Elegy of the Void

Rift Cycle #4

by Halo Scot

This war ends now.

If you can’t break cycles,
change them.

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Darkness burns bright, if you wait long enough. Kyder risks everything for salvation while Rune awakens her fate.

Hello again, old friend. Hello for the last time. What is necessary becomes what is right becomes the only way. Everything comes full circle. Full cycle. A season for every struggle. The endlessness of suffering. No more games. No more chances. No more wasted time or tears. This is how it ends. As ties of the solstice. Links of fate. Wherever we go, we go together. And whatever happens next, I’ll find you again.

I will come for you, as I came for so many others, and we will follow in their wake as the last waves of the storm.

How far would you go to save the one you love?

Return to the Rift.

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

CONTENT WARNING: The Rift Cycle is a highly graphic series intended for mature audiences. There is on-page murder, death, torture, mutilation, rape, child abuse, substance abuse, self-harm, and suicide ideation, as well as triggers for mental illnesses (depression, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD). This list is not comprehensive.
Please read at your own risk.

TAGS: science fiction, fantasy, grimdark, horror, LGBT, mental illness

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

WELCOME BACK TO THE BREACH.

442 pages, ebook

First published January 23, 2021

About the author

Halo Scot is a dark fiction author of book monsters, many of which bite. Reviews and press are available on HaloScot.com. Halo has been featured in Publishers Weekly and BookLife. Also, as a founding member of QueerIndie.com, Scot has appeared at Brooklyn Book Festival, TBRCon, and Pop Pride Week, an event hosted by ReedPop, BookCon, and New York Comic Con.

Halo pretends to be cool, dark, and mysterious, when in reality, Scot is a clumsy and awkward creature who eats shadows and harbors a severe distrust of ladybugs. Prone to chaos, this nightmare-dwelling beast aims to achieve galactic domination through a void-screaming expertise, dormant telekinesis, and aggressive cackling. To summon this obscure and skittish writer, one must align the following items in a circle as an offering: three shots of whiskey, two bowls of jelly beans, something shiny or lit on fire, and a printed photo of Nicolas Cage as a duck.

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

WEBSITE: haloscot.com
SOCIAL: @halo_scot (Twitter + Instagram)

NEWSLETTER: haloscot.com/news
Subscribe to chaos, and receive a free copy of THE HEARTBEAT OF A MILLION DREAMS.

Reviews

[Lali Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute Perfection!

I have purchased all four paperback books of this series and I am a gigantic fan of Author Halo Scot as I engrossed myself in the Rift Cycle experience. Please take the author’s trigger warning seriously. This series is not for the faint of heart, but it is a literary masterpiece that should be acknowledged and consumed with appreciation.

I took my time reading Elegy of the Void, as it is the final book in the series, and I truly didn’t want the experience to end. Without providing any spoilers, I must admit that my emotional attachment to the main characters has become an obsession, and I’m at peace with that. It’s the mark of a talented writer, who’s voice resonates deeply within my core. I have felt all the anguish, the sadness, the turmoil, the trauma, the pain, the suffering, the darkness, the hope, and the innocence of Kyder’s heart through all the violence.

It’s unnerving how much love I have for his monstrous spirit as I tearfully followed Kyder's battles into the Elegy of the Void. The character arcs are extraordinary, the pacing brilliant, the gruesome world-building, the shocking twists, and turns, pushes you to the edge, while you fall flawlessly within its emotional vortex. I am completely changed by this series, and I can’t recommend it enough. My heartfelt gratitude to Halo Scot for these remarkable literary gifts, I can’t wait for her next work of genius.

