Sea Born

Chaos and Retribution #3

by Eric T. Knight

The fragments of the Key begin to surface...

After saving the woman he loves from the dark sorcerers of Ankhara, Fen realizes for the first time that his power can be a force for good. But the power is wild and uncontrollable and he doesn't have long before it devours him as it did his father. His only hope is to summon one of the ancient Shapers and convince it to teach him what he needs to know.

Aislin has kept the secret of the strange artifact she found in the alien underground vault. But her secret is not as safe as it seems. The agents of the Devourers know what she has found and they will threaten everyone she loves if she doesn't give it to them.

The Guardian Kasai has created new, more powerful warriors to threaten Karliss and his clan. As powerful as Karliss is, he knows he will inevitably lose to Kasai. Seeing no other options, he conceives a desperate plan to retrieve the lost words of power, but their origins are shrouded in legend and to track them down he and his companions will have to complete a dangerous quest.

353 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 25, 2017

About the author

Born in 1965, I grew up on a working cattle ranch in the desert thirty miles from Wickenburg, Arizona, which at that time was exactly the middle of nowhere. Work, cactus and heat were plentiful, forms of recreation were not. The TV got two channels when it wanted to, and only in the evening after someone hand cranked the balky diesel generator to life. All of which meant that my primary form of escape was reading.

At 18 I fled to Tucson where I attended the University of Arizona. A number of fruitless attempts at productive majors followed, none of which stuck. Discovering I liked writing, I tried journalism two separate times, but had to drop it when I realized that I had no intention of conducting interviews with actual people but preferred simply making them up.

After graduating with a degree in Creative Writing in 1989, I backpacked Europe with a friend and caught the travel bug. With no meaningful job prospects, I hitchhiked around the U.S. for a while then went back to school to learn to be a high school English teacher. I got a teaching job right out of school in the middle of the year. The job lasted exactly one semester, or until I received my summer pay and realized I actually had money to continue backpacking.

The next stop was Australia, where I hoped to spend six months, working wherever I could, then a few months in New Zealand and the South Pacific. However, my plans changed irrevocably when I met a lovely Swiss woman, Claudia, in Alice Springs. Undoubtedly swept away by my lack of a job or real future, she agreed to allow me to follow her back to Switzerland where, a few months later, she gave up her job to continue traveling with me. Over the next couple years we backpacked the U.S., Eastern Europe and Australia/New Zealand, before marrying and settling in the mountains of Colorado, in a small town called Salida.

In Colorado we starved and froze, started our own electronics business, and had a couple of sons, Dylan and Daniel. In 2005 we shut the business down and moved back to Tucson.

I am currently working on finishing The Devastation Wars fantasy series and attending graduate school.

Reviews

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this magnificent 3rd book of this awesome epic series and i cannot believe that the books could get any better but this one just did! The three children are coming into their own and realising their own strengths and how to manipulate them. Aislin was always sure of her power and never afraid to use it, Karliss is realising his own strength and how to harness the aranti to his will and Fen is still struggling to accept what he is. They are shapers of sky, stone and sea and the tablets have the words of power for all three, and only they can protect the key from the devourers and the chaos power which comes from the abyss but they don't even know about one another and alone they face so much danger. I loved the lightness Eric introduced to the section about Aislin and her new friend Liv, both girls so full of spunk and Aislin learning how to be a friend. Also in Karliss section Nergui gives the lightness needed in the book but Fen's section is full of the stress caused by war and it's cruelty especially when the Fist is being manipulated and he loses all he stood for!! Cannot believe i have to wait till 2018 for the next book! This series is one of the strongest epic fantasy sagas i have ever read and just needs to be read by all fellow lovers of fantasy!

[Alex Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irresistibly Wonderful!

The first two books in this series (which were amazing) did not prepare me for how fast paced and utterly fantastic this one was going to be! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it twenty two million times more, I love the multiple POV’s and the way the book is broken up into each characters’ parts. It really builds the suspense, anxiety and need to keep reading! I am helplessly addicted and I don’t want a treatment plan. Eric T. Knight has found my Achilles heel, and shoots arrow after literary arrow right to my fantasy loving soul.

These three kids (Fen, Aislin and Karliss) continue to grow in every way and continue to amaze and enthrall me with the way they stay true to who they are no matter what. I am getting way too attached to all the people in this story and they aren’t even real (or are they? Don’t judge, I’m perfectly fine)

Aislin, oh Aislin. She is a spitfire and I don’t think the world is quite ready for that little girl but they need her and don’t even know it. She is on a journey of discovery, discovering who she is. Discovering secret places. Discovering why she might need a friend. Discovering that she, a girl with extraordinary gifts that love having fun especially in the sea…may be more than even she understands. She is also discovering that when she gets angry…Well, let’s just say, people don’t like it when she’s angry.

Karliss, or as I have dubbed him; wind for brains. He is the Tlacti for the Spotted Elk Clan and their only real hope at stopping a seemingly immortal being from destroying his clan and maybe everything else. Oh yeah that being (Kasai) has it out for Karliss and lets him know it. Our buddy Karliss has a hard time balancing being barely more than a child and the responsibility of being someone everyone looks to for guidance and safety.

Fen, solid as a rock Fen. This guy, he is everything we love about epic fantasy heroes. Heck, I want to be him! Strong, sincere, loyal to a fault and a great leader *at this point the reviewer sobs uncontrollably, seeing how far he is from that goal* Fen struggles with telling the truth and keeping people safe. You will root for him no matter what he’s doing because you know he is trying for what is right. Yeah, Fen is pretty awesome.

One of my favorite things in Sea Born are the support characters. They are the depth that makes everything feel solid and real. Eric T. Knight keeps blowing me away with the way he molds personalities to tug at your heart and make you feel like they are a part of your own world. Personally I think Batu and Hulagu are my favorites but I’ll let you decide, however they are great friends and extremely funny.

So if you could look into my brain after I finished reading Sea Born, I imagine you would see some mix of fireworks, tornadoes, chainsaw jugglers and adds for whoopee-cushions. That is to say that Eric T. Knight has written one crazy action packed epic that will make you laugh until you’re sore, and keep you on the edge of whatever you’re sitting on with a nail-biting storyline as you follow our three would be heroes on their paths to figure out what is coming and how to fight it.

I’ve said before that Knight’s books can’t get any better. That dang guy makes a liar out of me every time. Each one better than the last, Chaos and Retribution is the series of the decade.

Happy Reading!

[Lidia · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started the series I thought it would be a trilogy (I don't know where I got that idea from...), now I know it's a six-part series, which is both regrettable (because I still have to wait for the next three books to be written) and wonderful (because that means I don't have to say goodbye to Fen, Karliss and Aislin yet...) :)

So, we are at the peak of the story with this book; all three youngsters now know how powerful they can be and that power means responsibility, otherwise you easily become a monster. All three of them realize what's at stake and try to look for some answers, some clues as to what they are supposed to be doing and how they are supposed to save the world... All of them also at least once meet their great enemies and come out of those meetings more or less victorious... And what about us? Well, we are left biting our nails and impatiently waiting for the next book to be published:)

As always with Eric T. Knigh's books, you can't ask for a more gripping tale. It's not a simple fantasy, where your hero just hops on his horse, rescues the princess/lady in distress and thus saves the world. No, Eric's tales are much darker, peopled by characters who have tons of doubts, who make mistakes, choose wrong and go through turmoils and heartbreaks; but they also feel love and happiness, and can be merciful and forgiving, and never really lose hope... And they grow, and change, and we somehow grow together with them...
Also, Eric's a master at world-building - a word here, a word there and you just see the barren deserts, the rocky mountains, the claustrophobic forests and the unnerving deapths of the sea...

