Echoes of Creation

by Lance Conrad

History doesn't wait for a historian!
Years after the Historian wanders away from Surac, the people use the power of their Stones to craft a golden age for themselves. As they expand and explore, however, they find that some secrets are better left alone, and not all powers are benevolent. Sadavir, the hero who brought the peoples together, travels into new territory on a rescue mission. Everyone, including Sadavir himself, believes that his talents, training, and powers make him invulnerable to harm. But there are mysteries more ancient than the Stones, and weaknesses that aren't discovered until strength has failed.

(To be read AFTER reading The Price of Creation)

208 pages, Paperback

Published September 3, 2019

Reviews

[Steven Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great echo of The Price of Creation. Life becomes more complicated for Sadavir. He'll be okay in the end, won't he?

[Silver - Have a great day, you're loved · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sequels that make sense are so hard to find. Too often, people love some book or movie that was released, and the author or producers decide to make an awful sequel to make more money. They introduce some new "worst evil" (even though the "worst evil" was defeated in the previous book/movie), repeat the storyline with the main character or their family, or have absolutely nothing interesting happen.

The Echoes of Creation falls prey to none of these traps. You can immediately tell that Conrad planned for this book. There is no new worst evil, no repeated storyline, and no boredom. This is a sequel that actually makes sense and is entertaining the whole way through.

While definitely darker than Conrad's other books, it lives up to the reputation of the Historian Tales. I do miss "Uncle Amar", though. (Fun fact: "Amar" means "long life". I laughed out loud when I saw this. Kudos to you, Mr. Conrad, for using these names brilliantly.)

I love how we dove into Sadavir's character here. He isn't some invincible, unstoppable force, he's a guy that can lose like anybody else. When he realizes this, he has to come to terms with it like everybody else. Excellent exploration into the world, excellent writing.

Actual rating: 4.5.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun seeing Conrad's progress as an author over the period of 8 years. The grammar errors in this book were not as egregious (although he could still use an editor).

However, Savadir's story does not work as well without the Narrator telling it. With the lack of an anchored point of view, Conrad drifts around, sometimes showing things from Aric's point of view, sometimes (mostly) Sadavir's, and sometimes Vova's. The transition at times was choppy. And even when the book hones in on Sadavir's viewpoint, it still remained hard to connect with him as a person. He never really developed a good, strong voice as a character until the climax of the book.

The story as a whole was a bit simple and uninteresting. Sadavir's character arc was meant to be the focus of the book and it worked well enough, but didn't really resonate with me like the first book did. Overall, my feelings were very neutral. It was a short book; it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. I wouldn't recommend it, but I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it.

[Chris]

Echoes of Creation takes place after The Price of Creation. In The Price of Creation, the mysterious Amar makes peace between two peoples. However, in Echoes of Creation, he has long left the world, and the united peoples make a path into unexplored lands. There turns out to be an unexpected danger in the lands that were especially hard to get to in the first place. The story follows the man Sadavir, who contains the power of destruction. His goal was to venture into the unexplored lands alone to bring back any and all survivors. It did mention some aspects from the previous book but ended up explaining them, so while I did like the previous one, you do not need to read it for this one to make sense. I liked this book due to the history of the world it exposes. Another thing I liked about the book is that it enunciates the directed power of the magic system better than the other book did. While I would not say this was my favorite book ever, I do not regret reading it.

[Paul Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great sequel to "The Price of Creation". The people were enjoying a new golden age for themselves using their Stones in cooperation. However, what can Sadavir do when they encounter creatures so dangerous and powerful that he cannot possibly win? Conrad's new novel explores what his father forgot to teach him. Will he sacrifice his friends to protect his people from utter, certain, horrible destruction?

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Having read The Price of Creation prior really helped in understanding the storyline. Reading about Sadavir and seeing how he has grown since the last book was amazing to read. The thing that intriged me the most was the deal with the stones and how two people could combine their power and have one of them use both stones to enhance their own abilities. I also really liked the introduction of the torqs, and how they aren't another civilization or anything, but a type of beast. This book was a really great one to read and I would love to see some of the others get sequels as well.