Aware

by Andy Havens

he Side Ways urban fantasy series centers around Kendra White, a girl whose parents belonged to a world that exists alongside our own. A world of seven separate Domains, peopled by “Reckoners,” some thousands of years old, who gain Ways of power from specific, dedicated perspectives. Raised as an outsider – a “Mundane” – Kendra tries to make sense of a realm where every observation, decision and ability depends on one’s viewpoints and perceptions. What is fundamental to a Reckoner of Sight may be unimportant or even dangerous to those from Earth, Blood, Release, Increase, Flux and Chaos. And though awakened to the Domains, Kendra is still outside them; she does not belong to any of the related Seven Houses. In her struggle to understand their history and tensions, she becomes an inadvertent piece in a power game some six-thousand years in the playing. A game whose last round ended with the Great Flood that nearly wiped the world clean of both Reckoners and Mundanes. In the first book, "Awake," Kendra enters the world of the Domains but struggles to understand the people and creatures she meets there. She is a very rare creature in two ways; she is the daughter of two Houses – Release and Increase – and was raised outside the knowledge of the Domains. She is unaffiliated, and this is not only confusing for her, but dangerous. Most Reckoners grow up within a Domain where life, the world and access to powerful, supernatural Ways depend on your House’s perspective. In addition, the Law that guides interaction between the Houses does not apply to outsiders. Two strange events in one day – an odd and frightening Rorschach test and a dangerous encounter in the topiary garden she helps care for – bring her to partial awareness of the Domains. But she is still an outsider and does not yet completely accept that these events aren’t just elements of her imagination. Brought to Solomon Monday, the Librarian and Master of Sight, she is given a deadly test that will either fully awaken her Reckoning, or be her death. In the second book, “Aware,” Kendra learns more about her powers and begins to glimpse the ancient tensions between the Houses. She is brought into the confidence of powerful Reckoners who begin to put the pieces together of a sinister, conspiracy on behalf of two of the Houses to overthrow the long peace of the Law and return the world to a time of bloodshed and global, magical war. But while they make plans and solidify assumptions, Kendra discovers that even this treachery may hide a deeper, more fundamental danger to the Domains.

388 pages, Paperback

Published December 17, 2017

About the author

I've been writing speculative, fantasy and science fiction since I was eight. I write for a living as a marketing manager and still enjoy writing fiction and poetry on my own time. I've written at least 30% of five different novels but always stopped because they just weren't that interesting to me. Then the Side Ways came along, and I began writing with a new interest and energy for a fantasy world entirely of my own making.

I've always enjoyed being the game/dungeon master for live, pen-and-paper role playing games with friends. Having done that for 30+ years, I knew that one of my favorite parts was the detail work of creating entire cultures, histories and systems beyond simple characters. Because whenever I'd add a new character, the question always persisted: why do they do the things they do?

The Side Ways is an entirely alternate history, with the addition of seven magical Domains ruled by seven Houses that exist in parallel to the world you and I know. The power of the Reckoners within these Domains comes from the unique viewpoints of each House. The connections and conflicts between the the Houses reach back before the beginning of mankind.

Now... with every new chapter and character and scene, I get to think and take notes and write about that world, those Domains and their interaction with our view of history.

I'm having a lot of fun with it. I hope you enjoy reading. And let me know if you discover that you're allied with a particular House. I get that from a lot of my readers. ;-)

Reviews

[Jon Dayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to next?!

Book two goes deeper and deeper into not just Reckoner intrigue but all aspects of Reckoner life as Kendra learns more about her world. The story is anything but predictable, with some of the twists and turns being millennia in the making. This is a series that will bear a re-read every couple years to see what new details and connections jump out.

[Becky Stracener Epp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. I really enjoyed it all.

[steffi Seitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book of the Kendra story. It is a continuation of her story and some world building. I felt I got a better idea of what the world was like and how the characters play their part in it. It expanded knowledge of the 1st books characters and introduced some fun new characters. I enjoyed it a lot and recommend it as a continuation.