So, if you like good fantasy, if you like your tales to be complex and peopled by psychologically believeable characters, this is definitely a series for you.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, 4.5 stars for the 3rd book in Eric T. Knight's Chaos and Retribution series. Sea Born continues the story of growth, development, and burgeoning powers of Fen (Stone power), Karliss (Air power) and Aislin (Sea Power). They were all young children at the beginning of the series and now are in their mid-to-late teen years, struggling to understand and control their powers as well as the cataclysmic evil now endangering the world, and struggling as teenagers to understand life.

It can be difficult for an adult writer to credibly recreate the twists and turns of teen psyche, but Knight, outside of a few bits that didn't ring true to me, does a fairly good job at it most of the time and a bang-up job on numerous occasions. I'm well involved with the main protagonists and the other characters who surround them, with super affection for a few secondary players that make me smile every time I read about them.

The bulk of the novel focuses on Aislin. We follow her exploration and increasing comprehension of human emotions and her touching happiness on finally finding a true friend who doesn't fear or mock her. But Aislin is being threatened and attacked by those who are in thrall to the Devourers who want to destroy the world. Her inborn abilities help protect her and those she cares about, but Aislin finally realizes she must work harder to develop her Sea Power.

Sea Born also includes healthy segments on Karliss and Fen, moving their story along and providing exciting action and glimpses into the looming peril all three of these young champions will face. I've now moved on to the fourth series book, still fascinated to learn what will happen next.

[Kathleen Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

***I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Readers Copy of this book***

I love these epic stories when their told properly and completely. Dividing up a story like this gives the author the ability to tell a story fully and in detail. This story has been told richly with characters that catch the readers imagination and a world at war. Their struggles draw the reader into the story and engages you. You find yourself rooting for each of the children as they work to master and weld their mighty powers. I was a little surprised and frustrated though to learn that the story is still on going and I will be forced to wait for the next book.

These children are guardians of the world and mankind. They are what keeps chaos/evil at bay as best they can. Great responsibilities have been put onto their shoulders but some light by way of new friends enters their lives. Aislin and Karliss have accepted and gained control of their powers and they continue to grow in confidence in themselves as well. Poor Fen is still struggling to gain control of his power. He is the most affected by what the children face and the heavy weight of what is expected of them all.

Deep dark mysteries must be solved so that the children might save those they care about and save their world from darkness. Questions remain unanswered as to whether the children will be up to the challenges that now face them. Will they be strong enough to overcome all that they face? Will they find the answers they need before it's too late? Is Fen going to get control of his power? Does he have the strength to weld it? I wonder what we'll see in the next installment of this great story.

[Wally Kennedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thought this was a trilogy, UNFORTUNATE!!!!

I really do love this author. The first trilogy was complete and very good. With this one I've had to work a little to like the characters. Also in 3 books now not much has really happened. Then this book ends with a cliff hanger, I Hate That!!. When I read reviews if a author does that, especially unexpectedly, I tend to steer clear. I also check page count, I'm not paying for novellas.
Two stars because the story is basically a good one. Could have gotten more stars if there had been needed brevity to the book. When I start scanning paragraphs I want to say "Stick to the storyline without so much repetition."

[BobA707 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Interesting universe, good characterisations, well written and hopefully a plot that will eventually come together. This book is really a coming of age book. Book 3 carries on from book 2. The 3 main characters coming of age but still no interaction between them. A bit frustrating that by the end of book 3 not much has happened, well individually it has, but ...

Plotline: We just see the foundation of an overall plot, but it has promise

Premise: Very interesting universe, different with lots more to learn

Writing:Very good, descriptive and entertaining

Ending: More to come

Pace: Never a dull moment!

[Anya Josephs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sea Born, as the name implies, focuses more on Aislin. She wasn't my favorite character when the protagonists were children: it felt a bit like she fell too much into the "spooky little girl" trope, if that makes sense. But now that she's a teenager, it felt like she was believably coming into her own as a character, without losing the unconventional way of relating to others that makes her special. She gets to take on a more active role in this book, and really won me over as a character. (And all the other things I loved about the series are, of course, still present: strong writing, thoughtful psychology for the characters, etc.)

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this we finally find out more of where we have been heading and things begin to piece together a lot more satisfactorily, although I wasn't sure about some of the characters to begin with at the start of the series they have begun to settle into a comfortable place in our hearts.
I was a little surprised by how it all ended up and where that direction took me, but my biggest complaint is the first 3 books were reasonably fast to come out and it looks like this might be a bit more of a wait and on such a cliff hanger.
Suffice to say I shall still be eagerly awaiting this with baited breath

[Connie Fogg-Bouchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

when the pieces begin to fit

Aislin is not a people person. the sea speaks to her and that is where she wants to be. but there is loneliness in the sea and her mother is not there. learning about human love helps her unfold the tools she needs to save others and herself.

the plains are big and the winds have their own words. what if those words were reAl?

what if even stone isn't strong enough to make a foundation? a candle has flickered. Will it die?

[Gayreth Walden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it!

This series just gets better and better. The main characters continue to develop and grow. The storyline just keeps getting more interesting. I like how the author goes from character to character. It feels like you get to know each of them better. I am excited about the next book. Wish I had it right now!

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply Amazing

My only complaint about this book is that the next book in the series isn't available yet. Everything about it, the setting, the characters, the three storylines are all absorbing. I couldn't put it down! I am beginning to see how the separate stories are coming together, but I can't even imagine how the story will end. I can't wait to find out!

[wendy andison · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, so good

Just finished book 3 and about to start book 4. This is a character driven series, yes there’s powers and ancient mysterious beings, but it’s about the 3 children we meet in the first book. Now grown and learning to control and use their powers, it’s them and those around them that give the series heart and depth. Well worth a read.

[Nigel P · Rating 5 out of 5]

It just gets better

Brilliant story, well told and completely impossible to put down. How does Fen get out of this one, when will the three meet - and what will happen when they do -when will Llowellin get his, I kinda think it’s due (probably need to read on a book or 2 for that).

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes! More please!
The characters develop and become stronger in their powers. Their stories continue and get even better! Bits and pieces are starting to come together and reveal parts of the back story. I can't stand it. Write faster, I want to know what happens next!

[Rose Guthrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart pounding

When invested in good writing I tend to become enthralled by the characters and storyline this an example of such a series. Now I anxiously wait for book 4 and the adventures of the 3 heroes

[Pauline Haney Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book # 3

Wow what a ride! I am not much of a reviewer but Eric T. Knight is an awesome writer. His stories are just awesome. Reading his books is like taking a trip down river in a raft. It starts out smooth and steady! The farther you go the swifter the water gets and all you can do is hold on and ride it out! If you like fantasy I highly recommend these books.

[Jonica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh no! Not Fen!

Oof. These cliff hangars are killing me. Delightfully so. I enjoy these books so much. Believable characters, a universe so detailed, fast action, and fantastic dialogue.

[Joe Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some real interesting developments in this one. Karliss continues to be the strongest narrative, but now Aislin has come into her own as well. Seeing more and more of what these three were born to do, and getting a closer glimpse at what they're up against. Good volume in the series overall.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come on series

I am so hooked and can't wait for the next book. This will be a series i will tell everyone about.

[Cathy Livings · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read.

[Jon Spears · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what to do now that I'm caught up... But man what a series so far!

[Mr A J Hay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuation

Continuation of previous book. Good story moves at a good pace. Good story telling . and rounded characters. . .

[David Congdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to put down

This book, and the series, is everything you look for. It grabs your attention and refuses to let go. So looking forward to the next book in the series

[Robert C Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good series.

[Wilma Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[hector zayas lugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book of the series so far.