[Kimberly Morehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

First let me say, this is my first experience in the GrimDark genre, I headed in with an open mind, not fully sure what to expect. What I got was on incredible story that will stick with me for a long long time. The characters are compelling and well developed. They are beautiful, tragic and oh so wonderful. This is a very graphic novel... lots and lots of blood, violence, sex, language and so much more. While it's all these things, its also so beautiful in a dark way. Kyder is a monster to most, and probably should be to the reader....yet hes not. You really care for and love him. You root for him. You cry for him. You feel his every demon, pain and emotion like it's your own. Rune, she is a beautiful soul, one who has seen so much loss and heartache that it would of crippled any other person. Yet she uses it to live on for them, to find strength in it. She is a powerful person that everyone around her knows she is truly special, one they need to follow. Kyder is so dark, but he loves her, he protects her and she has effected change in him that we get to see and revel in. You know from the beginning, that this will never end like you want. That there is no pretty way out of the issue, but when it all comes down.... you still find yourself hoping that your wrong. Hoping that they can have it all and still win. Kyders chapters killed me, I cried more than I would like to admit. His pain and suffering was just too much. And the way he loved Rune, well, everyone should have that kind of love in life. I will not give spoilers on the end. This series needs to be enjoyed by the reader. I am so sad it's over, I can't help but want more.

[Rory Michaelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this book immediately after completing the previous instalment, and I can’t help but feel that Scot has done more than create a series of books here. The RIFT CYCLE and its perfectly flawed characters, shocking twists, and gruesome violence is one thing—but putting it into the context of Scot’s unique voice, fresh and challenging use of fourth wall breaking, and depth and textures of the world and characters—this series feels like a living, breathing, beast. Scot does with this book what all great finale’s do, strip it back to basics, and build it back up, reconstructing the world and our expectations with building blocks all the richer from our experiences in the previous books. The pacing is excellent, and the reader is pushed through boundary upon boundary, until the incredible finale where Scot takes us to the edge of the void and gives us a good hard push over the edge.

This series has been such a memorable read, I don’t feel like it’s truly over, or it ever will be. Its surprisingly large, dark, and bloody heart will continue to beat in our memories, and always be there to remind us of our time in the rift.

Content Warning: Please take heed of the authors content warning, this story contains shocking, disturbing, and violent events.

[Mario · Rating 5 out of 5]

The power of imagination. The tug of the heart. The mystery of a plot unveiled. Elegy of the Void, the fourth book in Halo Scot's Rift Cycle, packs a punch. The shocking cliff-hanger ending in the Eye of the Brave blossoms into a garden of thorny conflicts—battles of will and brawn. Scot's dark, descriptive prose exposes the tortured mind of Kyder, the villain/hero. One cannot fully hate nor love him, but the reader cannot help but empathize with or desire to save him from his inner demons. The battle lines between good and evil are blurred in this epic conclusion to the Rift Cycle. Halo Scot's storylines are anything but predictable. I was on the edge of my seat rooting for the hero, pleading with him to reveal more of his secrets. Not until the very last page does the author let go of the truth. Having read all four books in the Rift Cycle, I want to revisit the journey and start all over again. Bravo, Halo Scot! The Elegy of the Void is not to be missed! Strap on your seatbelts and get ready to soar into the void. You may never want to return to reality!

[Evelyn Chartres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elegy of the Void is the fourth book by independent author Halo Scot. This grimdark tale kicks off after the events of Eye of the Brave and marks the end of the Rift Cycle series.

For those of you who went from book to book without pause, you'll find there is little time to breathe in between scenes. The battle against the immortal gods plays out as expected and we learn what happened in that last scene.

The switch in point of view between the two leading characters falls to the wayside. We see the world predominantly through Kyder's eyes, his truth, and how he plans to reset the balance and save Rune's people.

Elegy of the Void is a quick read that leaves you guessing to the end. As always, Scot is the mistress of misdirection and literary sleight of hand. Readers will be richly rewarded with a story that closes all loose ends nicely, and answers some questions we never knew to ask.

[A.C. Merkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The End.


Anything I say will be a spoiler. I’m refraining. If you need a review to read this book it’s only because you haven’t read the other three! And well... you need to read those first, right?? (Yes you do.)

Don’t just sit there, GO! READ! Ton adventure!

You never do much, freeloader... GO! Hehe

Bravo! All the stars! Except the door is closed and the stars are stolen!

[Morgan Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well here it is, the fourth and final instalment of this excellent Rift Cycle quadrilogy (that’s a good word, isn’t it?). I don’t think I’ve read a series since A Song of Ice and Fire, but I’m so glad I did, because these four books have been a blast.

It is quite the task to write a review of a Book 4, because anything I say will be a spoiler. So if you find this post by casually trolling the internet and your horror-loving interest is piqued, best go back and check the review for Book 1, and then thank me when you’re done!

If, on the other hand, you’re reading this after having read the other 3 books, chances are you don’t need me to tell you this is a great ending to the series, because you’ll assume this already. Three great books ending with a shit one? Nah, not this time.

Sira Rune and Julian Kyder are still with us, kicking ass as usual. But now their relationship is put to the most serious of tasks; they need to work together to save the world! That sounds cheesy, but I can’t give specifics here now can I?

The humour is still here and the violence and gross-out moments do not disappoint. I did enjoy the scene where Kyder tortures a guy who can’t die in this realm. Torturing an immortal being would be quite the challenge I’m sure, so where do you go with that? How would you get him to talk? Well, Halo Scot takes you there, and maybe a little further than might be comfortable for most.

I’d love to tell you of the plot, but that would give away Book 3, especially the ending. So my overall message is this;

Read. This. Series. It’s dark, twisted, bloody, and bloody funny.

I need to end this by offering my thanks to Halo for trusting me to read and review these books. The ARCs have been very much appreciated and I hope these books go on to get even more of the recognition they really do deserve.

[N.T. Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reliance breeds compliance, but only for so long when you’re talking about Halo Scot’s Rift Cycle characters. You know Kyder isn’t sitting idly by, accepting the fate handed to him by his father. And when it comes to Sira, well, that’s another mystery to unravel. But you’ll get there, and when you do, you’ll discover that it was all so simple from the start. The signs of destiny and fate were right there for the taking.

That being said, just because you can backtrack it in your mind and see it all unfolding after the fact doesn’t make this ending any less powerful. In fact, it makes the storytelling that much more brilliant. You need to move forward in order to be able to look back. This is what you’ve been waiting for. Here, in Elegy of the Void, are your answers.

After I finished Edge of the Breach, I had a feeling I was going to be sad to see this series end, and I was right. It’s just one of those stories that you want to last forever. Including the blood, gore, and grief? Yeah, even that. You need to embrace those heinous acts because it’s not the same without them. Without the hurt, tragedy, and loathsome crimes, none of this comes together as it should. So, don’t ever feel like this is gratuitous. Look beyond the graphic nature and see what’s forming in the big picture.

One of the questions I always ask about the end of a series, particularly one that I don’t want to see end, is was the grand finale satisfying? In this case, my heart dropped when it was over because I wanted more, but there was a smile on my face that only Halo Scot could have put there. She ended it in a way that only she could.

I’ll be reading this series again. Why? Because the truth will set you free.

[Anya Pavelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elegy of the Void is a perfect title for the last book in the Rift Cycle series. My husband once asked me what elegy meant. He’s not one for literature, so I explained that an elegy can be a lament for a person, idea, or thing. The person writing or speaking the elegy often mourns for something long surrendered to the ether. Those who finished Book 3 know how it ended, and it’s apt to say that Julian Kyder expresses elegiac feelings at the start of Book 4. Well, an elegiac mood plus the title of Chapter 6: Home Sweet Whorehouse. An elegy and a whorehouse with eff-tons of drugs describe the shades of Kyder well in this novel’s beginnings.

At least on the surface, that is. Kyder had to make an alliance to save those dear to him, but as readers of this series must know, Kyder hides the truth deep from those who don’t deserve it. What I love about Halo Scot’s novels is that she leads us in one direction through her characters and then blasts our notions to smithereens when Kyder breaks the fourth wall or some such. I thought I knew how things were going several times, and then…..nope! Rest assured, this is a glorious thing. I was continually engaged and surprised right up until the end- and beyond.

And as for the ending? Of course, I won’t give spoilers. I was thoroughly satisfied, though. It felt fitting and right, not like the catastrophe that was the TV show Game of Thrones ending. Everything made sense in terms of character development and plot resolutions. To sum up this series? Just wow :)

