world is quite interesting. Meli, Karis and Aridan all have some interesting traits of character but, the truth is, nor the story neither them managed to engage me. At times I struggled to continue reading the book and at times I was really close to doing it.
The book is long (close to 500 pages) and I feel that at least 30 % of it’s content does nothing to advance the plot. Huge chunks of this book were very slow. Internal monologues of Karis were annoying, some parts of the book had strane logic (needed, I guess, to drive us to the scenes author felt were interesting). Many of the conversations feel unnatural and just a bit didactic and, perhaps because of this, I wasn't sold on the development of "love" between
Don’t misunderstand me – a lot of things happens, we’re thrown into new places, new fights and new discoveries. The way they’re described though lacks firmness. Things just drag at times and unless you’re fully immersed in the world (I wasn’t) they’re just tiring.
Looking back over the story, I feel like it has a good premise (which is revealed by the blurb) and an ok ending (that I didn’t particularly like but I can appreciate it in a way) but the middle chunk that we must read lets it down.
Aetheria’s Deamon is another one of my SPFBO 2017 reads.
The story happens in Aetheria, where no one ages and a thought can summon any object into existence. People aren’t born. They just appear suddenly and randomly. People spend their time in many ways, some of them become masters of convoking. One of our protagonists – Meli is a crafter of intelligent plants and animals. After she has a dream in which she is golding a baby, she starts to feel the urge to find the truth behind her vision. . Together with Karis, an ancient woman trapped in a fourteen-year-old’s body, and Ariden, a legendary fighter turned vagabond, Meli sets off on a perilous journey amid warring sky-pirates and giant monsters, seeking an otherworldly entity with the power to give her a child.
The story sounds pretty cool and the descriptions of convoking thinks from the aether are pretty cool. Some of the are very imaginative (solid walls that can turn into jelly are pretty fun). The world is quite interesting. Meli, Karis and Aridan all have some interesting traits of character but, the truth is, nor the story neither them managed to engage me. At times I struggled to continue reading the book and at times I was really close to doing it.
The book is long (close to 500 pages) and I feel that at least 30 % of it’s content does nothing to advance the plot. Huge chunks of this book were very slow. Internal monologues of Karis were annoying, some parts of the book had strane logic (needed, I guess, to drive us to the scenes author felt were interesting). Many of the conversations feel unnatural and just a bit didactic and, perhaps because of this, I wasn't sold on the development of "love" between
Don’t misunderstand me – a lot of things happens, we’re thrown into new places, new fights and new discoveries. The way they’re described though lacks firmness. Things just drag at times and unless you’re fully immersed in the world (I wasn’t) they’re just tiring.
Looking back over the story, I feel like it has a good premise (which is revealed by the blurb) and an ok ending (that I didn’t particularly like but I can appreciate it in a way) but the middle chunk that we must read lets it down.
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March 11, 2021Adventure set in a world very different from our own.
While there’s plenty of action at the start and throughout, I found this book a bit slow to get going. Neither the characters or the plot were grabbing my attention. I kept reading because the world was really unusual but also well thought out.
On Aetheria, matter obeys human whim. There are no possessions, since anything can be made when needed and falls apart when its creator stops paying attention to it. Food and shelter can be made from thin air, so no need to work. In addition, humans are practically immortal, unaging, and able to quickly heal from all but fatal injuries.
It should be a paradise. But while many people are happy to devote themselves to art or pleasure, there’s always some who get their kicks from violence or less pleasant activities.
Given all this, I was anticipating the world turning out to be some kind of virtual reality or an afterlife. Thankfully the mystery is left mostly unexplained.
Overall, an enjoyable immersive fantasy trip through an intriguing world. Decently written and well edited throughout.
While there’s plenty of action at the start and throughout, I found this book a bit slow to get going. Neither the characters or the plot were grabbing my attention. I kept reading because the world was really unusual but also well thought out.
On Aetheria, matter obeys human whim. There are no possessions, since anything can be made when needed and falls apart when its creator stops paying attention to it. Food and shelter can be made from thin air, so no need to work. In addition, humans are practically immortal, unaging, and able to quickly heal from all but fatal injuries.
It should be a paradise. But while many people are happy to devote themselves to art or pleasure, there’s always some who get their kicks from violence or less pleasant activities.
Given all this, I was anticipating the world turning out to be some kind of virtual reality or an afterlife. Thankfully the mystery is left mostly unexplained.
Overall, an enjoyable immersive fantasy trip through an intriguing world. Decently written and well edited throughout.
February 4, 2018
I won a kindle version #GoodreadsGiveaway
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews