No Return

Jeroun #1

by Zachary Jernigan

On Jeroun, there is no question as to whether God exists—only what his intentions are.

Under the looming judgment of Adrash and his ultimate weapon—a string of spinning spheres beside the moon known as The Needle—warring factions of white and black suits prove their opposition to the orbiting god with the great fighting tournament of Danoor, on the far side of Jeroun’s only inhabitable continent.

From the Thirteenth Order of Black Suits comes Vedas, a young master of martial arts, laden with guilt over the death of one of his students. Traveling with him are Churls, a warrior woman and mercenary haunted by the ghost of her daughter, and Berun, a constructed man made of modular spheres possessed by the foul spirit of his creator. Together they must brave their own demons, as well as thieves, mages, beasts, dearth, and hardship on the perilous road to Danoor, and the bloody sectarian battle that is sure to follow.

On the other side of the world, unbeknownst to the travelers, Ebn and Pol of the Royal Outbound Mages (astronauts using Alchemical magic to achieve space flight) have formed a plan to appease Adrash and bring peace to the planet. But Ebn and Pol each have their own clandestine agendas—which may call down the wrath of the very god they hope to woo.

Who may know the mind of God? And who in their right mind would seek to defy him? Gritty, erotic, and fast-paced, author Zachary Jernigan takes you on a sensuous ride through a world at the knife-edge of salvation and destruction, in one of the year’s most exciting fantasy epics.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Audiobook, Speculative Fiction, Unfinished

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 5, 2013

About the author

Zachary (he/him) is a middle-aged aesthete who digs homoerotic science-fantasy, punk rock, and pretzels. He lives in Arizona, in the high desert, in a broad, beautiful valley with a river running through it. He’s had OCD most of his life, and in retrospect would have it no other way. He’s written three books but recommends only one of them.

Reviews

[Dan Schwent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tournament is announced and three warriors band together to journey to Danoor to take part. Meanwhile, two mages plot to travel to the outer atmosphere to confront the god Adrash...

Over the past few years, I've made no secret of the fact that I'm partial to fantasy that dares to step outside the Tolkien-via-Dungeons-and-Dragons box. No Return certainly fits the bill.

No Return is one of those books that I struggle to describe. Cosmic fantasy akin to Michael Moorcock, Roger Zelazny, and Jack Kirby? Partly, but it's also a hero's journey, at least to a point.

Vedas is the closest thing to a straight up hero in the book. He wears a Blacksuit, a garment made of the skin of one of the eldermen, beings who predate humans. Look, I said this was a special book, just follow me. He's torn between his loyalty to the order and his feelings toward Churls. Churls is a gambler, drunk, and quite a fighter, struggling with her feelings toward Vedas and is haunted by the host of her dead daugher. Berun, the artifical man, is conflicted between his loyaly toward his master and his feelings toward his new friends. And that's just the warriors journeying to the tournament.

While the tournament thread was my favorite part of the book, the mages looking to supplant Adrash were a close second. How can you not love mages flying to the moon to confront a god? Ebn and Pol both proved to be well rounded characters. Lots of twists in the mage thread. Adrash reminded me of a combination of the Silver Surfer and one of Jack Kirby's later creations, the New Gods. He was unlike the usual petulant child or all-knowing figure gods are normally portrayed as in fantasy. Adrash is a force of nature you do not want to cross.

The subject matter reminded me of Roger Zelazny, Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance, and Philip Jose Farmer, fantasy with shades of science fiction. The worldbuilding was just the way I like it, deep but not deep enough to drown in. The writing was detailed without being overwritten, again, something I'm a big fan of. For a fantasy book, there's a fair amount of sex to go with the violence.

I'm probably just being fickle by not slapping a five star rating on this. It's the first book in a trilogy but feels fairly self contained. I really don't have anything to complain about. I enjoyed the shit out of this and look forward to whatever Zachary Jernigan serves up next. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Mihir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall rating = 4 & 1/2 stars

Full review over at Fantasy Book Critic

ANALYSIS: Zachary Jernigan’s No Return is a debut that drew my attention to it like a moth to a flame. The blurb detailed a foreign world and races that was simply too enticing for a fantasy fan like me. The author was kind enough to send me a copy and I started reading it with high anticipation but not knowing what to expect.

The story is set on the world of Jeroun wherein a single habitable pan-continent is the focus of the entire tale. It is a world wherein a God named Adrash has existed for eons and now has left humanity and other races bereft of his divine presence. The world since then has developed in interesting ways after Adrash nearly destroyed it by causing two of his artificially created spheres to slam onto Jeroun’s surface and caused an ice age of sorts. The two main religions that have arisen due to these actions are Adrashi and Anadrashi that espouse either rule of Adrash or rule of man. Both these factions have long clashed with each other causing further rifts and doubts to arise. Adrash since then has created several spheres that he aligns in a fashion of sorts, which has been titled “the Needle” and threatens to wipe out Jeroun’s inhabitants. This has lead to an interesting development and now we find ourselves in midst of the story wherein all the characters are trying to achieve what they think they should.

Vedas Tezul is a warrior of the 13th order of Black Suits who is also the most adept fighter amongst them and is chosen to be their representative for the decennial tournament at Danoor. Churli Casta Jones is a warrior who has her own reasons to travel to the Danoor tournament but she’s not alone and will have to learn to trust other warriors again. Berun is a constructed man and therefore not entirely human but he shares within his mind, memories of his creator and will have to decide whether he is his own person or just a creation. Pol Tanz Et Som and Ebn Bon Mari are royal outbound mages who regularly make trips into space to observe Adrash and the Needle. They however have their own plans to accomplish and they will do anything everything to get their way. These are the main POV characters and the reader will have to ascertain what each and everyone wants.

This book is one of the weirdest and simply terrific fantasy-SF hybrids that I have ever come across. Firstly kudos to the author for coming up this plot and ensconcing a complex world, races, and magic system within such a slim volume. The author also retains a certain simplicity to his tale by not making it overtly obtuse a la Erikson or R. Scott Bakker. This was one aspect that I liked a lot, not that the author has made this story an overtly simplistic one as there’s a lot going on and packs quite a wallop within its pages. It focusses on religion, group mindsets and the way of life as evolved due to circumstances (as seen uniquely on this planet) and all of which makes for a very fascinating story.

His world and storyline are definitely unique in the sense that they combine different genres and themes to give us a story about finding the truth (be it about life, religion, one's role, etc). The author has to be lauded for his effort in undertaking such a different story as he also tackles various issues brought forth by religious viewpoints that differ drastically, ethnic and racial tensions and much more. He however has managed to combine all these difficult queries within the folds of his story in spite of the single volume nature of the tale. The author also takes a very vivid view towards the sexuality of his characters and writes some exotic scenes featuring alien anatomy. For a few readers who aren't used to such frank scenes, might not be able to fathom it entirely but again it will be upon the reader's perspective in regards to the judgment of these scenes.

If there is a drawback to this story then it would be the way the story ends, the reader will want to know more about the world and the characters introduced within. In this regard while the story ends on a climatic note, certain threads left open will cause some consternation for readers that are engulfed within the story. I was one among them and therefore I would very much like to know more about the future and past of this strange alien world. Zachary Jernigan has spoken about this aspect in his guest post a bit as well in his email correspondence. Hopefully most of the questions about the world and its history will be answered in a companion volume and so I’ll among the first to grab it whenever its written.

CONCLUSION: Zachary Jernigan writes with a flair for the weird and makes it endearing enough for readers to feel familiar with it. No Return is a magnificent debut that straddles fantasy and SF genres seamlessly and makes itself into a jewel faceting both fields. I completely loved this debut and will have very high hopes from Mr. Jernigan for all his future works based on the raw talent that is showcased within. Make sure you don’t miss this one as this book will be definitely featuring highly in my year end lists.

[Paul Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Return by Zachary Jernigan Old review that GR deleted.
 
No Return is the debut novel from Zachary Jernigan and I have to say this is a difficult one to summarise my thoughts on, mainly because I enjoyed so many different elements of this fantastically layered story.
 
A fantasy novel with strong Sci-fi elements set on the planet Jeroun, the world building is excellent and paced well, the characters have depth and likeability, there's plenty of sectarian violence and a martial arts tournament between the two factions, sex that incidentally is quite well written but the thing that stuck with me the most is that this primarily is a story of relationships and how they develop. As the plot unravels the three main characters move through various feelings towards each other from initial dislike and wariness to a profound respect for one and outright desire for another.
 
The Sectarian violence and near eternal dispute is  between the white suits, the followers of the god Adrash and the black suits, the followers of man who believe Adrash the enemy. Both factions meet in organized fights that usually result in death's on both sides.
 
Vedas Tazul is a member of the 13th order of black suits, he wears an elder cloth suit that has not been taken off in twenty years, the suit has magical properties including protection against contact or blow and healing. Vedas is chosen to represent the order of the black suits from the city Golna to fight in the tournament between the two factions at Danoor.
 
Berun is a constructed man of spheres and a hero of the people from the fighting tournaments, he achieved notoriety by assassinating a powerful religious figure in Nos Ulom, after escaping to Golna, where the governor's invited him to a tournament merely to aggravate those in Nos Ulom. He now lives in Butchertown above the Abbey of the 17th order, his only interest is violence and he protects the order although he has no religious affiliations. He tells the orders leader of his visions and it is arranged that he will travel with the chosen Golna champion Vedas to Danoor.
 
Churli Casta Jons is a tough female fighter hiding out in Basec after running up gambling debts, she is visited by her former lover and manager who puts a proposition to her. She must fight in Danoor as the prizes are considerable and anyone reaching the last eight has the option to retire. First she must meet Vedas and Berun, win their trust and act as there guide.
 
Their journey to Danoor is one of discovery, each character has flaws, demons and an inherent goodness in them and their interaction is a joy to read.
 
The second thread in the story is about the leader of the royal outbound Mages, Ebn Bon Mari and the object of Ebn's desire Pol Tanz et Som another mage with a hidden agenda, this story is equally as riveting, as their ultimate goal is to reach the God Adrash and ensure peace for the planet.
 
My only slight complaint was the epic build up to the tournament that seemed over in a heartbeat although there is a lot of other things happening around these events, Berun and Churls never fight, the focus is all on Vedas who has a pivotal role to play.

Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...

[L.K. Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author. His book was recommended to me by a friend of mine on Goodreads (thanks Amber), and I when I added it to my to-read list, Mr. Jernigan added me as a friend. It gave me a great chance to see him in action with his blog, reviews, and comments. I must admit, No Return wasn’t high on my list. I tend to lean towards sword/sorcery/traditional type fantasy books, and this had a bit of sci-fi mix, which put it further down on my list. However, after following the author, I catapulted it to the top. He is so incredibly interesting and engaging that it rose my curiosity about his book. Follow him and you’ll see what I mean.

Since I’ve followed Jernigan for a bit, I know he enjoys swearing, and actually encourages it. You might not know it based on previous posts or my book, but I cuss like a sailor. My mother clutches her pearls around me all the time. Therefore, I’ll be free with my language out of respect for Jernigan. If cursing bothers you, I’d suggest you stop reading after this paragraph, and I’d highly suggest steering clear of this book. Me? Well, I find swearing keeps me honest. I’m not so cautious of what I say and I tend to be a bad liar because of it. I attribute this to my cussing. I’m less guarded about my words, therefore I speak what I honestly feel. Granted, working in a horribly stuffy, corporate environment tamed me, but now that I'm free of it, I’m slowly finding my spirit.

So, now that we’ve said those things, on to the review.

Wow. I walked away from this book feeling weighted. It was a heavy read. It was not light and airy. It did not induce butterflies of giddy joy. I did not laugh. I did not cry. I read the story of Vedas with a heavy heart. I sympathized with Berun. I rooted for Churli (damn... she is a badass). And my mind wondered during scenes with Ebn, Pol, and Adrash. Honestly, those three POV’s didn’t hold my interest well at all. I’d much rather be with Vedas, Churli, and Berun.

Vedas was my favorite, but Churli and Berun gave him a good run for his money. I can’t really say why I liked Vedas except that I connected with his awkwardness in social situations. It was endearing, something I understood, something—to a degree—I had in common with him. Other than that, I can’t say exactly why I found him so engaging. I just did.

Churli was an incredible, strong female. I never felt her waver in her strength. She is one of the more wonderfully written heroines I’ve ever read. Brilliant. What we learned about her past was moving, different, and explained so much of who she was. Plus, did I mention she’s a badass?

Berun was just damn interesting. I was fascinated by him. I tried to dissect his mind and understand him with little reward. Honestly, I still don’t understand him completely. Maybe a re-read later will help. Perhaps my mind was too full, confused, and overwhelmed.

This brings us to the point where I try to understand my confounded state. It also sparks my cussing, because I’m quite disappointed in myself.

I admit, I enjoy writing reviews because they help me figure out what the fuck I just read (most of the time I don’t know the star rating until I’m done). It helps me absorb everything, solidifies my thoughts and feelings. With this book... well, I just don’t know. Even now, I can’t get my mind wrapped around it. Which brings me to the one statement that seems to fit how I feel: This book was too smart for me. I struggled to get my imagination to kick into gear. Jernigan obviously does not have this problem, and his explanations were detailed and wonderful. Fucking shit was crazy. I read stuff that my brain said: Fuck that. I’m not going to try to construct something for your little mind to visualize. Deal with it.

So, I dealt with it. I did feel a little cheated, a tad inadequate, but mostly I felt (and I hang my head in shame) jealous. I shy away from sci-fi because I know I lack an imagination sometimes. I’m a horribly visual person, and my mind couldn’t deal with this book. I couldn’t immerse myself in the world. I think another reason for this is because of the lengthy recounts of history. I always glaze over in those parts of books, and this one was no different. They were important, written stunningly, and much needed. But, for me, it’s just a matter of personal taste.

Now, what I will say is that, to my surprise, my mind did pick up on the examination of the human condition. This is what also made the book a heavy read. But—and here’s the clincher—I FUCKING LOVED IT. I loved that it made me think, that I didn’t get spoon fed stuff, that I had to force my brain to function. I think sometimes books can be mind numbing; just a place to drift off to. That’s not a bad thing at all. I love those books. But this was a dose of something different.

I’ve read reviews about the sex and violence in this book, so let me address it. Yeah, there was sex. A lot of it. Sex and religion were the at the forefront of this book. If you can’t read a book with sex scenes, I’d forgo No Return. Some of it was done nicely, some of it meh. But I did not feel it was done as horribly as some others have mentioned.


As for the violence... Well, sure there was violence. I’d expect nothing less from a sci-fi fantasy book. I actually could’ve done with a bit more. I like violence in books. It usually equates to action. I like action. It wasn’t overly gory, which was a slight disappointment to me. However, I must warn that I like a good dose of gore, so it might seem excessive to some.

The last quarter of the book was fucking spectacular. It moved quicker, there was less history stuff, and I grew more fond of my favorite three characters. The world is crazy detailed and complex with religious, racial, and political issues. The writing itself was superbly brilliant.

The reason this gets 4 instead of 5 stars is quite simple and boils down to 2 reasons (both of which are personal taste): 1) I never got a picture of this world solidified in my mind, therefore, I was not immersed in the story completely. 2) I’m just not a fan of sections devoted to history. I need more action.

So, that was a damn long review, and I didn’t cuss nearly as much as I thought I would. I’ll end my ramblings with this: I will be buying the sequel when it comes out (probably on the release day), and I’ll continue to follow Jernigan cause he’s fucking funny and has a lot of good stuff to say.

[Perry Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh yes, this is one for the ages. No Return is a dazzlingly original work of fiction, a defier of genre, and a story of deep relevance and emotion.

As I could tell by the jacket blurb, promising such things as outbound mages and a man made of metal spheres, there is nothing like No Return. The world of Jeroun abounds with before unseen innovation and spectacle, all portrayed with vibrant imagery and language. Mages craft spells from the ground up corpses of ancient aliens, the god Adrash rearranges his giant metal spheres of the Needle by hand, and the numerous distinct races and cultures each worship or villify Adrash in their own way. It is, in fact, so original that when I read the jacket blurb, I thought it was science fiction. While reading it, I thought it was fantasy, and now that I have finished it, I realize more than ever that the two terms are meaningless, and neither can encompass No Return.

The book definitely isn't for everyone, though. It has some stern words for religious fanaticism, which, as an atheist, I could not help but agree with. A major theme is overcoming things that hold us back, namely, guilt, authority, religious indoctrination, and of course, God (or Adrash, one might say).

No Return is also overtly sexual. There are some very graphic scenes of intercourse, heterosexual and homosexual both, masturbation, a rape scene or two, and several detailed descriptions of chiseled male anatomy. There were times when even I was a bit put off, and if you don't have the stomach for this sort of thing, you had best steer clear.

As for the writing itself, the only flaw I could perceive was the occasional lull in pacing. Particularly, I found the scenes with the outbound mages more interesting than those concerning Vedas, Churls, and Berun, as the latter seem concerned, for the first half, at least, with the trials of their journey to Danoor. It seemed to me that it switched from the former to the latter at rather inopportune times.

Nevertheless, No Return is easily the best book I've read this year, and I'd be hard pressed to find another one quite as good. I anticipate a return to this setting, and I eagerly await it.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this gem of a read at my local library and it looked like a great read. I was not disappointed. Zach weaved a sexually charged tale with violence and made you care and hate the characters. I sympathized with the mechanical man berun who fought against himself and his dead father's programming. There is also a conflict between an elder mage and the entity that wants to smite humanity on the alien planet. It reminded me of Titan A.E. with a flair of children of dune in it. I went la la la in my mind during the sex scenes but overall, I enjoyed it. A great debut from zach jernigan. Be sure to check no return out if you like science fiction and fantasy novels. I hope to read more from him in the future.

[Joel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Writing: 3
Story/Plot: 2
Depth/Detail: 3
Enjoyment: 1

I honestly wonder if the other reviewers were even reading the same book I was. This book wasn't just bad, it was a dumpster fire. To be blunt: this is not a fantasy or sci-fi book. This is an erotica book in a fantasy setting, that happens to come across as more like a 14-year old's wet dream style book rather than legitimate, adult book. For some reason, the reviews for this book seem to omit this fact, and most barely even reference the sexuality.

However, it's impossible to miss, being as it's on nearly every damn page. I wish I was making that up. There were almost zero scenes that did not involve sexuality in some way or form, and usually in absolutely cringeworthy fashion. One character is looking at another? Yep, you bet their ass they're assessing the looks and sexual prospects of that other person. And you bet your ass that the looker is aroused, and you will get a wonderful description of their throbbing erection, their dripping vagina. The world contains a unique semi-magical suit that people wear, which protect them, give them strength and power abilities, etc. Yet, the main purpose I could find, was so Zachary could constantly point out how erections feel while pressing against the insides of these suits.

One of the main females has, no joke, mouths on her hands. What are the point of these mouths? Well, in Jernigan's hands, they are used for descriptive sexual pleasuring. Early on in the book, this character has a descriptive masturbation scene, where she uses her hand-mouths to pleasure herself, while she drips a viscous goop that hardens as it comes out of her vagina. She uses her hand-mouths to pleasure men, to taste their member, and at one point later in the book, to tongue-f**k a male's ass. For serious? This female had, I believe, three different masturbation scenes, and was analyzing sex seemingly at all times, while struggling with her lust for male characters. All of the males seem to walk around with massive erections at all time, including when they're in violent, one on one fights to the death. Characters are analyzing their sexuality constantly, having simply explosive orgasms, and plotting their next sexual experience.

Are you seeing my problem with the book yet? Let me just get some more examples of positively cringeworthy moments while I'm here: (1) on the 97th sex scene of the book, the female, while analyzing in her head that her lover is out of practice and will orgasm quickly, forces herself to an orgasm in a matter of seconds while fingering her anus. (2) A point where they are discussing one of the main characters having never left his suit in years, which Jernigan so eloquently describes by pointing out "only his nose, anus and the tip of his penis had been exposed". Really? That's the best way to do that. Way to go, mature-guy. (3) while laying in a crowded camp during a fighting tournament, he has a crushing orgasm inside his suit, having barely touched himself, while imagining the female character walking up, bending over and mounting him. (4) the biggest offender of "way too much for what was necessary", was when female drugged male character with a "compulsion spell", forcing him to submit to her every whim. She laid him down, giving him a very descriptive throat-gag-causing blowjob while tonguing his ass with her hand-mouth, while she dripped hardening goop from her vagina in excitement, before, no joke, climbing on him and raping him with her anus, which was so brilliantly and vividly described, of course. This is before she tortures and (attempts..spoiler!!!!) to kill him. ARE. YOU. KIDDING?

And in case anyone reading this wants to argue - no, I'm not a prude. Quite the opposite, I'm an extremely liberal horndog who doesn't even mind some written sex. But this book isn't full of tasteful, well-written sex, ala Guy Gavriel Kay, or even Gaiman. This is teenager fodder, all the descriptions being of the physical sexual sensations and desires, a fascination with constant arousal of all characters, of nary a scene going by anywhere without someone being aroused, thinking or talking about sex, fantasizing, masturbating, or having sex. It's got more smut than some ACTUAL erotica I've read. I rather wish it had been marketed as such, so I could have just skipped it and not wasted my time and money.

There were some good parts: The world is unique and interesting, a bizarre but somewhat intriguing mix of fantasy and sci-fi elements. The religious confrontation and battle were interesting enough, as well as some of the lore, the magicians in exile, the large-scale battle royale occurring, all that such. In between the terrible sex, the writing was more than adequate, and flowed well, the dialogue working and the plot trotting along at a decent pace. But in the end, this book was marred by it's childish, and very very pointless level of sexuality, which did nothing but distract from the story, and really was the focus the entire book. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is constant, rarely more than two or three pages would go by without some form of sexuality. It was awkward and stupid. I REALLY wanted to like this book, and went into it expecting to like it, based on some of the hype and some of the reviews I read. The reviews, I believe, were from either people who knew this was an erotica masquerading as fantasy and were into that kind of thing, or were plants. Because it's nothing like the reviews describe.

It's ironic, finding how bad the sexuality in this book was written, after getting into an argument with Zachary, who wrote a review of Ken Scholes' Lamentation (which he has since deleted when I called him out on it on Reddit), where he called it "unimaginative" and said a scene where a female fighter's breasts jiggling was described during a fight scene. Having read his book, the irony of him writing that as cheesy is hilarious to me, when his book is chock-full of garbage sexual fantasies of a teenage boy, written as such. I hate leaving scathing reviews, but I absolutely, positively loathed this book, and felt like it was a perfectly good waste of a fantasy world with a lot of potential, and some interesting characters that were completely mis-used and under-written.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A beautifully written hot mess of madness...and I can't wait to finish it."

I was sitting with friends and talking about what books we were reading. Might have had a few drinks, too. When I brought up NO RETURN, that phrase popped out when challenged to explain what Zachary Jernigan's novel was all about.

THE GOOD

My favorite novels are written well and developed in such a way that I have no idea what's coming up next. NO RETURN definitely fits that mold. Jernigan brings in such brilliant creativity and a shattering of worldbuilding and moral norms. Just let it flow and this book will take you places you've never been before.

THE NOT AS GOOD

I felt that the character development and plotline took a backseat to Jernigan's creativity. Neither were poorly done - it's just that the exceptional world he built overshadowed both.

The main character is black...very black-skinned. The protagonist on the cover was significantly lightened by the publisher, Night Shade Books. That bothered me a bit.

RECOMMENDATION

This is a good one for those who like the unusual, surprises and the unknown. Not sure I'll pass this one along to mom due to the sexually explicit content...but I wouldn't be surprised if she enjoyed it for how well NO RETURN was crafted.

[Timothy Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my review fresh off of finishing today. A more polished review will appear on SF Signal sometime in the future.

Zachary's book, NO RETURN, displays the kind of prose, worldbuilding and depth of characterization that place him securely within the top tier of fantasy fiction. The prose pulls you in like a piece of art, forcing you to slow down and observe. The worldbuilding makes you imagine maps, bar room brawls over differences in customs, shop keepers making lists of what supplies to buy from where, kids praying to the god who lives on the moon, women making sex spells, warriors becoming one with their self-controlled, mutating body suits... all in a way that separates the world in NO RETURN from generic fantasy--this world is alive! My favorite part is the characterization. In boring books, you don't care about the characters. In mediocre books, you care enough about the characters to hope they win. In top tier books like NO RETURN, you get to know the characters so well, you might even know them more deeply than you know yourself, and then in return, you know yourself even better.

I am so impressed with Zachary for this book, and to add on top that it is his debut, I'm tempted to wrangle up other jealous, newbie authors like myself and whip him with bars of soap while he's sleep--I mean, I'm very happy for his success.

The reason for my 4 star instead of 5 star, considering my glowing praise above, is mainly an issue of pacing and plot. There were more times than I'd like where three or more pages would go by without me having any interest in what I was reading. Sure, the description was informed of intelligent worldbuilding, but I question whether the story needed its inclusion. It took me a while to realize that this was both a tendency and how to identify it, but after I did (around 2/3's mark), I would go back after finishing a section I pick one or two pages (or paragraphs in smaller sections) that I felt weren't necessary. It could be that my preferential style appreciates getting straight to the chase more than observing the scenery, but that's my experience. It wasn't always worldbuilding description, sometimes it was backstory or to a lesser degree introspection. (I say lesser degree because some of the introspection is where this book shines the brightest.)

Possibly related to the above criticism is a disappointment in what plot elements could have taken place that didn't, or were limited in exposure--though I'd be the last to say this book was limited in exposure (insert scene where woman spreads her legs to split her suit right where it counts). Anyway, back to the plot. Wait, back to the sex. I'm being a little silly here, but that's sort of what this reading experience felt like. Aside from our monk hero, Vedas, everyone seemed mostly interested in sex, and the narrator made sure we knew about it, graphically. Some of these sex scenes were crucial to the plot and acted as an extension of the character's desire and method of obtaining desires, and in this I was impressed at the author's gift in craft. But, I think I read a few too many descriptions of cocks hardening and vaginas dripping. Also, was every sexually aggressive male also bisexual or homosexual? I'm sure I'm reading my own views into this, but I felt the author's view on sexual equality and atheism may have been a little too strongly emphasized and defended. Numerous characters grow through the act of rebelling against authority, their father or their religion. In fact, this is part of the title and ending lesson. In the epilogue, we read, "experience had shown her that worship blinded men to the truth: Adrash is no redeemer. Adrash will destroy the world" (p.279). The clear political/religious statement I read through this book is that religion is a noose tightened by power hungry tyrants to choke off people's liberties and if not removed, both the noose and them from power, the world will be destroyed. However, regardless of what I think about that statement, the author is allowed to make that statement, and doing so does not really affect my rating, though a little more balance might have helped it not feeling heavy handed. On the flipside of that argument, I give credit to the author for weaving such a consistent and powerful statement through the lives of intricately experienced characters.

Back to the plot. Warriors go on a trip to a gladiatorial battle where the winner will affect the balance of power between rival factions, while a separate rivalry of magicians fight to destroy a god on the moon. After all I read, that last sentence feels like roughly one-third of what this book was about. I appreciate the way characterization makes up most of the other two-thirds, but I'm unsure if the plot was weakened in the balance. Part of my disappointment in that is that the author is a tremendous action writer. His description of pain and vocabulary to help you picture the fantastic is a real pleasure to read. I wanted more. Here is an excellent example of narrative summary action:

“Men and women who had worn suits for decades traded punches powerful enough to crush elephant skulls, dodged and deflected attacks too fast for the eye to follow, and died suddenly, often before the crowd registered the killing blow.
Victors and dead men were separated by a blink of the eye.”

The good news, I hope, is that the author has set himself up for more battles in this universe, more explanation of the way the magic works where men can become gods and the boundaries and gifts within the realm of the dead. But, most importantly, the characters that I have experienced must not die. They have come to life with more depth than I know most people, and their journeys have only just begun. Please write more. This story is only the beginning of what could be an epic classic.

[Abhinav · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find the full review over at The Founding Fields:

http://thefoundingfields.com/2013/02/...

Shadowhawk reviews Night Shade Books’ latest debut title.

“An awesome mix of Marvel-style space opera mixed in with lots of magic and a ton of action.” ~The Founding Fields

Well, here we are, my first debut novel review for 2013. Last year is when I truly started reading debut authors and in that respect it was pretty much a damn good year. With Zachary Jernigan’s upcoming novel, 2013 has also started off great, more so since there are several more upcoming debuts that I’m really excited about. These include Brian McClellan’s Promise of Blood, Christian Schoon’s Zenn Scarlett, Evie Manieri’s Blood’s Pride, and Francis Knight’s Fade To Black to name a few.

I’ve often remarked before how Night Shade Books publishes stuff that often break genre conventions and breaks away from the traditional stuff. Angry Robot and Solaris do this plenty as well, apparent in their recent releases and upcoming stuff, a small sampling of which I’ve read already and will be reading in the coming weeks. This is one of the reasons why I usually love reading Night Shade books, because they take me out of my comfort zones and get me to read books that I absolutely would not have read otherwise. Zachary Jernigan’s No Return is one such example.

No Return is a novel about identity, religion, and companionship. With these three elements, Zachary mixes in high doses of magic, gods, one-on-one combat, and Marvel-style gods. I’ve been asked before why I use the phrase “Marvel-style gods” when describing the book. The reason for that is that both the prologue and the epilogue for the novel evoke that very style and atmosphere with the writing. Both the prologue and the epilogue are, for the most part, told from the perspective of the world Jeroun’s sole god, Adrash. The way Zachary writes him, and the situations he shows the god in, I couldn’t help but be put in mind of Thor, especially the Thor from Jason Aaron’s current run on Thor: God of Thunder. Since I’m really enjoying that series, this was all great. I was immediately hooked and I loved all the scenes in the book that involved Adrash. Adrash is like this weird mix of Galactus and Thor in personality, and that’s my highest compliment to those sections of the book, since both these characters are my favourites in the Marvel universe.

The meat of the book is told from a variety of mortal perspectives: the Anadrashi warrior Vedas, the mercenary Churls, the android-ish robot Berun, and the two mages Pol and Ebn. Each of these characters brings something very unique to the narrative.

Vedas is a dedicated soldier for one of the Black Suit orders who consider the god Adrash to be their enemy. Vedas’ scenes present the story of a man caught in between a rock and a hard place, someone who has to fight against events to retain his personal freedom and become the man he wants to be, rather than someone else calling the shots. Churls, as a possible romantic interest for Vedas, is just as good. Watching the two of them interact is like watching a Lois Lane/Serena Kyle hybrid interacting with Silver Surfer, a weird combination I know, but the most apt that I can think of, to be honest. Both Churls and Vedas complement each other perfectly and the tensions between them are brought out really well.

Berun is, at best, a conundrum. Some of his early scenes, including flashbacks of the man who created him, are quite confusing and bear re-reading, but over the course of the narrative, a lot of things become clear, and Berun develops rather nicely. He is a very unique character, both in his experiences, and in his nature, setting him apart from the other popular androids and robots in SFF. I’d even hazard a guess that one android and his back-story in particular have had quite an inspiration on Berun’s own character, said android being Data from Star Trek. At least, that’s how it comes across as. And it is in no way a bad thing. Berun’s experiences and the decisions he makes give him a personality of his own so that he never comes across as a simple derivative of what has come before, far from it.

[Burgoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the last few years Night Shade Books has developed a reputation for introducing bold works by debut authors. Zachary Jernigan’s No Return can be added to that list.

The action can be divided into three spheres. There’s the possibly mad god Adrash who lives on the moon and contemplates judgment on the people of Jeroun. Then there’s power mad Ebn & Pol, alchemical astronauts who each are committed to acquiring as much magical power as possible. Finally we have a trio of fighters, Vedas, Churls, and Berun, strangers brought together over the course of a journey to a massive tournament. Their storylines do, of course, converge, but to give more details would be running deeply into spoiler territory.

Thematically, there’s a lot to chew on. A surprising amount, considering this is a debut novel. At the core of No Return is the nature of God, of the worshipers and the worshipped. What is the relationship? And what should it be? Also Jernigan is fascinated with parents and children, both biological and sociological. (And of course this parallels the relationship of God & worshiper.)

Don’t worry, this isn’t some philosophical treatise disguised as novel. There are lots & lots of cool stuff here. Alchemical spaceships, dead races, magical suits that are controlled by the wearers’ thoughts. How many novels have both giant martial arts tournaments and spaceships?

I was impressed with the physicality of the characters in No Return. Here in this time of grimdark we are perhaps used to characters actually aching or retaining injuries. But rather than relying on the extremes that some authors use, Jernigan gives us the details in smaller, more realistic ways. Additionally, there was more physical sexual frustration than in perhaps any book I’ve ever read. Normally unresolved romances are dealt with only in emotional terms. Here the separation becomes a physical thing.

No Return is a bold debut and not for the faint of heart. Some of the subject matter may be objectionable or difficult for some readers. For the rest of us, No Return provides a deeply rich world with fascinating ideas and great action. I’m looking forward to reading his next book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jernigan has really unleashed something unique on the world with No Return. It doesn’t fit nicely into any boxes or cookie cutters. It’s quick moving, subtle yet bold, and absolutely R-Rated and raw. While there’s plenty here that might make some readers uncomfortable, I think Jernigan should take that as a compliment. It’s not often that a book is realistic and vivid enough to make readers uncomfortable. That kind of sums up No Return for me. It’s bold and vivid and it will probably make you uncomfortable, but that’s not a bad thing. Jernigan takes you on a one-of-a-kind journey and he leaves you breathless, gasping, and full of new thoughts.

Read my full review here:

http://www.bookwormblues.net/2013/03/...

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully ambitious, but the ends abruptly, leaving things a bit more in the lurch than I prefer for any novel.

http://www.staffersbookreview.com/201...

[Seregil of Rhiminee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published at Risingshadow.

Night Shade Books has done a big favour for fans of quality speculative fiction by publishing Zachary Jernigan's No Return. This genre-bending debut novel is a dream-come-true novel for readers who want pure quality from their speculative fiction.

Zachary Jernigan's No Return is probably the best and the most imaginative debut speculative fiction novel of 2013. Its pages are full of wonders, weirdness, sex and violence. It's a perfect example of what a talented speculative fiction author can achieve when he has enough imagination. It's difficult to imagine that other authors could achieve this kind of level of originality, style and depth with their debut novels this year.

Before I write more about No Return, I'll mention that it's a novel for adults. There are several gritty and sexually charged scenes, which are only suitable for adults.

I was very impressed by No Return (to be honest, it made a huge impression on me). This novel hooked me from the start with its characters, story, sexual content and grittiness. It was a pleasure to read it, because it was totally different from other novels on the market and it offered intelligent, immersive and fast-paced entertainment.

No Return defies easy categorization. It's difficult to categorize it under one genre, because it combines science fiction, fantasy and weird elements. When I read this book, I noticed that Zachary Jernigan has a bit similar kind of enthusiasm to combine different genres and elements as China Miéville and Anthony Huso. Because the author combines different genres, it's good to categorize this novel as science fantasy that contains weird elements.

Combining science ficton and fantasy can be difficult, but Zachary Jernigan has succeeded perfectly in it. All the science fiction elements blend perfectly with the fantasy elements. This kind of fusion of different elements feels refreshing.

Zachary Jernigan writes boldly about sex and doesn't censor the happenings (the sex scenes are explicit). It's nice that the author has courage to write about all kinds of things related to sex and sexuality (heterosexuality, homosexuality etc), because they spice up the story. I have to confess that it's been a while since I've read anything this sexually explicit.

The author also writes amazingly well about religion and religious fanaticism. The sectarian battles are gladiator-like battle tournaments in which the Black Suits and White Suits try to settle their differences over religious ideologies. This kind of an approach to religion and religious differences feels fresh.

The fight scenes are brutal and the author doesn't try to hide the fact that fighting is violent. He doesn't sugarcoat the fight scenes, but shows his readers what violence really is and how the characters feel about it and how it affects them. In this novel people may be injured badly during the fighting and they may even die from battle inflicted wounds.

Although there's plenty of action, fighting and violence in this novel, there's also quite a lot of hidden philosophy (and beauty) in it. The philosophical elements manifest themselves in the way the characters feel about the happenings and what kind of decisions they make. This kind of storytelling is highly addictive, because I've always enjoyed reading partly philosophical speculative fiction, which makes the reader use his brains.

The suits and armors that the characters wear (Vedas has a skintight suit made of elder skin and Adrash wears a divine armor) add a fantastic comic book like feel to the novel, because comic book heroes and bad guys usually wear armours and costumes. It was interesting to read that Vedas had a connection to his suit.

Zachary Jernigan has created an unforgettably vivid and lush world in No Return which will surprise and charm readers with its diversity and complexity. The worldbuilding is excellent, because the author writes about the different places of the planet beautifully. The planet of Jeroun is a beautiful and wondrous planet. Jeroun reminded me a bit of the desert planet Arrakis in Frank Herbert's Dune and the world of Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun.

The events take place on The Continent of Knoori. One of the most interesting things about The Continent of Knoori is that it feels like a traditional fantasy world that has been spiced with science fiction elements.

The author reveals information about the planet and its inhabitants bit by bit. He writes fascinatingly about the cultures, ethnic groups and religion, and he also writes about alchemical magic and astronauts, dead races, suits made of eldes skins, sexual situations and fighting etc, so there are lots of things to like in this novel.

No Return is a novel that has been made of several different elements and themes - it's a surprisingly complex, well written and fascinating story about honour, guilt, morality, identity, companionship and religion. If I had to choose only one theme for this novel, I'd probably say that its main theme is morality, because the characters think about their actions.

It's easy to see that the author loves both science fiction and fantasy, and wants to write about different characters and their lives. There aren't many novels in which the cast of characters is as diverse as in this novel.

The characterization works flawlessly and the character interaction is perfect. In my opinion the character development is simply superb, because the author tells the story through his characters and lets his characters develop during the story. The different viewpoints add depth to the storyline, because each character has his/her own opinions about things.

Here's a bit of information about the characters:

Adrash is a mighty God, who watches over the planet of Jeroun and its inhabitants. He isn't pleased with mankind's development. His intentions are unclear to the humankind. He has created the Needle which is a visible threat to the inhabitants of the planet.

Vedas is a skilled and experienced fighter, master of martial arts and a member of the Thirteenth Order of the Black Suits. He feels guilty over the death of his student. He has conflicting thoughts about killing foes.

Churls is a warrior and mercenary woman, who is haunted by the ghost of her dead daughter. Her daughter appears to her every now and then and talks to her. Churls has a lot of emotions to deal with.

Berun is a constructed man, who is possessed by the spirit of his creator. He feels that he has to obey his creator and do what he wants him to do. He is strong and his eyes glow blue.

Ebn and Pol, who are Royal Outbound Mages, try to appease Adrash and bring peace to the planet. They share a common purpose, but have different opinions about things.

All of these characters are wonderfully three-dimensional and have their own feelings and problems (it's amazing that the author has managed to create so many different characters with realistic feelings). Zachary Jernigan manages to bring his characters to life, because at first he introduces them to the reader and then gradually deepens them. Vedas, Churls and Berun are complex characters, because the author has added layers of depth to each of them and slowly reveals who they are. Reading about the inner struggles of the characters added depth to them and made them feel realistic.

Reading about Vedas' guilt and feelings was fascinating. I also enjoyed reading about Churls' and her dead daugher, Fyra. Berun, the constructed man, was also an interesting character, because constructs are totally different from humans and do certain things in a different way. When Vedas, Churls and Berun travelled together, it was nice to read about their thoughts about each other.

The magic system in No Return is truly original, so here's information about it. Mages craft spells from the ground up corpses of the elders (mages use bonedust to fly in space etc). The elders, whose corpses are being used to all kinds of magical purposes, have long since vanished from the world, but their descendants (eldermen and elderwomen) live in the world and have deformed bodies and mutations. The elder corpses are used to create powerful and potent magic (bonedust is also used as a currency). The use of ground up corpses adds a charming touch of dark fantasy to the story.

Zachary Jernigan writes good and fluent prose. I was amazed at how good his prose is, because it's a bit difficult to find literary prose in science fantasy novels. It's quite an achievement from a debut author to write this kind of compelling literary prose which is full of nuanced descriptions about the happenings, places and characters.

If somebody is wondering if No Return is a standalone novel or part of a series, I can mention that it can be read as a standalone novel. According to the author's website, he may write a companion novel to No Return. I hope this companion novel will be written soon, because it would be nice to read more about the planet of Jeroun.

I think it's good to mention that this novel has a good and well drawn map of The Continent of Knoori. I'll also mention that the cover art painting by Robbie Trevino looks great, because it's an appropriately gritty painting. The glossary of terms at the end of the novel is useful to the readers who want to check the meanings of certain terms.

It's a bit difficult to compare No Return to other novels, because it stands out as an original piece of speculative fiction, so I won't try to compare it with other novels. I'll just mention that I think that fans of Roger Zelazny, Frank Herbert's Dune, Matthew Stover's The Acts of Caine, Richad K. Morgan's A Land fit for Heroes and Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun will be delighted to read it. It's likely that this novel may also appeal to fans of Ken Scholes' The Psalms of Isaak and Martha Wells' Books of the Raksura.

No Return may not be to everybody's liking because of its erotic, sexual and violent scenes, but readers who are familiar with adult material and expect depth from their novels will love it. I think it's great that there are novels like No Return that bring much needed freshness and originality to modern speculative fiction, because readers need different kinds of science fiction and fantasy novels. I strongly believe that literary novels like No Return will increase the popularity of speculative fiction and make readers appreciate what speculative fiction can offer to them.

Several authors (Elizabeth Hand, J. M. McDermott, James Patrick Kelly, Martha Wells and David Anthony Durham) have praised this novel in their reviews. I agree with everything that they've said about it, because No Return is a damn good novel and it deserves to be praised by authors and readers alike.

I highly recommend No Return to science fiction and fantasy readers, because it will appeal to both readerships. No Return is an exceptionally good and original speculative fiction novel with plenty of depth, style, sex and grittiness, so make sure that you'll read it. It's literary speculative fiction at its best!

Highly recommended!

[Roger Bellini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review: “No Return” by Zachary Jernigan

Please checkout http://adailydoseofrandr.com/ to read this view in it's correct formatting.

First, let me specify that this is a novel for adult readers! Okay, now that we all have our big boy pants on the reviewing shall commence! Zachary has created a dark and gritty fantasy world that will tickle Sci-Fi and Fantasy fans alike!

On Jeroun, there is no question as to whether God exists--only what his intentions are.

Under the looming judgment of Adrash and his ultimate weapon--a string of spinning spheres beside the moon known as The Needle--warring factions of white and black suits prove their opposition to the orbiting god with the great fighting tournament of Danoor, on the far side of Jeroun's only inhabitable continent.

From the Thirteenth Order of Black Suits comes Vedas, a young master of martial arts, laden with guilt over the death of one of his students. Traveling with him are Churls, a warrior woman and mercenary haunted by the ghost of her daughter, and Berun, a constructed man made of modular spheres possessed by the foul spirit of his creator. Together they must brave their own demons, as well as thieves, mages, beasts, dearth, and hardship on the perilous road to Danoor, and the bloody sectarian battle that is sure to follow.

On the other side of the world, unbeknownst to the travelers, Ebn and Pol of the Royal Outbound Mages (astronauts using Alchemical magic to achieve space flight) have formed a plan to appease Adrash and bring peace to the planet. But Ebn and Pol each have their own clandestine agendas--which may call down the wrath of the very god they hope to woo.

The books premise is refreshingly unique. The two warring factions, the Adrashi and the Anadrashi, garb their champions in suits that enhance the abilities of their wearers. They then partake in battles to prove the superiority of their ideologies. However, the flaws of these teachings become evident to the protagonist, Vedas. We are then able to watch him as he grows from a mere drone to his cause into a fully fleshed out free thinking person.

The development of the characters was amazing! Their thoughts are made accessible throughout the book. I greatly enjoyed getting to not only view their growth, but to experience it with them as it formulated from within. This allowed me to easily invest into the characters and care for them on their journey across Jeroun.

In my opinion, this novel is more of a philosophical treat than a gladiatorial-style action story. However, the story still possessed more than enough brutal fights to remind me that Jeroun was a dangerous and enjoyable world to explore. The combat is handled marvelously, embracing quick bone crushing brutality rather than drawn out action sequences that seem to go nowhere. Often times in books I find fights scenes are unnecessarily prolonged. Zachary opts instead to show a more realistic approach in the pacing of fights that I came to appreciate.

The only part of this book that I struggled to get through was the highly sexualized nature of many of the characters within this world. The scenes are written well and at times are necessary for the development of a character, but I found the sheer number of scenes portraying their perverse nature to be jarring from the overall story narrative. This was hardly a deal breaker; it just seemed unneeded at times.

Overall, this is a great read! It was evident the book left a significant impression on me as I found myself wanting to discuss it with people in my workplace but unable to for fear of spoiling, and there's a special place in hell for those who spoil a good book. The world is impressively full and rich with color and texture. The steady pacing made it read smoothly. Lastly, the ending left me satisfied yet also longing for the stories continuation. I’ll be impatiently waiting for book two.

“No Return” is available for preorder at Amazon now. This title releases everywhere on March 5th, 2013.

This book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks,

Roger Bellini

[Antonis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 / 5

No Return by Zachary Jernigan is a tough novel to review. It is a work that has many good things mixed with several that I personally didn't enjoy very much. Make no mistake, Zachary Jernigan is a very very skilled author and it shows early. He knows how to write beautifully. His characterization is deep and very interesting. His imagination is top-notch, full of novel ideas and aspects and feels very fresh on a field that brims with stagnancy and repetition of the same old tropes and ideas. No Return has nothing of those! But on the other hand, I felt as if some things were maybe a bit too much, as if they were taken all the way up to eleven when I was really not completely ready for it. So, I suppose most of my critique comes from a clearly subjective point of view but I think some points are a bit more general and objective. So what are my gripes?

I think the grittiness level was a little too high for my liking. I've read a lot of gritty books but there were scenes in here (graphically containing and describing violence, sex, etc) that caught me totally unprepared and pulled me out of it.

Another thing that bothered me occasionally were some rather dry info-dump passages. I'm sure Jernigan had a huge world and history behind this novel and was feeling eager to share it with us at any opportunity but it came out rather unnaturally and not as if it was part of the story. Those info-dumps often felt as a foreign body to the rest of the text, always making me feel provoked to skip them.

Finally, I have a personal gripe with the chapter structure. I've had problems in the past with books containing multiple viewpoints but in No Return the forced chapter order (same character viewpoint order in each part) came out too stiff and artificial.

Other than that, the plot is a bit on the slow side, without any real urgency or (sometimes) aim but it always feels multilayered and rich.
In general, I think Jernigan took a risk and made a bold move with this novel. It offers a lot of new and fresh ideas, often pushing the boundaries of what is expected and acceptable in fantasy literature today and I feel that the points I deducted from the final rating are more due to my own unpreparedness and inability to adapt to what is offered in No Return rather than from its problems. Did I enjoy it as much as I expected? No, not really. Do I regret reading it? Of course not, as it is a unique book that is not easily categorized or reviewed. Do I recommend it? Well it depends on what you want and expect but I'd say it's definitely worth a try!
I enjoyed it for 3 stars but it's probably worth at least 4!

3.5 / 5

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first learned about this book from a blog review that piqued my interest. It sounded quite interesting and unique. The book is about a world in which god is a known entity. He physically exists, and people can see him. In the past he spent time interacting with humans. Now he spends his time in orbit around the world with his weapons, which can be seen by the naked eye, and the threat that he may get rid of mankind all together. The world building occurs through the perspectives of the different protagonists, and given their diverse backgrounds, is quite deep and rich.

Our protagonists are five different people. Three are fighters: man, woman and construct. They meet on their travels to a ritual tournament that highlights the conflict between pro- and anti-god forces. Each has personal histories that come into conflict with the process of traveling and navigating the various challenges they face. Each has to grow and change in order to survive and move forward.

The other two protagonists are mages, hybrids magically created from man and another (magically powerful) species. They are focused on reaching their god to save humanity. However, the two are at cross-purposes in their values and goals.

The story has a lot of violence. This is a world that actively supports fighting, and allows fighting to the death. There is also sex in its many different forms. Sex is not a negative, but it is also not equally desired by different people. But, the most important parts of the story occur in the inner lives of each of the characters as they struggle to reach their goals during the weeks of the story.

Normally I am not fond of novels that switch perspective from chapter to chapter. I find it always takes me a bit to make the transition, which did occur here. However, the author follows each person in the same order throughout the book, which made it easier to follow. Also, no one character is illustrated as particularly likeable or despicable, so I wasn't more attached to one perspective than another. The interactions between the protagonists within each group are also important to the story, so it was interesting to follow their different tacks as they progressed towards their goals, yet had to strategize related to those interactions.

Overall, it is not a light or easy read, but is a fascinating one. The values are different, the currency different, and the goals different than we normally see. While I had thought of the book as science fantasy, given travel into orbit and complex solar-powered artificial intelligences, I think the book leans more heavily on the side of fantasy.

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've more than occasionally struggled with the type of book Night Shade puts out (or, I guess I should say, put out), in that they tend to be very well-written, but with higher concepts than I prefer combined with descriptive, often flowery writing that appeals to a number of fantasy readers, but isn't always what I'm looking for.

On one hand, Zachary Jernigan's debut was getting a lot of good press and some solid reviews from bloggers I like and trust. On the other, it was another Night Shade title that came out right before things combusted. The book finally ended up in my library system, so I gave it a shot, and it was well worth the wait.

The concept is pretty high and bends the fantasy genre fairly significantly. We have a world where there's a god that many people fight over, mercenary warrior types, alchemist astronaut magicians, the whole deal. There are battles to be waged, discoveries to be made, and so on. It's very detailed and there's a lot going on for such a short book.

Why No Return works better for me on a whole than other books like it is because Jernigan hit the balance between plot and world building perfectly. There's a good deal of sex in the book, but none of it seems gratuitous and it all seems purposeful to fill the character roles that the world that's created here demands.

In a way, I kind of wish there was less plot so I could just enjoy what was going on in the setting itself. This is not to take away from the story, which has two competing plotlines that are both equally interesting. I loved the idea of mages in space, I thought the warrior battles were interesting and fun to read as well. The plot is, overall, the only place where things do get dragged down a bit, only because the language and descriptions are so detailed that it ends up with a "get on with it" quality from time to time. It wasn't nearly enough of an issue for me to throw in the towel and say "enough," but I can imagine it being a turnoff to many who may prefer the "grimdark"-style or a more straightforward narrative.

Otherwise, a great debut by an author I can't wait to read more of, in a setting I hope he doesn't leave behind. Definitely recommended for fantasy fans looking for something a little different.

[Lou Tennant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recieved this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

I have been sitting here staring at my computer screen trying to find the right words to describe this book. After intense consideration I have settled on "bizarrely wonderful and brilliantly strange".

I loved this book. It is unique in every aspect and as a perfectly fused hybrid of the Sci - Fi and fantasy genres it has the potential to be endearing to fans of both, and even those of neither. Magic, war, Religion, politics, sex, friendship...Jernigan has managed to entwine the multiple aspects of his complex world into a storyline that flows easily from the page and into the imagination of the reader.

I admire many of Jernigan’s characters, and applaud and respect Jernigan in the way he has composed these intricate personalities. I especially like Berun, a construct personification made of magic and metal, fabricated from thousands of tiny spheres that he can manipulate to change his form at will. Massive in both size and resilience, his journey to independence from his creator and to form friendships is endearing to the reader. The author’s description of Berun is such that I can picture him in my mind’s eye as if he was a movie or computer game character.

The only disappointment for me with this book for me is that, though many of the questions raised by the storyline are answered, I still have a strong desire to know what happens next. I do not feel ready to leave Vedus, Churls and Berun, and I am hopeful that the Author feels the same way and will follow up with a sequel.

[Periklis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between Science Fiction and Sword & Sorcery, the book follows its three protagonists (all traumatised in their own way) and their rebellion against the living, ever-present and vengeful god. The setting, the planet Jheroun, has such rich backstory enough to set a trilogy of stories and wars against it. Contrary to what the book's cover suggests, the action scenes are few but well-crafted, graphic in nature and resonant. Of special interest to fantasy readers, the magic system presented is a mixture of alchemy, sexual practice and body modification. Jack Kirby's futuristic fables (New Gods) and Roger Zelazny's theology-fuelled fantasies (Jack of Shadows) were brought to mind while reading "No Return".
Looking forward to the next volume in the series, where war (and quite possible apocalypse) break out...

[Ryan Lawler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read a book this deep in quite some time. No Return is a book of contrasts, a book that not only shows the extreme ends of an argument, but all the shades of grey in between.

Each of the five viewpoint characters are placed at different points on what seems to be sliding scales of attributes such as religious beliefs or sexuality, and over the course of the book we get to see how different internal and external influences either shift or strengthen how a character feels about each attribute.

I'm still digesting this story, still figuring out exactly what I want to say, but my gut feeling is that this is a book you will either love or hate. You can read my full review at Fantasy Book Review.

This book is highly recommended.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a pretty good read, as you can tell given the 5 star rating. I thought it had an interesting premise so I tried getting it through goodreads' giveaways, but after not receiving the book twice in a row, (1 to 900 or so doesn't make the best odds), I got it on my Kindle. If you're going to read this book, make sure you have an open mind, otherwise you may not get through the sex and violence in it. There wasn't as much fighting as I expected, but the storyline was well developed. It wasn't a struggle to read; it kept me entertained pretty easily and I was interested in seeing what would happen to the characters next. Hopefully there is a sequel, I'd like to see how this story plays out. Overall, I would recommend this book to both my friends and to you, the anonymous person reading my review.

[Liviu Szoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brand new ideas, a story full of action and martial arts mixed with a lot of sexuality. Wizards who fight against gods, a god who threatens to destroy the world with his hand-made spheres, a very interesting race of people, now completely extinct, of which I want to find more. The three main caracters (without considering Pol and Ebn) are going in a trip to rediscover themselves and their powers, not only to fight in the tournament. I can't wait to read to follow-ups, otherwise the story itself from this first novel rises a lot of questions, without answering to some of them. Oh, and by the way, nobody recommended to me this book, I saw its cover and said to myself: this is a book I want to read. And I wasn't disappointed at all.

[Alan Warenski · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were so many cool ideas in this book. You can tell that just by reading the summary. So I was immediately interested to see how it would all come together, and I wasn't dissapointed.
I really enjoyed the characters. They were all faced with huge decisions and I enjoyed seeing their growth throughout the book and how it changed the decisions they had to make.
I also love the world he created. It formed an awesome mind movie in my head; a mind movie that a real movie with a Avatar sized budget could never even compare to.
All around awesome book. I enjoyed the shit out of it.

[Tudor Ciocarlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent debut novel from the dying Night Shade Books. No return is a fantasy book that is morphing from time to time into science-fiction and, at the same tine, is a science-fiction book that's morphing into a fantasy one. This permanent dialog is very engaging and it's not an easy feat to accomplish. You have in it's fascinating, rich, sexy and lascivious universe: sword and magic, space battles and space suits, mages and warriors, astronauts and artificial intelligence, gods and dragons or post-humans and artificial beasts.

[Meriah Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really, truly fantastic. Wonderfully written, engaging, smart. I found myself wishing there was *more* about a lot of the characters, because they were so engaging. The world he's created is fascinating. It both mirrors many issues we have, and creates something new and different. His use of magic, multiple sentient species, elder corpses that are both sustenance and drug, and the god who is real and, frankly, a total dick are intriguing. I very much look forward to reading the sequel!

[Milo · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're interested in checking out the original review, you can do so here: http://thefoundingfields.com/2013/03/....

“An awesome novel with some great world building and some strong characters – Zachary Jernigan is an author who you want to watch out for.” ~The Founding Fields


No Return is a book that’s been on my TBR list for a while and when I got around to reading it, I was pleasantly surprised by the way that Zachary Jernigan had written this book. It’s varied, intense and very violent – Jernigan’s got the action certainly nailed in this debut. It’s got some great worldbuilding and boasts not only some cool ideas but also some very awesome characters that will keep you entertained whilst you’re reading this book. If you’re looking for a well written debut in the first half of 2013, then you can’t go far wrong with Jernigan’s No Return.

"On Jeroun, there is no question as to whether God exists—only what his intentions are.

Under the looming judgment of Adrash and his ultimate weapon—a string of spinning spheres beside the moon known as The Needle—warring factions of white and black suits prove their opposition to the orbiting god with the great fighting tournament of Danoor, on the far side of Jeroun’s only inhabitable continent.

From the Thirteenth Order of Black Suits comes Vedas, a young master of martial arts, laden with guilt over the death of one of his students. Traveling with him are Churls, a warrior woman and mercenary haunted by the ghost of her daughter, and Berun, a constructed man made of modular spheres possessed by the foul spirit of his creator. Together they must brave their own demons, as well as thieves, mages, beasts, dearth, and hardship on the perilous road to Danoor, and the bloody sectarian battle that is sure to follow.

On the other side of the world, unbeknownst to the travelers, Ebn and Pol of the Royal Outbound Mages (astronauts using Alchemical magic to achieve space flight) have formed a plan to appease Adrash and bring peace to the planet. But Ebn and Pol each have their own clandestine agendas—which may call down the wrath of the very god they hope to woo.

Who may know the mind of God? And who in their right mind would seek to defy him? Gritty, erotic, and fast-paced, author Zachary Jernigan takes you on a sensuous ride through a world at the knife-edge of salvation and destruction, in one of the year’s most exciting fantasy epics."

So No Return, a novel that is yet again, hard to pin down into one genre – crossing between science fiction and fantasy and Jernigan has pulled off the mix in a very believable way – the sci-fi elements never feel too out of place and neither do the fantasy elements of this book. I think my favourite thing about Jernigan’s debut is probably the setting, the planet of Jeroun – one that is watched over by a god with unclear intentions for his people. The worldbuilding is immense in this book and we get a great ambitious look into what makes the world tick. Characters adapt to the setting that the world can throw at them and it doesn’t feel like a standard fantasy world at any point in the novel’s 320 pages.

The book itself focuses mainly on a core cast of characters - Vedas, a skilled fighter and a member of the Thirteenth Order, Churls – a Mercenary followed by the ghost of her dead daughter and Berun – the construct, boasting mighty strength but limited to performing the tasks of his creator – all have a key role to play in No Return and are another strength of the book itself. They’re three dimensional and are very enjoyable to read about. Other characters who are also present in this debut are the two mages Ebn and Pol, and are also characters that are very intriguing to read about.

Whilst this book is one of the more enjoyable ones that I’ve had the pleasure of reading so far this year, No Return does suffer from a couple of flaws. Firstly, the pacing isn’t spot on. There are some elements that I think dragged out a bit too slow when we were following Vedas, Berun and Churls’ journey across the continent to get to the celebratory games, it just seemed to take too long for my liking even if I can understand why this portion of the book is fast paced – after all, journeys take time. And the climax is also not as strong as the rest of the book was, but that barely dampened my overall enjoyment of the book and I will be sticking around to read more that Jernigan puts out when I can. This is a book that adult readers of either fantasy or science fiction should enjoy, as there are some scenes here in this book that I do not recommend for a younger audience.

VERDICT: 4/5

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeroun and the god Adrash have a push-pull kind of relationship. Adrash has -- at varying times in history -- blessed, punished, favored, nearly destroyed Jeroun. After his last disappointment with Jeroun, Adrash has stayed away for many, many centuries as an expression of his displeasure. Adrash still watches though, with a detached fascination. The curious thing about Adrash as a deity is that you're never quite sure if his motives are benevolent or sinister.

Meanwhile, the people of Jeroun are divided between those who long for Adrash's return and those who believe in his malevolence. The believers are generally referred to as 'Adrashi' and the opposition 'Anadrashi'. Within those two general groups are smaller factions, differing with one another on their specific objectives and methods.

Every ten years, a tournament is held at Danoor where representatives of the various factions fight for the pride of their houses. Vedas is the representative of the Thirteenth Order of Black Suits, an Anadrashi group. Churls is a down-on-her-luck fighter, haunted by the ghost of her dead daughter. Berun is a construct -- possessing a manlike body created from various parts by a powerful mage. By necessity and circumstance, the three become travelling companions. On their way to Danoor, the three get to know each other and form an unusual bond despite their differences. These three characters and their interaction with one another are my favorite parts of this book.

Ebn is the Captain of the Royal Outbound Mages, a group of the most magically talented intent on studying Adrash's movements and going to him in orbit. Pol is a member of the group, young and ambitious-- more ambitious than Ebn or anyone else is aware.

Mr. Jernigan spends much time orienting the reader with the planet of Jeroun and rightfully so. The world is strange and rich, a great setting for the stories he tells. Jeroun is as much a character in 'No Return' as any of the players. The story is told from the points of view of Adrash, Vedas, Churls, Berun, Ebn and Pol.

This book houses much between its covers. It tackles relationships (including interspecies and even those between mortals and immortals), faith, war, politics, religion, anthropogenesis, existentialism, self-determination. His treatment of faith and religion deserves special notice. There are the religious, of course-- the god-worshippers. Then there are those various groups opposed to any god for different reasons. I think 'No Return' posits that opposition to god is just a variant of faith, given to many of the same excesses and fanaticism.

Please note there are rather violent and sexual parts to this book. For me, the strangeness of these parts adds to the color and tone of the book, appropriately signalling that this is certainly a different world populated by different species. However, I know there are those who deliberately shy away from such themes, hence the warning.

My difficulty with this book is that it doesn't always seem like one cohesive story. While they occur on the same world and society, the two main threads of the story -- the first with Vedas, Churls & Berun and the second with Ebn and Pol (I'm counting the Adrash POV in this thread) -- seem disparate and don't quite totally weave together. Towards the end though, there is a promise that the threads will all come together, but it didn't quite accomplish that in this book.

There is also much magic mentioned-- elder bones, alchemy, creation of constructs, suits of power, magical weapons. While all these are mentioned, their precise workings are not fully explained. They all pique curiosity and I would love to learn their origins and how they work. The ending is also rather open-ended which I really don't mind because I already know I want to read the next book.

That being said, this is a strong science fiction debut (with definite fantasy and other components) with more than its share of the bizarre and interesting. It is a debut that is largely original (to me, at least). One of the best compliments I can give to this book is that it has me thinking about it long after reading it. I continue to dissect the world, the characters and the writing in my mind. Jeroun is just bursting with tales to tell. There is much left to be explored and discovered, many surprises waiting to be sprung, secrets to be revealed.

Hear that, Mr. Jernigan? I'm looking forward to being fascinated, surprised and entertained even more by the next installment.

[Kody Boye · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the warring continent of Jeroun exists two dominant beliefs: those who bask in the God's benevolence and those who believe in his eventual wrath. Our hero is the latter. A member of the Black Suits, Vedas' sole purpose is to fight the White Suits who oppose his order's belief and convert those to the Anadrashi faith. History has proven the God’s disdain for humanity, and for Vedas, that gives him all the more reason to fight, though a lifetime of training meant to prepare him for battle unexpectedly falls short when a pupil of his dies. Grief-stricken, his position becomes unclear—marked with question over the meaning his life—until he is chosen to represent his order in the great fighting tournament of Danoor -- and by doing so, proclaim to the world that their God is not merciful.

No Return is one of those books I find hard to review. As a writer, I am complete enthralled by its world-building and the skilled turns of phrase Jernigan is able to pull. As a reader, I was instantly pulled in by the imagery of a god hovering over His world—physical in every respect to those on the planet below, and whose judgment can be swayed by the simplest of actions. This is, undoubtedly, high fantasy, though that may be the novel's greatest weakness. Oftentimes, the author presents and then develops his characters through the use of time jumps that deviate from a traditional linear narrative – which, combined with a complex history and a cast whose surroundings sometimes never intersect, may deter readers unfamiliar with high fantasy from picking the novel up. Does it have a map? Yes. Does it have an atlas? Yes. Even I will admit that my transition into the novel was somewhat daunting, though the grand exposé immediately detailed in the prologue eventually proves its necessity as we enter the meatier portions of the story. It isn’t long before we understand the plight of the people on this lonely planet, of their harsh world and the unforgiving god who floats above it—who, at any moment, could wipe the planet clean, if only out of boredom. That, undoubtedly, is No Return’s crowning achievement. You feel a sense of awe as locations of impossible magnitude are described, wonder as its geography is revealed, terror over the monsters (human and not) that walk the lands and unease over the world’s complex and harrowing history. This, combined with a diverse cast of characters whose roles are not determined by gender, race or sexual orientation, makes Jernigan’s entry into the genre a breath of a fresh air.

No Return is a remarkable epic among the casual fare of sword and sorcery novels. While not for everyone, if only due to its unprecedented but lavish world, presents fantasy with a gritty realism I feel the genre is unfortunately lacking. Five stars to an excellent first novel, and a beginning that only promises future marvel.

[Peter Darbyshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zachary Jernigan’s No Return is one of the weirdest and most complex fantasy books I’ve ever read. It tackles the big questions of religion, politics, violence and even race, but refuses to dumb down these issues, as is the trend in most contemporary fantasy novels. Instead, Jernigan’s world of Jeroun is as messy and confused as our own, with shifting landscapes of morality, faith and values. Jernigan has created a real, believable world here, which is all the more impressive given the fantastic characters and storylines he creates in the book: a drifting godlike being that slumbers in orbit around the planet in a suit of technomagical armour, a cabal of mages who seek to wake the god being, warring sects of monk-like fighters, dragons, magical corpses… well, I could go on. Let’s just say No Return is as weird as China Mieville, as imaginatively rich as Roger Zelazny, as epic in scale as Steven Erikson, and as bloody and violent as the UFC. That’s a winning mix for me.