[W. Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elegy of the Void is the final book of the Rift Cycle and Halo Scot holds nothing back. The pace of the story is a river of emotions. It’s peaceful at times but mostly a torrent of rapids to be navigated cautiously. Remember this is Grim Dark writing so brace for some squeamish detail. Don’t skip pages, don’t overlook what you think is trivial. Don’t look away! A great mystery will be unveiled as wars are fought and gruesome events unfold. The inner battles continue for both Kyder and Rune but with excellent pacing the story is beautifully stitched together. All loose ends are properly connected and the climax builds gradually until it is unleashed in a thunderous and glorious manner. As with the previous three books of the Rift Cycle it is filled with plot twist, unexpected mayhem, and that underlying push and pull between Kyder and Rune. The saga begins to conclude in a way that some may anticipate. However, it will not be in the manner you might be expecting. Does the god known as “Ra” get what’s coming to him? I’m afraid you’ll have to make that decision upon reading the book. The blending of sci-fi and fantasy is stunning and remarkable as it has been since book one. I will tell you that the ending is fitting and noble with a little surprise hidden within the final few pages. One last thing I want to say and I think others will whole heartily agree, “Nobody writes like Halo Scot, nobody!”

[Jacob Klop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before my comments about Elegy of the Void I’d like to say what a wonderful series Halo Scot has created. The writing and editing is excellent and she has clearly done her best to give the reader an experience unlike pretty much any other book you will ever read.

The queen is dead, at least that’s what we’re supposed to believe. It’s hard to imagine Kyder without Rune, but you’ll have to try. I’m not going to delve further into the story in order to avoid spoilers, but if you’ve gotten this far into the series I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

The author doubles down on the numerous pokes at the reader, and even some at herself. I kind of felt like a part of the story by now and laughed at the number of times the I was mocked. I did feel like this novel had the least development out of all four. By this point, the characters are what they are and we didn’t see anything new from that perspective. Perhaps that’s why series so often stop at trilogies. Ha ha.

That said, I was still extremely entertained while reading Elegy and if there was a fifth I’d be smacking that pre-order button before you could say ‘Rune, Rune, Rune, Rune’.

[J. Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, Halo entwines dual POV's into an epic story that features deep subject topics in a wide variety of ways through the use of dark grim. However, for myself, I did find some patterns were too repetitive, which is of course, part of the story's full narrative. Although the first two books are amazing in this series, sometimes plit devices wane in the later books. Or it could be the fact that this reader picked up on how more cyclic the themes become the further the series develops. Nevertheless, Halo Scott has created a fun way to end this series, but it does feel like there's more to come.

[Ross Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant conclusion

I will keep this short. I didn't want this series to end and I really took my time. It's a sign of how brilliant this series is that I dreaded reaching the final conclusion to Kyder's journey. Four books which just build and build and build to a fitting and satisfying conclusion. It's tough not to give spoilers but the twists and turns keep coming and I imagine you'll find yourself not wanting to turn the pages. Is it disturbing that I'll miss the rift... Probably...

[M.J. Falke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing conclusion to an astonishing series

I have no words. I am crying on my Kindle screen as I type this. A brilliant if heart-wrenching end to a series that will stick with me for a long time.

[Jonica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't gush enough about this serious or its writer, Halo Scot.

As existed, another 5 stars. Scot pushes the boundaries of everything. Just as Kyder and Rune have character arcs, I read the growth of the author.

I can't wait to see what comes next!

[sara blackwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very rarely write a review .however i have to say I really enjoyed this series from beginning to end .very well written and every time I thought something my question seemed to be answered with what I read next .lovely 4 part series worth a read.

[M.E. Aster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elegy of the Void is the perfect ending to one of the best grimdark fantasy series I have ever read.

In lieu of spoilers, I won’t say much about the plot, besides that I had no idea how this story would end but the conclusion was everything I had ever hoped for and more.

Scot brings us back to Zawad, filling each page with a mixture of poetry and grisly moments in a way that only they can. Each chapter is powerful, many mirroring each other in a chaotic, wonderful way that kept the story flowing and the reader guessing until the very end.

Although this is a fantasy, there is so much that applies to the real word: battling internal demons, overcoming grief, forgiveness, love, sacrifice, and so many others. This book impacted me in more ways than I can express and I am in awe of Scot’s skill for being able to craft this finale.

The Rift Cycle is a masterpiece and will always hold a place in my heart as one of my favorite series.

[Bob Grygier · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great final adventure to this enjoyable trilogy.. I said this? Never got past 100 pages. The gore and writing got to me. Not my cup of sub genre.