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The Worm Within
In the last centuries of the Fifth Cycliad, a great malaise fell on the lands of humankind…
It is the far future. Our civilisation, and its glorious technological future, is gone. Only rusted ruins and tunnels beneath the ancient cities hint at what once was. In the Chronomancer’s Tower, a young apprentice stumbles upon a secret which will change the world; an ancient evil, little more than a fairy tale to frighten children, is real, and threatening to return. But is everything what it seems? Wheels turn within wheels, and political machinations wrought by selfish men and women bring the world to the brink of devastation. Can Iago and his unlikely allies unravel the knot in time, and fathom the mystery of… the Worm Within?
Some said it was the end of days. Some said it was only the beginning. These pages tell the story of that time yet to come. These are the Chronicles of Future Earth.
Fantasy novel, 344 pages, trade paperback.
It is the far future. Our civilisation, and its glorious technological future, is gone. Only rusted ruins and tunnels beneath the ancient cities hint at what once was. In the Chronomancer’s Tower, a young apprentice stumbles upon a secret which will change the world; an ancient evil, little more than a fairy tale to frighten children, is real, and threatening to return. But is everything what it seems? Wheels turn within wheels, and political machinations wrought by selfish men and women bring the world to the brink of devastation. Can Iago and his unlikely allies unravel the knot in time, and fathom the mystery of… the Worm Within?
Some said it was the end of days. Some said it was only the beginning. These pages tell the story of that time yet to come. These are the Chronicles of Future Earth.
Fantasy novel, 344 pages, trade paperback.
- GenresFantasy
324 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2017
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Newton
32 books26 followersSarah is a writer of science-fiction and fantasy roleplaying games and fiction. Her works include the cosmic fantasy novel "The Worm Within", the transhuman space opera novel "Mindjammer", and the Award-winning RPG line of the same name using the Fate Core system; the "Zero Point" campaign for the Achtung! Cthulhu RPG; the "Monsters & Magic" RPG; the “Legends of Anglerre” roleplaying game; the "Burn Shift" post-apocalyptic setting for Fate Core; and numerous short stories. She has recently completed her first novel in French (and is in quest of a publisher) and is currently working on an English-language version of the French RPG "Capharnaum" while writing her second French novel. She lives in a field in rural France, from where she occasionally manages a blues-rock band, surrounded by numerous farmyard animals.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 23, 2017
Disclosure: I was one of the beta readers for this. It was good in beta, it's a lot better now.
So, this is in many ways your standard "coming of age" / "party of adventurers on a quest" story in a pseudo-medieval setting. Except that it isn't.
To start with, the setting is far future, and the pseudo-medieval gloss is a very light one. I'm still not sure to what extent magic is busy being indistinguishable from sufficiently high technology, but even the parts clearly labelled as magic are logical and internally self-consistent in their application. The universe has a history (an enormously long history!) that makes sense.
Yes, the "party" has clearly labelled roles for the characters, but every one of them has a history, quirks, relationships, problems, a plot-arc. They're real people, not just "the cleric".
The enemy... to say too much would involve spoilers, but they're complex, they have motivation, and there are quite a few people and groups where it isn't at all clear what "side" they're on, if any (other than survival). No blacks and whites, and the shades come on more colours than just grey.
Some cliches that don't work have been carefully avoided. Yes, the young hero gets given a fancy sword. No, he doesn't learn how to use it overnight. Yes, he has Mysterious Powers. No, that doesn't mean he's suddenly better at anything than an experienced expert in that field. And yes, he does spend more combats than he would have preferred paralysed with fear and shock, doing nothing useful whatsoever, as one might expect from a civilian.
None of the characters are stupid, no plot points depend on hero idiocy, characters not communicating when they should have done, or any wild coincidences. It all makes sense, and a very nice change that is too.
The writing style is engaging throughout, appropriately fast for action scenes, always making it clear what's going on and where everything is, but with some beautifully lush passages of travelogue.
And that climatic scene... no spoilers. It works perfectly, with some "reveals", some tragedy, some "yes, that's the way he'd have wanted to go", and at least one bit of "WTF???? He did what???" that will, I very much hope, lead to a sequel.
So, this is in many ways your standard "coming of age" / "party of adventurers on a quest" story in a pseudo-medieval setting. Except that it isn't.
To start with, the setting is far future, and the pseudo-medieval gloss is a very light one. I'm still not sure to what extent magic is busy being indistinguishable from sufficiently high technology, but even the parts clearly labelled as magic are logical and internally self-consistent in their application. The universe has a history (an enormously long history!) that makes sense.
Yes, the "party" has clearly labelled roles for the characters, but every one of them has a history, quirks, relationships, problems, a plot-arc. They're real people, not just "the cleric".
The enemy... to say too much would involve spoilers, but they're complex, they have motivation, and there are quite a few people and groups where it isn't at all clear what "side" they're on, if any (other than survival). No blacks and whites, and the shades come on more colours than just grey.
Some cliches that don't work have been carefully avoided. Yes, the young hero gets given a fancy sword. No, he doesn't learn how to use it overnight. Yes, he has Mysterious Powers. No, that doesn't mean he's suddenly better at anything than an experienced expert in that field. And yes, he does spend more combats than he would have preferred paralysed with fear and shock, doing nothing useful whatsoever, as one might expect from a civilian.
None of the characters are stupid, no plot points depend on hero idiocy, characters not communicating when they should have done, or any wild coincidences. It all makes sense, and a very nice change that is too.
The writing style is engaging throughout, appropriately fast for action scenes, always making it clear what's going on and where everything is, but with some beautifully lush passages of travelogue.
And that climatic scene... no spoilers. It works perfectly, with some "reveals", some tragedy, some "yes, that's the way he'd have wanted to go", and at least one bit of "WTF???? He did what???" that will, I very much hope, lead to a sequel.
August 7, 2017
What a great book!.
It tells a story from two perspectives, one from the fantasy world people and the other from the science fiction main villain. And I love when my fantasy gets science fiction details.
It's the story of how stagnation can ruin to decay, and how outside forces are needed to revitalize a dying world. It's a story about how digging into our past can help us understand it better, but it can also trap ourselves into thinking that is all that it'll ever be.
It's also the start of the hero path of a young boy with a dark past, and the way he grows and influences other unlikely heroes. It's the return of the old enemy when the resistance that defeated them is at it's weakest.
It's also a book full of death and betrayal, and some of them seem surprising, but most of them are hinted heavily and we decide to ignore them, the same way some of the characters do.
It tells a story from two perspectives, one from the fantasy world people and the other from the science fiction main villain. And I love when my fantasy gets science fiction details.
It's the story of how stagnation can ruin to decay, and how outside forces are needed to revitalize a dying world. It's a story about how digging into our past can help us understand it better, but it can also trap ourselves into thinking that is all that it'll ever be.
It's also the start of the hero path of a young boy with a dark past, and the way he grows and influences other unlikely heroes. It's the return of the old enemy when the resistance that defeated them is at it's weakest.
It's also a book full of death and betrayal, and some of them seem surprising, but most of them are hinted heavily and we decide to ignore them, the same way some of the characters do.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews