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Mkalis Cycle #1
The Border Keeper
She lived where the railway tracks met the saltpan, on the Ahri side of the shadowline. In the old days, when people still talked about her, she was known as the end-of-the-line woman.
Vasethe, a man with a troubled past, comes to seek a favor from a woman who is not what she seems, and must enter the nine hundred and ninety-nine realms of Mkalis, the world of spirits, where gods and demons wage endless war.
The Border Keeper spins wonders both epic—the Byzantine bureaucracy of hundreds of demon realms, impossible oceans, hidden fortresses—and devastatingly personal—a spear flung straight, the profound terror and power of motherhood. What Vasethe discovers in Mkalis threatens to bring his own secrets into light and throw both worlds into chaos.
Vasethe, a man with a troubled past, comes to seek a favor from a woman who is not what she seems, and must enter the nine hundred and ninety-nine realms of Mkalis, the world of spirits, where gods and demons wage endless war.
The Border Keeper spins wonders both epic—the Byzantine bureaucracy of hundreds of demon realms, impossible oceans, hidden fortresses—and devastatingly personal—a spear flung straight, the profound terror and power of motherhood. What Vasethe discovers in Mkalis threatens to bring his own secrets into light and throw both worlds into chaos.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 16, 2019
90 people are currently reading
4794 people want to read
About the author
Kerstin Hall
11 books371 followersKERSTIN HALL is the author of Asunder, The Border Keeper, Second Spear, and Star Eater. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 272 reviews
March 18, 2022
Evocative imagery, inexpert execution.
Any time one talks borderlands, one starts to invoke folk tales and myths, the stories about edges between life and death. I was interested as the stranger Vasethe worked at charming the reclusive and many-lived border-keeper Enis in her small, dusty cottage.
The language is vivid and up to the task of creating otherworldly beauty and eeriness:
"A full moon rose over the pan and ghosts whispered in the bright white wideness. The bundle of dolls' legs clattered against the fence."
Although Enis is willing to take Vasethe beyond the border and into "Mkalis, where gods and demons waged endless war for dominion over nine hundred and ninety-nine realms," understanding why turns out to be the story. Mkalis feels more like dream sequences than story. This style isn't unsurprising in mythic stories, but I kept waiting for it to make a kind of plotting sense, in that odd way that myths have--eventually someone needs to climb a ladder into the next world, trick an alligator, or tame honeybees to feed a village. Still, I'm a sucker for journeys, battles of wits, or dress-up affairs, so it certainly kept my attention.
"Are you mocking me?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, although his voice was smiling. He picked up a chisel. Eris fell silent but did not leave. She rubbed her calf muscle, using her left foot.
"You're dangerous," she said at last.
"Debatable."
Much of the story is like this, laced with implied meaning. Yet after finishing, I realized that very little of what I read seemed to play a role in understanding the plotting and the character motivations. In some situations, the interactions and descriptions were downright pointless. Window-dressing, I suppose, which seems rather inexcusable in such a short book. With more work, they could have been used to create that comprehension bridge, to build out the reader's understanding of the Mkalis and the relationships between the gods and demons.
"Tiba had a strange voice, multiple people speaking in perfect unison. Her feet appeared within Vasethe’s line of vision: four of them, three-toed, taloned, the colour of river mud. She wore anklets of fingerbones. They clinked together when she walked. “After all this time, still pining after your dead god.”
I can cope with languid pacing and vivid imagery (think The Night Circus and Annihilation, both of which I enjoyed), but when I found myself realizing that the writing was used in ways that deliberately obfuscated the plot, I was less inclined to be generous. Plot specifics are kept hazy so that the author may do a surprise reveal at the end. Once I finished, I found that character behaviors that seemed arbitrary made sense in this context, but it felt rather unsatisfying. Capriciousness, of course, is to be expected on the parts of gods and demons, but the format in playing with myths is that the listener/reader needs a human figure to grab onto who acts in an understandable way for understandable reasons. There are hints, but instead of the reader developing comprehension as the book progresses, it's more along the lines of 'surprise! This was hinted at once on page 52 at the beginning of the book!'
My thoughts on this one are difficult to summarize; I am left in a ying-yang state. I strongly like parts and I strongly dislike parts. Re-reading and re-discussing, rather than bringing me more to one position or another, actually intensified both aspects. I came to appreciate the hints that I did find about the end, while becoming more frustrated with the sleight-of-hand. Truly, a read where your mileage will vary.
"THEY ARRIVED LATE. A throng of gods and demons blocked the entrance to the hall, and the air buzzed with anticipation. In their finery, the rulers reminded Vasethe of a shoal of glittering fish."
Three and a half finger-bones, rounding up for discussion and thoughts. Oddly enough, if I bumped it down to three, it would only be as an expression of failed potential. My normal three-stars are often are quickies with low expectations.
Many thanks to Dylan, Stephen and Vivian for their thoughts during our buddy-read!
Ps. If Vivian doesn't put it in her excellent review, once you read the book, check out her little summary:
Any time one talks borderlands, one starts to invoke folk tales and myths, the stories about edges between life and death. I was interested as the stranger Vasethe worked at charming the reclusive and many-lived border-keeper Enis in her small, dusty cottage.
The language is vivid and up to the task of creating otherworldly beauty and eeriness:
"A full moon rose over the pan and ghosts whispered in the bright white wideness. The bundle of dolls' legs clattered against the fence."
Although Enis is willing to take Vasethe beyond the border and into "Mkalis, where gods and demons waged endless war for dominion over nine hundred and ninety-nine realms," understanding why turns out to be the story. Mkalis feels more like dream sequences than story. This style isn't unsurprising in mythic stories, but I kept waiting for it to make a kind of plotting sense, in that odd way that myths have--eventually someone needs to climb a ladder into the next world, trick an alligator, or tame honeybees to feed a village. Still, I'm a sucker for journeys, battles of wits, or dress-up affairs, so it certainly kept my attention.
"Are you mocking me?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, although his voice was smiling. He picked up a chisel. Eris fell silent but did not leave. She rubbed her calf muscle, using her left foot.
"You're dangerous," she said at last.
"Debatable."
Much of the story is like this, laced with implied meaning. Yet after finishing, I realized that very little of what I read seemed to play a role in understanding the plotting and the character motivations. In some situations, the interactions and descriptions were downright pointless. Window-dressing, I suppose, which seems rather inexcusable in such a short book. With more work, they could have been used to create that comprehension bridge, to build out the reader's understanding of the Mkalis and the relationships between the gods and demons.
"Tiba had a strange voice, multiple people speaking in perfect unison. Her feet appeared within Vasethe’s line of vision: four of them, three-toed, taloned, the colour of river mud. She wore anklets of fingerbones. They clinked together when she walked. “After all this time, still pining after your dead god.”
I can cope with languid pacing and vivid imagery (think The Night Circus and Annihilation, both of which I enjoyed), but when I found myself realizing that the writing was used in ways that deliberately obfuscated the plot, I was less inclined to be generous. Plot specifics are kept hazy so that the author may do a surprise reveal at the end. Once I finished, I found that character behaviors that seemed arbitrary made sense in this context, but it felt rather unsatisfying. Capriciousness, of course, is to be expected on the parts of gods and demons, but the format in playing with myths is that the listener/reader needs a human figure to grab onto who acts in an understandable way for understandable reasons. There are hints, but instead of the reader developing comprehension as the book progresses, it's more along the lines of 'surprise! This was hinted at once on page 52 at the beginning of the book!'
My thoughts on this one are difficult to summarize; I am left in a ying-yang state. I strongly like parts and I strongly dislike parts. Re-reading and re-discussing, rather than bringing me more to one position or another, actually intensified both aspects. I came to appreciate the hints that I did find about the end, while becoming more frustrated with the sleight-of-hand. Truly, a read where your mileage will vary.
"THEY ARRIVED LATE. A throng of gods and demons blocked the entrance to the hall, and the air buzzed with anticipation. In their finery, the rulers reminded Vasethe of a shoal of glittering fish."
Three and a half finger-bones, rounding up for discussion and thoughts. Oddly enough, if I bumped it down to three, it would only be as an expression of failed potential. My normal three-stars are often are quickies with low expectations.
Many thanks to Dylan, Stephen and Vivian for their thoughts during our buddy-read!
Ps. If Vivian doesn't put it in her excellent review, once you read the book, check out her little summary:
September 10, 2020
This is the kind of story that I love—It’s lingering, it’s mythic, and it leaves you on the edge of a conclusion. The story of traveling to the afterlife with a guide, but with such an interesting edge.
Concept: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Execution: ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Pacing: ★ ★ ★ 1/2
The Border Keeper opens with a landscape. A tiny house lies on the horizon of a desolate, completely empty desert. There is a low fence stretching across the world behind the house—it extends beyond all eyesight in either direction, and it leaves no shadow. The border.
A man walks up to this spot on the horizon. He’s traveled beyond his means to reach this house, and he needs to speak to the being inside: the border keeper.
The border keeper has been the border keeper for all time. She’s lived many lives, traveled many realms, and holds a bone-deep power. She is what stands between the realm and the other, the afterlife. And she’s not interested in attracting company.
But the man needs to go across the border, and he’s here to petition his case.
So begins The Border Keeper. With this impressive and visually gripping opener, the author had me hooked on the plot. I love underworld/afterlife stories and renditions, and this one was so incredibly singular, and perfect for its novella size. I wanted more, but I feel like I didn’t need more—it would have cheapened the questioning nature of the world and the mysteries of the border keeper herself.
However, the pacing bothered me. When you have limited pages, each page should have a specific purpose and carefully execute each plot point with the right amount of give and take. I found certain scenes to be rushed, leaving me confused, and other scenes to be completely, utterly unnecessary.
Honestly, give this one a go. It might surprise you! And if the plot doesn’t hook you, read it for the surprising humor and stunning visuals.
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Concept: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Execution: ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Pacing: ★ ★ ★ 1/2
The Border Keeper opens with a landscape. A tiny house lies on the horizon of a desolate, completely empty desert. There is a low fence stretching across the world behind the house—it extends beyond all eyesight in either direction, and it leaves no shadow. The border.
A man walks up to this spot on the horizon. He’s traveled beyond his means to reach this house, and he needs to speak to the being inside: the border keeper.
The border keeper has been the border keeper for all time. She’s lived many lives, traveled many realms, and holds a bone-deep power. She is what stands between the realm and the other, the afterlife. And she’s not interested in attracting company.
But the man needs to go across the border, and he’s here to petition his case.
So begins The Border Keeper. With this impressive and visually gripping opener, the author had me hooked on the plot. I love underworld/afterlife stories and renditions, and this one was so incredibly singular, and perfect for its novella size. I wanted more, but I feel like I didn’t need more—it would have cheapened the questioning nature of the world and the mysteries of the border keeper herself.
However, the pacing bothered me. When you have limited pages, each page should have a specific purpose and carefully execute each plot point with the right amount of give and take. I found certain scenes to be rushed, leaving me confused, and other scenes to be completely, utterly unnecessary.
Honestly, give this one a go. It might surprise you! And if the plot doesn’t hook you, read it for the surprising humor and stunning visuals.
Blog | Instagram
March 15, 2022
If you want to read a story for evocative descriptive language, then this is a win. It was luscious and so palpable it was almost difficult to follow the story because you were drowning in sensorial details.
The beach was glass, incandescent and smooth, honeycombed by large circular funnels along the line of the tide. Above, a too-large sun gleamed through banks of cloud, reflecting off the surface of the water.
But it had problems, some significant world building gaps that were never explained and critical for understanding the characters. Since it used so many different mythological/ideological inspirations you can’t assume. I’m fine with letting the reader fill in lots of margin with their own imaginings, but not how a world operates.
There are just too many leaps and things left unsaid. The abrupt ending to this leisurely linguistic episode was harsh. The critical reader in me would give this story 2 stars, but I’ll admit that I added one star for the language-the sheer spectacle of Mkalis and Ahri.
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January 4, 2020Weird and lyrically written fantasy with a lot of world building and characters and backstory and plot packed into novella length. I never quite connected emotionally with this one--the POV character is keeping secrets from himself and other characters and the readers, which added to the decision to go in media res rather than exposition made it feel a bit distant to me. Beautiful writing and lots of great ideas.
January 5, 2021
I think the best words I can come up with to describe this book are: odd, slightly bewildering, and extremely unsettling. It features tropes I don't usually enjoy: the journey trope and the weird shit for no reason trope, a combo I like to think of as the Alice in Wonderland effect, an effect I'm not generally fond of, but oddly enough, I think it worked very well here.
Perhaps that is partly due to the writing, which is gorgeous: so lush and evocative and descriptive. Everything here was so visual; though there were so many strange and unusual sights, I could see everything so clearly, and all the weirdness was fascinating. I want to know more about all these creepy and borderline horrific realms. I'd love a compendium just on the worldbuilding of Mkalis.
I'm not entirely sure I understood everything that happened, but I think I enjoyed the journey? There were some interesting reveals throughout, but I wish that their resonance had been a little clearer. I feel like I'm still left guessing at how some things fit together. But overall I really enjoyed this; there's something very compelling about this world. The creativity here is delightful.
Perhaps that is partly due to the writing, which is gorgeous: so lush and evocative and descriptive. Everything here was so visual; though there were so many strange and unusual sights, I could see everything so clearly, and all the weirdness was fascinating. I want to know more about all these creepy and borderline horrific realms. I'd love a compendium just on the worldbuilding of Mkalis.
I'm not entirely sure I understood everything that happened, but I think I enjoyed the journey? There were some interesting reveals throughout, but I wish that their resonance had been a little clearer. I feel like I'm still left guessing at how some things fit together. But overall I really enjoyed this; there's something very compelling about this world. The creativity here is delightful.
March 15, 2022
Hm.
The element I liked most about this one was the world-building and even that had plenty of holes in it. The characters were very weak across the board for me, especially the titular character as well as the protagonist, Vasethe.
There's some intrigue injected by Vasethe keeping secrets from: the reader, the other characters, and himself. But when these secrets are revealed they're fairly underwhelming. Speaking of underwhelming, the novella fizzles out with a half-hearted ending that doesn't really make sense and clearly just sets things up for the second novella when really it should have been a single novel instead.
I will say, Hall's prose is nice, but prose is lowest on the totem pole of my priority's with a book so that wasn't enough to save it from a negative review from me. I'm just about curious enough to read the sequel, but I certainly won't be in a rush to recommend this one.
Thanks to Carol, Stephen, and Vivian for another great buddy read :)
The element I liked most about this one was the world-building and even that had plenty of holes in it. The characters were very weak across the board for me, especially the titular character as well as the protagonist, Vasethe.
There's some intrigue injected by Vasethe keeping secrets from: the reader, the other characters, and himself. But when these secrets are revealed they're fairly underwhelming. Speaking of underwhelming, the novella fizzles out with a half-hearted ending that doesn't really make sense and clearly just sets things up for the second novella when really it should have been a single novel instead.
I will say, Hall's prose is nice, but prose is lowest on the totem pole of my priority's with a book so that wasn't enough to save it from a negative review from me. I'm just about curious enough to read the sequel, but I certainly won't be in a rush to recommend this one.
Thanks to Carol, Stephen, and Vivian for another great buddy read :)
January 17, 2019
A stunningly good novella - I would have happily read a full-length novel set in this world, but the economy of storytelling here is its own little miracle. It’s a dark, weird, sweet fantasy that gestures toward a much larger universe without beating you to death with worldbuilding.
July 26, 2019
This isn't quite the romp through a fantastical underworld I had in mind (as in, not as fast-paced or as rich in detail as I'd imagined), but you know when you read or watch or play something that gives you this inexplicable yet pleasant vibe and it just kind of sticks with you for the rest of the day? Yeah, that's this book.
The worldbuilding is really where the story shines--a mix of weird horror and your typical fantasy fare. You get demon-god politics, crab children, and horrific and imaginative consequences for breaking Mikalis rules (the most important one being "always tell the truth") and there's an incredible quietness to it all that I loved and found to be strangely addictive. It's reminiscent of the Souls games, the way everything feels forlorn without being grisly, and expansive without being crammed to the walls with details and metaphors. And the wistful tone meshes really well with the story's theme of death and rebirth. It's one of those worlds that feels subdued but still creative, and I think that's a quality that's underappreciated in fantasy.
I wasn't as enamoured with the characters, unfortunately. While the history of the Eris's role as the border keeper and her relationship with the gods and demons of Mikalis is fascinating, I wasn't too interested in her as a person. Same with Vasethe, who was weirdly bland and non-present throughout the whole story, except for maybe near the end.
Overall, though, this is a lovely debut and I'd love to see more stories set in the same world.
The worldbuilding is really where the story shines--a mix of weird horror and your typical fantasy fare. You get demon-god politics, crab children, and horrific and imaginative consequences for breaking Mikalis rules (the most important one being "always tell the truth") and there's an incredible quietness to it all that I loved and found to be strangely addictive. It's reminiscent of the Souls games, the way everything feels forlorn without being grisly, and expansive without being crammed to the walls with details and metaphors. And the wistful tone meshes really well with the story's theme of death and rebirth. It's one of those worlds that feels subdued but still creative, and I think that's a quality that's underappreciated in fantasy.
I wasn't as enamoured with the characters, unfortunately. While the history of the Eris's role as the border keeper and her relationship with the gods and demons of Mikalis is fascinating, I wasn't too interested in her as a person. Same with Vasethe, who was weirdly bland and non-present throughout the whole story, except for maybe near the end.
Overall, though, this is a lovely debut and I'd love to see more stories set in the same world.
December 31, 2021
Kerstin Hall’s The Border Keeper is a mesmerizing sensory smorgasbord, and very possibly my favorite novella of all time. In this universe there are two worlds, Ahri and Mkalis, and when you die in Ahri you wake up and begin a new life in Mkalis. Eris, the Border Keeper, maintains the wall between the two, and when a mysterious man named Vasethe approaches her for help, the two of them embark on a perilous adventure into the 100 realms of Mkalis, each ruled by its own capricious deity.
The story itself reads like a combination travelogue, mystery, political treatise, and romance. The plot is unbelievably tight, walking the difficult tightrope between introducing and info-dumping. We don’t spend much time in Ahri, but Mkalis was endlessly fascinating: grim and lush, gory and fantastical. I was reminded strongly of the bleak, dangerous All-World of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, and am desperate for a chance to explore the different realms referenced throughout.
Eris is a phenomenal character. As the Border Keeper, she simultaneously wields immense power and exists outside of politics governing the realms, maintaining order through a combination of thousands of years of experience and occasionally bouts of violent justice. Her unique status provides an excellent window into the narrative, as she and Vasethe are able to observe and traverse without being hindered (until, of course, they are). Her role reminds me a bit of the Doctor from Doctor Who, if they were significantly more inclined to a) interference and b) biblical levels of aggression. On a character level, she is dry, funny, and deceptively compassionate, and I loved getting to see both the woman and the legend. I enjoyed our protagonist, Vasethe, plenty, but was far more compelled by Eris’ personality and history.
My second read through of this book was just as thrilling as the first, and I am utterly dumbstruck by Hall’s brilliant, creative mind. I can only hope that this is the first of many books from this universe.
The story itself reads like a combination travelogue, mystery, political treatise, and romance. The plot is unbelievably tight, walking the difficult tightrope between introducing and info-dumping. We don’t spend much time in Ahri, but Mkalis was endlessly fascinating: grim and lush, gory and fantastical. I was reminded strongly of the bleak, dangerous All-World of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, and am desperate for a chance to explore the different realms referenced throughout.
Eris is a phenomenal character. As the Border Keeper, she simultaneously wields immense power and exists outside of politics governing the realms, maintaining order through a combination of thousands of years of experience and occasionally bouts of violent justice. Her unique status provides an excellent window into the narrative, as she and Vasethe are able to observe and traverse without being hindered (until, of course, they are). Her role reminds me a bit of the Doctor from Doctor Who, if they were significantly more inclined to a) interference and b) biblical levels of aggression. On a character level, she is dry, funny, and deceptively compassionate, and I loved getting to see both the woman and the legend. I enjoyed our protagonist, Vasethe, plenty, but was far more compelled by Eris’ personality and history.
My second read through of this book was just as thrilling as the first, and I am utterly dumbstruck by Hall’s brilliant, creative mind. I can only hope that this is the first of many books from this universe.
July 19, 2019
ANGST! ADVENTURE! DEMONS! CARPENTRY!
I mean who doesn't wanna traverse the nine-hundred and ninety-nine demon realms of the with a murderous god-like snarky-ass witch?
"This is mine now; begone fools".
I love her. I can't decide if I wanna hang out or if I would be too frightened of her genocidal ways. Vasethe is a brave man.
Engrossing characters, tightly wound plot, exceptional world-building, luscious prose. I could go on....
In fact I will go on...
Real treasures in the book include the way the author manages to hint at the vast scope of the world without overwhelming the reader with irrelevant details. You're brought right into the heart of the text, adventuring across uncanny worlds with strange characters. Hall manages to balance the quiet, subtle and tender moments of the text against the epic plot and vast landscapes with a real deftness.
Strong creep factor as well which is always fun. You'll be intermittently grossed out and hungry. Like there are really poignant scenes of cooking - rich with turmeric and emotional resonance - but also the baby-crab-creatures and maggoty wounds. It's a blast.
Truly a delightful and distinctive new voice in fantasy literature, I'm confident we will see great things from Hall. Can I have them now though? Like right now? I've finished the book and I have separation anxiety.
I mean who doesn't wanna traverse the nine-hundred and ninety-nine demon realms of the with a murderous god-like snarky-ass witch?
"This is mine now; begone fools".
I love her. I can't decide if I wanna hang out or if I would be too frightened of her genocidal ways. Vasethe is a brave man.
Engrossing characters, tightly wound plot, exceptional world-building, luscious prose. I could go on....
In fact I will go on...
Real treasures in the book include the way the author manages to hint at the vast scope of the world without overwhelming the reader with irrelevant details. You're brought right into the heart of the text, adventuring across uncanny worlds with strange characters. Hall manages to balance the quiet, subtle and tender moments of the text against the epic plot and vast landscapes with a real deftness.
Strong creep factor as well which is always fun. You'll be intermittently grossed out and hungry. Like there are really poignant scenes of cooking - rich with turmeric and emotional resonance - but also the baby-crab-creatures and maggoty wounds. It's a blast.
Truly a delightful and distinctive new voice in fantasy literature, I'm confident we will see great things from Hall. Can I have them now though? Like right now? I've finished the book and I have separation anxiety.
August 25, 2022
This novella has beautiful, atmospheric writing, but too much is kept secret from the reader and left unexplained: we end up viewing the characters only from the outside instead of sharing their experiences and understanding their thoughts and motivations. The world-building is wonderfully inventive (and often horrific) but also too vague. e.g. The magic system seems to be able to do anything one moment, and have some limitation the next, which also reduces the reader to a clueless spectator role. If viewpoint, information, and magic had been handled differently, it could have been a 5 star - I can certainly see the potential.
August 10, 2021
3.5 stars.
The afterlives are wonderfully detailed and varied for a story that is only novella-length. There's plenty of violence, mystery and occasional ick to keep this story of a strange man, Vasethe, who asks Eris the Border Keeper to help him locate someone in an afterlife. They have to travel through different afterlives, while encountering warring demons and gods, and a crab (!). I liked the slow reveal of Vasethe's motives, and of his secrets, while Eris is wonderfully world weary, irascible, powerful, and frightening.
The afterlives are wonderfully detailed and varied for a story that is only novella-length. There's plenty of violence, mystery and occasional ick to keep this story of a strange man, Vasethe, who asks Eris the Border Keeper to help him locate someone in an afterlife. They have to travel through different afterlives, while encountering warring demons and gods, and a crab (!). I liked the slow reveal of Vasethe's motives, and of his secrets, while Eris is wonderfully world weary, irascible, powerful, and frightening.
August 24, 2019
The pages flawlessly flowed with the authors writing style that immediately immersed me into this fantasy world she was able to create that was filled with mortals, gods, demons and other unworldly creatures. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and before I knew it, this magnificent read was over. It was such an easy fun read that left me wanting more and despite the fact that I thought it ended too soon, the novel was engaging enough to engulfed any reader into the story of Vasethe and Eris journey to the realm of Mkalis. Keratin Hall is definitely a must watch author to keep an eye on if you're looking to indulge yourself in a new and refreshing mystifying fantasy world novel.
August 11, 2022
2.5 stars. This left me strangely disappointed, but only in the sense that... IDK, I would have expected a book with these themes and these types of characters to have left more of an impression on me. My first book by Hall was so deeply weird and fascinating and completely pulled me in. There's nothing wrong with this one; in fact, it has a lot of interesting concepts and world-building (I LOVE stories about godhood and the underworld), but I find myself with little to nothing to actually say about it. Nothing about this seems to want to stick in my head. Vasethe was okay as a character, but at some point, having a main character who 1) knows so little 2) says so little of what he knows and 3) lies a bunch... it just became kind of tiring? I won't deny that there's a lot I didn't understand, and I should probably give this a bit of a reread to do it justice but... I don't wanna and I have other books to read. ✌️🏿
Listened to the audiobook as read by Michael Braun; it was pretty good. I would still recommend this if the concept sounds interesting to you, but I doubt I'll be continuing the series.
Content warnings:
Listened to the audiobook as read by Michael Braun; it was pretty good. I would still recommend this if the concept sounds interesting to you, but I doubt I'll be continuing the series.
Content warnings:
October 14, 2021
3.5⭐️
I don’t have a clue what I just read, if I’m being perfectly honest, but I was along for the ride and had a good time! I was able to grasp most of the middle of the plot, but chunks of the beginning and the entire ending are a blur of confusion. The last five pages don’t even exist in my brain, it completely went over my head 😂
But despite my confusion, I still actually enjoyed this! I loved the writing, the characters, and the world. Portal fantasy is my absolute favourite genre, and I really liked the imagery of the different realms, although I do wish we’d been able to explore at least a few more of them. I feel like the world building was lacking for my personal preference; I think a lot of my confusion would have been solved if things had been explained a bit more (or a lot more, actually). But overall, I’m glad I read this one and I’ll definitely be reading the sequel at some point!
I don’t have a clue what I just read, if I’m being perfectly honest, but I was along for the ride and had a good time! I was able to grasp most of the middle of the plot, but chunks of the beginning and the entire ending are a blur of confusion. The last five pages don’t even exist in my brain, it completely went over my head 😂
But despite my confusion, I still actually enjoyed this! I loved the writing, the characters, and the world. Portal fantasy is my absolute favourite genre, and I really liked the imagery of the different realms, although I do wish we’d been able to explore at least a few more of them. I feel like the world building was lacking for my personal preference; I think a lot of my confusion would have been solved if things had been explained a bit more (or a lot more, actually). But overall, I’m glad I read this one and I’ll definitely be reading the sequel at some point!
February 6, 2022
There is a sequel and I need it. That was just beautiful. ☺️ 5 ⭐. A new favorite novella!
Vasethe goes to the Border Keeper for help. Eris, the name that he chooses to call the Border Keeper-for she has many names-is unimpressed with him. This whole book revolves around the pair of them, as Vasethe catches Eris up on current history, culture, people and more. Together the pair work together.
I can’t tell you more about the plot without giving away spoilers. There’s a quest involved, sort of, and more questions than there are answers. There’s a curse, and limited time in searching for that they hunt. There’s betrayals and confusion and lots of near death experiences. Magical and enchanting, I recommend this for fans that like unusual settings and great characters.
Vasethe goes to the Border Keeper for help. Eris, the name that he chooses to call the Border Keeper-for she has many names-is unimpressed with him. This whole book revolves around the pair of them, as Vasethe catches Eris up on current history, culture, people and more. Together the pair work together.
I can’t tell you more about the plot without giving away spoilers. There’s a quest involved, sort of, and more questions than there are answers. There’s a curse, and limited time in searching for that they hunt. There’s betrayals and confusion and lots of near death experiences. Magical and enchanting, I recommend this for fans that like unusual settings and great characters.
July 23, 2019
The Border Keeper has a lot going for it. Kerstin Hall has created a cool world filled with depth and interesting characters. There is a strong sense of history related to both the world itself and the relationships between the characters. Several reveals within the novella caught me pleasantly by surprise. However, there were other times where I felt lost in the plot and the characters; feeling like I was missing out on key details. Despite that experience, I would still be happy to dive back into this world and these people. It is a solid start to something that can only get better.
to-read-so-bad-it-hurts
December 28, 2019'It's a twisty kind of story, and no one is quite what they seem. Thematically, it has a lot to do with ideas of healing and justice, but there are also pretty demons with long hair and an exceedingly grumpy genocidal witch.'
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July 13, 2021
Beautifully written and you almost breathe fantasy in each of its words.
It's weird fairy tale where nothing is familiar but wildly unreal.
Something was missing for my taste.
I admit that I need more pages to finish entering a story.
It's weird fairy tale where nothing is familiar but wildly unreal.
Something was missing for my taste.
I admit that I need more pages to finish entering a story.
September 14, 2022
2.5 rounded up. loved the vibes and the characters (i cannot resist a house himbo), but the plot was overcomplicated and honestly pretty boring. I think this probably would have been better as a full-length novel, the story beats would have more time to unfold naturally and the plot would probably feel less like a d&d campaign thrown together in five seconds.
June 15, 2019
This weird little twisty novella immediately jumped up to the top of my to read list when I saw someone advertise it on twitter and took my breath away.
It follows a man named Vasethe who journeys to seek help from a woman named Eres who is not what she seems. Cause you see, she is the border keeper the guardian between his world and the 999 realms of Mkalis, where demons and gods wage endless war. With her aid, he crosses over for a purpose which at first is unclear but is soon revealed. Throughout their journey Eres and Vasethe discover things about both each other and the worlds around them which threaten everything they are and they will do anything to fight back and overcome it.
I loved everything about this story from it's lyrical prose to it's theme's of love, war, justice, healing, redemption and peace. I also love how it fiddles with the concept of life and death and brings a truly unique spin to the concept of afterlife. I love how it incorporates elements of different mythologies and how it's seemingly minor details from crab like people, to a homicidal demon ended up being major elements that drew the story together. I love that both characters are trying to overcome their own personal pasts and issues separately yet they grow the most when they tackle them together. That, plus other events taking place within the world, give the story a complexity and rawness that I have seldom seen, and brings it to the next level.
The world building in this is incredible, it's hard to believe it's only 200 pages. Hall does a lot with a small space! I love everything about this story from top to bottom! My only complaint? I wish it were longer! I could read a full length novel, or several in this strange world of realms and demons and war and magic. Pre order today! You won't want to miss this! Kerstin Hall is definately one to watch! 5 out of 5 stars for me! Thank you to @negalley and the publisher for my ARC for review!
It follows a man named Vasethe who journeys to seek help from a woman named Eres who is not what she seems. Cause you see, she is the border keeper the guardian between his world and the 999 realms of Mkalis, where demons and gods wage endless war. With her aid, he crosses over for a purpose which at first is unclear but is soon revealed. Throughout their journey Eres and Vasethe discover things about both each other and the worlds around them which threaten everything they are and they will do anything to fight back and overcome it.
I loved everything about this story from it's lyrical prose to it's theme's of love, war, justice, healing, redemption and peace. I also love how it fiddles with the concept of life and death and brings a truly unique spin to the concept of afterlife. I love how it incorporates elements of different mythologies and how it's seemingly minor details from crab like people, to a homicidal demon ended up being major elements that drew the story together. I love that both characters are trying to overcome their own personal pasts and issues separately yet they grow the most when they tackle them together. That, plus other events taking place within the world, give the story a complexity and rawness that I have seldom seen, and brings it to the next level.
The world building in this is incredible, it's hard to believe it's only 200 pages. Hall does a lot with a small space! I love everything about this story from top to bottom! My only complaint? I wish it were longer! I could read a full length novel, or several in this strange world of realms and demons and war and magic. Pre order today! You won't want to miss this! Kerstin Hall is definately one to watch! 5 out of 5 stars for me! Thank you to @negalley and the publisher for my ARC for review!
May 5, 2019
Many thanks to Tor.com for mailing me an ARC 😊
I am quietly amazed at the huge world and the scope of the story which Hall managed to fit in such a small space without it ever feeling forced. This is a huge story about love and loss and redemption that spans life and death, and multiple other dimensions too. If I were to liken it to anything, I would say it's something like taking a stroll through the third panel of Hironymous Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. It's twisty and complicated, and very satisfying. I won't summarise the plot opening because the blurb already does that very well. I did love the characters of Vasethe and Eris. The latter was especially interesting because she read as something very old and yet kept a mortal heart hidden somewhere inside her. The storytelling was economical but still rich and very visual. The world was huge. In many ways this was a very strange, twisty story and there are points where you really don't know what's going on and all control is yielded up to the 3rd person narrator. I found this gave the novella an unsettling quality which matched the compulsively readable prose. This is an excellent piece of weird fantasy and one which will stay with me. Highly recommend.
I am quietly amazed at the huge world and the scope of the story which Hall managed to fit in such a small space without it ever feeling forced. This is a huge story about love and loss and redemption that spans life and death, and multiple other dimensions too. If I were to liken it to anything, I would say it's something like taking a stroll through the third panel of Hironymous Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. It's twisty and complicated, and very satisfying. I won't summarise the plot opening because the blurb already does that very well. I did love the characters of Vasethe and Eris. The latter was especially interesting because she read as something very old and yet kept a mortal heart hidden somewhere inside her. The storytelling was economical but still rich and very visual. The world was huge. In many ways this was a very strange, twisty story and there are points where you really don't know what's going on and all control is yielded up to the 3rd person narrator. I found this gave the novella an unsettling quality which matched the compulsively readable prose. This is an excellent piece of weird fantasy and one which will stay with me. Highly recommend.
October 11, 2020
When it got going and started making sense, I liked it, but the start was super confusing.
I got annoyed with it because it took a while to work out what the story was supposed to be. It drip fed information about what was going on and kept the reader in the dark for far longer than was necessary. All the characters seemed to know what they were doing so why not tell the reader? It felt like a bit of a lazy way to create suspense.
I loved the character of Eris – even though I say that I didn’t like being kept in the dark I did actually like the way we slowly see that she is a whole lot more than she first appears to be. It felt like it made sense to the story the way her backstory was slowly revealed to Vasethe.
When I’d worked out a bit about what was happening, I started to enjoy it, I enjoyed the dark fairy tale vibes to the story and I thought it had a lot of originality in it. The writing was beautiful and matched the style of the story well and it was a fun adventure through some magical realms.
There’s a lot of promise in it but for me it never fully recovers from the confusing start. For a relatively short story I feel that there’s just too much backstory to get through.
I got annoyed with it because it took a while to work out what the story was supposed to be. It drip fed information about what was going on and kept the reader in the dark for far longer than was necessary. All the characters seemed to know what they were doing so why not tell the reader? It felt like a bit of a lazy way to create suspense.
I loved the character of Eris – even though I say that I didn’t like being kept in the dark I did actually like the way we slowly see that she is a whole lot more than she first appears to be. It felt like it made sense to the story the way her backstory was slowly revealed to Vasethe.
When I’d worked out a bit about what was happening, I started to enjoy it, I enjoyed the dark fairy tale vibes to the story and I thought it had a lot of originality in it. The writing was beautiful and matched the style of the story well and it was a fun adventure through some magical realms.
There’s a lot of promise in it but for me it never fully recovers from the confusing start. For a relatively short story I feel that there’s just too much backstory to get through.
October 7, 2022
Odd, twisty, mythic, and somehow, despite being just over 200 pages long, epic.
The world is very cool, and the characters are unlikeable and yet somehow intensely loveable.
Eris, my love.
I gotta say, though, I'm not sure the blurb on the back of the book is really what to go by? I mean, it's hard to pin down, I get that, but I don't think "the profound terror and power of motherhood" is the thing I would highlight in this. There's way too much other stuff going on, even on a meta level, that is more to the forefront than motherhood. Loyalty, grief, love, power, self-actualization... the list is pretty long, and it would take me a while before I would list motherhood.
Fantastic book, looking forward to reading more in the series.
Second read: The second book is finally out, and I tried to read it but only got three pages in because I couldn't remember who any of the people were or what the hell happened at the end of the first one. The only answer was to re-read this one! Oh darn.
I enjoyed the second read through even more than the first, and now I'm very ready and excited to get farther than three pages into Second Spear.
The world is very cool, and the characters are unlikeable and yet somehow intensely loveable.
Eris, my love.
I gotta say, though, I'm not sure the blurb on the back of the book is really what to go by? I mean, it's hard to pin down, I get that, but I don't think "the profound terror and power of motherhood" is the thing I would highlight in this. There's way too much other stuff going on, even on a meta level, that is more to the forefront than motherhood. Loyalty, grief, love, power, self-actualization... the list is pretty long, and it would take me a while before I would list motherhood.
Fantastic book, looking forward to reading more in the series.
Second read: The second book is finally out, and I tried to read it but only got three pages in because I couldn't remember who any of the people were or what the hell happened at the end of the first one. The only answer was to re-read this one! Oh darn.
I enjoyed the second read through even more than the first, and now I'm very ready and excited to get farther than three pages into Second Spear.
February 8, 2020
After I read I read this novella, I read a review that said "This book was weird but phenomenal I still have no idea what's happening." (punctuation in original) I agree that it was weird and that I still have no idea what's happening. Phenomenal? Not so much.
There are gross bits, too, BTW.
I had no idea why/what the old woman was doing with the man at the beginning. Perhaps some sort of vision quest.
I have to admit that I started skipping when, at about 15%, there was a single word that was scrawled somewhere. It was described in detail, but the author never told us what it was. This annoyed me. Then on the next page, there was something gross, so I just started skimming.
At 85% I slowed and read everything, and the end was just as mysterious as the beginning. If there's a story there, I don't know what it's supposed to be.
If it's just word art you are writing, that's fine. But I would like to know that beforehand so I don't buy the dang thing.
Tell me a story, please!
(And I expect there will be a Nebula nomination.)
There are gross bits, too, BTW.
I had no idea why/what the old woman was doing with the man at the beginning. Perhaps some sort of vision quest.
I have to admit that I started skipping when, at about 15%, there was a single word that was scrawled somewhere. It was described in detail, but the author never told us what it was. This annoyed me. Then on the next page, there was something gross, so I just started skimming.
At 85% I slowed and read everything, and the end was just as mysterious as the beginning. If there's a story there, I don't know what it's supposed to be.
If it's just word art you are writing, that's fine. But I would like to know that beforehand so I don't buy the dang thing.
Tell me a story, please!
(And I expect there will be a Nebula nomination.)
August 14, 2021
I loved how evocative and gorgeous the imagery and worldbuilding of this book was. I'm not always a huge fan of adventure fantasy but it was just so beautiful I couldn't help but love it. Unfortunately, I felt there was distance between me and the characters which made the reveals in the second half feel less poignant. I'd definitely recommend this book to people who love gorgeous writing, but it didn't quite work for me.
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June 14, 2019
This book is special, in that it's like nothing I have read before. It's wildly original and Kerstin Hall is definitely one of the exceptional talents to watch out for. I was left a bit dry with that abrupt ending but overall I thought The Border Keeper is a beautiful, intriguing lyrical fantasy novel that fiddles with your concepts of death and life, takes you to some amazing worlds and realms. Detailed review closer to release!
June 3, 2021
Really marvelous. Spare in language, but rich in content. Circular in a really satisfying way. And have you seen that cover? So many little details that mean nothing until you read the book and realize they mean a lot. I would have been happy with it as a stand-alone. But now that I know there is a sequel coming out I’ll be waiting impatiently.
July 10, 2022
DNF’d I don’t like when authors are mysterious for the sake of being mysterious. Everything felt like it had a deeper double meaning but it was lost on me as I didn’t have the information for it to have any meaning. Great descriptive writing but that’s about it.
May 19, 2019
A fast-paced fantasy debut. Hall's descriptive language and plot that draws on various mythologies creates a vivid world of lost souls and revenge.
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